Legal

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 Activities of Developing and Distributing Video Games on the Territory of the Russian Federation". He expressed his thoughts about the proposed amendments on his Telegram channel

Proposals continue to be submitted to the State Duma on how to refine the much-discussed bill "On the Activities of Developing and Distributing Video Games in the Russian Federation." Recently, the Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry (ODVGI) sent amendments to the deputies

A group of Russian companies has submitted their proposals to the State Duma of the Russian Federation regarding what should be amended in the bill regulating the gaming industry in the country. In their opinion, a significant portion of the requirements needs to be changed

Recently, "Buka" presented a list of amendments and recommendations for the draft law "On the Development and Distribution of Video Games in the Russian Federation," which was submitted to the State Duma on December 12 by a group of deputies and senators led by Anton Gorelkin. App2Top discussed with Alexander Tebuev, the CEO of "Buka," why the company took on the task of preparing these comments and whether they will be considered by lawmakers.

China's antitrust regulator is preparing to investigate Apple, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the situation. The potential subject of the proceedings is the App Store policy

The China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association (CADPA) has updated the standards for game advertising in China. One of the new provisions aims to combat advertising that misleads players

The topic of age ratings has been actively discussed in the Russian gaming industry over the past year due to the labels proposed by the RWU and APRIORI associations. Considering that one of these might be required on all gaming projects distributed in Russia, it's a good time to look at international practices. In her column for App2Top, Svetlana Gordey, a leading lawyer at REVERA, discussed the history of ratings and the various forms they take

The US Copyright Office has clarified that works produced with generative AI are ineligible for copyright protection unless an author or artist is involved in the "creative process".

Naoki Yoshida, the producer and director of Final Fantasy 14, has released a statement addressing players about the controversy surrounding the "Playerscope" mod, which is alleged to track players' activity across characters without their permission.

The European Union (EU) is preparing a new round of sanctions against Russia, with the latest package featuring a ban on game console sales to the country.

The European Union authorities plan to include PlayStation and Xbox consoles in the next package of sanctions against Russia. This was reported by the Financial Times, citing a statement from Kaja Kallas, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

In March 2025, the Japanese release of Assassin's Creed Shadows will undergo censorship.

Alexander Zhuravlev is the managing partner of the law firm "EBR" and a member of the working group on video games at the Russian Ministry of Digital Development. He spoke to the newspaper "Kommersant" about the nuances of the draft law that regulates the gaming industry in Russia. Below are the main points from the interview

Russian authorities are continuing work on a bill to regulate the video game market in the country. According to TASS, the State Duma has established a special multi-faction working group to refine it

Cognosphere, the distributor of Genshin Impact, has consented to a $20 million payment to address charges filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

On January 21, 2025, Second Dinner, the developer of Marvel Snap, announced that the game is once again operational in the United States after addressing issues related to the TikTok ban

Russian authorities intend to protect the country's residents from "destructive content" in video games. This was stated by the Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Vyacheslav Volodin, on his Telegram channel.

We continue to wrap up 2024 with top managers and experts from the gaming industry (and related fields). Up next is an interview with Artem Khandriko, the head of IT/IP practice at REVERA

The App2Top editorial team examined the current state of the online gambling industry in Nigeria. They specifically focused on legal issues and the slots market.

We continue to review the results of 2024 together with top managers and experts from the gaming industry (and related sectors). Up next is an interview with Alexandra Kurdumova and Alina Davletshina from Futura Digital (their channel on Telegram)

Charlie the Unicorn is a series of web cartoons about a unicorn named Charlie that went viral in the early 2000s. Recently, it was featured in an advertisement for new skins for MultiVersus. This did not sit well with Charlie the Unicorn's creator, Jason Steele.

We continue to review the results of 2024 with top managers and experts from the gaming industry (and related fields). Up next is an interview with Natalia Yurkova, managing partner of i-Legal

Johnny Gioeli, a member of the rock band Crush 40, has initiated a lawsuit against Sega of America, a company he has collaborated with on musical projects for many years.

Musician Johnny Gioeli from the band Crush 40 has filed a lawsuit against SEGA. In it, he accuses the company of using the main theme he wrote for Sonic Adventure 2 in other projects without a license and not paying the due royalties.

