Resident Evil 9, Stranger Than Heaven, and more of the key reveals from Summer Game Fest 2025
Geoff Keighley’s annual Summer Game Fest showcase had a few big moments, including a major showing from Capcom, some sharp-looking indie games from well-known developers, and a creative tie-in between Hitman and James Bond by IO Interactive. Find a selection of 10 key SGF 2025 highlights below, including all-new reveals and several worthwhile updates on […]
Scottish mobile developer Outplay Entertainment cuts 15% of staff to “align operations with current business realities”
Outplay Entertainment has cut more than 20 jobs to “align [its] operations with current business realities.” The Dundee, Scotland-based studio, self-described as “the largest independent mobile game developer in the UK,” states on its website that it employs 135 staff, although it’s unclear if this figure includes the 21 roles that have been laid off. […]
As the Nintendo Switch 2 launches, these are our hopes and dreams for the console
With the Nintendo Switch 2 launching today, it closes out a rocky pre-launch period of tariffs, fiery price discussions around software and hardware, and some retailers cancelling pre-orders. Much of that will feel like a distant memory once the hotly-anticipated console is in players’ hands, and they’re trying out the first new Mario Kart game […]
Major US retailers cancel Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders
Major retailers in the US have started contacting customers to inform them their Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders have been canceled just days ahead of the console’s formal release. Dozens of posts have appeared on social media from customers of Walmart, Target, and GameStop, complaining that their pre-orders have been canceled, sometimes without notice. Some customers […]
IO Interactive’s first showcase to take place on June 6, 2025 | News-in-brief
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ZeniMax Workers United reaches tentative agreement with Microsoft
ZeniMax Workers United have reached a tentative agreement with Microsoft following a two-year negotiation. As reported by Bloomberg, the contract includes a wage increase of 13.5% to be implemented on July 1, 2025, as well as new minimum salaries. The Communication Workers of America noted the contract will protect employees “against arbitrary dismissal and grievance […]
The big Leslie Benzies interview: MindsEye, Everywhere, and the double-edged sword of GTA
As the producer behind the Grand Theft Auto games from GTA 3 through to GTA 5, as well as Red Dead Redemption and LA Noire, any project with Leslie Benzies’ name on it is going to be a lightning rod for attention. MindsEye, the first game from Benzies’ studio Build A Rocket Boy, is getting […]
PlaySafe ID raises $1.12m in pre-seed funding round
PlaySafe ID has raised $1.12 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Early Game Ventures. With participation from Hartmann Capital and Overwolf, the funding will expand PlaySafe ID’s digital identity platform as it prepares a “go-for-market” launch targeting 250,000 users. PlaySafe ID issues players with a “verified, anonymous, and game-agnostic digital ID” to prove […]
Mundfish Studio establishes publishing initiative to support aspiring developers
Atomic Heart developer Mundfish Studio has launched a publishing initiative called Mundfish Powerhouse. Powerhouse aims to support aspiring developers by providing investment, resources, and expertise. It also intends to be involved in the early-stages of development to “maximise the chances” of a studio “achieving a breakthrough”. Those involved with the initiative will utilise their experience […]
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty surpasses 10m copies | News-in-brief
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty surpasses 10m copies | News-in-brief Source link : Gamesindustry
PlanetPlay’s Green Game Showcase to launch at Summer Game Fest 2025
Non-for-profit organisation PlanetPlay is launching its Green Games Showcase at Summer Game Fest on June 7, 2025. Hosted by games journalist and regular GamesIndustry.biz contributor Will Freeman, the showcase will spotlight a selection of games highlighting environmental issues and sustainability. Participating studio and platform partners include Amazon Games, Lockwood Publishing, Sharkmob, Team17, Netspeak Games, and […]
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time sells 500,000 units in three days | News-in-brief
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time sells 500,000 units in three days | News-in-brief Source link : Gamesindustry
Six One Indie launches publishing label
