MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Last year, Konami alumni Sandra Arcan and Su-Yina Farmer decided to set up their own video game licensing company, Bits and Pixels. At Konami, the duo – Arcan (pictured, right) in her role as senior manager of licensing and merchandise and Farmer (pictured, far right) as European comms manager – worked on …
Read More »Nintendo UK boss talks: "Switch can help expand gaming population"
Nintendo is once again looking to reach beyond the core gaming markets with an innovative new console. However, this time it’s doing so by drawing on all its experience to create a true hybrid platform. “Nintendo Switch is a unique gaming and tech product that’s a home console, a handheld …
Read More »Take-Two’s Zelnick talks mobile, movies and GTA V’s continued success
“Better than expected” has become an accidental catch phrase for Take-Two when it reports its financials. Despite being behind the company responsible for the unstoppable Grand Theft Auto V, it continues to be surprised by just how well that title has done. The base game has shipped 75m units – …
Read More »Merchandise sector still ‘finding its feet’, says GM UK
We already know that 2016 was not the best year ever for the UK games market. But there’s one category within gaming that still provides growth: merchandise. GAME said in its 2016 financial report that although sales declined in the year, licensed merchandise was up 70 per cent year-on-year. But …
Read More »Sony: Horizon Zero Dawn’s Aloy is the ‘PlayStation icon of the future’
Horizon Zero Dawn is easily one of the most anticipated games of the year, if not the most anticipated PS4-exclusive of 2017. Of course, it’s still early in the year and E3 could bring its own share of surprises, but so far the Guerrilla-developed title ranks very high on the …
Read More »Do we need a British Games Institute?
In the last few years, video games have come a long way in terms of working with government. Thanks to the tireless work of certain members of our industry, UK video games have received tax relief (VGTR) since 2014. And thanks to the Livingstone-Hope report, we now have coding on …
Read More »MCV Insider’s Guide: CV Bay
CV Bay’s managing consultant and gaming specialist Katie Edwards discusses the shift to cloud gaming and free-to-play, and how this has affected recruitment. Tell us about your company. CV Bay is a Birmingham-based recruitment company that specialises in the gaming and IT market across Europe. We formed in 2006 and …
Read More »Going underground: The story of Dinosaur Polo Club’s Mini Metro
Back in 2001, brothers Peter and Robert Curry joined the games industry working at developer Sidhe Interactive. The duo went on to work on titles such as Adidas Football Fever, Rugby League and Gripshift. After a five-year stint, along with fellow programmer Lloyd Weehuizen, they set up an indie studio …
Read More »With Sniper Elite 4 and Yooka-Laylee, is 2017 going to be Sold Out’s biggest year yet?
Despite the narrative of digital sales becoming a bigger part of today’s games market, 80 per cent of new releases are bought in a box. This is a sector within which publisher Sold Out has built its business, and it’s done it rather successfully, too. The current version of …
Read More »"There was a lot of skepticism, as we were doing something new": IO on Hitman’s episodic move
At E3 2015, IO and Square Enix revealed a new entry in its Hitman series. Simply called Hitman, this was a departure for the franchise, being released in an episodic fashion. Square had seen success with this model the year before with Dontnod’s episodic surprise smash hit, Life is Strange. …
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