Here’s the obligatory editorial preamble: April is already the biggest news month of the year. And the last five years. Oh my!

Let’s get straight to it.

THE FIVE ESSENTIAL NEWS STORIES

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1

Sensitive data of some 77 million PSN users exposed
Right, here’s a timeline of one of the most chaotic periods in Sony’s history. In summary: Fireworks hitting fans hitting shit hitting more fans. [HERE]

2

Nintendo announces Wii successor console
It’s internally codenamed Project Cafe, apparently. Nintendo says it’ll be released 2012 and shown playing games in just a few weeks at E3. Swathes of studios and publishers are onboard. Speculation is the controller has an inbuilt touch-screen. [HERE]

3

Free CryEngine 3 to be released in August
Crytek’s aping the free-to-use model for its high-end engine. Providing you’re not making money, you can do what you like with it. It’s a process that’s helped Unity and Epic Games win over what Nintendo might term the ‘garage developer’. [HERE]

4

Cohort to close
End of the road for the hearty Dundee studio. 25 people have been issued their redundancy notice. Studio CEO Lol Scragg, for what it’s worth, has always struck Develop as a lovely guy. We’re sure he’ll be back – and fortunately there’s a lot of job openings in Scotland, and indeed Dundee, at the moment. [HERE]

5

Zynga UK established
That’s right. Your local coffee shop has become a Starbucks too. [HERE]

146

All 146 Develop news stories for the month can be found here.

NEWS WE DIDN’T REPORT

1) The Nintendo 3DS done hurt my eyes :(
2) Valve becomes the undisputed champion of internet trolling
3) The truly amazing finalists for the 2011 Develop Industry Excellence Awards… stay tuned for that though

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“We try very hard to avoid the debate as to whether games are art, as it tends to attract people with too much time on their hands.” – Dan Houser, Rockstar Games co-founder

WHAT WILL COME FIRST?

1) A Kevin Butler joke that even scarcely mentions the PlayStation Network
2) A super-injunction to protect David Jaffe

APRIL HEROES

1) Markus Persson
Wake-up call for the old-guard: Persson’s now made over £19 million because of a widely adored indie game. He’s still a nice guy.
2) Ubisoft
Oh leave them alone for a moment. The “top-three” publisher last month passed its 25 year anniversary.
3) Bomber Games
And the eight-year Streets Of Rage Remake project is complete

APRIL VILLIANS

1) Sega
Barred the Streets Of Rage Remake just days after its release. Classy.
2) Sony
Obviously.
3) Metacritic vandals
So, it’s unacceptable when a Bioware developer fakes a review, but justice when you do it?

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