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

‘There is a range of motives here from blatant commercial ventures to enthusiastic fans but the negative impact on game resources is the same’

Games clothing firm Insert Coin has rebranded itself in a bid to be seen as more than just a ‘merchandise site’. The firm has a strong reputation in the games business for its video game-inspired range of apparel. It now wants to be viewed more as a fashion brand. We’ve …

Blizzard’s online multiplayer shooter Overwatch has racked up another impressive milestone. The game has now passed 15m players worldwide. This isn’t quite the same as 15m sales, as some players will be accessing the game from the same machine as others, although nonetheless it remains an impressive achievement. The game …

Licence for tech powering Vive headset on offer royalty-free to those who complete a training programme

New outfit headed up by former EA director Bruce Heather, also focusing on AI

‘Virtual reality’s next wave will be defined by native gameplay driven by immersive story and inventive mechanics, with photo-realistic visuals’

Developer Niantic has delved deeper into the reasons behind its decision to put a block on third party Pokemon tracking sites. The shutdown came into effect earlier in the week, with Niantic previously claiming that such services were interfering with our ability to maintain quality of service for our users”. …

Blizzard will host the first ever Overwatch World Cup at Blizzcon, where the best players in the world will play for their home nation in a battle for national pride. The exhibition tournament will see players come together to form national teams and compete in online qualifiers, with the top …

Microsoft’s Xbox One S officially arrived in the UK this week, but tracking one down can currently be quite a challenge. The 2TB version is out of stock at the likes of Amazon, GAME, ShopTo and GameStop. And as a result prices on sites like eBay have rocketed. The machine …

Owlchemy Labs, the developer behind early VR hit Job Simulator, has raised $5 in Series A investment funding. Among the studio’s backers are Vive maker HTC and virtual reality organisation The VR Fund, as well as Colopl Next, Capital Factory and other tech investors. Owlchemysaidit would use the money to …