The team behind the Six One Indie Showcase and The Indie Game Awards has launched its own publishing label. Six One Indie Publishing describes itself as an “integrated, indie-first platform” for developers. It will offer support in launch strategy, media relations, and showcase integration as well as development support in areas including QA testing and […]
IGN and Meta will host a Women in Gaming networking event on June 6 ahead of IGN Live
IGN and Meta will host a Women in Gaming event on Friday, June 6 as part of this year’s IGN Live event. Taking place at the Magic Box in Los Angeles, the event promises to honour the women making waves in the games industry, and will feature curated panels with industry leaders. Meta, meanwhile, will […]
How deep is Sony’s commitment to live-service? | Opinion
In many regards, things are going very well for Sony right now. The PlayStation 5 has sold strongly, generally slightly outpacing the performance of the PS4 at equivalent points in its lifecycle despite cost pressures that have kept its retail prices high. Its biggest direct competitor, Microsoft, started the generation with a great hardware line-up […]
Microsoft acknowledges “standard commercial relationship” with Israel Ministry of Defence, conducts internal review of AI services
Microsoft has conducted an internal review following concerns that its Azure and AI technologies were being used by the Israel Ministry of Defence (IMOD) “to target civilians or cause harm in the conflict in Gaza”. Earlier this year, an investigation conducted by the Associated Press claimed Microsoft’s commercial AI products were being used by the […]
King appoints Todd Green as president following Tjodolf Sommestad’s departure
King has appointed Todd Green as president, taking over the position from Tjodolf Sommestad who has stepped down after nearly 14 years at the developer. Sommestad was promoted to president in 2022. After overseeing Microsoft’s acquisition of King in 2023, Sommestad said he had decided now was the time to take a step back from […]
Revenge of the Savage Planet clocks up 1m players less than 2 weeks after launch | News-in-brief
Revenge of the Savage Planet clocks up 1m players less than 2 weeks after launch | News-in-brief Source link : Gamesindustry
Nintendo Switch 2’s Game Chat will seemingly support both live subtitles and text-to-speech
Nintendo Switch 2 will seemingly support both live subtitling and text-to-speech. While not formally confirmed by Nintendo marketing, videos showing off the features popped up over the weekend. The first illustrates how a player can type messages into Game Chat and have the recipient hear the message aloud at their end of the exchange. We’ve […]
Activision pulls Call of Duty: Warzone from iOS and Google Play stores
Activision has removed Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile from iOS and Android app stores. Last week, the firm announced its decision as a result of “the scope of the game being streamlined” and it “not meeting expectations”. As a result, the game was pulled from stores yesterday (May 18). While the game and its servers […]
Take-Two’s Strauss Zelnick on game prices, Civilization 7’s launch and Switch 2
Following an FY25 that landed at the upper end of guidance, Take-Two Interactive has entered FY26 with GTA 6 having shifted out of it. Take-Two CEO and chairman Strauss Zelnick caught up with GamesIndustry.biz on the year ahead, including game pricing, Borderlands 4, and Civilization 7’s post-launch. The interview below has been edited for brevity […]
Publisher financials sound a warning for industry growth | Opinion
Corporate financials season may not be the most exciting of the year’s changing seasons, but it does present a rare opportunity to take the industry’s pulse in a more-or-less objective way. It would be an exaggeration to say that financial reports and the statements made on the earnings calls which follow them are free of […]
Nintendo says it’s committed to make Switch 2 “as obtainable as possible” amidst tariffs
Nintendo has said it is committed to make its products “as obtainable as we possibly can” amidst fluctuating market conditions due to the US tariffs. Speaking to IGN, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser emphasised that it maintained the ¥49,980/$499.99/£395.99 Switch 2 price following tariff announcements to assure consumers that the console would remain accessible. […]
Sony considers manufacturing PS5 consoles in US due to tariffs
Sony has revealed it is considering manufacturing PlayStation 5 consoles in the US as a result of tariffs. During an earnings call following the release of its full-year financials, Sony president and COO Hiroki Totoki told investors that manufacturing hardware in the US “needs to be considered going forward.” However, he noted that the firm […]
More Germans are playing video games than ever before, particularly those aged 60+
