MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Last month, UK game retailer GAMEannounced its latest expansioninto esports—the acquisition of SocialNAT, a Spanish esports organization dedicated to hosting online competitions and offline events. GAME’s expansion isn’t surprising, but the partnership with SocialNAT is, primarily because of a SocialNAT’s director’s criminal history, along with the company’s shady media penetration. …
Read More »Mike Bithell and Dan Pinchbeck headline Interface 2016 conference line-up
Award-winning indie developers Mike Bithell and Dan Pinchbeck will both be speaking at Interface this May. Mike Bithell is the multi-talented developer behind Thomas Was Alone and last year’s Volume. His talk, entitled: ’10 sure fire ways to maybe do interesting stuff that could work, possibly’, will offer tips he …
Read More »Analyst expects Sony ‘to utterly dominate the rest of the console cycle’
The announcement of a 350 RRP for PlayStation VR could mark the game over point in the next-gen console battle. That’s according to Macquarie Securities analyst Ben Schachter, who told VG247 that without a significant intervention from Microsoft, PS4 could now run away with the market. A big open question …
Read More »Oculus names and prices 30-strong launch line-up
30 games will launch alongside the Oculus Rift later this month. Perhaps the biggest surprise are the prices, many of which are cheaper than you might have expected for titles that you’d think took some pretty hefty development to get up to scratch. At the pricier end there’s Elite Dangerous …
Read More »How best to make an eSport – "don’t," say the ex-pros
According to eSports professionals at GDC, the best way to make an eSports game is to not make an eSports game – it’s actually more about building strong communities and reacting to the feedback they supply. While ‘don’t build an eSports game’ might not seem like particularly helpful advice, you …
Read More »The Division outsells Zelda Twilight Princess in Japan
Ubisoft’s record-breaking shooter can’t be stopped. Hot on the heels of becoming the fastest selling new IP ever – a crown stolen from Activision’s Destiny – The Division has now claimed another quite remarkable achievement. Famitsu’s weekly sales data for the week ending March 13th names the PS4 version of …
Read More »Sony ‘happy’ to consider PSN Xbox Live cross-platform play
PlayStation-Xbox cross-platform multiplayer may be closer to becoming a reality. In a statement provided to GameSpot, Sony has said that would be happy to speak to companies interested in cross-platform play, and also pointed out that it has been enabling cross-platform play since 2002’s Final Fantasy XI. This follows ID@Xbox …
Read More »Lawyer’s perspective: A legal evaluation of Riot’s new competitive penalty policy
European esports lawyersPete LewinandJas PurewalfromPurewal & Partnersbreak down Riot’s new standardised penalties in competitive League of Legends. Last November Riot became the first esports league operator to implementminimum contractual requirementsfor their top teams and players. This week, Riot made another huge play with theannouncementthat it is standardising the penalties for …
Read More »Amazon has sold through its initial PlayStation VR launch allocation
PlayStation VR is off to a great start on Amazon. The online giant opened pre-orders for the headset at 11am this morning. Now it is saying that its initial launch allocation was accounted for in just 45 minutes. Due to limited stock we are only able to offer one unit …
Read More »Esports pros on why women’s tournaments are needed, but not forever
"My goal is to get rid of these female tournaments altogether," says Stephanie Harvey, a five-time world champion in Counter-Strike. "The goal is to compete against each other and be one of the first competitive environments that doesn’t care about gender." During a talk at GDC, Harvey and Morgan Romine, …
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