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The number of concurrent users (CCU) is often the only publicly visible data for most titles in the market. Here is what Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender thinks about this metric and its limitations.

The Spanish antitrust regulator has launched an investigation into Apple, reports Reuters. The agency intends to examine the App Store policy

Nintendo has annulled the victory of the team that emerged victorious in the Splatoon 3 World Championship earlier this year due to allegations of misconduct involving several players. Jackpot secured the title in the official Nintendo competition in April, but an announcement on the Nintendo VS X account yesterday stated their triumph will now be "considered vacated," and the team will not be awarded trophies from the event. "It has come to our attention that certain members of team Jackpot... acted in a manner that is not in line with our community guidelines while playing the Splatoon 3 game," the statement read.

The SAG-AFTRA National Board has unanimously decided to allow its lead negotiator to initiate an immediate strike at their discretion to safeguard voice actors' job security amid growing interest in generative AI by studios. In a statement, SAG-AFTRA, which represents over 160,000 professionals including actors, broadcast journalists, news writers, recording artists, and voiceover artists, indicated that, should a strike be called, it would encompass all services covered under the Interactive Media Agreement (IMA). "All SAG-AFTRA members will cease rendering all services and performing all work covered by the IMA," the statement read. While negotiations continue regarding the Interactive Media Agreement, the union asserts that there remains a significant gap in reaching terms related to essential AI protections for video game performers

The head of the Polish publisher PlayWay, Krzysztof Kostowski, wrote on X that players are showing considerable interest in the crime scene cleaner simulator Crime Scene Cleaner. The game has 490 thousand additions to wishlists

In response to complaints from the Federal Trade Commission about recent modifications to Xbox Game Pass, which include price hikes and the removal of its console-only subscription tier, Microsoft has taken a firm stance. The FTC recently filed a letter with the US Court of Appeals, arguing that these changes represent "exactly the sort of consumer harm" it cautioned against during the battle over Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard. Microsoft’s legal team, in a letter obtained by The Verge's Tom Warren, has countered these assertions, labeling the FTC's claims as "misleading" and accusing the agency of trying to "reinvent its case on appeal"

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is going after Microsoft with new accusations. The regulator believes that the company is violating the promises made before the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The Federal Trade Commission has expressed disapproval of the recent price adjustments for Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass, unveiled last week. In a document submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals, the FTC argued that Microsoft's "actions are inconsistent" with its earlier statements regarding price hikes, asserting that this maneuver "is exactly the sort of consumer harm from the merger the FTC has alleged." The revised pricing structure, set to take effect on September 12, encompasses increases across existing Game Pass tiers and introduces a new standard option that excludes day-one releases

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continues its attempts to challenge Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard. On July 18, it supplemented its appeal with a statement criticizing the price increase for Game Pass and the addition of a subscription tier without games at launch

Blue Scarab Entertainment is a new indie studio formed by a group of industry veterans. The team has already secured funding in a seed round for its debut MMORPG.

Sega has emerged victorious in a legal battle against a person accused of harassing an employee on social media, and this individual has now been mandated to pay an unspecified amount in damages. According to Eurogamer, Sega claimed that the person had made "excessive slanderous and insulting comments" on the internet. Following court approval to access the individual's details, Sega secured a settlement that requires the deletion of the offensive posts

New insights into Valve's organizational structure, employment practices, and workforce numbers have surfaced in the context of an antitrust lawsuit involving Steam. Though segments of the documents submitted in Wolfire's lawsuit against Valve were obscured, Pavel Djundik of SteamDB identified that some information remained accessible beneath the redaction, including details of Valve's employee numbers, compensation, as well as gross margins and commissions spanning from 2009 to 2021. In 2015, Valve's Steam division employed 142 individuals, but by 2021, this figure had decreased to 79, even as nearly 10,000 games were launched on Steam that year

Koei Tecmo has resolved its intellectual property dispute with Youzu through an out-of-court settlement. Earlier today, Koei Tecmo announced that Youzu admitted to and apologized for infringing on its games, Nobunaga's Ambition and Taiko Risshiden. According to Koei Tecmo, Youzu had been using music and images from these games without permission in its mobile titles, which include Sengoku Legend: Uprising, Infinity Kingdom, and Dynasty Origins

Employees from service providers Localsoft and Keywords have alleged that Nintendo has miscredited external translators. In an interview with Game Developer, these individuals claimed their contributions to games such as Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild were not properly acknowledged. Additionally, they accused Nintendo of having a policy that excludes the names of translators from external agencies in game credits, prohibiting these professionals from mentioning those projects on their CVs

Today, the government is increasingly trying to regulate the gaming industry. Roman Lukyanov, managing partner at the law firm Semenov&Pevzner, talked about some of these laws during his speech at the "Gaming Industry" conference

