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

The finalists for the 2015 Develop Industry Excellence Awards have been selected, with close to 140 companies competing for glory at this year’s event. 2015 has been one of the strongest years for submissions, with more than 250 companies nominated, but sadly not everyone can make the shortlist. There are …

Former Microsoft exec Rahul Sood’s new company Unikrn is an eSports betting platform. Unikrn has partnered up with Australian wagering firm Tabcorp – specifically its Luxbet platform – to allow gamers to place bets on eSports games. The company says that fans will only be able to place bets in …

137 companies and 47 games in the running for this year’s awards, winners to be announced on July 15th in Brighton

UK eSports firm Gfinity and digital games retailer Green Man Gaming have penned a deal surrounding the former’s upcoming pro-gaming tournament. Under the new partnership – the second-such collaboration in as many weeks for Gfinity, following its two-year hookup with The Sun owner News UK – Green Man Gaming will …

Live-streaming platform DingIt.tv has secured $1.5m in seed funding. This has been raised by London-based investment firm Black Green Capital. DingIt launched in beta last October. The platform says it will be using this new wave of investment to get more broadcasters and advertisers on board. In addition, Black Green …

The unstoppable crowdfunding force that is Star Citizen has surpassed $80m in funding. Roberts Space Industries funding page shows the in development PC and Linux game is approaching $80.5m at time of publication – the latest milestone was reached thanks to a recent sale on ships and other in-game items. …

Controversial shooter Hatred will launch on Steam this June, developer Destructive Creations has announced. The ultra-violent Windows PC game will arrive via Valve’s platform on June 1st. It’s set to become the first Adults Only-rated title available on the digital storefront. Hatred made news last December when Valve banned and …

The company behind micro-console Ouya is up for sale, according to a report citing a confidential email from CEO Julie Uhrman. Fortune sources claim to have obtained an internal company email where Uhrman states that investment bank Mesa Global has been brought on to manage the sale, with the firm’s …

ESL and ESEA, the largest North American Counter-Strike: Global Offensive league provider, are working together on a league with a prize pool of $1million. The ESL ESEA Pro League, set to begin on May 4, will consist of multi-month seasons punctuated by a Valve-sponsored Major title. This year there will …

The UK’s only dedicated 3D channel is to be closed. Sky 3D was launched back in 2010 ahead of what the entertainment industry was presenting as an expected boom in 3D TV uptake. Now the channel is to be scrapped completely with all remaining 3D content to be shoved onto …