Legal

A significant development in the years-long legal battle between Apple and Epic Games. An American 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"

The free-to-play version of Dark and Darker, which was initially launched on the Epic Games Store in March 2024, has been removed from the platform for the second time, a year after its debut.

Ironmace Games has faced another hurdle due to its legal dispute with South Korea publisher Nexon. As a result, Dark and Darker has been removed from the Epic Games Store.

The authorities in the province of British Columbia, Canada have decided to increase the size of the tax credit for what are known as "interactive digital media" — Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (IDMTC). Game developers, among others, can qualify for this benefit

The free-to-play text-based MMO browser game, Urban Dead, is set to shut down shortly before reaching its 20th anniversary due to the implementation of the UK's Online Safety Act

In a recent report on mobile game advertising, developers Microfun, Nanobit, and Magic Tavern have come under scrutiny for allegedly perpetuating harmful stereotypes and gender-based violence.

Two short-selling firms have issued reports on AppLovin, accusing the company of inflaiting its metrics and engaging in illegal practices. This led to sotck market turmoil, with the CEO refuting all the claims and calling them misleading.

The firms Culper Research and Fuzzy Panda Research released scathing reports focused on AppLovin. They claimed that AppLovin significantly inflates ad metrics and engages in unethical and even illegal practices.

The authors of the bill regulating the gaming industry in Russia show little interest in the opinions of independent developers. This is the view of former Moscow City Duma deputy Elena Yanchuk. She decided to survey indie teams herself

The Pokémon Company has reached a settlement in its lawsuit against Pocket Monster: Remake

Vadim Subbotin, the deputy head of Roskomnadzor, stated in an interview with TASS that the agency supports the December bill on games. At least the part that addresses the need for game labeling

Balatro has won an appeal to lower its age restriction from 18+ to 12 across European countries.

The discussion around the gaming law in Russia continues. The Video Game Industry Development Organization (VGIDO) proposed splitting the December bill into two separate laws at a meeting in the State Duma. They are willing to personally handle one of them

European authorities have adopted a 16th package of sanctions against Russia. The App2Top editorial team reviewed documents on the European Council's website and did not find the previously promised ban on the supply of gaming consoles to the country.

The law firm Semenov&Pevzner has prepared a global report on legal conflicts in the gaming industry over the past six months

Sony has responded to allegations that it damaged the reputation of former Marathon reboot director Chris Barrett. The company asserts that its investigations revealed "consistent" misconduct, where Barrett allegedly targeted a "lower-level, female employee he wasn't working with directly." The interactions reportedly began as friendly conversations and gradually escalated, with Barrett "often referencing his wealth and his ability to advance their careers."

Sony Corporation responded to a lawsuit filed by former Marathon game director Christopher Barrett against them and Bungie in December of last year. In the complaint, the developer claimed that he was terminated to avoid paying him the $45 million owed in compensation.

It looks like a legal dispute between Nexon and Ironmace Games has finally been settled. The Dark and Darker developer will have to pay monetary compensation to the South Korean publisher.

Embracer Group released a report detailing its earnings for October-December 2024. It also disclosed current sales figures for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and shared results for other games.

Anton Gorelkin is a State Duma deputy and one of the authors of the bill "On the Development and Distribution of Video Games in the Russian Federation." In his Telegram channel, he commented on the amendments being submitted

The State Duma continues to receive proposals on how to refine the much-discussed bill "On the Development and Distribution of Video Games in the Russian Federation." Recently, the Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry (ODVGI) sent amendments to the deputies