MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Just a few days after Zynga revealed its platform would hit beta sometime this month, the company has went ahead and launched Zynga.com. Dubbed ‘a new playground for social games’,the open beta version of the platform currently offersusers five games to play: CastleVille, CityVille, Hidden Chronicles, Words with Friends, and …
Read More »Zynga steps up to the plate and becomes a publisher
The mutually beneficial relationship between Facebook and Zynga could soon become more complicated, with the Farmville creator ready to launch an eye-catching games portal that exists outside of the social network. Zynga.com, which will launch in beta this month, will host a range of popular Zynga games as well as …
Read More »id: PC is not a leading games format
John Carmack, the boss of acclaimed developer id and the leading force behind recent release Rage, has spoken frankly about the commercial viability of the modern PC games market. And while his comments will undoubtedly anger the passionate supporters of the PC games community, Carmack is no fool. The money …
Read More »Platform holders blocked Runescape cross-console play
Speaking at the recent Edinburgh Interactive conference, Gerhard said Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo were each opposed to the idea of Runescape players interacting across rival platforms. Some console owners wanted us to charge five Euros for Runescape. What? It would be crazy to charge for Runescape on consoles,” he began. …
Read More »Sony encouraging cross-platform play on PS3 and Vita
Future PlayStation games can be packaged for both Vita and PS3, with cloud data allowing customers to access a game from either device, a senior Sony executive has said. Shuhei Yoshida, chief of Sony Worldwide Studios, told Eurogamer that it was totally feasible” for developers to build a connected experience …
Read More »EA ‘to become a platform’
One of the more intriguing statements from CEO John Riccitiello during EA’s FY11 analysts call was that the publisher is going to ‘become a platform’. Now, we live in what buzzword aficionados like to call ‘disruptive’ times, and many previously rock solid industry terms are evolving. But, for EA to …
Read More »EA: Wii is a legacy platform
A major exec from publisher EA has both described Wii as a last-gen platform and hinted that Nintendo is already well on the road to announcing a successor. "When you look at Nintendo, for a while there, it was all about the Wii being the biggest entertainment platform ever and …
Read More »Sony plays down platform exclusivity
A senior brand manager for SCEA has said that platform exclusivity is damaging for brands and that the company in future would rather sign deals for exclusive post-release content. "We work very closely with our third parties publishers, not necessarily to lock down games exclusively, but to lock up exclusive …
Read More »Guitar Hero strategy ‘was wrong’
Activision’s decision to sell Guitar Hero as a product as opposed to a content platform was the ultimate cause of the IPs downfall, GamesBrief analyst Nicholas Lovell has told MCV. "I wasn’t surprised by the news," he stated. "Sales peaked at $1.7bn for music games in 2008, fell by 50% …
Read More »Leaked Nokia memo paints gloomy picture
An internal company communication that has been leaked online has outlined the true extent of the trouble at Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia. Just a few years ago the company appeared to be an untouchable force leading the mobile phone market. However, following the smartphone boom Nokia has found itself …
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