Sony dismisses claims it destroyed former director’s reputation, alleging he engaged in “consistent misconduct”
Sony has hit back at claims it maligned the reputation of former Marathon reboot director Chris Barrett, purporting its investigations had uncovered “consistent” misconduct wherein he would target a “lower-level, female employee he wasn’t working with directly, initially engaged in friendly conversation, and progressively pushed boundaries”, “often referenc[ing] his wealth and his ability to advance […]
Niantic reportedly in talks to sell video game business in $3.5bn deal with Scopely
Pokémon Go developer Niantic is reportedly considering selling its video game portfolio to Savvy Games Group subsidiary, Scopely. Whilst the deal has yet to be confirmed and neither Niantic nor Scopely have talked publicly about the deals, Bloomberg claims the sale may include Niantic’s tentpole augmented reality game, Pokémon Go. If completed, it’s thought the […]
Aptoide fully launches to iOS consumers across EU
Alternative app store Aptoide has fully launched its service on iOS in the European Union. As part of its launch, an App Versions feature has been introduced which enables users to install older versions of apps. This was previously only avaliable on Android. Aptoide first opened with a beta in June 2024, which saw a […]
Kingdom Come Deliverance tops 2m copies sold in less than two weeks | News-in-brief
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Thunderful Gothenberg rebrands as Stormteller Games
Thunderful Gothenberg has now rebranded as Stormteller Games. Thunderful Gothenburg was formed when Image & Form and Zoink! Games merged in 2017, but has now been renamed to “make sure it represents everyone in the studio.” The first on the new brand’s slate is Lost in Random: The Eternal Die, which is due to release […]
Ubisoft revenues decline 31.4% to €990m
Ubisoft has released its financial results for the nine months ending December 31, 2024, reporting significant declines in revenues and net bookings. The firm remains optimistic, however, with the upcoming release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Pre-sales of the title are reported to be “tracking solidly” and on par with the franchise’s second-highest earner, Odyssey. Here’s […]
Embracer sales drop 22% to $1.5bn, $298m debt remains
Embracer Group has published its financial results for the nine months ending December 31, 2024, reporting declines across its PC/console and mobile segments. However, it experienced a net profit during its third quarter following the completed spin-off of tabletop publisher Asmodee. Here’s what you need to know: The numbers: For the three months ending December […]
Unions slam Bobby Kotick’s claims that Activision Blizzard harassment reports were “fake”
The Communication Workers Of America (CWA) has slammed former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick’s claims that the numerous reports of harassment that allegedly took place when he was led the firm were “fake.” “Bobby Kotick’s comments on a podcast uplifting billionaires are both insulting to the Activision workers who spoke out about the harassment they […]
Microsoft Gaming VP Kayleen Walters appointed head of Mojang
Microsoft Gaming VP Kayleen Walters has been appointed head of Mojang Studios. Walters – who will assume the position on top of her role as vice president and head of franchise development Microsoft Gaming – will being work immediately as current Mojang boss, Åsa Bredin, steps down to “focus on personal goals outside of work.” […]
Krafton reports “all-time highs” in sales and operating profits in 2024
Krafton has reported “record-breaking earnings” in 2024, with full-year revenue jumping 41.8% year-on-year to $1.85bn. Operating profit also increased, this time by 54% YoY to $825.7m, attributed to the “continued expansion and sustainability of the PUBG IP” and a 35.7% year-on-year boost in revenue from Battlegrounds Mobile India. Yearly net profits were similarly up 119% […]
Sony apologises for global outage that took PlayStation Network offline for nearly 24 hours
