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

The games industry has a new key minister of state. Margot James has been appointed as Minister for Digital and Creative Industries, following a wider government reshuffle. James previously was Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy for two years. …

Christmas 2017 was undoubtedly a happier period than last year. GAME today reported that its GTV figure (Gross Transaction Value) over the peak trading period (1st November to 6th of January) was up by 2.9 per cent. Something it attributed to a stronger hardware lineup and superior games. Martyn Gibbs, …

Figures from Ico Partners have shown that the video games crowdfunding market has dipped by less than two per cent in 2017. Ico’s chief Thomas Bidaux has said that the firms estimates point to around $25m being raised by video game crowdfunding in 2018 in a piece for PCGamesInsider.biz, with …

Playtime with Pantosaurus, features four minigames to help protect kids

Bandai Namco will celebrate the launch of its upcoming fighting game with a public event at Chelsea’s stadium in West London. The date is set for the 26th of January and the event will run from 12pm till 10pm – with tournament check in starting at 4pm. Attendees will also …

Classic multiplayer FPS gets ready to do the pew pew

Online retailer Green Man Gaming announced yesterday a new partnership with Ubisoft to integrate its Uplay PC platform. Going forwards, players who purchase Ubisoft games on Green Man Gaming will be able to automatically redeem and add these titles to their Uplay PC library. This automatic game activation feature means …

An EA patent has been uncovered detailing research into adjusting multiplayer matchmaking in order to retain players and boost engagement. The snappily titled Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment for Maximized Engagement in Digital Games debates an idea that is pretty much as described by the title. The abstract for Dynamic difficulty adjustment …

Raymond joins governing body for video games trade organisation

Late on Tuesday, Blizzard announced a two year streaming deal between Twitch and Blizzard’s Overwatch League that will see every match broadcast on Twitch’s streaming platform. The league, which kicks off on Wednesday 10 January, will be broadcast from Twitch.tv/overwatchleague, with Twitch becoming the third-party streaming provider for Overwatch League’s …