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

Sam Barlow, the developer of critically acclaimed FMV-driven murder mystery Her Story, is to lend his expertise to an interactive movie studio. He joins Interlude as executive creative director, and will lead the creation of new experiences that utilise interactive video. Among Barlow’s first projects will be an original short …

Last month, UK game retailer GAMEannounced its latest expansioninto esports—the acquisition of SocialNAT, a Spanish esports organization dedicated to hosting online competitions and offline events. GAME’s expansion isn’t surprising, but the partnership with SocialNAT is, primarily because of a SocialNAT’s director’s criminal history, along with the company’s shady media penetration. …

Award-winning indie developers Mike Bithell and Dan Pinchbeck will both be speaking at Interface this May. Mike Bithell is the multi-talented developer behind Thomas Was Alone and last year’s Volume. His talk, entitled: ’10 sure fire ways to maybe do interesting stuff that could work, possibly’, will offer tips he …

The announcement of a 350 RRP for PlayStation VR could mark the game over point in the next-gen console battle. That’s according to Macquarie Securities analyst Ben Schachter, who told VG247 that without a significant intervention from Microsoft, PS4 could now run away with the market. A big open question …

30 games will launch alongside the Oculus Rift later this month. Perhaps the biggest surprise are the prices, many of which are cheaper than you might have expected for titles that you’d think took some pretty hefty development to get up to scratch. At the pricier end there’s Elite Dangerous …

According to eSports professionals at GDC, the best way to make an eSports game is to not make an eSports game – it’s actually more about building strong communities and reacting to the feedback they supply. While ‘don’t build an eSports game’ might not seem like particularly helpful advice, you …

Ubisoft’s record-breaking shooter can’t be stopped. Hot on the heels of becoming the fastest selling new IP ever – a crown stolen from Activision’s Destiny – The Division has now claimed another quite remarkable achievement. Famitsu’s weekly sales data for the week ending March 13th names the PS4 version of …

PlayStation-Xbox cross-platform multiplayer may be closer to becoming a reality. In a statement provided to GameSpot, Sony has said that would be happy to speak to companies interested in cross-platform play, and also pointed out that it has been enabling cross-platform play since 2002’s Final Fantasy XI. This follows ID@Xbox …

European esports lawyersPete LewinandJas PurewalfromPurewal & Partnersbreak down Riot’s new standardised penalties in competitive League of Legends. Last November Riot became the first esports league operator to implementminimum contractual requirementsfor their top teams and players. This week, Riot made another huge play with theannouncementthat it is standardising the penalties for …

Streaming platform Azubu will be the only place to watch certain ESL eSports coverage following the agreement of a two-year deal between the pair. The deal doesn’t grant exclusive streaming access to ESL events such as ESL One, IEM and the ESL Pro League (although Azubu will stream these), but …