Sony has apologised to players after PlayStation Network was taken offline for almost a full 24 hours over the weekend. Whilst Sony has not revealed the cause of the problem – it only cited “an operational issue” when confirming the issue was resolved yesterday, February 10 – the global outage impacted almost all areas of […]
Take-Two Interactive reports strong Q3 FY2025 Results, prepares for blockbuster 2025 lineup
Take-Two Interactive announced its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, reporting net bookings of $1.37 billion, a 3% increase from the previous year and within the company’s projected guidance. The company also reaffirmed its full-year net bookings outlook of $5.55 billion to $5.65 billion, citing strong performance from its core franchises […]
Sega revenues drop 8% to $2.1bn
Sega Sammy has published its financial results for the nine months ended December 31, 2024, during which it announced the cancellation of Football Manager 2025. The Sports Interactive title was delayed last October, with Sega reaching the decision due to difficulties in “ensuring significant product quality expected by the March release.” Overall, Sega experienced a […]
Capcom shuts down Resident Evil multiplayer spin-off
Capcom is shutting down its survival multiplayer Resident Evil Re:Verse. From March 3, 2025, the game and its DLC will be removed from online stores and will no longer be bundled with Resident Evil Village. Customers that acquired a download code for the title before this date or have already used a code to acquire […]
Take-Two’s Strauss Zelnick on tariffs, AI and GTA 6
As Take-Two Interactive reported strong results for Q3 FY 2025 and readied investors for a blockbuster year that includes the release of Rockstar’s long anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6, Strauss Zelnick, Chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive, took the time to talk to GamesIndustry.biz about the results and some of the biggest issues facing the […]
Iron Galaxy lays off 66 to protect “long-term survival”
Iron Galaxy has laid off 66 developers. In a statement posted to LinkedIn, the studio said that although it had made “sacrifices to keep teams intact”, it had “run out of room to manoeuvre amidst this slow recovery”. “Today, Iron Galaxy is parting ways with some of our developers and support staff. In total, we […]
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero tops 5m global sales | News-in-brief
ESA warns Trump tariffs will bring “significant harm” to US developers and players
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has warned that any tariffs levied by Donald Trump’s administration will cause “significant harm” to the video game industry – and players – in the US. In a statement to Kotaku, the organisation – which represents video game companies like Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo – initially asked for the Trump […]
MultiVersus will shutdown on May 30
The Warner Bros. platform fighting game, MultiVersus, will shutdown on May 30, according to a statement by developer Player First Games.The game was released on May 28, 2024. “We have an important update to share regarding MultiVersus. After careful consideration, our next Season will serve as the final seasonal content update for the game,” said […]
Retailer Newegg sold out of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs “within minutes”
Online hardware retailer Newegg has reported that it sold out of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs “within minutes” and broke down the surge of customer activity around the RTX 5080 and RTX 5090. “The response to the NVIDIA RTX 50 Series has been extraordinary,” said Jim Tseng, VP of Product Management in a […]
Fallout: New Vegas lead story writer is back at Obsidian Entertainment
John Gonzalez confirms its not for Fallout: New Vegas 2 Image credit: Obsidian Entertainment John Gonzalez, best known for his work as lead writer on Fallout: New Vegas and as Narrative Director on Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West at Guerrilla Games, is back at Obsidian Entertainment after 13 years.
