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

The PS4 Slim has gone on sale weeks before it was due to be announced after stock was secured from abroad, senior sources have told MCV. Stock of the new model came from the UAE, which was holding units of the updated hardware ahead of its expected reveal next week. …

The biggest CoD event of the year is here, but Millenium will be without their star player as Callum "Swanny" Swan has not travelled to LA. The news came just hours before the competition is due to start, with the team confirming that Swanny will not be playing this weekend. …

Vive maker HTC has invested in a start-up virtual reality developer formed by ex-members of major film and games firms. Steel Wool Studios was founded by veterans from Pixar, Lucasfilm and Telltale Games and launched its first VR titles, Quar: Battle for Gate 18, alongside the Vive back in April. …

Steel Wool launched debut title Quar: Battle for Gate 18 alongside Vive headset in April

This week, we unveil Team17’s plans for the future after the UK label has secured a 16.5m investment deal and acquired The Escapists franchise. We also discuss Endemol’s new London-based developer and publisher Good Catch with MD Anil Mistry. Elsewhere, EA’s CMO Chris Bruzzo talks about how the publisher is …

Private equity firm Lloyds Development Capital has invested 16.5m in Team17. The UK label has already spent some of the finance by acquiring The Escapists franchise and its developer Mouldy Toof Studios. The Escapists (and a Walking Dead-based spin-off) was released last year with the help of Team17, shifting 1.8m …

A patent dispute has ended up with BT taking Steam owner Valve to court. Kotaku reports that the lawsuit argues that Steam offers a broad range of products and services which incorporate technologies invented by BT” that include inter alia, Valve’s Steam Library, Valve’s Steam Chat, Valve’s Steam Messaging, and …

Audio designers, firms and educational partners required to pass Wwise-101 to be listed in the Creators Directory

Subscription tier will be maintained, with paying users granted uninhibited skill progression and faster levelling-up

BulkyPix, the mobile publisher behind Pix’n Love Rush, Bardbarian andPenumbear, has begun liquidation. The company, which was founded seven years ago by former Vivendi staffers, declared bankruptcy at the end of March, saying it would seek out a potential buyer to save it – a search that was ultimately fruitless. …