According to an original story from December 17, 2024, a "network of illegal casinos" is reportedly allowing children to participate in gambling activities using their Roblox currency

In Germany, the age rating for games has been updated. A "risk factors" category has now been added to the standard list of criteria. This was reported by the German rating agency USK.

Among the trailers shown at The Game Awards 2024 ceremony, the trailer for Catly—an MMO featuring cats by the studio SuperAuthenti—caught some attention. Online suspicions arose that it, like the game itself, might have been created using generative artificial intelligence (AI). In a comment to IGN, the developers of Catly stated that this is not the case

Chris Barrett, who previously led the development of Marathon, is set to sue his former employers — Bungie and Sony. He accuses the companies of intentionally damaging his reputation and career.

The Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry (RVI) criticized the draft law "On the Activity of Developing and Distributing Video Games on the Territory of the Russian Federation." Representatives of the organization stated that the initiative would harm the domestic game development industry instead of helping it.

Chris Barrett, the onetime director of the Marathon reboot, has initiated legal action against Bungie and Sony. He alleges that the companies intentionally tarnished his reputation by wrongly and publicly suggesting they had conducted an investigation into his conduct and concluded he was involved in sexual misconduct. Barrett contends this was done to evade a $45 million payout owed to him.

Today, December 12, a bill titled "On the Activities of Developing and Distributing Video Games in the Russian Federation" was submitted for consideration to the State Duma. We asked Roman Lukyanov, the managing partner of the law firm Semenov&Pevzner, to share his opinion on the project.

We wrote in detail about the bill this morning, and now we'll note that the published final version is in essence no different from the one obtained by the editorial team the day before. However, there is a nuance

Epic Games has finalized an agreement with telecommunications firm Telefónica, which will result in the Epic Games Store and Fortnite being pre-installed on Android devices.

The Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, believes that the government should restrict access to social media and online games for children under 16. In his opinion, this is necessary to protect young Turks from inappropriate content.

On the evening of December 11, Anton Gorelkin, a deputy and deputy chairman of the Committee on Information Policy, announced that on December 12, a draft law regulating the Russian gaming industry would be submitted to the State Duma for consideration. The editorial team of App2Top obtained the text of the draft law. Here's a straightforward explanation of what it entails.

Pocketpair has announced a few changes to the creature-summoning mechani  in Palworld. This comes amid the studio’s legal battle with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.

The Federal Trade Commission in the United States has initiated the process of reimbursing consumers who were affected by what are described as dark pattern tactics allegedly employed by Epic Games, resulting in unintended purchases

UK developers have initiated a class action lawsuit against Apple, claiming that the App Store's 30% commission is anti-competitive.

In October, the Korea Mobile Game Association urged South Korean gaming companies to join a class action lawsuit against Google and Apple concerning their monopoly on the mobile store market. Two months later, several organizations claimed that Google was persuading developers to withdraw from participating in the lawsuit

We continue summarizing the year 2024 with teams related to the gaming business. Up next is an interview with Roman Lukyanov, managing partner of the law firm Semenov&Pevzner

President Studio head Karol Konieczko announced that Crime Scene Cleaner has surpassed 500,000 copies sold. The game achieved this milestone in less than four months.

In Vietnam, a law will come into effect that controls the information distributed on the Internet. This will also impact the video game market. This was reported by the analytics company Niko Partners

Authorities in the UK, acting on a request from counter-terrorism officials, have withdrawn a pro-Palestinian shooter from sale.

According to BBC, publishers of only two out of the 26 highest-grossing games with loot boxes on Google Play clearly indicate the presence of this mechanic in their UK advertisements. The others remain silent about loot boxes, thereby violating the requirements of the UK's advertising regulator.

Microsoft plans to integrate a range of important features into the Xbox App for Android users in the United States. Gamers will be able to purchase games directly in the mobile app, bypassing Google Play, and launch them using cloud streaming

A long-running lawsuit against Steam’s 30% cut and its alleged antitrust behavior has been granted a class action status. The plaintiffs are now calling on other game developers to join in.

A new development in the investigation into the alleged Steam monopoly on the PC store market. The court has turned the lawsuit from Wolfire Games and Dark Catt Studios against Valve into a class action. Now, many other developers can join it.

Microsoft's initiative to allow Android users to purchase and play console games through the Xbox app has been postponed, apparently as a result of the ongoing legal battle between Google and Epic Games