Legal

In May, unknown individuals published the source code of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty online, more than 20 years after the game's release. Now, Konami is seeking to find the perpetrators and hold them accountable

Nexon has decided to support independent developers from South Korea. To do this, it took an unusual step by joining forces with the country's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism and launching a multi-million dollar fund.

Estonia's plan to attract foreign operators in the online gambling sector by reducing the tax rate has not yet yielded the expected results. At the end of last year, the rate was decreased from 6% to 4%, but this has piqued little interest

Beyond All Reason (BAR), a large-scale real-time strategy game managed by volunteers, has entered into a publishing agreement with Hooded Horse

Obsidian Entertainment, known for developing games like Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, is facing a class action lawsuit. The legal action alleges that the studio has engaged in "a systematic pattern of wage and hour violations" under the California Labor Code and the Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) Wage Orders.

Obsidian Entertainment has faced a lawsuit in the United States. The company was sued by former employees who claim it violated California labor laws.

The European Commission has addressed the Stop Killing Games petition, stating that it cannot "propose a legal obligation" to ensure that games remain playable once they are no longer sold commercially

Starting in 2025, a law in California mandates that digital stores must inform customers that they are selling licenses to access games, rather than the games themselves. Four American gamers believe that the PlayStation Store is violating this law.

The authorities of the Shibuya district in Tokyo have decided to incentivize Japanese gamers to pay taxes specifically in their area. To achieve this, the local government entered into an agreement with Square Enix

The authors of the Stop Killing Games initiative, aimed at preventing the deactivation of games purchased by gamers, were unable to secure support from the European Commission. The agency officially stated that “at this stage,” it cannot intervene and amend EU legislation.

The authors of the Stop Killing Games initiative, aimed at preventing the disabling of games purchased by gamers, were ultimately unable to secure support from the European Commission. The agency officially stated that "at this stage," it cannot intervene and make changes to EU legislation

The Dutch government has unveiled a five-year strategy to reduce the harms associated with gambling. One of the proposed measures within this strategy is the significant limitation of online gambling advertising.

Blizzard has initiated a copyright lawsuit targeting Project Ascension, a private server initiative for World of Warcraft.

A Dutch NGO, The Consumer Competition Claims Foundation (CCCF), has taken a stand against the owner of Steam.

The UK video games trade organization, UKIE, has expressed approval of the government's move to categorize video games separately from social media. This decision comes as a ban on social media for individuals under 16 is about to be implemented.

A Dutch consumer rights organization, The Consumer Competition Claims Foundation (CCCF), has taken action against the owner of Steam.

Kian Hozouri, COO and co-founder of ByteBrew, shared in his Game World Observer column how his startup helped The One Game Studio achieve impressive results in ROAS and Ad LTV growth.

The State Duma of the Russian Federation has approved in the second and third readings a bill that proposes to reduce the timeframes for blocking internet resources with illegal gambling. This was reported by the press service of the lower house of parliament

We continue to publish reports from the "Game Industry" conference, which took place this spring in Minsk. Today, we have a report by Varvara Dunets from Kitchen941

This week, a bill aimed at combating deepfakes will be reviewed in the United States. Although the initiative does not directly concern video games, it could still have an impact on them—and not in a positive way. At least, that’s the perspective of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).

This week, the United States will consider a bill aimed at combating deepfakes. Although the initiative does not directly pertain to video games, it may still affect them—and not in a positive way. At least, that's the opinion of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA).

In recent years, the government of Mordovia has been paying considerable attention to the development of the gaming industry in the region. This was mentioned by the head of the republic, Artem Zdunov, in an interview with "Interfax" during the 2026 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF)

The Ministry of Finance and National Economy of Greece has introduced a bill to reform the regulation of the gambling market. The document includes measures against illegal gambling, enhanced oversight of the licensed sector, and changes to the taxation of winnings in online games

At the start of its summer showcase, Xbox announced that Gears of War E-day will not be available on PlayStation 5. Additionally, inXile's Clockwork Revolution will also not be released on the Sony console.

