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

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 …

In a video this week, Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan talked about toxicity in the game’s community.  Kaplan states that toxicity in the game has gotten steadily worse as the game’s audience has grown and that it hasn’t shown any signs of improvement. In the video he also says that …

According to French market regulator AMF, JP Morgan disclosed their stake but wrote a letter to clarify that it had no strategy for control

The Switch may have been the main star of last night’s Nintendo Direct broadcast, but the 3DS wasn’t to be overlooked, as Nintendo announced yet another special edition hardware bundle for the handheld console to celebrate the upcoming launch of Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. The Poke Ball-themed New …

Brands that work alongside entertainment culture are more likely to create a more powerful connection with consumers than those that don’t, a new study from marketing agency Frukt has found. In the ‘Press Play: Brands and the Power of Entertainment’ report, over 70 per cent of respondents said they would …

Immortals announced on Wednesday that they’re entering Dota 2, signing the recently reformed Team Phoenix to compete under the Immortals banner.  Immortals roster consists of Kim ‘DUBU’ Doo-young, Lee ‘FOREV’ Sang-don, Kim ‘QO’ Seon-yeob, Kim ‘FEBBY’ Yong-min, Pyo ‘MP’ No-a. The players had previously hinted at a reunion for MVP …

Andy Brown, director of Replay Events (pictured right), specialises in retro gaming events. Here, he talks about how serving the retro community has genereted huge growth for his company. When it comes to the games industry, they say everything is cyclical. Every few years, the three major first party players …