MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry

Mobile games developer Gram Games is opening a new studio in London. The firm’s new outfit will create ‘midcore’ titles, the sort of games that sit between hardcore products and more casual fare. Gram Games is best known for making casual puzzle games, such as Merged! and, most recently, Six!. …

AEG, the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company, and ESL have formed a long term partnership to broaden the reach of esports around the world. The partnership will allow ESL to use AEG’s venues, which includes the likes of the Barclays Center, The O2 Arena, and Oakland’s Oracle Arena. …

PlayStation’s No Man’s Sky rescued August and was by far the best-selling game of the month in the UK. The GfK data, which only counts physical boxed sales, shows that No Man’s Sky beat its nearest rival by more than 100,000 units. The No.2 game of the month was F1 …

Having been on the go for over a decade, Blizzard’s pioneering MMO World of Warcraft is still capable of delivering the goods. The developer has revealed that the game’s latest expansion, Legion, had by its official launch on August 30th sold 3.3m units, matching the previous best expansion in the …

Brexit has ‘definitely caused issues’, says Sega’s European boss Jurgen Post. Sega is a major investor in Britain. It owns three UK studios and its European operations are based here. Post says the major concern is with its high number of European staff, and whether it will be able to …

Mobile creator currently looking to hire experts in mid-core development

British consumers believe that in-app purchases reduce the enjoyment of games. However, the latest data from Ipsos Connect’s GameTrack survey also shows that gamers believe that the free-to-play model is a ‘good’ thing, because it allows people to sample a wide variety of products. 48 per cent of British consumers …

Has Xbox One finally turned the tide against PS4 in the North American market? It’s far too early to say, and there are all sorts of factors at play, but NPD numbers have shown that Microsoft’s console outsold its rival for the second successive month in August. Previous to these …

Buzz developer closed in August after 13 years

Mario’s iOS debut has come at a price. Nintendo has confirmed that both Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem, both of which were due to debut on smartphones before the end of the year, will now not be released until next year. Said the company: "After the launch of Super Mario …