Several video game developers have been recognized in BAFTA's 2024 Breakthrough cohort, featuring talents from Black Myth: Wukong, Baldur's Gate 3, and Pacific Drive
Bandai Namco Online will be dissolved and integrated into its parent company
Itch.io has implemented a new requirement for creators to indicate whether their work incorporates generative AI.
Inin Games has taken over the publishing rights for Shenmue 3
The investment climate in the gaming industry is showing recovery, with the total value of deals this year performing slightly better than in 2023
Study: App Store revenue in China in 2023 — $519 billion
· 7 hours agoJu Heng, an associate professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics business school, studied the revenues of the App Store in China. The figures turned out to be astronomical
EA's Chief Operating Officer Arjun Balaram shared the key principles that help the company maintain user interest in its game services.
Steam will start refunding money for canceled add-ons
· 10 hours agoSteam has introduced support for season passes — by this, Valve means not the passes in live-service games, but bundles of already released and future DLCs for games. Pavel Djundik, the creator of SteamDB, noticed this update.
The UK retailer GAME has allegedly experienced significant departures from its head office staff in recent months, exacerbating the challenges faced by the embattled gaming company.
Heart Machine, the U.S. developer responsible for the acclaimed game Hyper Light Drifter and its forthcoming sequel, is the most recent studio to experience a series of layoffs
Valve revises Steam guidelines for season passes
· 12 hours agoValve has revised its season pass guidelines, introducing fresh rules concerning release timelines
In the German version of Steam, games without an age rating have stopped appearing for users.
AFK Journey has been honored as the best game of the year on Google Play by the store's editorial team.
The digital store itch.io sells not only indie games but also game assets. The platform's administration has introduced a new requirement for the creators of such assets—all assets created using generative neural networks must be tagged accordingly
Sony is launching cloud streaming support for the PS Portal, available to PlayStation Plus subscribers.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has finally launched globally after long development and several delays. The sequel to a cult first-person shooter has been off to a good start on Steam despite its simultaneous release on Xbox and Game Pass.
Supercell has announced plans to develop Clash Royale as a gaming platform for mobile strategies, according to the MobileGamer portal, citing Clash Royale's General Manager Aleksandar Markovic.
On the evening of November 20, the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl took place. The game launched on PC and Xbox Series, including on Game Pass. Judging by the numbers, at least on Steam, its start was successful
The third news of layoffs today. Next up is Reflector Entertainment, the studio that developed the action-adventure game Unknown 9: Awakening
Reflector Entertainment has announced on its website that it has reduced its workforce by 18%.
Kadokawa, the parent company of FromSoftware and Spike Chunsoft, has announced that Sony has submitted a letter of intent to purchase shares. However, Kadokawa emphasized that "no decision has been made at this time"
Remedy Entertainment has held a keynote presentation for investors, outlining its long-term business strategy for 2025-2030. Here are the key takeaways regarding the studio’s financial goals and game development pipeline.
Sony is indeed interested in acquiring the Japanese media conglomerate Kadokawa, which owns the studio FromSoftware. In a message to investors, Kadokawa revealed that it received a letter from Sony proposing a deal.
Square Enix revealed that Lightspeed Studios is developing a mobile version of Final Fantasy 14.
Kwalee is reportedly carrying out another phase of layoffs, impacting "at least 10" staff members.
Layoffs at AppLovin affected 120 employees
· a day agoAt the end of October, it became known that AppLovin and its subsidiary game studio Machine Zone had downsized some of their staff. The number of employees who lost their jobs was not disclosed at that time, but the portal SFGATE found these figures in a statement filed by AppLovin with the California state authorities last week
Lego and UNICEF have introduced a series of design guidelines aimed at assisting game developers in enhancing the well-being of children during digital play
Microsoft has forged an agreement with Merlin Entertainments, a theme park operator based in the UK, to launch Minecraft-themed attractions, hotel rooms, and retail outlets in both the UK and the US.
Media: Kwalee Conducted a New Round of Layoffs
· 2 days agoBritish publisher Kwalee recently laid off at least ten employees, according to the MobileGamer portal. The layoffs reportedly took place primarily in the marketing department
On November 19, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 was released on PC and Xbox Series. Users on Steam criticized the new flight simulator. Only 14% of the players who left reviews rated it positively.
15 million people have played Starfield
· 2 days agoBethesda Game Studios has updated the player count for Starfield. They announced that the audience for the space RPG has grown to 15 million people.
Game District has secured a majority interest in Gleam Games.
Google Corporation has summarized the initial results of the outgoing year and announced the best games in its app store for 2024.
Adam Williams, who previously served as the lead writer at Quantic Dream, has launched a new studio with financial support from Krafton
WN Media Group has announced that WN Game Finder, a game catalog for developers and publishers, now has 1,522 projects. Here are the key figures and statistics.
Sales of Farming Simulator 25 surpassed the 2 million copy mark just a week after the game's release, announced Giants Software. This made the launch of the farming simulator the most successful in the history of the series
In 2024, half of the gaming companies in the UK faced challenges in filling job vacancies because of skill shortages in the industry
The Finnish company Remedy Entertainment held a presentation for investors, during which it discussed its financial plans for the upcoming years. Additionally, it shared new information about its games.
During the week of November 12 to 19, Farming Simulator 25 earned more on Steam than any other paid game. This allowed it to top the platform's premium chart, pushing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which had held the top spot for three weeks, down from first place.
The venture firm Play Ventures, which specializes in investing in gaming startups, conducted its third round of funding. Through this round, it raised $140 million
Despite the small number of new releases, there were still quite a few changes on the Steam charts last week. Here is a quick overview of the top-grossing products on the platform over the past seven days.
At the end of last week, the GameMaker team celebrated the engine's 25th birthday: its first version was released on November 15, 1999
Sony Interactive Entertainment has introduced Olivier Courtemanche as the new leader of its mobile division. Justin Kubiak has been named the head of mobile business development and partnerships.
Since its release on October 30, 2024, the Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has amassed $120.8 million in revenue
SuperScale secures $1.2 million in funding round
· 3 days agoSuperScale has secured $1.2 million in a funding round to advance its innovative game business analytics platform, SuperPlatform.
FromSoftware might become part of Sony Group. The Japanese company is reportedly in talks with Kadokawa, the parent company of the Elden Ring developer.
The platform now tracks traffic more accurately, allowing developers to obtain more reliable data about who visits their game pages.
In 2024, Baldur's Gate 3 became even more popular
· 3 days agoLarian Studios' Publishing Director Michael Douse shared on social network X the impressive achievements of Baldur’s Gate 3. He mentioned that in 2024, several metrics for the game exceeded those from its release year
Studio FromSoftware may become part of Sony. Sources from Reuters claim that Sony is in negotiations to buy the developers' parent company, Kadokawa
Thought Pennies has reduced its workforce following a shift in strategic direction by its publisher.
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Last War: Survival is a mobile strategy game set in a zombie apocalypse, developed by the Singaporean company First Fun. The game was released in July 2023. According to the analytics firm Sensor Tower, since its release, Last War: Survival has generated over $900 million