In his LinkedIn […]
Kukouri Mobile “moves away from game development”
Kukouri Mobile Entertainment is “moving away from game development”. As reported by PocketGamer.biz, Kukouri has sold its IPs Pixel Worlds and Tiny Troopers to Social First, with CEO Petri Piipari acknowledging that Pixel Worlds has not been a commercially viable product for some time”. “With the only active Tiny Troopers game being licensed to an […]
BioWare’s “agile, focused” approach sees jobs cut and others redeployed across “EA teams”
BioWare is “reimagining” how it works, saying that the team behind the next Mass Effect game “do[es]n’t require support from the full studio.” Consequently – and without clarifying the number of people impacted by the changes – general manager Gary McKay said the studio had “worked diligently” to redeploy BioWare staff “with other teams at […]
Humble launches new bundles to support LA fire relief efforts
Humble has launched a collection of new Humble Bundles to support those affected by the recent devastating fires that hit Los Angeles earlier this month. As well as the bundles, the company is also pledging $200,000 from its Humble Forward Fund – in partnership with Direct Relief – in order to support work to provide […]
Japanese ratings board demands changes to Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be censored in Japan when it releases in March 2025. As detailed by developer/publisher Ubisoft in a statement, there will be “differences in content” between the Japanese edition and the versions available overseas despite the game securing a CERO Z rating, the equivalent of a mature/18+ classification. Japan’s rating board, CERO, […]
Pocketpair launches publishing arm, partners with Surgent Studios for first title
Palworld developer Pocketpair has launched a publishing division, and has partnered with Surgent Studios to produce its upcoming horror title. The untitled game is set for release in late 2025, and is not set in the Tales of Kenzera universe. Surgent Studios clarified that it is continuing conversations with potential partners centered on games set […]
Annapurna appoints ex-Netflix exec Leanne Loombe as head of games
Annapurna Interactive has appointed former Netflix Games exec Leanne Loombe as head of games. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Loombe will oversee the firm’s publishing, development, and creative segments. She will report to Annapurna’s president of interactive and new media Hector Sanchez, who rejoined the firm last June after spending five years at Epic […]
Savvy Games hires Nika Nour as SVP and head of international business development
Savvy Games Group has appointed Nika Nour as SVP and head of international business development. Nour will be responsible for building international partnerships and recruiting game firms to further strengthen the games industry in Saudi Arabia. This will include providing advice on mergers, acquisitions, and investments “to support the growth of Savvy’s ecosystem, and drive […]
Circana confirms Black Ops 6 is 2024’s biggest hit, but overall game spend in the US falls 9% YoY
Circana has published its December 2024 US recap, revealing Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 finished the year as the best-selling premium game of both the month and, indeed, the whole of 2024. This makes Activision’s Call of Duty franchise the best-selling series for a record 16th consecutive year. Roblox also “had a great December,” […]
Reflector confirms layoffs as Unknown 9: Awakening failed to meet “expectations”
Unknown 9 developer Reflector has notified teams of redundancies following the decision “to not greenlight” an unannounced project. It is not clear how many people have been impacted by the cuts, but the layoffs will also affect back-office staff in order to “bring support teams in line with the single project approach the studio will […]
Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader sells 1 million copies | News-in-brief
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 developer outlines new tools to fight online cheats
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 developer Treyarch has tweaked its anti-cheat systems and banned another 136,000 players across Black Ops 6 and battle-royale spin-off, Warzone. In a detailed update to players on X, Treyarch and partner studios Raven Software, Beenox, and Demonware acknowledged that “instances of cheating in Call of Duty […] are frustrating […]
Huuuge Games cuts 29% of workforce
Poland-based Mobile developer and publisher Huuuge Games has announced a 29% cut in its workforce, affecting 122 employees. 89 workers facing redundancy are situated in its Polish studio, representing 21% of the branch’s staff. The layoffs are expected to be completed by the end of February 2025. Huuuge Games is also ceasing operations at its […]
Winking Studios announces proposed acquisition of Mineloader
Outsourcing and development firm Winking Studios has announced the proposed acquisition of Shanghai-based studio Mineloader. The total consideration amounts to £16.3 million, comprising an upfront payment of £14.7 million and a deferred balance dependent on performance over the next five years. The proposal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2025. “This […]
Dragon Age: The Veilguard game director Corinne Busche reportedly leaves BioWare
Dragon Age: The Veilguard game director Corinne Busche has reportedly left Bioware. According to our sister site Eurogamer, Busche recently departed from the studio. GamesIndustry.biz has reached out to Electronic Arts for further clarification as to the specific date. Busche has worked at EA for 18 years, joining in 2006 as a designer before moving […]
