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

Industry veteran and Oculus VR chief tech officer John Carmack has explained the lengths he went to to secure a virtual reality version of Minecraft. The game was announced by Oculus for Gear VR last night. Minecraft was my quest, really, for the last year and a half,” Carmack told …

Sega has signed up as a partner for this year’s Games Media Awards. The publisher is sponsoring the Rising Star prize, which recognises the achievements of some of the newer gamers writers in the industry. Sega backed the category last year, too, which went to freelancer Kirk McKeand. Sega is …

As has long been rumoured, troubled smartphone manufacturer Blackberry is making the jump to Android. VentureBeat reports that the company has confirmed that it plans to launch a flagship handheld device that will run on the Android operating system with BlackBerry security”. The device itself is called Priv and stays …

Konami has said that it won’t be releasing a roster update for the recently released PES 2016 until October 29th. That means those who purchased the game on day one face a wait of around six weeks before the squads are updated to reflect the summer transfer activity. EA’s FIFA …

Develop teams up with analytics provider to explore the use of ads in free mobile games

FIFA 16 is favourite finish 2015 as the UK’s top selling game, according to Betway. EA’s football title currently has odds of 2/5, ahead of second place Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 at 7/2. Third favourite is Fallout 4 (8/1) followed by Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (9/1) and Halo 5: …

Ubisoft continues push towards diversity with latest entry in long-running series

Mobile tools due in November, while marketplace will expand to include Rift early next year

Rinse and Repeat is a game about taking a shower. Typically showers are taken when naked. And nudity is pretty much not allowed on Twitch. Rinse and Repeat is described as a ‘first person male showing game’. It’s made by developer Robert Yang and is unashamedly designed to explore homosexuality. …

Ubisoft is staying true to its promise of more diversification with the reveal of a transgender character starring in Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate. Eurogamer reports that the game will feature trans male Ned Wynert, who appears as a supporting character who offers quests to main protagonists Jacob and Evie Fry. The …