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

As monetising free-to-play games grows ever more complex, Develop takes a look at the role of data, brands and ads in generating revenue

The CEO of Ubisoft has vowed that the company will remain independent. Both Ubisoft and Gameloft were last week subject of investment by former Activision owner Vivendi, which now owns 6.6 per cent of the Assassin’s Creed publisher. In an internal email obtained by Games Industry, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot …

If virtual reality is going to change the world of video games, then it will need the High Street. That’s according to UK retailer GAME, which is wary but hopeful about the new technology from PlayStation, Oculus, HTC and Samsung. CEO Martyn Gibbs tells MCV that in order for VR …

YouTube has launched its new premium offering, YouTube Red. The $9.99-a-month subscription allows viewers to watch YouTube videos without adverts, combatting the need for third-party plugins such as Adblocker. Subscribers will also be able to download and save videos to watch offline on their mobile devices – another long-requested feature …

The Finnish studio behind mobile hit Angry Birds has let 213 staff go in a new round of job losses. Rovio’s latest batch of cuts began with discussions in August, with original estimates suggesting up to 260 employees could be lost in light of an ongoing restructuring process. The 213 …

The PlayStation 4 edition of Fallout 4 will include some form of support for Remote Play on PS Vita, Bethesda has revealed. The company took toTwitterto show the game being streamed on Sony’s handheld, praising the tweaked control scheme implemented by designer Josh Hamrick. Hamrick is responsible for the Remote …

Market intelligence services group Ico Partner’s Thomas Bidaux has published new data which shows Star Citizen’s funding outpaced all successful video game Kickstarters combined in 2014. Gamasutra reports on Bidaux’s chart (posted below). It tallies nearly $33m earned by Star Citizen’s crowdfunding efforts last year, while Kickstarter projects combined for …

Free-to-play mobile release Lara Croft: Relic Run has exceeded 10m downloads, Square Enix has announced. The company revealed the milestone was reached across Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms – and less than six months out from its launch back in May. Square Enix is celebrating with a new content …

Series creator Yu Suzuki has said that he can’t promise 60fps performance in Shenmue 3, although he seems he can guarantee that its female characters will be sexually attractive. For the moment, I’m thinking about 30 frames per second,” he told DualShockers when asked about the game’s PS4 framerate. 60 …

Firefly, Serenity, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6 and Star Wars: Rogue One star Alan Tudyk has revealed he walked away from a role in Uncharted 4. He told IGN was actively working on the title prior to the changes in 2014 that saw Amy Hennig leave developer Naughty Dog, the …