Nexon has addressed allegations that The First Descendant borrowed designs from Destiny 2. A recent Forbes article pointed out resemblances between iconography and weapon designs in Nexon's free-to-play game and Bungie's title. In a statement shared by Forbes contributor Paul Tassi on social media, Nexon acknowledged the concerns and stated that it will make "adjustments to ensure that the imagery that may appear similar clearly reflects the unique identity of the game"

The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation has prepared a draft law listing measures to support the Russian gaming industry, reports the agency "Interfax," which reviewed the document

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has determined that EA misled consumers with a paid Facebook advertisement concerning loot boxes in Golf Clash. Following this decision, the ad is prohibited from reappearing in its existing form. The ASA has instructed EA to ensure that future advertisements "prominently and clearly" disclose the presence of randomised in-game purchases. The contested Golf Clash advertisement included a brief, fleeting message at the bottom that read "Includes optional in-game purchases (includes random items)," which vanished after a few seconds. The complaint questioned whether the disclosure of loot boxes was sufficiently clear given the short display duration

On March 22, South Korean authorities adopted an amendment to the gambling law, requiring developers to specify the probability of items dropping from loot boxes in games. According to the country's Game Rating and Administration Committee, by July, 1,255 games were subject to the law, but not all of them complied with the requirements

Skillz, a mobile gaming platform, has initiated legal action against Voodoo, accusing the company of illegal practices and deceptive advertising related to its Blitz Win Cash app. The lawsuit, submitted on Monday to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, asserts that Voodoo misleadingly promotes the app as "fair" and "skill-based" while purportedly employing bots to manipulate tournament results and player winnings. According to the complaint, "Voodoo's use of algorithms to determine the outcome of its tournaments turns what might be otherwise legal games of human skill into illegal games of chance or gambling in which Voodoo's participants have little to no influence on the outcome of any game,"

Nintendo of America has initiated legal action against two individuals for allegedly breaching its copyright by distributing and selling "circumvention devices." Court documents posted on Torrent Freak name Ryan Michael Daly of Modded Hardware, a site purported by Nintendo to have violated the DMCA through the sale of modified consoles, pirated software, and mod chips. Daly faces accusations of trafficking in circumvention devices, copyright infringement, breach of EULA contract, and tortious interference with contract. Similarly, James C. Williams, known online as 'Archbox', has been charged with copyright infringement, circumventing technological measures, trafficking in circumvention devices, breach of contract, and tortious interference with contract

Nintendo's lawyers continue to fight against game piracy. The company recently filed two lawsuits

An employment tribunal in the UK has directed Cloud Imperium Games to compensate a former employee with £27,748 regarding a discrimination claim related to its return-to-office policy. According to Game Developer, senior programmer Paul Ah-Thion was terminated in 2022 after his requests for permanent remote work accommodations for his disability were rejected. Ah-Thion had previously worked on-site at the company's former Wilmslow office before Cloud Imperium transitioned employees to remote work during the pandemic. In 2021, Cloud Imperium opened a new office in Manchester, now serving as its UK headquarters, and instituted a return-to-office mandate for its staff

Guy 'DrDisrespect' Beahm, a prominent streamer and influencer, is facing further setbacks as more partners sever ties following allegations related to his Twitch ban. YouTube has now taken the step of disabling monetization on his channel. A YouTube representative informed Kotaku that the platform has "suspended monetization on DrDisrespect's channel for violating our Creator Responsibility policy." Additionally, the channel, which boasts 4.7 million subscribers, has been excluded from the YouTube Partner Program due to "serious allegations against the creator"

Specialists from the law firm REVERA, Svetlana Gordey and Darya Savko, explained what "gold farming" is and whether it can be dealt with legally

The cross-party group in the Northern Ireland Assembly on gambling-related harm has called for stricter control over video games that include loot boxes and other gambling mechanics. They believe these harm the mental health of players

The Northern Ireland Assembly All Party Group on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling has advocated for tighter regulations on loot boxes within the region. Although they have not suggested an outright ban, they recommend that gambling within video games be restricted as much as possible during the second phase of gambling legislation in Northern Ireland. This recommendation is part of a report generated after an inquiry conducted from December 2022 to January 2024, which examined the public health implications of gambling. The APG asserts that Northern Ireland is well-placed to set a precedent in the regulation of loot boxes

A draft law has been submitted to the State Duma that bans the sale of smartphones and tablets in Russia without access to RuStore, the Russian app store. Apple devices are primarily at risk

Apple became the first company to be charged by the EU authorities with violating the European Digital Markets Act. The European Commission concluded that Apple hindered competition in the App Store

The Swedish holding company Embracer Group has reduced its debt to creditors. The company announced that it recently transferred SEK 3.2 billion (USD 300 million) to them

In March, the European Commission launched an investigation into Apple due to concerns that the corporation is violating the Digital Markets Act and suppressing competition on iOS, including in the App Store. According to sources from the Financial Times, authorities' suspicions have been confirmed

Nikolay Gorelik and Ekaterina Yakoltsevich, experts from the legal firm REVERA, discussed the mechanics of options and possible conditions of option programs in their column on App2Top.

