Legal

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 "Gaming Industry" conference, which took place in the spring in Minsk. Today, we have a report from 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

Nintendo has been sued by two American gamers. They claim that the company "unjustly enriched themselves" due to the tariffs imposed last year by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Two Nintendo customers have initiated a class-action lawsuit against the company, claiming that Nintendo plans to profit by increasing prices for consumers while simultaneously pursuing compensation from the U.S. government.

The authorities have made the same demand to the owners of Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox. They appealed to them directly.

The authorities made the same request to the owners of Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox

A US court sentenced one of the defendants in the case involving the hacking of accounts on the fantasy sports platform DraftKings to 30 months in prison.

The lawsuit was prompted by surveillance software allegedly secretly installed on the computers of MindsEye developers

The Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) has filed a lawsuit against Build a Rocket Boy, the developer of Mindseye, accusing the company of infringing data privacy regulations.

This idea was proposed by Vitaly Milonov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection.

Aptoide, an alternative app store, has initiated an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing the tech giant of sustaining an "anticompetitive chokehold" on third-party app stores.

The company Aptoide, which owns its own mobile app store, decided to sue Google

NZXT, a company specializing in pre-built PCs and rentals, has reached a $3.45 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit.

Officials hope that this will lead to the creation of "new GTA or Tomb Raider" in the country.

The Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gaming (IBJR) has criticized the proposal by Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to ban online betting in the country. According to the organization, shutting down the legal betting market will not eliminate demand but will only lead to the growth of the illegal sector, where there are no mechanisms to protect players

This time, Sony is being sued.

The Polish studio The Farm 51, best known for the Chernobylite series, continues to face problems

Ubisoft continues to face the repercussions of shutting down the racing action game The Crew. Recently, the company was sued by the organization UFC-Que Choisir, which protects consumer rights in France