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Contents July/August 2026 6 Screen Time


Spoiler: I’ve been playing Crimson Desert (a lot). 7 IRL


I put on a suit – twice.


10 Red Dune Games We get to learn all about our cover stars.


14 Manchester Games Network Hey! It’s Stephen Hey. Hey.


16 Women in Games “Beyond Growth: What Does a Healthy Games Industry Look Like?”.


18 Eden Chan


“Why Community Management Needs to Stop Being the Studio Scapegoat”.


22 Ben Peel Want to feel very old and comparatively underachieving? Read on!


23 Ludeo “Play Before You Pay” says Rob Schonfeld, Chief Business Officer at Ludeo.


24 Good Game Club Podcast We look behind the pop shields of this stonking show.


26 Esports


Dom Sacco looks at how esports is unlocking the next level of live entertainment.


28 G2A


Bartosz Skwarczek explains why the digital marketplace has finally taken external investment


30 Juniper Research VP of Research, Nick Maynard, takes us through “The Trust Paradox”.


32 Planet Play


Felix Bradshaw outlines why games are uniquely positioned to drive global impact at scale.


34 Debugging D&I “Why we can’t afford to step back on inclusion” by Liz Price MBE.


35 XDS 2026 Where the future of external game development takes the stage.


4 | MCV/DEVELOP July/August 2026


52 Unlock Audio “Why Interactive Scares Demand Interactive Composers”.


54 Final Boss Chris Hewish - President of Xsolla.


50 Decibel


Sam Brace bring us “From Warped Tour to Games PR: The Unlikely Story of Decibel-PR”.


51 Glitch


Founder and CEO, Devin Dixon, introduces us to a new TikTok-like gaming platform.


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All contents © 2026 Datateam Business Media Ltd. or published under licence. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any way without the prior written permission of the publisher. All information contained in this publication is for information only and is, as far as we are aware,


correct at the time of going to press. Datateam Business Media Ltd. cannot accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in such information. You are advised to contact manufacturers and retailers directly with regard to the price of products/services referred to in this publication. Apps and websites mentioned in this publication


are not under our control. We are not responsible for their contents or any other changes or updates to them. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.


If you submit material to us, you warrant that you own the material and/or have the necessary rights/permissions to supply the material and you automatically grant Datateam Business Media Ltd. and its licensees a licence to publish your submission in whole or in part in any/all issues and/or editions of publications, in any format published worldwide and on associated websites, social media channels and associated products. Any material you submit is sent at your own risk and, although every care is taken, neither Biz Media Ltd. nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees shall be liable for loss or damage. We assume all unsolicited material is for publication unless otherwise stated, and reserve the right to edit, amend, adapt all submissions.


49 The Renaissance Man Stefano Petrulio is here to tell you about The Price of Awareness.


36 PlayDucky


Sandbox mobile game, Melon Sandbox, quietly passed 150,000,000 players. Yikes!


38 Tanglewood


“What Every Developer Should Know About World Partition in Unreal Engine”.


40 Paul Sulyok “The future of British gaming is regional, digital and connected”.


41 Nitrado


CEO, Raphael Stange, describes “The Infrastructure Your Launch Numbers Don’t Show”.


42 XMOS “Winning Gaming Systems Need Rhythm, Not Just Low Latency” by CEO, Mark Lippett.


44 Playtesting Steve Bromley is back, and this issue he is Testing Story in Games.


46 Poki “Keeping Tabs on Web Gaming” by Poki COO, Stein Janssen.


48 GOALS A timely piece from Andreas Thorstensson, founder and CEO of this upcoming football sim.


CONTENT


Editor: Matt Broughton mcvmatt@datateam.co.uk


Design and Production: Steve Williams


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Senior Business Development Manager: Alex Boucher MBE


alex.boucher@biz-media.co.uk +44 (0)7778 538 431


MANAGEMENT


Media Director: Paul Ryder pryder@datateam.co.uk +44 (0)1622 699 105


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ARCHIVES


Digital editions of the magazine are available. Recent back issues of the printed edition may be available please call +44 (0)203 143 8777 for more information.


INTERNATIONAL


MCV/DEVELOP and its content are available for licensing and syndication re-use. Contact Paul Ryder for opportunities and permissions: pryder@datateam.co.uk


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