The main thing for the weekend (July 16-17)

Bungie officially joined Sony, the head of Unity apologized for harsh words about developers, and in the UK they called for protecting children from loot boxes — we tell you what happened in the gaming industry this weekend.

▪️Sony has closed the deal to buy Bungie. The upcoming takeover of the company was announced at the end of January — it cost $3.6 billion.

▪️Mediatonic has admitted that there is a bug in Fall Guys, due to which users automatically make purchases in the in-game store. The studio promised to change the design of the store and return the money to the affected gamers.

The CEO of Unity, John Riccitiello, apologized for calling developers “damn idiots” who do not think about monetization even at the very beginning of creating their games. He stated that he respects all developers and he should have chosen his words better. As Riccitello explained, in an interview he tried to convey the idea that game authors, if desired, can find out in advance about the needs of the audience, especially since Unity is working on suitable tools.

When Unity announced plans to merge with ironSource, critics of the deal remembered that there was a virus program in the ironSource portfolio for installing InstallCore applications. In a statement to Gamesindustry.biz a Unity representative pointed out that InstallCore had deteriorated due to the actions of “intruders” who abused the program. But in any case, ironSource has not supported the project for a long time and now creates tools for mobile developers.

The UK government has demanded that gaming companies protect children from the problems associated with loot boxes. For example, they told young gamers that such purchases do not guarantee success, or were allowed to make them only with the consent of their parents. The authorities stressed that they can “without hesitation” ban loot boxes in the country if the developers do not take proper measures.

In May, Embracer Group created an archive with 50 thousand copies of video games, consoles and gaming accessories. According to estimates by Lars Wingefors, the head of the Swedish holding, at the moment his company has spent about $2 million on games for the archive.