Legal

The US Federal Trade Commission has withdrawn its complaint regarding Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard will indeed remain part of Microsoft. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially announced the closure of the case concerning the acquisition.

We continue to share videos (and transcripts) of presentations from the Minsk session of the "Gaming Industry" conference (KII), which took place in April. Today, we present a talk by Kristina Voynilovich, a lawyer at REVERA, on the topic "The Most Common Disputes in GameDev and How to Resolve Them Without Going to Court." Additionally, a quick reminder that the "Gaming Industry" conference will take place in St. Petersburg on July 10.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot and human resources director Marie Derain are set to appear in court to provide testimony in the trial involving three former Ubisoft executives who face accusations of engaging in sexist and racist conduct

We continue to share videos (and transcripts) of presentations from the Minsk session of the "Game Industry" conference (GI) that took place in April. Up next is a talk titled "How to Review a Publisher Agreement Stress-Free: A Step-by-Step Guide by a Lawyer," presented by Irina Gushchina, a senior lawyer specializing in IT and IP transaction support at Semenov&Pevzner. Plus, a quick reminder that "Game Industry" will take place in Saint Petersburg on July 10.

The date of the first full session, during which the fate of the "Lesta Games" group of companies will be decided, has been announced: its founder, Malik Khatazhaev, is accused of extremism. The hearing will begin next Tuesday, May 27

The 2025 tax reform introduced a large number of changes to Russian legislation, completely altering the traditional business practices. In their article for App2Top, Prospectacy lawyers Irma Novikova and Kristina Kurtaeva clearly examined how the reform impacted tax calculation in the IT sector

The studio Bungie has once again faced accusations of plagiarism. This time, the Scottish artist Fern Hook has alleged that the developers used elements of her work in the extraction shooter Marathon.

On May 15, the Tagansky District Court in Moscow held the first hearing in the case of Malik Khatazhayev, the owner of the "Lesta Games" group of companies. A month ago, the top manager was charged with extremism. The hearing was conducted in a closed session, despite the developer of "World of Tanks" and "World of Warships" requesting an open hearing

The Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption, Anatoly Vyborny, believes that the Russian authorities should penalize gaming companies whose projects contain anti-Russian content. He is preparing corresponding amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses

In the report on state support for gaming in Russia, APRIORI, IRI, and "EBR" shared not only the survey results but also their recommendations. They are convinced that the country needs to develop a comprehensive strategy.

Activision has initiated legal action against the developer behind the Call of Duty hacking applications Lergware and GameHook.

Nintendo has updated its Account Agreement and Account Privacy Policy to implement stricter regulations concerning emulation and piracy

A U.S. court has rejected the appeal filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) challenging the ruling that permits Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Our colleagues from dev.by continue to monitor the situation of IT companies with Belarusian roots in Lithuania. This time, they have found out the size of tax contributions as of the first quarter of 2025

A year and a half ago, developers from Starbreeze released the cooperative shooter PAYDAY 3. During this time, the publishing rights to the game were held by PLAION, a subsidiary of Embracer Group. However, now they are returning to the title's creators

Apple has lodged an appeal challenging the recent U.S. decision that favored Epic Games regarding the use of third-party payment systems for apps on iOS.

Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against a company that produces third-party accessories, accusing the company of trademark infringement and false advertising.

The Eastern District of Louisiana court has rejected Bungie's motion to dismiss a lawsuit concerning copyright infringement related to Destiny 2.

The developers of Genshin Impact are very proactive in defending their rights. Based on open data, Chinese journalists calculated that since 2016, miHoYo has been involved in legal proceedings 839 times, with 606 of those cases initiated by the company itself.

A significant development in the years-long legal battle between Apple and Epic Games. A U.S. court has ruled that Apple must immediately stop charging fees on payments made outside its app store.

Epic Games has announced a triumph in its legal dispute with Apple following a US court's enforcement of an injunction. This ruling prevents Apple from imposing fees on app purchases conducted outside its App Store.

Malik Khatazhaev, the owner of "Lesta Games," made an official statement in response to charges of extremism and the demand to confiscate his group of companies.

A teenager from the United States has filed a lawsuit against Roblox and Discord, alleging that the companies' actions in developing, designing, marketing, and distributing their mobile and web applications have caused her severe injuries.

