Concerns about banning online games for children under 15 in the European Union have not been confirmed. However, the proposed legislation does include rather strict regulations. We have reviewed the published documents and understood how the EU intends to transform "child protection" from a safety function into a part of product design.

This opinion was expressed by Bruce Straley in an interview with Edge magazine

While Western game developers and publishers are regularly conducting layoffs, companies from Japan are hardly reducing their staff. According to Amir Satvat, a former director of game business development at Tencent, this is due to the distinctive way of doing business in the country.

The New Zealand Game Developers Conference (NZGDC), the country’s premier games industry event, will return to Auckland for the first time in nearly ten years. Organised by the not-for-profit New Zealand Game Developers Association (NZGDA) and supported by Auckland Council, the conference runs from 30 September to 3 October 2026 at the newly opened New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC), under the theme “Shaping Our World”.

Fifty-seven residents of the cluster are engaged in video games

While some might contend that Grand Theft Auto 6 can forgo a marketing campaign, Strauss Zelnick, president of Take-Two Interactive, stressed the importance of sustaining awareness for established brands.

Mobile game marketing is entering a new phase defined by faster creative iteration, broader AI adoption, and a growing focus on player quality. The 2026 Global Mobile Game & AI Marketing Insights, published by SocialPeta, Playio, and Funtap Games, examines how these shifts are changing advertising strategies in the first half of 2026.

Sweden's trade unions, Unionen and Sveriges Ingenjörer, have announced plans to strike against King following the company's executives' refusal of a proposed collective bargaining agreement last month.

Companies rarely publicly disclose how much it costs them to create their games, and Ubisoft is no exception. However, information from German authorities has revealed the possible development cost of the city builder Anno 117: Pax Romana

The creators behind Dredge, Black Salt Games, have announced the formation of a new studio named Team Trifold. Alongside this development, they have also introduced a white-label publisher, Saltworks Entertainment, which will offer services to both Black Salt Games and Team Trifold, as well as to fellow New Zealand indie developer Disc 2 Games.

She still doesn't quite like the proposal to restrict access to online games for children from the European Union.

The GDC Festival of Gaming has announced the addition of four new members to its advisory board

Belgium's gambling market regulator published an annual report stating that in 2025 the gross revenue of licensed online gambling in Belgium increased by 5.4%, reaching 965 million euros. As a result, the online segment's share of the market reached 59%

At the beginning of the year, Epic Games conducted large-scale layoffs, letting go of more than a thousand employees. Five of them decided not to look for work at existing studios but to start their own, naming it The Drop Circuit.

Gamers continue to actively add the Chinese action game Phantom Blade Zero to their wish lists, reports S-GAME Studio.

The European Commission has unveiled a draft of the proposed EU KIDS Act. Although the most contentious provisions—such as banning children under the age of 13 and imposing restrictions on those under 15—are aimed specifically at social networks and video-sharing platforms, other aspects of the proposal would extend to online gaming. Should the legislation pass, it would impact all online games available in EU markets, imposing major limitations on standard online functionalities. The scope of the regulation is notably extensive, potentially including everything from Roblox to the multiplayer features of traditional disc-based games. An initial analysis is available.

On September 16, the European Commission officially unveiled a draft law called the EU Kids Act, which could make it more difficult for European minors to access online games. The initiative was immediately criticized by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney.

The American company Nex, which created the Nex Playground console, has good news. It has succeeded in securing multi-million-dollar investments as part of its Series E funding round

Nex has raised $150 million in funding following the achievement of over one million unit sales of its family-focused active console, Nex Playground

Top App Games continues to report on the achievements of the mobile PvP strategy game Ludus: Merge Arena

On September 16, the European Commission officially presented a draft law called the EU Kids Act, which might make it more difficult for minors in Europe to access online games. The initiative was immediately criticized by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney.

