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

Total video game spending in the US fell two per cent year-on-year to $568m this August, following declines in both hardware and software spending, according to the latest data from NPD. On the hardware front, spending growth generated by the Switch (which remained the best-selling piece of hardware last month) …

Team YP, the esports outfit run and sponsored by adult entertainment site YouPorn, has disbanded. The news comes from Clément ‘Quoizamama’ Dubois, who tweeted the news to his personal Twitter account. The team’s roster includes Valentine ‘Valmaster’ Petit, Dubois, Gregory ‘XEWER’ Boye, Enzo ‘Zenko’ Perri, Ivan ‘Osnazeni’ Markeljic  and Huge …

Overwatch is having another free weekend, playable for free for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One from September 22 – 25. The full game will be playable, barring Competitive Play. This includes all heroes and maps, including the brand new Escort map, Junkertown. "Players will also have the ability …

London start-up Conspexit Games Studio has teamed up with developer Kuju on a new augmented reality game. Using Conspexit’s proprietary tech, the duo hope to push the boundaries of the AR sector by not only challenging players’ overall skill level, but also provide an opportunity for them to "participate in …

The programme, powered by PlayStation, started on September 1st 2014 and continues to grow wiith new partners

Wired Productions has announced a new partnership with Danish studio Flashbulb Games to bring the physics-based puzzle platformer Max: The Curse of Brotherhood to the PS4. Max: The Curse of Brotherhood first released on Xbox One and PC back in December 2013, but this new partnership will see the beloved …

Licensing and merchandising are the big themes of this week’s issue of MCV, and with Brand Licensing Europe heading to London next month, we look at how games businesses can take full advantage of the huge predicted growth in brand extension. We also speak to Loot Crate to find out …

Boomeo, the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive training platform, closed down suddenly on Wednesday night. The platform, which provided practice servers and content for players looking to increase their skill, was run by WME-IMG and it’s believed that the platform closed down due to the departure of key WME-IMG personnel. The site …

Reports from Bloomberg suggest an extra $500 million might come from a new financing round

The former Microsoft studio that brought us Max and the Magic Marker, Max: The Curse of Brotherhood and Kalimba is bringing its latest game Trailmakers to PC and consoles next year. Flashbulb Games, previously Press Play, will be releasing its physics-based vehicle-building sandbox on Steam Early Access in December, before …