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

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has ruled that Valve’s Steam service breached Australian consumer law. A disagreement between Valve and the ACCC kicked off in 2014 when the Steam owner was sued over its lack of refund policy. Such a policy was eventually introduced last year, but that …

‘The market of hit-driven arcade games has become extremely competitive,’ explains head of studio

Tablets and smartphones may be played by millions of casual gamers, but up until now mobile devices haven’t really been seen as systems for enthusiast gamers. One app game, Vainglory, is changing that. It’s carved out its own competitive gaming scene, and earlier this month held its own championships at …

Developer Psyonix credits momentum on social media and launching through PlayStation Plus as reason for game’s success

If you haven’t heard of Jonathan Sutak, producer and director ofThe Foreigner, a new documentary about professionalStarCraft II(2010), you can take solace in knowing that you’ve probably seen some of his work. Not, mind you, the two independent dramas—UpThe River(2015), a romance, andDon’t Worry Baby(2015), a comedy—he’s produced; you haven’t …

The widespread stereotype of gamers as being predominantly male has been dealt yet another blow. A newreportfrom App Annie looking into the US audiences for mobile, PC and console during Q3 2015 found that iOS, Android and PC/Mac gamers were almost exactly evenly-split between male and female. The console demographic, …

Console skews to youngest audience, while PC reaches over 45s and mobile spans the widest age range

ESLis adding another parallel between traditional sports andesports: an esports hall of fame. The esports hall of fame, launched as a semi-autonomous entity from ESL itself, will be operated much like traditional sports halls. A panel of writers, commentators, coaches, analysts and other experts will vote on entrants to the …

Year Walk dev details unique control scheme for ball-rolling follow-up to Beat Sneak Bandit

Alice developer Spicy Horse is not, as rumours have claimed, closing down. Founder American McGee has confirmed, however, that jobs have been lost at the studio. He has also stated that it is moving away from the free-to-play sector. No,” he replied on Facebook when asked if the closure rumours …