Stores and publishing

The head of Three Dots Games studio, Artyom Perevoz, wrote an extensive (80-page) open letter detailing the misconduct of the publisher Take Aim Games. According to him, the company failed to meet its obligations, did not pay developers for months, and ultimately appropriated the rights to the puzzle game The Muller-Powell Principle. The other party disagrees with the accusations — here we explain the situation from both perspectives

In an interview with the newspaper "Kommersant," Ilya Ulyanov, the director of business development at RuStore, talked about the increase in Chinese advertising spending

A study reveals that 7% of games available on Steam now indicate the use of generative AI in some capacity

Italian independent game developer Santa Ragione has expressed criticism toward Apple for removing its narrative game, Wheels of Aurelia, from the platform. The studio asserts that the game is "fully functional" and adheres to "current technical standards".

In Steam, there are more and more games whose developers use artificial intelligence during development, according to Ichiro Lambe, head of Totally Human Media and one of the creators of "Steam Labs." He noted that their share among the new releases in 2025 was about 20%

The lead developer in charge of Xbox Graphics has faced criticism for promoting new job openings with an image generated by artificial intelligence

While Counter-Strike 2 continues to lead the top-grossing products on Steam for the sixth consecutive week, there are some shifts happening in the rest of the chart. Below are the most notable changes from July 8-15

The developers from GFA Games announced on the game's official social media pages that the MMO shooter PIONER has reached a new major milestone on wishlists.

The GOG team announced that on July 17th, the games Limbo and Inside will be removed from the store. The official reason has not been stated, but it is speculated online that the removal could be related to the legal disputes between Playdead founders Dino Patti and Arnt Jensen, which have recently escalated to a lawsuit.

The GOG team announced that on July 17, the games Limbo and Inside will be removed from the store. An official reason is not provided, but online speculation suggests that the cause might be disputes between the founders of Playdead, Dino Patti and Arnt Jensen, which have recently moved to the courts

Everything indicates that 2025 will become another record-breaking year for Steam. We decided to summarize the first six months by gathering information about games and the state of the platform as a whole. Today's article includes lots of charts and data on new releases and key trends

The top of the Steam best-selling products chart has changed little compared to the previous week. Counter-Strike 2 once again secured the lead in the overall ranking, while the portable PC Steam Deck and the indie hit Peak outpaced everyone in the paid category

Founders of Romero Games, John and Brenda Romero, have refuted rumors about the studio's closure. They stated that the team is indeed going through tough times but continues to work.

Simon Carless from GameDiscoverCo compiled two lists of the most successful new games on Steam for June: one based on gross revenue and the other on the number of copies sold. The Russian strategy game Broken Arrow made it onto both lists

The necessity of such a restriction will be discussed at the next meeting between members of the Russian presidential administration and representatives of gaming companies, reports "Kommersant"

Developers from Facepunch Studios announced that sales of the survival game Rust have exceeded 20 million copies. This is only on Steam. With other platforms taken into account, the number of copies sold should be even higher.

Last night, Microsoft announced a massive wave of layoffs, affecting Xbox as well. Following the announcement, information began leaking to the media regarding cuts in specific gaming teams. We’ve compiled a list of the affected studios.

The retail chain "M.Video-Eldorado" shared data on console sales in Russia for the first quarter of 2025. We have highlighted the key points from the report

Keleops, a digital publishing firm, has purchased Kotaku from G/O Media in an undisclosed all-cash transaction

Studio Hangar 13 announced that millions of players are anticipating the release of Mafia: The Old Country. By July, over 2.5 million people had added the new installment of Mafia to their wishlists

Amid massive layoffs at Microsoft, rumors emerged that Xbox head Phil Spencer is preparing to step down. However, Microsoft has denied these rumors.

Last night, Microsoft announced a massive wave of layoffs that also affected Xbox. Following this, information about cuts in specific gaming teams began to leak to the media. We have compiled a list of the impacted studios

Update 4, July 3, 2025: The Microsoft Gaming division's Bizzard segment is experiencing layoffs, leading to the announcement that the mobile game Warcraft Rumble will cease receiving updates. According to an internal email from president Johanna Faries, which was shared by Aftermath, the game will transition to a "live-ops only" model, akin to the approaches taken with Heroes of the Storm and StarCraft 2

On the morning of July 2, Mecha BREAK — a multiplayer shooter about robot battles, developed by the Chinese studio Amazing Seasun Games, was released on PC and Xbox Series. In the initial hours, its peak online players on Steam reached 97,006 people

The development studio behind the new installment of "Heroes," Unfrozen, announced a partnership with one of the most successful strategy game publishers, Hooded Horse.

