Stores and publishing

The upcoming discontinuation of discs by Sony has become one of the most talked-about events in the industry in recent months. We decided to examine the situation from the perspective of market data and find out how the share of digital sales has changed for major publishers and what the current state of game retail is today.

The corporation was accused of non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act requirements

Microsoft has initiated a trial phase for ad-supported game streaming on Xbox.

Xbox is launching backward compatibility features for both PC and handheld devices, initially offering four classic titles: BLiNX: The Time Sweeper, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, and Fuzion Frenzy

The Steam team didn't stop at just updating the wishlist functionality. Valve also enhanced the gift system on the platform

Valve has indeed released another update for its digital game store. As expected, it focused on user interactions with wishlists

According to projections, U.S. video game sales have experienced a 20% decline year-on-year, with figures expected to decrease from $5.7 billion to $4.5 billion between June 2025 and June 2026.

American gamers continue to file lawsuits over the rise in console prices in 2025, caused by Donald Trump's tariffs. In the spring, they filed suits against Nintendo and Sony, and now they've reached Microsoft's gaming division.

Subscribers of Meta Horizon+ now have access to the starter edition of Xbox's Game Pass.

In early May, the new head of XBOX, Asha Sharma, made some leadership changes in the gaming division and invited former colleagues from CoreAI to join the team. One of them was Jared Palmer. However, it turned out that he decided not to stay long in the position of XBOX Vice President of Development

These observations were shared on social media by Mat Piscatella, an analyst from Circana.

We continue our series of YouTube interviews. The guest of the new episode is Mikhail Dolgoborodov, the founder of the studios Darxel and "Varyagi". Mikhail talked about the aspects of finding an investor and publisher in the current Russian landscape

Last summer, the studio Three Dots Games, which developed the sci-fi puzzle game The Muller-Powell Principle, criticized the game's publisher, Take Aim Games. At that time, they claimed that the company had breached commitments and effectively stole the rights to the project. A year later, the dispute has been resolved

Xbox faces allegations of "unlawfully" terminating employees without providing notice to or consulting with recognized unions

Now it amounts to $7 million.

Valve may be preparing to expand options for interacting with wishlists on Steam. This was reported by Simon Carless, the founder of the analytics service GameDiscoverCo.

In the wake of a recent reorganization at Xbox, top executives have highlighted the company’s commitment to maintaining exclusive titles on its platform.

It seems that Microsoft's gaming division has significantly reduced its presence in Poland. This was reported by sources of Polish journalists Dawid Kosiński and Michał Pisarski.

The communications workers' unions of the United States and Canada are convinced that recent layoffs in Microsoft's gaming division were conducted with numerous violations. They have filed a complaint against the corporation with the labor inspections of both countries.

Instead of the traditional mid-year summary, we have prepared an extensive report on the state of genres in Steam. Inside, you'll find a wealth of data, charts, and conclusions about the highest-grossing game categories, oversaturated niches, and underrated subgenres. We'll also specifically discuss tags where revenue distribution is most uneven

On June 30, 2026, PulluP Entertainment concluded the first quarter of the current fiscal year. The company shared its results in a recent report

It took two days from the announcement for the cooperative airplane crew simulator to reach the million mark

Hela: of Mice & Magic's achievements were shared by the studio Windup Games and the publisher Knights Peak, which is part of MY.GAMES

On July 14, studio FLEXUS officially announced its new game—a cooperative airplane crew simulator called Dear Passengers. The project instantly rode a wave of popularity

Joseph Burba, the head of ZeniMax Online Studios, was among those affected by last week's layoffs at Xbox.

The Russian app store RuStore will no longer be owned by VK. Its management has decided to buy it out.

This conclusion was reached by the analytics company Sensor Tower. They calculated the revenue of companies from in-app purchases (IAP) in their games from Google Play and the App Store.

Google Corporation has agreed to allow third-party app stores on Google Play. Initially, a court attempted to force them to do this, but Google actively resisted. However, after negotiations with Epic Games, they decided to make concessions.

Google Corporation has agreed to allow app stores from other companies on Google Play. Initially, a court tried to compel them to do this, but Google actively resisted. However, after negotiations with Epic Games, they decided to make concessions.

While many XBOX subsidiary studios are actively laying off employees, King continues to operate with the same team. This was reported by the MobileGamer portal, citing sources.

Compulsion Games, the studio behind "South of Midnight," has declared its willingness to collaborate with and provide support to other studios after becoming independent from Xbox.

According to estimates by data company Aliena Analytics, Steam's revenue reached $11.1 billion in the first half of the year, representing a 14.5% increase compared to the same period last year. This figure marks the platform’s highest recorded revenue for a half-year period.

Employees who are part of a union at Bethesda Game Studios plan to initiate a strike next week as a reaction to widespread layoffs at Xbox

In the first half of 2026, Steam generated $11.1 billion, according to data from the analytics company Alinea Analytics. Its semi-annual revenue has never been this high before

On the evening of July 9, Ubisoft released the remake of Assassin's Creed Black Flag. The game received mixed reviews on Steam

GameDiscoverCo analysts tried to find out what Steam users think about games created using artificial intelligence. To do this, they surveyed 3,800 people

Hiroki Totoki, the President and CEO of Sony, suddenly decided to dispose of a significant portion of his shares in the corporation. He sold 225,000 securities, which is 56% of his holdings

Analysts from Alinea Analytics believe that the upcoming Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has every chance of becoming a highly anticipated hit for Ubisoft. In their assessment, the game has already performed excellently even before its release.

This week, several hundred members of the Communication Workers of America experienced job cuts at Xbox as part of a large-scale layoff initiative.

Next month, Nexon will assume the publishing responsibilities for Overwatch on PC in South Korea, a role previously held by Blizzard.

IO Interactive is set to shut down its Istanbul studio after losing funding for its online fantasy role-playing game, known by its codename, Project Fantasy.

Yesterday, July 6, Microsoft officially confirmed rumors about restructuring its gaming division. Head of Xbox, Asha Sharma, published a letter to employees detailing what lies ahead for the team.

Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass subscription service reportedly boasts approximately 30 million users.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has provided more information about the restructuring plan revealed yesterday, which will lead to 3,200 job cuts

As a result, the game ranked 593rd in the list of the most anticipated projects on the platform

The wave of layoffs in Microsoft's gaming division could have almost bypassed Blizzard Entertainment. This was reported by journalist Jez Corden from Windows Central.

Bethesda is adopting a "franchise-centric" planning approach to concentrate resources more effectively on long-term growth and stability

In the announcement about the large-scale restructuring of XBOX, Microsoft did not specify the names of the particular studios where layoffs will occur. However, some information has leaked to the media

Yesterday, on July 6, Microsoft officially confirmed the rumors about the restructuring of its gaming division. XBOX head Asha Sharma published a letter to employees, detailing what the team can expect.

Compulsion Games and Double Fine, previously part of Microsoft's Xbox-owned developers, have been separated from the Xbox family of studios amid Microsoft's significant wave of cuts and divestitures. Both companies have issued statements regarding these changes