of Develop’s closure, MCV and its skeleton crew was forced to endure another storm, with NewBay sold to Future Publishing for £13.8 million in April 2018. No sooner was the ink dry on that deal when MCV found itself with its third owner in just eight months, Datateam. Thankfully, that’s where it’s stayed.
FACING THE FUTURE Since being rebranded MCV/DEVELOP in October 2019, things have more or less stabilised for MCV. Glossing over the not inconsiderate challenges of a global pandemic, which put a halt on industry events and forced staff to hole up in their homes for the duration, the dual-brand magazine has settled comfortably into its monthly schedule. However, the question that vexed the staff of MCV when it was still a weekly publication still hangs in the air: Is there still a place for it? “I think there absolutely is,”
says Stuart Dinsey, “so long as the industry supports it, because you can’t do it without revenue.” “It’s incredibly difficult. Any
FUTURE SHOCKS Four years into NewBay’s ownership of Intent, in October 2016, MCV endured an abrupt change in staff, with Chris Dring and James Batchelor – the respective editors of MCV and Develop, leaving within weeks of one another to join
GamesIndustry.Biz. Only staff writers Alex Calvin (promoted to deputy editor) and newcomer Marie Dealessandri remained to greet the new editor Seth Barton and news editor Katharine Castle, who had worked together at Dennis Publishing. However, it wasn’t long before MCV and Develop’s
all-too-apparent managed decline threatened to become terminal. Within a few months of Barton heading MCV, in April 2017, the magazine changed to a fortnightly schedule after nearly 19 years of being weekly. Then at the end of the year it was announced that Develop would be closing and MCV going monthly instead. It was a decision that baffled Chris Dring, whose
understating was that Develop was the brand most likely to find growth. Despite his heart being with MCV, Dring says that if he had made the choice, Develop would have been the title that was saved. However, before there was time to ponder the wisdom
criticism [of MCV] that people might have has to be tempered with the lack of resource and the change in the marketplace. “Probably the most difficult
thing is the time that it takes to put a magazine together when there’s not many of you. Do you preserve with print or do you move online? Because it seems that it’s difficult to do both to the level you would like.” At some point, it seems, MCV will face a reckoning.
Possibly in a few months, or years – though likely not after another 25 of them – a decision will have to be made as to what MCV should be and for whom. Until then we’ll continue to celebrate what MCV was, a disruptive and hugely successful and influential weekly magazine that is still championing the industry 25 years later. Next year, if there’s no repeat of the drama that has punctuated the last five, MCV will be the first games publication to reach one thousand issues. That will be quite something. See you then!
Huge thanks to Stuart Dinsey, Lisa Carter, Ben Parfitt, Samantha Loveday, Chris Dring, Michael French, Neil Long, James Batchelor, Owain Bennallack, Chris Buckley, Tim Ingham, Katharine Castle, Steve Merrett, George Kotsiofides and Dominic Sacco for taking the time to answer our many questions over recent weeks. Sorry we couldn’t get as many of your words in on this occasion as we’d have liked, but we’ll be saving them for when the MCV story inevitably reaches its next milestone eight issues from now.
September 2023 MCV/DEVELOP | 23
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