Panama has enacted Law No. 527, which introduces a new regulatory system for gambling and expands the powers of the Gambling Control Board

A potential tax on online gambling could bring the European Union budget more than 13 billion euros in the first years of its implementation, according to preliminary estimates from the European Commission

The UK authorities are continuing their efforts to protect children from online harm. They are currently considering implementing a ban on the use of social media for those under 16 and are not ruling out the possibility of extending this restriction to chats in online games

In 2023, Valve's head Gabe Newell gave testimony as part of a legal proceeding with Wolfire Games, which accused the company of monopolizing the PC store market. The transcript of his speech recently reached Bloomberg

In a significant decision on game preservation, the California State Assembly has approved Assembly Bill 1921, known as the Protect Our Games Act.

Employees at Rockstar have established the Rockstar Game Workers Union (RGWU), functioning as a branch of the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB).

The Supreme Court of India has deemed the retrospective application of a 28% GST (Goods and Services Tax) on online gambling as legal. The decision was made as part of the proceedings between tax authorities and gambling companies

The Turkish government has announced an expansion of its support program for mobile game developers. As part of this initiative, the authorities will reimburse local studios for part of the money they spend on operating and marketing needs.

In October 2025, GameMill Entertainment published the adventure game Snoopy & The Great Mystery Club featuring the adventures of the famous dog Snoopy from the Peanuts comics. Seven months after the game's release, the publisher faced a lawsuit

Microsoft is set to pay $250 million to resolve a class action lawsuit initiated in 2022 by the Swedish pension fund, Sjunde AP-Fonden AP7. This suit sought to hinder Microsoft's planned $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard.

Indie publisher Devolver Digital has decided to sue Erick Scarecrow, an artist and founder of the ESC-Toy company, which produces various merchandise. The company accused him of years-long copyright infringement

Irene Borodina, CMO of Digital Vortex Entertainment, explained how wishlists for the new game DREADMOOR were specifically generated in her column for Game World Observer.

U.S. Senators Katie Britt and Richard Blumenthal have drafted a bill called the Gaming Advertisement to Minors Enforcement Act, or simply the GAME Act. Through this legislation, the politicians aim to prohibit online sports betting advertisements from targeting individuals under the age of 18

Two American gamers have decided to sue Sony's gaming division. The plaintiffs claimed that it gained "significant unforeseen income" due to the situation surrounding tariffs imposed in 2025 by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The majority of the members of the California State Assembly Appropriations Committee voted in favor of it.

The majority of members of the California State Assembly's Appropriations Committee voted in favor of it.

Wizardry is a legendary series of fantasy role-playing games that has had a tremendous impact on the genre. Now, the "full and exclusive rights" to the first five parts belong to the company Atari

This morning, on May 7, it became known that due to lawsuits from Roskomnadzor, gaming companies in Russia are being actively fined. Amid this, there were speculations that the next step might be to block games, but the agency denied them.

The law firm Semenov&Pevzner has prepared a global report on legal conflicts in the gaming industry for the second half of 2025. During that six-month period, there were patent updates from Nintendo, a whole series of conflicts in the AI sector, and developments in the Apple versus Epic Games dispute

Sony Interactive Entertainment is set to disburse $7.8 million in refunds to American customers following a lawsuit that accused the company of engaging in antitrust practices within the PlayStation Store

The promotional artist of "Smuta," Dmitry Slyanik-Krasa, has filed a lawsuit against Cyberia Nova. He claims that he worked for the studio for over two years, but the work process was executed with violations

On April 23, the German indie studio tobspr Games officially released the sequel to shapez—a factory-building simulator for producing geometric shapes reminiscent of Factorio. Almost immediately after, they secured funding for the development of their next game, codenamed Project 3

Papaya Gaming lost a legal battle with Skillz. A jury in the Southern District of New York found the company guilty of unfair competition and false advertising, and ordered it to pay $420 million in compensation.

Digital Bros — the parent company of the publisher 505 Games, which released the soulslike game Wuchang: Fallen Feathers last year. They announced a deal with the game's developers from the Chinese studio Leenzee

Fortnite has committed to reimbursing players who bought items related to D4vd, an alleged child abuser and murderer

The New Zealand Parliament has passed a bill regulating online casinos in the third and final reading. It is now headed for royal assent and may come into effect as early as May