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

FarmVille firm continues to redefine its business with licensed games

The CEO of Twitch has given more details on the site’s recent overhaul of its audio copyright laws. Answering questions in a Reddit AmA, Emmett Shear responded to queries surrounding the introduction of technology that will scan streamed videos for copyrighted audio and mute flagged videos for half an hour. …

The writer of the movie adaptation of The Last of Us has told MCV that the film has required dramatic rewrites of some of the game’s storyline. In two hours you can’t tell the same kind of story that you can in a game like The Last of Us, which …

Gamescom has firmly established itself as a major date in the games industry calendar. And not just for the console giants, but eSports firms, mobile specialists and online games giants, too. We speak to Dr. Maximilian Schenk, MD of Gamescom co-organiser BIU, to discuss the future of the world’s biggest …

New VAT laws next year will have a major impact on online games businesses. Ahead of a conference on the situation, Robert Hammerl and Matthias Luther of VAT specialist KMLZ explains what the changes mean for the UK At this year’s Gamescom congress, BIU – the German Entertainment Software Association, …

How To Train Your Dragon 2 was the only new game to make the UK Chart-Track Retail Top 50 last month. As a result, the best-selling games of July were Watch Dogs at No.1 (released in May), Sniper Elite III at No.2 (released in June) and FIFA 14 at No.3 …

Long-running BioWare exec taking on new challenges

Disney Interactive has announced its financial results for Q3 2014, revealing a significant increase in revenue thanks to Disney Infinity sales. Revenue for Disney’s gaming division was up 45 per cent compared to the same period last year, swelling to $266m. Operating income has also recovered from a $58m loss …

Nexon has announced a new deal with Valve to produce Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies, a free-to-play spinoff of the series featuring various undead enemies. Eurogamer reports the game will offer a standard campaign against the zombie horde, as well as modes including Bomb Diffusion and Hostage Rescue. Valve and Nexon had …

Mass Effect executive producer Casey Hudson will leave BioWare after 16 years to take on a new stage” of his career, the company has announced. Studio general manager Aaryn Flynn posted the news earlier today on BioWare’s blog, including a portion of Hudson’s memo to company employees: "After what already …