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

Blizzard will give its free-to-play card battler Hearthstone a big push with a TV ad that will air during the NBA and NHL finals in the US. The 30-second short takes a light-hearted approach to the title, showing off little in the way of gameplay and instead showing a fictional …

A new attraction in London will allow children to create their own animated Pokmon movies. The Pokmon Animation Studio will be part of KidZania, a 75,000-sq-ft ‘child-sized city’ opening in Westfield on June 25th. The Studio is currently slated for opening later in 2015. Located on the first floor of …

Gamefly has announced the launch of its new streaming service, which is backed by its recent acquisition of Israel-based cloud gaming platform Playcast. "We’re excited to offer the GameFly streaming service worldwide with Playcast’s market ready and scalable technology," Gamefly CEO David Hodess said. "This represents the perfect evolution of …

DC Comics-themed MOBA Infinite Crisis will shut down just two months following official launch, publisher Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment has announced. An update on the game’s Steam page confirms work on the free-to-play game will cease immediately at developer Turbine, and servers will go offline for good on August 14th. …

Valve has announced Steam will begin offering refunds for nearly any purchase made on the digital distribution service. A new page on Steam’s website details the new policy, which states users will receive refunds requested within two weeks of purchase – provided a few usage milestones haven’t been crossed. "You …

Bandai Namco will later this month announce that developer From Software is working on Dark Souls 3. That’s according to VG247, which says that From boss Hidetaka Miyazaki – who led development of the first game but not Dark Souls 2 – will be back in charge for this third …

Over two years of speculation looks as if it will come to a head tomorrow with the teased confirmation of Fallout 4. A Bethesda website is currently counting down until 3pm tomorrow (June 3rd), complete with a familiar animated Fallout-themed backdrop. Just check the URL in case there’s any doubt. …

Japanese telecoms firm Softbank has upped its stake in Clash of Clans developer Supercell by 22.7 per cent to 73.2 per cent. The Japanese telecoms giant bought shares held by existing external investors, including Accel Partners, which has sold all of its remaining stock in the firm. Supercell CEO Ilkka …

Console giant firmly denies rumours

Games retail superpower GameStop has broadened its reach with the acquisition of Geeknet. GameStop has acquired all of the ThinkGeek owner’s common stock for $20 per share. As recently as May 22nd it was trading at $7.90 per share, but had in recent days shot up to just under $20. …