Main Events of the Weekend (May 1-3)

Heroes of Might and Magic: Older Era recouped its development costs within a day, Sony agreed to pay $7.8 million for its monopoly on PlayStation, and analysts found that exclusives are still the main reason for purchasing consoles. Here’s a rundown of the key events in the gaming industry over the past weekend.

• A Californian court provisionally approved a settlement between Sony and American gamers who filed a lawsuit against the company in 2021. The gamers alleged that prices in the PS Store rose after Sony stopped selling digital versions of games for its consoles outside the store several years ago. Under the settlement, there will be no changes to the PS Store, but affected users will receive compensation from Sony. The company will allocate $7.8 million for payments to Americans who purchased certain games between April 1, 2019, and December 31, 2023. Notably, a similar settlement was nearly reached last year, but it was rejected by the court because Sony initially wanted to compensate with PlayStation Store vouchers instead of cash.
• The analytical company Circana asked US gamers why they purchase consoles. The most popular reason remains the availability of games not found on other platforms, as stated by 41% of respondents. However, this is an 8-percentage-point drop from the previous year, indicating that the influence of exclusives is gradually declining. Other common reasons include having friends and family who play on the same console (38%), ease of playing with friends (37%), and the ability to play in a relaxed setting, sitting on a couch in front of the TV (36%).
• Layoffs occurred at VR studio Survios, known for games like Alien: Rogue Incursion and The Walking Dead: Onslaught. Former employees reported the layoffs on LinkedIn. The exact scale is unclear, but it’s suggested that a substantial portion of the team was affected. Moreover, one post stated that the studio "in its current form" is about to cease to exist. Survios has not publicly commented on the situation.
• The new "Heroes" showed an impressive start. According to studio Unfrozen, within the first day of early access, Heroes of Might and Magic: Older Era earned enough to cover production costs, and by the end of the third day, game sales reached 500,000 copies. Its Steam online presence was excellent as well, peaking at over 60,800 players on Sunday, May 3, marking the best performance for the franchise on the platform.
• Meanwhile, sales of Windrose exceeded 1.5 million copies. The pirate-themed survival game achieved this milestone two weeks post-release.
• Additionally, over the weekend, two games surpassed the one million wishlist mark. The creators of the Assassin's Creed Black Flag remake and Metro 2039 both announced reaching this milestone. The release of the former is scheduled for July 9, while the latter is expected to launch sometime this winter, with an exact date yet to be announced.