Legal

A conflict has erupted between the leadership of Summer Eternal and Longdue Games—studios founded this fall by former ZA/UM employees. Argo Tuulik, co-founder of Summer Eternal, has been served with a court injunction prohibiting him from developing games at his studio. He is barred from engaging in this activity until April 2025

Tax incentives remain a key tool for governments in various countries to attract digital and R&D companies. This is especially true for corporate income tax (CIT), which is considered one of the most burdensome. Experts from Futura Digital, in a column for App2Top, discussed the most relevant types of CIT incentives for IT and GameDev companies that are in demand among their clients.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has conducted research into Steam. The organization found over 1.8 million instances of extremist or hateful content, stating that the platform needs to tackle these issues.

Valve has been accused by the Anti-Defamation League of "permitting the spread of hate" on its digital platform and marketplace, Steam.

From July to September 2024, Wargaming paid 4.3 million euros into Lithuania's treasury. This is 20% more compared to the previous year. This was reported by the portal dev.by, citing data from the Lithuanian tax service

On November 13, the State Duma of the Russian Federation passed a draft law in its first reading that obligates Apple to allow the installation of the RuStore app store on iPhones and iPads in Russia.

The Spanish studio Tequila Works has declared bankruptcy. It has filed the necessary paperwork, and all its founders have resigned

Neowiz has entered into an $8 million agreement with Warsaw-based developer Zakazane to publish its forthcoming neo-Western RPG

Two gamers from California have filed a class-action lawsuit against Ubisoft due to the shutdown of The Crew servers, accusing the company of selling activation keys instead of the full version of the game. The plaintiffs claim that the company effectively deprived them of the right to own the product.

Nintendo has initiated legal action against streamer Jesse "Every Game Guru" Keighin, accusing him of streaming gameplay from ten pirated games ahead of their official release dates.

The developer of Palworld, Pocketpair, has disclosed further information regarding the lawsuit brought against it by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. The legal action concerns purported similarities between Pocketpair's monster-themed survival game and the well-known franchise associated with these companies.

The Communications Workers of America (CWA, the union for communications workers in the U.S.) criticized Sony for closing Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi, accusing it of attempting to strengthen its monopolistic position in the market

Valve has introduced new changes to Steam store pages. The new tool will help users see information about anti-cheat services used in games.

SAG-AFTRA has entered into an agreement with AI voice firm Ethovox to guarantee protection and equitable payment for performers.

The US Copyright Office has declined a DMCA exemption proposal by the Video Game History Foundation aimed at facilitating video game preservation

The US Copyright Office has decided not to grant an exemption in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that would support video game preservation and allow researches to remotely access classic titles.

The U.S. Copyright Office has rejected adding an exemption to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that would allow libraries and archives to provide remote access to out-of-print video games.

Electronic Arts has secured a significant legal victory in Austria regarding the classification of loot boxes. The court ruled that loot boxes do not fall under the definition of gambling.

Sega Corporation has initiated legal action against Japanese developer Bank of Innovation, claiming that the studio has violated several of its patents.

The court case surrounding the infamous scam game Farm Bank and its creator Mehmet Aydin (Aydın in Turkish) has taken a new turn. The rapper-turned-entrepreneur could spend the rest of his life in prison.

The Turkish prosecutor is seeking 88,000 years of imprisonment for Mehmet Aydin, the creator of the online farm game Farm Bank. He is accused of establishing a financial pyramid scheme that affected thousands of gamers.

The Federal Trade Commission has unveiled a new 'click to cancel' regulation. This mandate requires companies offering subscription services to ensure that canceling a membership is just as straightforward as signing up.

The antitrust lawsuit concerning Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard has reached a settlement

Microsoft has resolved a conflict with American gamers. For almost two years, they had been trying to block the $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Polish publisher PlayWay has shared some of the results its simulation game Crime Scene Cleaner has achieved in its first two months. Here is how it compares to other titles in the company’s portfolio.

Two months ago, President Studio and PlayWay released the crime scene cleaner simulator, Crime Scene Cleaner, on PC. PlayWay's CEO, Krzysztof Kostowski, shared on social media the achievements the game has reached during this period.

