MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Developer Beenox is now responsible for Activision’s future Spider-Man games following the release of last year’s Shattered Dimensions. The Qubec firm became a subsidiary of Activision in 2005. It has worked on other official Spidey titles including Ultimate Spider-Man, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man: Friend or Foe. Activision …
Read More »Minecraft reaches 1m sales
Indie smash Minecraft has passed its millionth customer landmark, its creator has revealed. The PC title – released as an ‘Alpha edition’ in June last year – has brought fame and fortune to its creator Markus Persson. "Minecraft just passed one million copies sold," Perrson confirmed via his Twitter account. …
Read More »Amazon launches Android dev portal
Online retail giant Amazon plans to throw its weight behind a new app store for Android devices. The retailer, which in recent years has profited greatly from digital distribution products such as Kindle, is thought to be listing games on its own website – as opposed to the Android Marketplace. …
Read More »Zynga buys Words with Friends dev
Zynga has purchased Texas-based mobile game studio Newtoy, the group has confirmed. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Speaking at a Develop-attended conference call, Zynga’s vice president of mobile, David Ko, said the purchase of Newtoy represented what was the beginning of a new era for the Farmville …
Read More »Rare: Look out Kinect will be amazing
The new manager of Microsoft owned UK developer Rare has told MCV that the progress made in Kinect game development over recent months points to an amazing future for the device as studios continue to discover new ways to implement the technology. Rare has actually developed quite a bit of …
Read More »Rare gets new studio boss
Microsoft has revealed that experienced company man Scott Henson has become the new studio manager of owned UK developer Rare. Henson takes charge immediately and expects to complete a move with his family to Birmingham in the next few weeks. Over his 16 years with Microsoft he has played a …
Read More »Rare now focused on Kinect
Scott Henson, the new studio manager of Microsoft owned developer Rare, has told MCV that he expects the studio to work exclusively on Kinect-compatible software going forwards. Kinect will be the main focus for Rare going forwards as it’s a very rich canvas,” he told MCV. This is just the …
Read More »X-Factor firm buys mobile dev
Canadian mobile game studio Ludia says it will sell a controlling 51 per cent share of the company to RTL Group, said to be Europe’s largest television and radio broadcast company. RTL division FremantleMedia will benefit from the takeover, with the firm now owning 80 per cent of Ludia. Financial …
Read More »Krome Studios closes doors
Developer Krome Studios has closed its doors resulting in all staff losing their jobs, according to reports on IGN. The closure was finalised last Friday, though there’s a chance a small number of devs might stay on for a limited time to finish off existing work. The reason for the …
Read More »Kotick: Bungie is the last great indie
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick wants the world to know his firm is embarking on an exclusive ten-year partnership with Bungie, and in typical fashion he is doing so by way of cavalier and comical sound bites. Speaking at a recent investor meeting, the CEO of the world’s biggest third-party game …
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