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

Catching up with Unity CEO John Riccitiello, co-founder Nicholas Francis and former creative director Charles Hinshaw, Develop discusses the merits of making game engines and tools available to all and the potential problems it causes

Latest issue – out now – explores VR, voice acting, the democratisation of games development and more

Studio hopes to double number of staff

It may be a surprise to hear that one of the most recognisable names in Hearthstone has never actually won a tournament. Until now. Jeffrey ‘Trump’ Shih this weekend won the HTC Recharged tournament, beating the likes of Cloud9’s Jan ‘Ekop’ Palys and CompLexity’s David ‘Dog’ Caero in the process. …

Erin Roberts takes on extra duties following Alex Mayberry's departure

Media firm Future has acquired London-based internet and advertising providing Net Communities. Net Communities clients include Polygon-owner Vox Media as well as TNW, Anandtech, Digital Trends and Tom’s Hardware. It also runs a number of B2B tech sites including ITProportal, ITReviews and ITWhitePapers. It has a monthly audience of around …

Sony appears to have accidentally leaked the PlayStation 4 release date of Thatgamecompany’s 2012 release, Journey. According to Sony’sDocs for PlayStationwebsite, Journey is expected out on July 21stfor PS4. The listing also includes the game’s digital manual and guides, along with a mention that the edition has been in beta …

Star Citizen executive producer Alex Mayberry has quit his position at Cloud Imperium Games, with multiple reports stating the departure is for personal reasons. Games Beatreports Cloud Imperium founder Chris Roberts’ brother Erin Roberts will be tasked with Mayberry’s workload – including the general handling of Star Citizen’s production. Mayberryjoined …

Ark: Survival Evolved continues its dominance of Steam’s top ten sellers chart, beating out GTA V again during the past week. The two titles have been cemented in their respective positions on the list for more than a month now, with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt …

The total prize pool for Hi-Rez Studios’ Smite World Championships has been capped at $1m, according to President Stewart Chisam. The $1m limitation is less than half of the total from this year’s SWC – which awarded $2.6m in prize money to eight top teams in January – and also …