In September 1998, four former employees of Computer Trade Weekly walked into a new chapter of British media history to launch a publication that would quietly become the voice of the video game business. Stuart Dinsey, Lisa Carter, Alex Moreham, and Dave Roberts did not set out to write about game reviews or player strategies. They created a trade magazine focused entirely on the business mechanics of an industry that was still finding its footing. At the time, the European Leisure Software Publishers Association treated their weekly predecessor as its official newspaper, and the team behind the new monthly publication inherited the responsibility of covering the European Computer Trade Show. This shift from weekly news to monthly business analysis marked a turning point for how the industry communicated with itself, moving away from consumer hype toward corporate strategy and market dynamics.
The Ownership Shuffle
The magazine survived a decade of ownership changes that would have destroyed most publications, yet it remained a constant fixture in the British gaming landscape. Stuart Dinsey, the founding editor, departed in 2013 after selling the title a year prior, eventually becoming chairman of Curve Digital and a board director of Ukie. The ownership history became a complex web of corporate acquisitions and divestitures that reshaped the magazine's identity. NewBay Media, which owned MCV at the time, announced in November 2017 that it would absorb the assets of sister magazines Develop and Esports Pro into the MCV brand. This consolidation moved the publication to a monthly frequency and merged three distinct voices into one. Future Publishing acquired NewBay Media in April 2018, only to sell several business-to-business brands to Datateam Media Group in December of that same year. The deal closed in January 2019, with Datateam forming a new subsidiary named Biz Media to house these former brands.Resurrecting A Brand
The rebranding of MCV to MCV/Develop in October 2019 was not merely a marketing exercise but a deliberate attempt to revive a legacy that had been extinguished just the year before. The Develop brand had closed its doors in 2018, but its assets were absorbed into MCV, creating a hybrid entity that honored the history of both publications. Seth Barton, who served as editor from 2016 to 2021, oversaw this transition before leaving to join PlayStation. His departure marked the end of an era, and Richie Shoemaker took over the editor's chair on the 1st of November 2021. The new name signaled a return to the roots of the industry's trade press, acknowledging that the business of video games was as much about development and design as it was about sales and distribution. This rebranding effort ensured that the magazine remained relevant in a rapidly changing digital landscape.