A new entry in the "Investor/Publisher Wanted" section. Today, we're discussing a turn-based card RPG called Whist. The project has been in development for several years. Currently, the team is looking for a publisher and funding to refine the visual aspects.

Square Enix announced reaching the milestone on social media

On September 16, Aniimo, a free-to-play game from the Chinese developer Pawprint Studio, was released. In this game, players explore a fantasy world and collect magical creatures. Its Steam version attracted a significant number of concurrent players within the first few hours of release

Heart Machine, the developer behind Hyper Light Drifter, faces potential closure following the collapse of a publishing agreement

1312 Interactive is a small publisher originating from India, positioning itself as the country's first publisher of console and PC games. Recently, it successfully completed a seed funding round

The lawsuit was filed by a former employee of Activision Blizzard, who worked at the company from 2009 to 2023

Starting October 7, 2026, it will no longer be possible to place content related to online gambling in Google's advertising services intended for residents of Croatia. The corporation announced the upcoming policy update in its blog.

Not only does Build a Rocket Boy have problems. The studio Heart Machine was also forced to carry out major layoffs and now finds itself in a rather precarious situation.

Several employees from the studio Build a Rocket Boy, which developed the unsuccessful game MindsEye, posted on social media about another round of layoffs in their team

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) revealed that Shinji Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil, is set to be inducted into its Hall of Fame in the coming year.

It has been reported that the Scottish studio Build a Rocket Boy has begun another series of job reductions

The "divorce" between Kojima Productions and PlayStation has raised many questions, including whether a corporation can simultaneously act as a patron for independent creators and operate according to the rules of large public businesses. Today, we will trace the transformation of Sony's strategy, which over several years has radically changed its decision-making system and approach to investment and capital management

This will occur as part of an initiative to enhance the protection of minors online, reports Politico.

The Finnish studio Piñata Games is no longer owned by Metacore. It has announced that it has regained its independence.

1312 Interactive, a publishing house, has raised $1 million in a seed funding round

Google Corporation has finally settled a dispute with app developers from the United Kingdom, who sued it over the Google Play monopoly.

The purchase will cost Kakao Games 98 billion won or 71.5 million dollars

Joe Brammer, CEO of Wardogs Authors Studio, gave an interview to The Game Business. During the conversation, he stated that he views crunches as something inevitable and does not hide the likelihood of them occurring from potential new employees

This will take place as part of an initiative to strengthen the protection of minors on the internet, reports Politico

Bohemia Interactive has acquired a minority interest of undisclosed size in Poland's Enjoy Studio, the developer known for the co-op FPS survival RPG Everwind

Analysts at Euromat studied the situation concerning the illegal online gambling market in the European Union from 2019 to 2026. They found that its revenue is steadily increasing—by an average of 18% annually

At King, a scandal related to working conditions is ongoing

For over a year, the game development company group "Lesta Games" has been under state control, but it may soon return to private ownership. This was reported by Forbes, citing sources.

Continuing our weekly series of YouTube interviews, this episode features Yelena Bugakova, producer of Age of Magic (Playkot). We discussed trends in the genre, metrics, the UA situation, and much more

We continue our weekly series of YouTube interviews. The guest of the new episode is Elena Bugakova, producer of Age of Magic (Playkot). We talked with her about trends in the genre, metrics, the situation with user acquisition, and much more

The company Everplay Group (formerly Team17 Group) is very pleased with the launch of the military sandbox Wardogs. So much so that it decided to increase its shareholding in Super Media Group — the nominal owner of the Bulkhead studio, founded a year ago by Bulkhead’s own leaders.

Another deal in the video game market

Analysts at Atomik Research attempted to examine the current state of cheating in multiplayer games. To do this, they surveyed 250 developers of such titles from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Everplay Group (formerly Team17 Group) is very pleased with the launch of the military sandbox Wardogs. So much so that it has decided to increase its stake in Super Media Group — the nominal owner of Bulkhead Studio, which was founded a year ago by the leaders of Bulkhead itself.