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

Online shooter Call of Duty: Black Ops III has become the latest premium title to offer in-game upgrades for cash. This follows yesterday’s news that fellow Activision title Destiny has done a similar thing. Starting some time this week, Black Ops III will start allowing players to obtain the game’s …

Two veterans of the Metal Gear series have joined Hideo Kojima’s new studio. Artist Yoji Shinkawa and producer Ken Imaizumi have both joined up with their former boss, who told IGN that Kojima Productions may move beyond the confines of merely games. "I’m thinking smaller-scale, not too many people, and …

Ubisoft has registered a domain name with the title Assassin’s Creed Collection, suggesting a new compilation could be in the works for the series. Shacknews reports the company registered the name late last week, though the domain remains dormant to this point. Assassin’s Creed: The Americas Collection and Assassin’s Creed …

Mobile game firm Social Game Network has purchased indie studios Fat Rascal Games and Kiwi Inc. The Los Angeles Timesreports the acquisitions were made using an unspecified portion of the $130m the company received in a recent funding round from Korean investment group Netmarble. SGN has opened offices local to …

Five Nights at Freddy’s creator Scott Cawthon has announced a novel based on the hit horror series will arrive next week. In a post on the franchise’sSteam forums, Cawthon revealed Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Untold Story will release on Amazon Kindle first, with a physical release to come after. …

Last Thursday, retired NBA player Shaquille O’Neal stepped onto The Game Awards stage in San Francisco to present an award and reveal a surprise:the name and logoof Turner Sports andWME | IMG‘s much-anticipated newesportsleague. NamedELEAGUE, there has been a lot of hype surrounding it since it wasfirst announcedon Sept. 23, …

Pokemon and Tekken crossover Pokken Tournament now has a release date in Japan. The Wii U brawler will arrive on March 18th. One can hopefully presume that a Western release will follow not too long after that. It is currently scheduled simply for ‘spring’. Also announced is a Wii U …

New mid-core studio hires talent from King, Rovio, DICE, Unity, Zynga and more

Send in your nominations for our random of the hottest young talent before Wednesday, December 23rd

The Witcher III notched up 6m sales in just six weeks following its launch earlier this year. We speak to the game’s Senior Executive Producer John Mamais