Rematch didn't hold the lead in the paid Steam chart for long. By the end of the week from June 24 to July 1, it was pushed from the top spot among premium games by the climbing simulator Peak (though in the top among all paid products, Peak secured second place—after the portable PC Steam Deck)

The service GameDiscoverCo attempted to determine the real size of the Steam market (Total Addressable Market) and calculate the revenue of different game categories. They conducted an experiment by leaving only two key tags for each game that earned more than a million dollars — one for the genre and one for the subgenre.

The current direction of Xbox puts an end to the future of Microsoft consoles, according to Laura Fryer — a veteran of the corporation who led the Xbox Advanced Technology Group in the early 2000s.

Apple has updated its rules for the EU App Store in reaction to the Digital Markets Act from the European Commission, following an earlier deadline for compliance set earlier this month.

The service GameDiscoverCo attempted to determine the actual size of the Steam market (Total Addressable Market) and calculate the revenue across different game categories. They conducted an experiment by leaving only two key tags for each game that earned more than a million dollars—one for the genre and the other for the subgenre.

Laura Fryer, a veteran of the corporation who led the Xbox Advanced Technology Group in the early 2000s, believes that the current direction of Xbox spells the end for the future of Microsoft consoles.

The Russian strategy game Broken Arrow has brought millions of dollars to the Steel Balalaika studio and publisher Slitherine. This is according to data from analytics services

Apple has indeed decided to update its App Store policy for European Union countries to better align with the Digital Markets Act. Below is a brief overview of the key changes:

Bongo Cat is a free idle game where a cat taps its paws on the taskbar every time the user types or clicks. The project was released on March 5 and soon secured the eighth spot in the top new releases of 2025 with the highest online player count on Steam, but it did not bring significant money to its creators.

The Massaschade & Consument, a Dutch consumer group also known as the Mass Damage & Consumer Foundation, has initiated a collective legal action against Sony. The lawsuit asserts that the console maker is leveraging its market dominance in an exploitative manner.

Recently, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier reported that Microsoft is planning significant layoffs in its gaming division soon. However, he did not disclose the number of people who will be let go. According to 3D Realms co-founder George Broussard, the number could reach as many as 2,000.

On June 16, the portfolio of the Swedish studio Landfall Games was enriched with another cooperative hit — the climbing simulator Peak, which places a heavy emphasis on the comedic aspects of gameplay situations. Seven developers from two studios, four months from game jam to release, and a unique approach to marketing — let's delve into the game's success.

Apple Corporation hopes to avoid a new fine in the European Union due to anti-competitive App Store policies, according to Financial Times sources. To achieve this, the company is prepared to make some concessions in its store policy.

Xbox has revealed the Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition, a new VR headset developed in partnership with Meta.

Reports indicate that Microsoft is preparing for a significant wave of layoffs within its Xbox division next week.

During the week of June 17 to June 24, the highest-grossing project among paid games on Steam was the multiplayer football action game Rematch. Overall, it ranked second, right after the free-to-play Counter-Strike 2.

Apple Corporation hopes to avoid a new fine in the European Union due to the App Store's anti-competitive practices, according to sources from the Financial Times. To achieve this, the company is willing to make concessions in the store's policy.

No, I'm Not a Human is a horror game about an invasion of dangerous creatures disguised as humans. It was developed by the indie team Trioskaz. As noted by GameDiscoverCo founder Simon Carless, by June 16, the game's number of wishlists had reached 502,928

On the evening of June 19, the full release of Broken Arrow, a real-time strategy game by the Russian studio Steel Balalaika and the British publisher Slitherine, took place on PC. The new game immediately attracted a large audience

From June 9 to June 16, Steam hosted the Next Fest demo festival. The founder of GameDiscoverCo, Simon Carless, compiled a list of the top games that gained the most wish list additions during the event.

From June 9 to 16, the Steam Next Fest, also known as "Let Games Be," took place, featuring game demos. Simon Carless, the founder of GameDiscoverCo, compiled a list of games that received the most additions to wishlists during the event.

Starting this month, PlayStation 4 and 5 users will no longer receive updates for the VR rhythm game Beat Saber, and multiplayer support will be discontinued on both platforms.

Xbox has collaborated with AMD to "power the next generation of Xbox"

During the week from June 10 to June 17, Counter-Strike 2 continued to lead the overall top-grossing product chart on Steam. Meanwhile, in the chart exclusively for paid projects, Stellar Blade claimed the top spot, displacing Dune: Awakening.

During the week of June 10th to 17th, Counter-Strike 2 continued to lead the overall best-selling product chart on Steam. Meanwhile, in the top chart featuring only paid projects, Stellar Blade took the top spot, displacing Dune: Awakening.