MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
VR headsets could go the way of defunct game streaming services like OnLive. That’s the warning from Network’s Neil Young, a senior games industry veteran and founder of mobile games publisher Ngmoco. Young predicts that VR headsets will become a popular item, but not for another ‘three to five’ years, …
Read More »‘Ad-blocking is the biggest external threat to online games journalism’
Ad-blockers are costing jobs and seriously harming the games press, say leading media execs. Tech-savvy gamers are more prone to using ad-blockers than any other audience, says IGN, Videogamer and Eurogamer. These websites can pay to have their ads unblocked, as long as they only use ‘acceptable advertising’. But one …
Read More »How to make a $10bn mobile game
It is inevitable that there will be a smartphone game that will generate $10bn in the West. That’s the prediction of N3twork’s Neil Young, the former EA exec who set up Ngmoco and sold it to Japanese mobile giant DeNA for $400m. Young is a video games development veteran and …
Read More »‘Satoru Iwata was an inspiration’ – former Nintendo staff pay tribute
We are unlikely to see another company VP like Satoru Iwata. You’ve probably read the stories and legends about the man that led Nintendo for the past 13 years. From how he squeeze two Pokmon games into one for the acclaimed Gold and Silver, how he reportedly rolled up his …
Read More »Ubisoft: ‘We’re taking more risks than our rivals’
On paper, 2014 looks like one of the most successful years in Ubisoft’s history. It smashed its targets by generating over 1bn in software revenue – thanks to its biggest new IP launch (Watch Dogs), and major sellers such as Far Cry 4, The Crew and Assassin’s Creed. Unfortunately, that …
Read More »"Video game music is the future of classical orchestras’
Thousands upon thousands of young people – decked out in branded t-shirts – swarmed around a sold-out Wembley Arena in April this year. But they weren’t there to see Taylor Swift or Fall Out Boy, these music lovers were queuing up to witness the London Philharmonic Orchestra perform classic songs …
Read More »Anki targets Skylanders with September launch
Watch out Skylanders, Anki believes it can become a new force in toys-to-life with its upcoming racing game: Anki Overdrive. Co-founder and president of Anki, Hanns Tappeiner, accused toys-to-life rivals such as Disney Infinity and LEGO Dimensions of ‘just copying Skylanders’, and said that his game will offer retailers something …
Read More »Warner Bros and Bethesda rule June charts
Batman and LEGO have helped Warner Bros rise to the top of the publisher rankings once again, according to GfK Chart-Track. The firm published 27.6 per cent of thephysical games sold in June with Batman: Arkham Knight at No.1 and LEGO Jurassic Park at No.3. In second place is Bethesda, …
Read More »The Witcher 3 UK console downloads hit 144,000 in May
Almost 150,000 UK console gamers downloaded The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in May, the latest numbers from SuperData revealed. The UK download chart – which launched last month in Beta and MCV ran exclusively – shows just how successful games are in terms of both individual unit sales and total …
Read More »What we thought of Microsoft’s HoloLens demo at E3
One of the most impressive demonstrations at E3 took place during Xbox’s press conference, and centred on its HoloLens augmented reality tech. Whereas VR takes players deeper into the games, HoloLens takes games out from the TV and places it in the living room. The AR headset made its surprise …
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