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

Valve’s ever-lasting attempts to ensure fair use of the Steam reviews system have now turned their attentions to the problem of review spamming. The current system in part relies on users giving existing reviews a thumbs up or thumbs down for ‘helpfulness’. Like all of these mechanisms, it relies on …

While signs have suggested this for some time, it has now been officially confirmed that Tencent will be the exclusive Chinese publisher of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. VentureBeat reports that Tencent will run the game’s Chinese servers and assist developer Bluehole in tackling the proposed Chinese regulations that at one stage looked …

Governments from both sides of the Atlantic have said they intend to take down video games loot boxes. PC Gamer reports that after declaring it was investigating loot boxes last week, the Belgium Gaming Commission has decided that they ARE a form of gambling. Furthermore, as a form of gambling …

After last week's investigation following criticism of Star Wars Battlefront 2, the Commission rules that loot boxes are harmful to children, VTM reports

According to tweets from games animator Jonathon Cooper, scenes from BBC sitcom Extras were the inspiration behind the games conversation system

Valve's gaming portal has been working on readdressing its systems to help prevent aggressive spam

The developer moves to a pay up front model rather than previous free-to-play plans for the sequel to Clicker Heroes

The Golden State Warriors have named Hunter Leigh as their new head of esports. This news comes soon after the GSW-owned Golden Guardians announced they had a slot in the new League of Legends NA LCS team. Leigh will be overseeing the Golden Guardians, but also the Warriors’ forthcoming NBA …

Hot on the heels of the closure of one Marvel game, another has risen from its ashes. Disney’s Marvel and 21’st Century Fox’s FoxNext Games have unveiled Marvel Strike Force, which is described as a squad-based action RPG for mobiles. It’s due out in 2018. Confirmed characters include Captain America, …

Riot last night announced the ten winners of slots in their new-look LCS league, which is doing away with relegation and promotion and promising franchised teams revenue sharing from 2018. There were over 100 applicants for the league, but the final 10 teams taking place in the league are: 100 …