Steam is confronting a £656 million collective action lawsuit, initiated by a digital rights advocate alleging that Valve has exploited its market dominance to overcharge 14 million consumers in the UK. The case, led by Vicki Shotbolt, was submitted to the Competition Appeal Tribunal on June 5. "Valve is rigging the market and taking advantage of UK gamers," Shotbolt commented to BBC News

The Japanese government has made modifications to its Cool Japan strategy, which aims to spread Japanese culture globally and strengthen Japan's connections with other countries. Specifically, it has highlighted the content industry (including video games, anime, manga, etc.) as one of the key elements of the strategy.

Polish game developer Bloober Team is said to have lost a publishing agreement with Take-Two's indie label, Private Division, after the latter withdrew from the arrangement. Bloober Team issued a financial notice in Polish, suggesting that Take-Two informed them of the contract termination yesterday. The firms had been collaborating on an undisclosed survival horror project known as Project C, news of which surfaced last month

The owner of Wordle has initiated legal action against Worldle, a geography-focused puzzle game. According to BBC News, the New York Times claims that the geography-based application closely mimics Wordle in terms of appearance, sound, and meaning, producing a similar commercial impression. The lawsuit also alleges that Worldle causes user confusion. Kory McDonald, a developer based in Seattle, operates Worldle, which reportedly attracts around 100,000 players each month

The New York Times, which owns the word game Wordle, is suing the developer of the puzzle game Worldle, Kory McDonald. The reason is the similar name and concept of the game.

Employees at ZeniMax Studios are now protected under Microsoft's labor neutrality agreement with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The CWA revealed yesterday that, consequently, all ZeniMax staff have the opportunity to decide on collective bargaining without Microsoft's interference. Page Branson, a member of ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, remarked: "Thousands of our ZeniMax coworkers now have a transparent and fair means to band together for improved working conditions. When we formed our union under a similar agreement, the process was straightforward, and management refrained from swaying anyone's decision or meddling in the voting process

In their column for App2Top, Svetlana Gordey and Daria Savko, specialists from the legal firm REVERA, discussed the potential risks associated with using the images of popular personalities.

The Shanghai Intellectual Property Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a person named Jin Xin against Apple in 2021. Jin Xin claimed that the company had abused its market position and imposed a high commission of 30% on iOS app developers, which ultimately led to increased expenses for users.

The South Korean Fair Trade Commission suspects that KRAFTON may be violating the law that requires developers to disclose the probability of obtaining valuable items from loot boxes in their games. The agency has launched an investigation into the company.

Activision has emerged victorious in a legal battle against cheats producer EngineOwning. According to VentureBeat, the United States District Court of the Central District of California awarded the game publisher $14.4 million in damages and $292,912 to cover legal fees. Furthermore, the court issued an injunction against the Germany-based site and mandated the transfer of the domain name to Activision

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has prepared a draft law on changes to the tax system. Among other things, it has proposed to replace the current zero profit tax rate for IT companies with a rate of 5%.

Parents and survivors of the 2022 Robb Elementary School tragedy in Uvalde, Texas have initiated legal action against Activision and its parent company Microsoft. According to The New York Times, two lawsuits were filed in California and Texas last Friday, coinciding with the second anniversary of the incident. The shooting resulted in the deaths of 19 children and two teachers at the hands of an 18-year-old gunman. The lawsuit also targets Instagram and its parent company Meta, as well as gun manufacturer Daniel Defense, alleging that they played a significant part in "grooming" the shooter

CM Games has run an interesting experiment with their VR shooter Into the Radius. Here is how the team managed to find an additional revenue channel by developing and launching a Supporter Pack for their core fans.

The UK authorities have followed the European Union's lead and approved a bill aimed at making the digital platform market more competitive. This specifically concerns Apple and its App Store.

The Swedish holding company Fragbite Group has filed for the bankruptcy of the studio Fall Damage. They reported that the developers found themselves in a dire financial situation because they were unable to find a publisher for the free-to-play shooter Alara Prime.

Will generative AI be orderly progress or a copyright battlefield? Here is a deep dive into the topic by two experts from the REVERA law group, head of arbitration & IT disputes subpractice Kamal Tserakhau and associate Andrei Rutkouski.

Legal experts Kamal Terekhov and Andrey Rutkovskiy from the company REVERA discussed how many prompts are needed to enjoy copyright protection for AI-generated works in China, and what the courts in Japan and India think about the copyright of generated images.

The Polish Competition and Consumer Protection Authority (UOKiK) suspects that a number of digital gaming platforms are hindering the development of competition. It has launched a preliminary investigation.