Stores and publishing

Apple has updated its EU App Store regulations to align with the European Commission's Digital Markets Act, following a deadline to comply issued 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.

Stichting Massaschade & Consument (Mass Damage & Consumer Foundation), a consumer organization in the Netherlands, has initiated a collective legal action against Sony. The lawsuit alleges that Sony has been abusing its market dominance regarding consoles.

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 revealed a new virtual reality headset developed in partnership with Meta, known as the Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition

Microsoft is rumored to be preparing for a significant wave of layoffs at Xbox 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.

On June 17, Cygames released the free-to-play CCG Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond, a sequel to the popular card game Shadowverse CCG. Although it already ranked as the 15th most-played new release of 2025 on Steam, gamers were not satisfied with the project

The GFA Games studio has boasted new achievements for the upcoming MMO shooter PIONER. They announced that the game has been added to the wishlists of 300,000 Steam users.

Stellar Blade has become the leading single-player game published by PlayStation on Steam, based on the number of concurrent players.

Kepler Interactive is a publisher that values risk-taking and considers the interests of indie studios. What sets the company apart from its competitors is its unique operational approach, which involves joint ownership of the business with developer partners. Let's delve into how this model is structured and what successes Kepler has achieved over three years.

On June 10, Build A Rocket Boy, the studio founded by former Rockstar North president and producer of the GTA series, released its debut game—an action title called MindsEye. It received a lukewarm reception on Steam

Although Gears of War: Reloaded has successfully passed certification for Xbox Series and PC, it will not be available on PS5 in Japan

In the week from June 3 to June 10, the free-to-play Counter-Strike 2 returned to the top of Steam's overall chart of the highest-grossing products. As for the list that includes only paid projects, Dune: Awakening climbed to the top.

Less than a day remains until the release of the action game MindsEye from former GTA producer Leslie Benzies. On this occasion, VG Insights' Director of Business Development Vic Bassey has calculated the game's wishlists

The Outer Worlds 2 is set to become the inaugural Xbox game priced at $80, in line with Microsoft's recently announced price hikes last month.

The analytical service VG Insights examined the initial sales of Elden Ring Nightreign. According to their data, by the end of the debut week, FromSoftware and Bandai Namco sold 4.3 million copies of the game, more than half of which were for the PC version.

A few days remain until the full release of Dune: Awakening, but as of last evening, owners of the premium editions can already play the MMO survival game set in the Dune universe. There turned out to be quite a few of them. During the first hours of early access, the game's online presence on Steam reached 93,634 people.

The creator of Undertale, Toby Fox, and his team have finally added the third and fourth chapters to Deltarune, after which the game was released. Although the RPG has become a paid game, it has generated immense excitement

The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) conducted an annual survey among Russian residents on the topic of video games. In particular, it asked respondents about their attitudes towards the game console being developed in the country.

The success of 9 Kings has only solidified Hooded Horse's status as one of the leading indie publishers in the market. It's the perfect time to delve into the reasons behind the company's success and to understand how it selects projects, how much it spends on game marketing, and why it considers the model of full reimbursement of publishing costs to be harmful and outdated.

During the week from May 27 to June 3, the top spot on the Steam best-selling products chart was taken by Elden Ring Nightreign. The cooperative spin-off of Elden Ring earned more in a week than the regular chart topper Counter-Strike.

In RuStore, the average spending in games by Russian developers in April was 750 rubles. In foreign games, it was much lower—around 550 rubles.

Wizards of the Coast, the owner of Dungeons & Dragons, has revealed an "exclusive publishing agreement" with Giant Skull. This partnership aims to develop "gameplay-driven, story-immersed, action-adventure games"

The founder of the analytical service GameDiscoverCo, Simon Carless, named the best-selling new releases on Steam for May. The leader in both gross revenue and the number of copies sold was Elden Ring Nightreign, despite its release on the 30th.

There are various models for segmenting the gaming industry. One of the most uniquely simple ones was developed by a former executive of Nexon. We will take a closer look at this model and also discuss how publishers and investors often mistakenly assess their resources and expertise

Mundfish Studio, the creator behind Atomic Heart, has introduced a new publishing venture known as Mundfish Powerhouse

On the night of May 30, the release of Elden Ring Nightreign—a cooperative spin-off of Elden Ring—took place on PC and consoles. The game became very popular on Steam. Within just a few hours, its online player count on the Valve platform reached 313,593 people

Game developers and publishers can create what are known as homepages on Steam—personalized storefronts featuring a list of their titles, the latest news, and other important information. To make it easier and more efficient for teams to manage these pages, Valve has released a minor update.

Nacon, a publishing company from France, declared a new six-year collaboration with the World Rally Championship game franchise.

During the week of May 20th to 27th, there were quite a few changes among the top grossing leaders in the Steam chart.

Valve’s Steam Next Fest is a demo festival held several times a year on Steam. While the event has its perks, Hans Haave, a producer at the publisher Oro Interactive, believes developers shouldn’t rely solely on it.

Several times a year, Valve hosts the Next Fest or "Let There Be Games" demo festival on Steam. While the event has many advantages, Hans Haave, a producer at Oro Interactive, believes that developers shouldn't rely on it entirely.

Elden Ring is one of the most successful games in recent years. The analytical company Alinea Analytics shared its statistics on the project, including sales, revenue, and audience engagement levels.

Another update on wishlists. Hypnohead Studio announced that its game, The King is Watching, has surpassed 200,000 additions to wishlists on Steam