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

What makes a good game? Is it possible to quantify what ‘good’ means? No it’s not, Randy Pitchford argues. You may not like Aliens: Colonial Marines, but he certainly does. Speaking to Eurogamer, Pitchford produced an email from a fan. "I really enjoyed AC:M, my all-time favourite game," it said. …

Harbottle & Lewis associateKostyantyn Lobov details the issues facing various areas of the industry as allegations of doping run rampant in the eSports space. Year after year, the march of eSports towards mainstream acceptance continues to gather momentum. However, with prize pools often now stretching into the millions and tournaments …

In the wake of ESL’s decision to implement drug testing at their next event, Gfinity has also begun working to combat the use of PEDs. Performance Enhancing Drugs, such as Adderall and Ritalin, are designed to improve focus and attention in sufferers of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Martin Wyatt, head …

Despite going on sale in April, we still don’t know how many Apple Watches have sold – and one analyst has said the silence is a sign of weakness. Apple yesterday reported nearly $11bn in profit for the quarter ending June but didn’t reveal any unit sales for the new …

Question marks hang over Mighty No.9’s September release date. Videogamer reports that retailers including Amazon, GameStop and Walmart have all changed their release date for the physical version of the game from September 2015 to 2016. When questioned, publisher Deep Silver chose not to comment on the news. Mighty No.9 …

Episodic game reaches milestone six months after launch

Auto Club Revolution developer Eutechnyx has lost more staff to its sister firm ZeroLight as the studio continues to restructure. ZeroLight is a company that specialises in 3D visualisation – primarily for the car industry, creating virtual showrooms to demonstrate cars to potential buyers. 22 new jobs have been created …

Polish studio working on UE4-powered game with Imgn.Pro

Riot has given one of League of Legends’ heroes a visual makeover, and its boards are alight with protests from fans. As the game’s roster evolves rapidly, it is quite normal for Riot to revisit existing Heroes and give them a rejig to keep them thematically consistent and competitive in …