Over 37.5 million people play video games in Germany, the highest number ever recorded for the country. A boost in the number of over-60s gamers, which has grown from 6.4 million people to 7.7 million in just 12 months, has pushed the average age of players past 39 for the first time, up from 38.2 […]
Amazon’s Fallout TV series renewed for season 3
Amazon Prime has renewed its Fallout adaptation for a third season, and shared a launch window for season two. The streaming service announced the news yesterday at its upfront presentation, revealing that Fallout’s second series will debut in December 2025. The next installment will see Lucy (Ella Purnell), The Ghoul (Walton Goggins), and Maximus (Aaron […]
Alpaka Games raises $2.2m in seed funding round
Mobile developer Alpaka Games has raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round led by Ludus Ventures, with participation from A16Z Speedrun and Revo Capital. As reported by Mobidictum, The Türkiye-based studio will use the investment to support production and scale its games and marketing team. Alpaka Games was also selected for the A16Z Speedrun […]
How Twin Sails Interactive intends to set itself apart after breaking from Asmodee
Last month, Twin Sails Interactive spun off from the Asmodee Group as part of a “strategic management buyout”. Retaining its team as an independent studio, Twin Sails CEO Nicolas Godement spoke to GamesIndustry.biz about how it intends to build a sustainable platform for indie developers, and the ways it will adapt AAA strategies to nurture […]
GTA 6’s delay won’t change the launch calculus for most games | Opinion
It’s quite a measure of the incredible status of the Grand Theft Auto franchise – as if anyone needed further convincing – that the announcement of the next instalment being delayed into 2026 quickly turned into a massive wave of hype for the upcoming game. Take Two shares dropped when the delay was announced, understandably […]
US trade organization warns video game consoles could cost US players 69% more under current Trump tariff proposals
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has updated a January 2025 report estimating the cost of importing tech goods to the US could rise anywhere between 24% to 69.4%, with the latter figure expected for video game consoles if the Trump administration’s tariffs progress as planned. As spotted by Tom’s Hardware, the report, written by the […]
Zugalu Entertainment acquires Crimson Herring Studios
Independent video game studio Zugalu Entertainment has acquired Crimson Herring Studios, with the latter now set to operate under the Zugalu brand. Zugalu said it will “integrate Crimson Herring’s narrative-driven approach into [its] upcoming projects [… to] enhance the quality and depth of future titles, providing players with immersive storytelling and refined gameplay experiences.” As […]
Split Fiction surpasses 4m copies | News-in-brief
Monopoly Go surpasses $5bn in two years | News-in-brief
Rockstar delays Grand Theft Auto 6 to 2026
Rockstar Games has announced the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 has been delayed to next year. In a blog post, the developer said the game will now launch on May 26, 2026 as it needs “extra time to deliver at the level of quality you expect and deserve.” “We are very sorry that this […]
The new Apple/Epic ruling will change the app landscape | Opinion
When last we checked in with the legal battle between Epic and Apple, things seemed to have mostly turned out in Apple’s favour. Almost all of the rulings in the case sided with Apple, with the judge only agreeing with Epic on one relatively narrow-seeming question regarding anti-steering provisions – the App Store rules that […]
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is selling more than twice as fast as other JRPGs on PC, analyst says – here’s why
Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has captivated fans of Japanese RPGs. While the French studio was clearly inspired by genre greats like Final Fantasy 10 and Lost Odyssey with its debut, it arguably gets closer to the feel of those games than publisher and genre specialist Square Enix itself has managed in recent years. […]
Polygon sold to Valnet, editorial staff hit with layoffs
Video game and pop culture website Polygon has been acquired by The Gamer and Game Rant owner Valnet, with numerous long-time staff members revealing they’ve either been laid off or have chosen to leave as part of the sale. As reported by Kotaku, co-founder and editor-in-chief Chris Plante, senior writer Michael McWhertor, deputy editor Matthew […]
Takahisa Taura forms new studio after leaving PlatinumGames
Takahisa Taura has formed a new studio after leaving PlatinumGames. As reported by VGC, the Astral Chain director and Nier Automata designer is one of the founders of Eel Game Studio. Taura confirmed the news in the latest edition of Famitsu, translated by journalist Genki. Taura said he is one of the founding members of […]
