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

Digital is thriving in Israel, with few specialist retail outlets present. Games are primarily sold either by very small independent retailers or general stores. This is due to the ease of accessing download services such as Steam. This has, in turn, led to a dearth of distribution firms, with just …

Nintendo has confirmed that there will be a Splatoon and Wii U hardware bundle in the PAL regions. The platform holder announced this on Twitter yesterday, and said that the bundle would be launching on June 19th. This is three weeks after Splatoon’s launch in the Wii U. In Australia …

The PS4 and Xbox One are set for a royal rumble this year, as iconic fighting game franchises make a return on the new systems. MCV prepares to do battle The next 12 months see a number of fighting game champions return to the arena – including big-hitters such as …

The social games sector saw a significant and potentially foreboding dip in revenue last month, according to a new report from digital-focused analyst Superdata. Games Industry reports on the research firm’s findings for the month of March 2015, which is summarized with the subtitle "Doom and gloom for social games …

A special edition of Klei Entertainment’s popular survival game Don’t Starve is heading to Wii U next month. The developer states Don’t Starve: Giant Edition will launch on Nintendo’s hardware with a 2-for-1 promotion providing an extra copy for customers to give to a friend. Meanwhile, the game’s standalone multiplayer …

Mad Catz isn’t just working on peripherals for Harmonix’s rhythm game revival Rock Band 4, with the peripheral maker announcing it has joined the studio as the game’s co-publisher. The pair had already struck a deal for Mad Catz to manufacture official peripherals for the title, and now Mad Catz …

Industry veteran Phil Harrison has revealed the first details of his plans following his departure from Microsoft. First rumoured during GDC, it wasconfirmed last week that Harrison had in fact left the platform holderafter three years. Now the exec is forming his own company, named Alloy Platform Industries, which will …

Another one of this year’s big PC games releases will not be available physically, it has emerged. ShopTo has revealed that the standard edition of Ubisoft’s upcoming shooter Rainbox Six Siege will not be released on disc in the UK. The Collector’s Edition, which comes complete with a guide book, …

Alloy Platform Industries will “stay in stealth mode” but former Microsoft exec has been planning “for over a year”

A slew of newcomers to the MOBA genre will do little to disrupt League of Legends’ dominance of the sector. That’s according to EEDAR analyst Ed Zhao, who claims on Gamasutra that Riot’s title will continue to command the lion’s share of the MOBA audience through the next 18 months …