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

With a suite of in-house storytelling tools, Deck Nine Games is working on a prequel to one of its favourite titles. Jem Alexander speaks to co-game director Chris Floyd about what it’s like to create new ripples in the Life is Strange universe

Ever since the glorious days of the 8-bit era, console gaming has bloomed into a thriving entertainment industry. However, the players who also did their growing up alongside it have led to a massive change in the gaming demographics. Indeed, most console games these days are created with adult audiences …

Dota roster Team NP has been signed by esports outfit Cloud9, marking a return for all players to Cloud9’s fold. For team captain Jacky ‘EternaLEnVY’ Mao and teammates  Adrian ‘Fata-’ Trinks, Kurtis ‘Aui_2000’ Ling and Johan ‘pieliedie’ Åström, it’s a return to the white and blue jerseys they wore as …

Defending Major champs Astralis clashed with SK Gaming’s in-form team in the quarter-finals of the PGL Major this weekend. Although Astralis didn’t win the entire contest, falling to eventual winners Gambit in the semi-finals, it’s a shot in the arm for the Danish team who have been struggling to get …

The Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy is not only selling well at retail, but also had impressive digital sales in June. Despite launching really late in the month, on June 30th, Activision’s collection of remasters managed to debut at No.8 in the UK console digital charts for June, with revenue …

Gambit Esports emerged as surprise winners of the the PGL Counter-Strike Major, emerging victorious at the $1m Counter-Strike tournament. Gambit went up against Immortals after taking out defending champs Astralis 2-1 in the best of three semi finals, but Immortals were no slouch either, taking out Virtus Pro themselves in the …

Only a handful of copies prevented Splatoon 2 from debuting at the top of the UK charts this week. Renewed stock for Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy allowed Activision’s title to be back at No.1 this week, with sales increasing 59 per cent. With three weeks at the top of …

Starbreeze Studios has appointed Ann Charlotte Svensson as head of investor relations and corporate communications. Previously, Svensson was head of group communications at finance group Catella, and previously served as senior consultant at Hallvarsson and Halvarsson, where she was an advisor in financial communication assignments. In her new role, Svensson …

The supporting programme of events for this year’s Gamescom has been announced. Taking place primarily in the entertainment area of Cologne’s Koelnmesse (halls 5-10), this year’s show will once again have a diverse line-up of activities to get involved in alongside the list of over 900 exhibitors on the main …

Esports is a global phenomenon and it’s only going to get bigger – and there’s few people who would now disagree with that statement. While the biggest titles may bring together such disparate locales as Sweden and Shanghai – it’s the sector’s growth in the UK that’s of most interest …