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

UK games charity Into Games has today opened applications for IG50 2026, its annual programme that recognises 50 of the most talented yet-to-be-hired people in UK games from working-class and low-income backgrounds. The announcement comes as Ubisoft joins as the headline sponsor and as Into Games confirms that 11 winners from the previous 2025 cohort have been placed in paid roles in the UK games industry through its Boost placement programme.

TIGA, the trade association representing the UK video games industry, has today published its latest Skills, Training and Education in the Games Industry 2026 report. The findings show that while the sector benefits from a strong pipeline of skilled graduates and a largely proficient workforce, skills shortages persist, particularly in specialist and emerging roles.

 NC America officially confirmed today that AION 2, the action-packed, open-world MMORPG, will arrive later this year on Steam and PURPLE platforms. Featuring flight as a signature experience, players can fly freely across a world 36 times larger than the original AION, dive underwater, and engage in aerial combat in PvE and PvP gameplay.

Global mobile publisher SayGames and Vietnamese game developer Doors Studio have announced a partnership to launch the midcore game BagMaster Isekai - the debut title from the studio. This partnership marks SayGames’ first collaboration with a Vietnam-based studio, expanding the company’s global partner ecosystem into one of the fastest-growing game development regions.

Green Man Gaming is proud to announce the launch of its new software charity bundles, a major expansion of its bundles platform offering productivity, creative and game development tools to create a career starter kit for the gaming community. The new software bundles are designed to give gamers, students and aspiring creators access to the tools that support learning, building and creating, spanning productivity software, digital art tools and game development resources. 

Games for Change and Tencent have joined forces to back Raising Good Gamers, a global initiative designed to help parents and caregivers better understand video games and support healthier play. In a new episode of the Good Game Club podcast, Susanna Pollack, President of Games for Change and Danny Marti, Head of Public Affairs at Tencent explore how the public conversation around games, children and wellbeing can move beyond fear and towards understanding.

By Artem Shkafenko – Head of Marketing at Upscale Studio. If you ask any indie developer about their marketing strategy, you will likely hear the same formula: Twitter/TikTok -> Steam Page -> Wishlists -> Next Fest -> Popular Upcoming. Steam has trained developers to value the wishlists as the ultimate …

Games for Change, in partnership with Tencent Games, today announced the launch of a new programme that builds on the Raising Good Gamers initiative, designed to help families engage more confidently with the role video games play in young people’s lives. With 3.3 billion people playing video games worldwide, video gaming is now a central part of everyday life - reinforcing the need for more informed, evidence‑based and balanced dialogue around play.

ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), the leading esports and video game entertainment company, today announced a strategic partnership with KICK, the community-driven livestreaming platform. This collaboration marks an evolution in EFG’s distribution strategy, moving beyond traditional broadcasting to foster long-term audience growth and platform diversification.

CodeDev (popularly known as “The Unreal Guys”), the specialist Unreal Engine co-development studio, today announced the appointment of industry adept Andy Norman as Chief Operating Officer (COO), as they aim to triple headcount in 2026.