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

SK Gaming has signed another big non endemic sponsor in the form of smartphone manufacturer Honor.  The deal sees Honor become the exclusive smartphone partner of SK, marking the company’s first venture into the world of eSports. There will also be all the usual perks of such a deal such …

Monster Hunter XX claimed its third No.1 in Japan last week, shifting another 121,847 units, according to the latest data from Famitsu. Sales dropped 52 per cent last week, but the title has now sold nearly 1.4m copies – an impressive feat after just 16 days on shelves. Koei Tecmo …

A Machine Zone YouTube for smartphone game Mobile Strike must not be shown again, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled. The ad, which can be seen below, features three women in bikinis playing the game and… well, that is actually more or less it. The ASA received a complaint from …

FIFA 17 has once again topped the UK digital Top Ten, making a huge 7.59m in February, according to SuperData. Sales were down over 15 per cent compared to January for EA’s football behemoth, but it still made almost twice as much revenue as February’s No.2, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto …

Palmer Luckey’s seemingly sudden departure from Oculus was a long time coming,” according to SuperData’s VP of research and strategy and head of VR/AR strategy Stephanie Llamas, after his role had become increasingly redundant” in the wake of Oculus’ lawsuit with ZeniMax. Oculus is failing compared to its competitors and …

Developer BioWare continues to apologise for Mass Effect: Andromeda. Having yesterday laid down a road map for ongoing changes to the game that will be rolled out over the next two months, the studio has now directly addressed criticism of the game’s handling of transgender character Hainly Abrams is depicted …

Nintendo is taking the same approach to digital publishing as its mobile and PC rivals, SteamWorld Dig 2 developer Image & Form has told MCV, making its new console as easy to develop for as the PS4 and Xbox One. With the Wii U and 3DS, [Nintendo] started to realise …

Green Man Gaming appoints new board advisor and forms new team, and Milestone bolsters marketing team. Paul Eibeler and Sam Bennett join Green Man Gaming The e-commerce company has appointed two new senior members of staff. Former Take-Two CEO Paul Eibeler (pictured right) has joined as board advisor while Sam …

Runescape developer Jagex has reported record revenues for the second successive year. The company generated 74.4m in the year ending December 31st, beating the then record-breaking 57.9m total from the year before by some 28 per cent. Profits grew 21.5 per cent at 28.8m. Jagex has also announced a rebrand, …

Activision Blizzard is apparently looking to ape the success of Marvel in its effort to bring video games series Call of Duty to cinema screens. Activision Blizzard Studios co-presidents Stacey Sher and Nick van Dyk described the strategy as a multi-layered, interconnected approach” in an interview with The Guardian. The …