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

A key challenge posed by VR for game developers – and for testing labs – is ensuring that ‘presence’ is delivered for the end user. And of course, ensuring health and safety issues are addressed. Julian Mower, head of Testronic’s new VR Testing Lab offers his thoughts

Nearly two years on from the last we heard of it, Grasshopper Manufacture has confirmed that PS4 exclusive Let It Die is still in development. The free-to-play title, which will be funded by microtransactions, is on track for a release in 2016. Players will compete against AI opponents whose behaviour …

The troubled launch of the Oculus Rift VR headset shows no sign of improving. Polygon reports that a number of customers have now been informed that their pre-orders have been pushed back significantly, in some cases to as far away as June – that’s three months after the headset’s official …

Dark Souls III hits shelves today for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. It is surrounded by a fair amount of hype, expectation and related merchandise, including a 300 Prestige Edition and much more affordable products such as mugs and comic books. These items should be popular as the Dark …

Following a record-breaking Gamescom 2015, MCV speaks to the event’s project manager Tim Endres about what we can expect from this year’s Cologne-based trade show. This is the eighth Gamescom. How would you evaluate the show’s performance so far?Gamescom is a real success story. Since taking place in Cologne in …

New outfit will focus on augmented reality projects

HTC Vive launch title Budget Cuts is one of virtual reality’s most versatile experiences yet, requiring players to shoot, throw, duck and crawl in order to sneak past an army of murderous robots. Develop caught up with Neat Corp’s Joachim Holmér to ask why he threw virtual knives at a wall for a day and find out why stealth is the perfect fit for VR

A new survey has fortified the perception of a growing saturation of games on Steam. According to EEDAR, nearly 3,500 retail and digital titles came to Steam in 2015 – more than twice the 1,500 launched in 2014. This was itself nearly triple the roughly 500 titles released in 2013, …

A US senator has issued an open letter to Oculus over concerns over the information it is collecting about its users. The concerns were first outlined by UploadVR. It noted that all Oculus games must be loaded via the company’s own software, and that in turn is linked to a …