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

Blizzard has signed a partnership with book publisher Random House to produce new novels for its World of Warcraft and Starcraft franchises. The deal is set to kickoff in March with the release of World of Warcraft: Illidan. The book will feature the titular demonic night elf Illidan Stormrage, and …

Crowdfunded sci-fi horror game Caffeine will launch this week on PC and current-gen consoles, developer Incandescent Imaging has revealed. The Unreal 4-powered game’s Steam page states it will release later today for Windows PC, with PS4 and Xbox One versions due out this week as well. Caffeinewill arrive as an …

Valve’s own Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has climbed to the top of the heap on Steam’s latest weekly best-selling products chart. The eSports hit beat out 2015 chart regulars Grand Theft Auto V and Ark: Survival Evolved – finishing in second and third, respectively. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain …

Led Zeppelin waited 27, Pink Floyd held on for 24 and Blur took 16: in comparison to rock and roll reunions, the five-year gap since the last Rock Band game seems like a flash. But in the world of games, it’s been an age. There’s certainly a group of people …

Strategy title World on Conflict has, temporarily at least, been saved from the brink. Sadly, all great things must come to an end and this is true even for World in Conflict. It is with sadness that we now inform you that all online services for World in Conflict will …

Former Hollywood specialist Karolis Mikalauskas reflects on his first experience of video game development

The WRC Championship, a new eSports racing tournament co-organised by ESL, will run alongside the FIA World Rally Championship during its 2016 season. After the worldwide launch of WRC 5 this October 9-16th, players will have three months to get up to speed with the game before the first stages …

London-headquartered eSports organisation Fnatic have announced a new partnership with Asian betting and poker site Dafabet. The deal, which sees Dafabet become headline sponsor for all of Fnatic’s eSports teams, also provides content and promotion of the gambling site’s upcoming editorial portal for eSports. Dafabet currently sponsors several Premier League …

Ella Romanos details eight ways to go about getting a grant for your studio

If you want to know how to maximise your opportunity at retail this Q4, MCV’s 12 Games of Christmas has the answer. Returning after a successful debut last year, the 12 Games of Christmas supplement will be published alongside the November 13th issue of MCV and available via the website. …