90% of Africa’s games industry revenue generated by mobile games
A new report into Africa’s games industry has revealed that 90% of its revenue is generated by mobile games. 66 studios and 55 indie developers contributed to the 2024 Africa Game Developer Survey – a 42% increase on the previous year – of which 92% of survey participants were under 34 years old. However, just […]
Palestinian game developer concludes crowdfund almost $50,000 over goal
Palestinian game developer Rasheed Abueideh has concluded his crowdfund for a pseudo-3D stealth adventure inspired by a historical Palestinian folk tale almost $50,000 over the original funding goal. Abueideh took the crowdfund for Dreams on a Pillow to Launch Good after “facing a decade of rejection and avoidance from funding partners and publishers who deemed […]
GOG bolsters game preservation efforts by joining European game archivist organisation
GOG has partnered with the European Federation of Game Archives, Museums, and Preservation Projects (EFGAMP), Europe’s largest federation of organisations working to preserve “video games as cultural heritage”. With fellow members including The Video Game Museum in Rome, France’s MO5.COM, Computerspielemuseum in Berlin, The Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision, and Embracer Games Archive, GOG […]
Robocraft 2 developer Freejam shuts down
Robocraft 2 developer Freejam has shut down. In a statement posted to Discord, the studio blamed “market conditions” and the costs of keeping servers going on Robocraft 2, which will now be sunsetted, along with predecessor Robocraft and Cardlife. The sequel has already been withdrawn from Steam, where it had been available as an Early […]
Ubisoft appoints advisors to oversee “strategic options”
Ubisoft has appointed advisors to review various “strategic and capitalistic options” following previously initiated strategic and execution reviews. “We have taken decisive steps to reshape Ubisoft to deliver best-in-class player experiences, enhance operational efficiency and maximise value creation,” said Ubisoft CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot. “We recently appointed advisors and are actively exploring various strategic […]
Infinity Nikki generates $16m in player spending on mobile
Infold Games’ Infinity Nikki has generated $16 million in player spending during its first month on mobile. This is according to App Magic data (via Pocket Gamer), with revenue reportedly driven by players in China who contributed $10.1 million making up 63% of global player spending. Infinity Nikki made $10 million in its first two […]
Exient appoints Paul Topping as CCO
Developer and publisher Exient has appointed Paul Topping as CCO. Topping has over two decades of experience in games, having served in business development and advisory roles at Criterion, Codemasters, NaturalMotion and Tag Games. His most recent role was head of business development at heat management company Zircotec Group. Topping will lead Exient’s business development […]
Grand Games secures $30m in Series A funding round
Mobile studio Grand Games has raised $30 million in a Series A funding round led by Balderton Capital. Existing investors Bek Ventures, Laton Ventures, and angel investor Mert Gür also participated in this round. Grand Games will use the investment to continue its expansion into global markets and to launch a new title in 2025. […]
OV Entertainment refreshes strategic board with several new key appointments
OV Entertainment has appointed a number of new members to its strategic board. The “cross-entertainment holding company” said the appointments are part of “bold steps to fuel its subsidiaries’ growth” and will “enhance OV Entertainment’s ability to deliver exceptional gaming development and entertainment solutions while driving growth and innovation across its subsidiaries,” Kokku and The […]
Development costs for 2020’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War exceeded $700m
Developing three Call of Duty titles between 2015 and 2020 cost Activision between $450m and $700m per game. In court filings seen by Game File, Activision’s current head of creative on the Call of Duty franchise, Patrick Kelly, disclosed the sums, thought to be “the highest development costs ever reported by a major video game […]
Xbox brings cloud gaming to LG Smart TVs
Xbox has partnered with LG Electronics to bring the Xbox App to LG Smart TVs. From February 18, some LG Smart TVs will offer the Xbox App, enabling Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to stream selected games from their collections via the cloud. “With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and a compatible Bluetooth-enabled wireless controller, players […]
DoubleU Games acquires Paxie Games for up to $67m
DoubleU Games has acquired Turkish studio Paxie Games for up to $67 million. The South Korean firm has obtained a 60% stake in the Merge Studio: Fashion Makeover developer for $27 million. The remaining 40% will be acquired over the next three years for up to $40 million, according to Pocket Gamer. The deal will […]
SNK opens new studio for fighting game IPs | News-in-brief
Stardew Valley reaches 41m lifetime sales | News-in-brief
Tango Gameworks rebrands following Krafton acquisition | News-in-brief
Tango Gameworks rebrands following Krafton acquisition | News-in-brief Source link : Gamesindustry