At the Global Digital Trade Expo in Hangzhou, a representative from Game Science studio revealed the production budget for Black Myth: Wukong. According to him, more than 300 million yuan ($42.4 million) was spent on creating the game.

There are currently no plans to block access to the Steam gaming platform in Russia. This was stated by Roskomnadzor in a comment to TASS

The writer Kelsey Martineau has filed a lawsuit against Bungie Studios, accusing them of plagiarism. He claims that the developers borrowed many plot details from his work for the "Red War" campaign in Destiny 2

A group of players from the United States filed a lawsuit against Ubisoft. The company was accused of illegally sharing users' personal data from the Ubisoft Store and Ubisoft+ subscription with third parties.

Matthew Kelsey Martineau, writing under the pseudonym Caspar Cole, has initiated legal proceedings against Bungie, accusing the company of copyright infringement by allegedly using his work to craft the storyline of Destiny 2

A pair of players from the United States have initiated a class action lawsuit against Ubisoft, accusing the company of allegedly distributing the Personally Identifying Information of its online store users to Meta.

Google has been mandated to implement major alterations to its mobile ecosystem within the United States, which includes allowing other app stores access to its Google Play marketplace.

An American court has issued a final decision in the case of Epic Games versus Google. It upheld the verdict delivered in December 2023, recognizing Google as a monopolist in the market for applications on Android devices.

After 11 years of operation, the French Studio Black Flag has ceased to exist. It is primarily known for the unreleased game Orphan Age—a dark life simulator about orphan survival in a cyberpunk world

Polish publisher PlayWay has resolved a conflict with the studio Titan GameZ, which was working on the city builder with real-time strategy elements Viking City Builder, according to the portal Puls Biznesu.

Recently, Epic Games initiated a new lawsuit against Google and Samsung over a feature that doesn't allow mobile devices to install apps from unauthorized sources. According to David Kleidermacher, Vice President of Engineering, Security, and Privacy for Android, this lawsuit has the potential to seriously harm users

Epic Games continues to file antitrust lawsuits. The company has complained to a U.S. court against both Samsung and Google, accusing them of collusion and attempting to protect the Google Play Store from competition.

Epic Games is initiating another legal action against both Google and Samsung, asserting that Samsung's Auto Blocker hinders alternative app stores and conflicts with a jury verdict from last year

Experts from Futura Digital have prepared a column for App2Top about an upcoming legal conflict between Nintendo, its close affiliate The Pokémon Company, and Pocketpair, which released the multiplatform blockbuster Palworld earlier this year

Valve has updated the Steam Subscriber Agreement. They have relaxed the rules for dispute resolution between the store and its users

The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has decided to boycott the game League of Legends. They are dissatisfied with the actions of Formosa Interactive, a company that assists Riot Games with the title's voiceover.

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has prohibited five advertisements for social casino games, citing them as "misleading."

At the inaugural session of Gamescom Latam, Carolina Caravana, who serves as vice president of Brazil's gaming trade organization Abragrames, stated that the history of the country's gaming industry will be divided into two eras: before 2024 and after.

A film production company located in Louisiana, Stellarblade, has initiated legal action against the game developer Shift Up and Sony Interactive Entertainment, accusing them of trademark infringement related to the "Stellar Blade" name.

Shift Up studio has encountered issues due to the name of their game Stellar Blade. The American film company Stellarblade has initiated legal proceedings against them. Sony, the corporation that published the game, has also been sued.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to allocate funds from the federal budget to support Russian game developers. This is being done "for the purpose of developing creative industries" in the country.

In late August, Brazil's Supreme Court mandated the prohibition of the social media platform X, formerly recognized as Twitter and owned by Elon Musk, within the nation

The newest episode of The GamesIndustry.biz Microcast is now available for download, providing a brief overview of the most significant news in the video game industry.

Three months ago, a group of Russian lawmakers drafted a bill to ban the sale of smartphones and tablets in Russia unless they have access to the RuStore app store. Their initiative is primarily aimed at Apple devices. According to TASS, this idea was recently approved by the government