The clouds are gathering. The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation has charged Malik Khatazhaev and Viktor Kisly with extremism and has demanded to seize the game developers of "World of Tanks" and "World of Warships"

A sudden and unpleasant piece of news for the entire industry. Following a lawsuit by the General Prosecutor's Office, the legal entities of the Russian studio "Lesta Games," which develops and operates "World of Tanks" and "World of Warships," have been seized

The Dutch authority Stichting Reclame Code (SRC), which oversees compliance with advertising regulations in the country, has identified MY.GAMES as violator of regional regulations. The issue at hand is how the company communicates certain aspects of Rush Royale to players, including loot boxes

The European Commission has indeed recognized Apple as a violator of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and imposed a fine on the corporation. Rumors about the agency's plans to do this first emerged last summer

Nintendo of America has filed a request for a subpoena against the online community platform Discord in an effort to uncover the identity of the individual responsible for October 2024's Pokémon "teraleak".

The Chinese regulator issued a new batch of licenses for publishing games in China. This time, the list of approved projects includes nine games from foreign developers

In the Russian gaming industry, there is ongoing discussion about the situation surrounding the visual novel "Tiny Bunny" (Зайчик). One of the project's composers, Dmitry Petyakin, wanted to increase his compensation for the music and claimed that the music was being used improperly. Moreover, he started blocking the game's streams on YouTube, which concerned other developers. In an article, lawyers from Semenov&Pevzner analyze how to determine whether rights were transferred to the client under the contract, whether an author can receive higher compensation, and how rights holders can protect themselves from such situations.

A Japanese individual who modifies video game consoles has received a two-year prison sentence

In November 2024, the Spanish studio Tequila Works announced that due to a crisis in the gaming industry, it was forced to initiate bankruptcy proceedings. Nearly six months later, the team began auctioning off its intangible assets

Ubisoft has reacted to a California class action lawsuit concerning the discontinuation of the 2014 racing game The Crew by submitting a motion to have the case dismissed.

Art director for Overwatch and World of Warcraft, Bill Petras, has passed away

The company Movie Games, which published the drug dealer simulator duology Drug Dealer Simulator, suspects the creators of the indie hit Schedule I of infringing on its copyrights. The company has decided to investigate the game for plagiarism.

Ubisoft's shares have dropped in value again. On the afternoon of April 4, their price fell to 8.86 euros per share. This is the worst performance in nearly 12 years

In 2023, Unity found itself at the center of a scandal over the monetization of its engine by introducing a Runtime Fee for game installations, which greatly displeased developers. In an interview with The Verge, the company's CEO, Matthew Bromberg, stated that Unity's actions at the time sparked a true war between the company and its clients

On the Cyprus Lawyers Association website, App2Top discovered documents related to a legal dispute between gaming companies Beresnev Games and SayGames. According to these documents, the development studio requested the court to prohibit the publisher from distributing and monetizing its game. The editorial team spoke with the studio's founder, Oleg Beresnev, to find out what's happening.

Thorsten Wiedemann, the founder and director of Amaze, has "stepped back" and issued an apology, acknowledging in a public statement that he behaved "inappropriately" and was "verbally offensive" toward colleagues and guests during an August event.

The Australian Classification Board has confirmed that Silent Hill F has not been denied classification within the country.

Square Enix filed a lawsuit against one of its former contractors. The main accusation is the illegal use of intellectual property under the Front Mission brand.

Fntastic has a talent for generating controversial situations. This case is no exception.

Ubisoft is not disclosing much to its investors, according to the CEO of AJ Investments, an investment fund that owns less than 1% of the company's shares. Specifically, they are allegedly withholding information about strategically important decisions

Dino Patti, co-founder of Playdead, faces potential legal action after sharing a now-deleted LinkedIn post that included an "unauthorized" photograph of fellow co-founder Arnt Jensen.

Apple will be fined by the European Union, according to Reuters sources. The agency reports that the European Commission has decided to penalize the corporation for stifling competition on iOS, which constitutes a violation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA)

The Danish studio Playdead is indeed demanding that its co-founder and former CEO Dino Patti pay $72,600 in compensation due to a social media post. The studio confirmed its claims in a comment to the Game Developer portal

The Polish studio Reality Games announced the successful acquisition of investments. They have secured $4.7 million, which they plan to spend on further development and testing of a mobile geolocation game inspired by "Monopoly"—Monopoly World.

Nintendo has emerged victorious in an extended legal dispute with the French file-hosting company Dstorage.

Hidden Variable stated that starting January 21, 2025, it would cease its involvement in developing Skullgirls Mobile and 2nd Encore due to a "dispute with Autumn Games"