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 »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 »PewDiePie apologises for offensive video, responds to Wall Street Journal coverage
YouTube superstar Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg has published a video in which he apologies for remarks people found offensive. In the post (below), the personality admitted that a previous video one which saw him pay two men to hold a sign saying ‘Death to All Jews’ above their heads, went too …
Read More »Bits and Pixels wants Overwatch merch in supermarkets
New video games-focused licensing agency Bits and Pixels says it is aiming to get Overwatch-licensed goods into supermarkets as well as specialist retail. The new agency, set up by Konami veterans Sandra Arcan and Su-Yina Farmer, says this is possible due to the PEGI 12 age rating of Blizzard’s team …
Read More »Koei Tecmo: Nioh’s opened a brand new audience for us
The Japanese publisher of recently-released action RPG title Nioh says the game has helped expand its audience. Speaking to MCV, the firm’s president Hisashi Koinuma said that while the publisher takes pride in its more traditional Japanese line-up, which includes the likes of the Warriors series and Nobunaga’s Ambition, its …
Read More »Supercell on the hunt for acquisitions as Clash Royale surpasses $1bn
Tencent-owned Finnish mobile powerhouse Supercell is reportedly on the lookout for purchases. That’s according to the Financial Times story, in which the the firm’s CEO Ilkka Paananen said that it was ‘no secret’ that the company was looking to get involved with other studios. It’s no secret we have been …
Read More »Report: Layoffs at Activision’s Infinity Ward and Beenox studios
Despite an impressive financial performance for the last quarter, publisher Activision Blizzard appears to be making job cuts at some of its studios. Kotaku reports that layoffs are occurring at Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare developer Infinity Ward, as well as Modern Warfare: Remastered makers Beenox. That’s on top of …
Read More »UPDATED: Humble Freedom Bundle raises over $3m in 24 hours
UPDATED: After only 24 hours, Humble’s Freedom Bundle has already raised $3m. At the time of writing, the bundle has now sold over 119,600 units, raising over $3.8m (3m), according to the website. The Freedom Bundle launched on Monday afternoon and there are still five days to go until the …
Read More »YouTube cancels Scare PewDiePie premium show
After being dropped by his network Maker Studios, PewDiePie has run into trouble with YouTube itself. That’s according to Variety, which reports that the video platform has cancelled the second series of the star’s – real name Felix Kjellberg – premium $10-a-month reality show, Scare PewDiePie. This was hosted and …
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 …
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