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

MCV publisher Michael French is to leave his post on September 18th for a new role with UKIE and Film London. He’ll lead a major new initiative, backed by the Mayor’s Office, designed to promote London as a world-leading games destination. French has worked at NewBay Media (formerly Intent Media) …

Fig has announced a new partnership with Harmonix, with the developer planning to bring an unannounced title to the crowdfunding platform later this year. Harmonix CCO Alex Rigopulos will join the company’s advisory board as part of the deal – currently run by former Double Fine COO and Fig founder …

Six Steam games released in 2015 have sold over 1m copies, while another six have exceeded the 500,000 sales mark. Based onSteam Spy’snumbers, Grand Theft Auto V for PC, Rocket League for PC, Ark: Survival Evolved, H1Z1, Cities: Skylines and Besiege have each sold in excess of 1m units on …

Over 1,500 Blizzard related video games items are to find a new home in American museum The Strong in Rochester, New York. The collection has been donated by former Blizzard Entertainment COO Paul Sams and spans items from franchises such as Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo that have been collected over …

The BBC has released the first trailer for its upcoming drama based on the development of Grand Theft Auto. In it we see Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Rockstar president Sam Houser, and Bill Paxton, who plays controversial lawyer and outspoken GTA critic Jack Thompson. The show itself …

Former business development director takes on newly-formed role of chief revenue officer

Online merchandise ThinkGeek is to open its first physical store. Owner GameStop, which acquired ThinkGeek owner Geeknet in June, has announced plans to open the its first branded physical store in Florida on September 25th. More are planned, too, with each boasting what is described as a ‘modern, bright, open …

Hollywood star-cum-tech investor Ashton Kutcher is the latest high profile investor to back international eSports gambling startup Unikrn. The company’s current round of Series A funding opened on June 30 and has already attracted other well-known investors including Mark Cuban of ABC’s Dragons’ Den-style show, The Shark Tank. It is …

Bandai Namco has said that its free-to-play fighting game SoulCalibur: Lost Swords will be shut down later this year. Eurogamer reports that the servers for the PS3 title will be shut down on November 30th, just a year and a half after the game was first launched. Sales of Continue …

Rocksteady’s Nick Arundel and Avengers conductor Allan Wilson to speak at September 15th event