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

Shaquille O’Neal, the former NBA superstar, has become the latest American sports celebrity to put their money into their electronic counterparts. Joined by baseball players Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez and Jimmy Rollins, the three were part of last week’s financial round for eSports team NRG. NRG fields a League of Legends …

Hoyts Cinemas have joined as an official sponsor of the Oceanic Pro League in Oceania and will act as the official viewing party partner for all major League of Legends esports events during 2016. Damian Keogh, HOYTS Group CEO said, HOYTS are excited to partner with League of Legends esports …

When the history books of esports are written, they will refer with reverence to the Roman Empire of gaming that was StarCraft. Released in 1998, the original StarCraft developed an unprecedented following in South Korea, where, for over a decade, complex leagues with ever-burgeoning prize pools increased the game’s profile …

Blizzard is investigating accusations of large-scale cheating in China’sHearthstonecommunity, both on the in-game ladder and in offline tournaments. The allegations, brought to light by senior members of the ChineseHearthstonecommunity and published last week byGosuGamers, claimed that over a dozen top Chinese players were involved, including TongFu’s "FengFengFeng" and five members …

Multiple freelance League of Legends casters have signed an open letter announcing their boycotting of the Mid-Season International over pay rates. Christopher MonteCristo” Mykles, Erik "DoA" Lonnquist, and Chris PapaSmithy” Smith were invited by Riot to cast the event, to take place in Shanghai this May, but turned down the …

FIFA publisher EA has announced that Laura Miele is joining its executive leadership team next month. The firm’s CEO Andrew Wilson announced Miele’s promotion in a blog post on its website, saying that her new role would be effective start Q1 2017 (April 1st). This is also when Peter Moore …

Digital game sales were up ten per cent year-on-year this February, reaching a total value of $6.2b (4.4bn). That’s according to research firm SuperData, which reports that digital console games saw the largest growth – 34 per cent year-on-year. Console also saw a 27 per cent growth in audience. New …

Chinese mobile games publisher Shanda Games is enjoying remarkable success from an unlikely source. The Legend of Mir Mobile is a port of 15 year-old Korean MMO The Legend of Mir 2. Tech In Asia reports that vice chair Zhu Xiaojing has said that the game is earning currently between …

James Batchelor asks Rovio's EVP of games Wilhelm Taht how the Angry Birds firm is recovering from multiple layoffs, returning to its entrepreneurial roots and adapting to the free-to-play world

As readers of MCV magazine will know, last month saw the introduction of a brand new section in which we ask THE burning question at the heart of the games industry. That question is this: Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses? We didn’t want you …