EA cuts another 200 jobs “in service of driving future growth”, bringing total job losses to around 300
Electronic Arts has cut another 200 jobs, these redundancies coming on top of the 100 Respawn layoffs announced earlier today, April 29. IGN reports these wider cuts chiefly affect EA’s Experiences team, which typical serves to support players in customer service, fan care, and marketing, although “other EA departments saw reductions as well.” “As part […]
Unity announces winners for its 2025 Humanity Grant
Unity has announced the winners of its 2025 Unity for Humanity Grant, recognising the work of ten developers from nine countries. Winners will receive investment from the Unity Charitable Grant which has been increased to $600,000. Funding will support the development of projects, building working prototypes, as well as marketing and distribution. Submissions were chosen […]
NetEase executive Simon Zhu steps down from role
NetEase president for global investments and partnership Simon Zhu has stepped down from his role. Zhu announced the news on LinkedIn last Friday (April 25), after working at the Chinese publisher for 12 years. “After 12 incredible years at NetEase, I’m closing this chapter with the same passion that has driven me from day one,” […]
Meta lays off unknown number of staff in Reality Labs division
Meta has cut an unspecified number of jobs in its Reality Labs division, affecting teams at Oculus Studios. As reported by The Verge, Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton said the decision was made to “help Oculus Studios work more efficiently”. Sources told Bloomberg that more than 100 people may have been affected by the layoffs. “Some […]
Toronto-based developer Mighty Yell lays off unconfirmed number of employees
The Big Con developer Mighty Yell has laid off an unconfirmed number of employees as it approaches the release of its next title, All Systems Dance. As shared on the Toronto-based company’s BlueSky account, the statement pointed to ‘financial challenges’ being the reason behind the studio laying off a ‘few’ of its developers. “This is […]
NGO files complaint against Ubisoft for data protection concerns and forcing “always online” connections
Privacy non-profit organization NOYB – European Center for Digital Rights has taken up a player’s case against Ubisoft, alleging its data collection practices have “no valid legal basis.” The complainant also takes issue with the fact Far Cry Primal could not be played offline or without setting up, and logging into, an Ubisoft account, stating […]
2.2 million people applied to pre-order a Switch 2 in Japan alone, says Nintendo
Nintendo has warned that it may struggle to meet demand for Nintendo Switch 2 consoles in Japan. In a lengthy statement posted to X/Twitter, president Shuntaro Furukawa explained that 2.2 million people in Japan alone had applied to enter the lottery to be in with a chance of purchasing the highly anticipated new console system. […]
Devolver Digital cuts 40% of staff at subsidiary studio Nerial
Publisher Devolver Digital has reduced its workforce at subsidiary studio, Nerial, by 40 percent. These cuts come on top of halving the teams at its Polish studio, Artificer, and Good Shepherd / Big Fan by “50%+ over the course of 2024.” Whilst reporting a “strong” fiscal performance and a “return to profit and growth” at […]
Unity 6 pulled in China and replaced with localized version
Unity 6 has been pulled from sale in China. As spotted by 80 Level (thanks, PocketGamer), Unity has been removed from shelves across mainland China, as well as Kong Kong and Macau. Unity China has replaced it with a localized version entitled Tuanjie. According to machine translation, the company said in a statement “Unity 6 […]
Dwarf Fortress hits 1 million sales on Steam | News-in-brief
AppLovin cuts another 97 jobs, including CEO of subsidiary studio Machine Zone
AppLovin has laid off 97 people, including “most of” the staff employed at subsidiary studio Machine Zone and its CEO. As spotted by PocketGamer, these most recent 97 layoffs – which were effective as of March 21 according to WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) filings in California – come on top of a previous […]
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ success shows that the threat of negative campaigns is overblown | Opinion
It’s been a fairly grim few years for Ubisoft – buffeted by allegations of an abusive culture, plagued by dismal stock market performance, and seemingly unable to turn out the kind of hit titles that would silence its detractors, the company has seen its strategy and its future openly called into question. Late 2024 was […]
