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

What will probably be the most transformative update yet for Blizzard’s Hearthstone finally has a release date. The Grand Tournament’s 132 cards will be available to buy and play next week, on August 24th. This will also be the day that those who pre-ordered the 50 Pack bundle will finally …

Splatoonhas legitimately become eSports, as Tokaigi Game Show has revealed a major tournament series in Japan. The tournament will also be for Puzzle and Dragons, and will have over $ 1 million in prize money. Eight cities will hold 40 events, in Fukuoka, Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, Miyagi, Hiroshima, Kagawa, and …

Website established by ex-Irrational VP and PC Zone publisher

The shockwaves of Kory "Semphis" Friesen’s innocuous doping confession are still shuddering their way through the eSports industry this week. ESL spokesperson Anna Rozwandowicz confirmed that the league – which hosted the Katowice tournament Friesen allegedly took Adderall at in March – would be deferring to the World Anti Doping …

Clint Hocking isn’t the only high-profile member of Amazon Game Studios to leave the developer. It was reported yesterday that Hocking, who joined the then growing studio alongside Portal lead Kim Swift in April 2014, has now left the company. GameSpot reports that two other big names have also exited …

SMITE, the free-to-play mythology-themed MOBA from Hi-Rez Studios, has launched on Xbox One. During the game’s alpha and beta testing, there were over one million unique players, and now newcomers can jump into the fray. Read more at VG24/7 >>>

Nearly 100 per cent of sales coming from Japan alone

Popular mobile match-3 title Frozen Free Fall: Snowball Fight is releasing as a free-to-play title on Xbox One. The Xbox store says it will be released next week on August 25th. Like the mobile game, it will also support in-app purchases to aid player progression through its 195 levels. New …

Aging digital rights management software such as SafeDisc and Securom isn’t compatible with Windows 10, meaning many old disc-based games are incompatible. Everything that ran in Windows 7 should also run in Windows 10,” Microsoft’s Boris Schneider-Johne explained in a German Gamescom video translated by Rock Paper Shotgun. There are …

Tech set for commercial launch in 2016