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
Sumo Group CEO Carl Cavers receives OBE in New Year’s Honours list
The co-founder and CEO of Sumo Group Carl Cavers has been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the King’s New Year’s Honours List. He receives the OBE for services to the video games industry. Cavers has spent 30 years in video games, including senior roles at Gremlin and Infogrammes before […]
The future of storytelling with Ken Levine
Ken Levine has spent much of his career trying to redefine video game narratives. Most famously with the iconic twists in his acclaimed BioShock series, and most recently with the ongoing development of Judas – the debut title from Ghost Story Games. While some may argue that video games as a medium may be reaching […]
What do we expect to see in 2025? | GI Microcast
The latest episode of The GamesIndustry.biz Microcast – and the final iteration with Chris Dring and James Batchelor – is now available to download.
This week, our show focuses on the year ahead with Chris and James both sharing their expectations, predictions and hopes for 2025. The conversation ponders some of the biggest […]
AIAS to honor Nintendo of America veteran Don James
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has announced that Nintendo of America veteran Don James will receive the AIAS Lifetime Achievement Award. As reported by VGC, James will receive the accolade at the 28th annual DICE Awards ceremony on February 13, 2025. James joined Nintendo of America as executive vice president of operations in […]
Neurodiversity in the game industry: unlocking hidden talents | HR Summit Video
Three months on from the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit, and we’re making available some of our best sessions from the event. And our first one for you to check out is called ‘Neurodiversity in the game industry: unlocking hidden talents’. This fascinating talk was by Ubisoft’s neurodiversity expert Pierre Escaich, and was one of the highlights […]
Maintaining Personal Boundaries and Wellbeing as an HR Leader | HR Summit Video
Over three months on from the excellent (if we do say so ourselves) GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit, and we’re making available some of our best sessions from the event for you to view online. And our second one for you to check out is called ‘Maintaining Personal Boundaries and Wellbeing as an HR Leader’. This fascinating […]
Switch 2 (finally), GTA 6 to dominate, AI in game dev (again): Analysts predictions for 2025
Every year, we turn to a panel of trusted analysts to ask them what they see coming down the road, and ask them to assess their predictions from the previous year. This year we’ve got Niko Partners’ Lisa Cosmas Hanson, Midia Research’s Rhys Elliott, Kantan Games’ Dr. Serkan Toto, Ampere Analysis’ Piers Harding-Rolls and Newzoo’s […]
Community matters: How audience engagement in games is shaping other industries | Playable Futures
This series of Playable Futures articles considers how the design, technology, people, and theory of video games are informing and influencing the wider world. While game communities are famed for their passion and power, our medium cannot claim to have invented the concept of courting a fanbase. You might remember, for example, when records came […]
Amazon renews Secret Level for a season 2
Amazon Video has renewed Secret Level for a second season. As reported by Variety, the streaming service said the show was its most-watched animated series debut within the first week of release. There is currently no information regarding which IPs will be covered in season two. The first series contained stories set in the worlds […]
DFC: Nintendo Switch 2 will be “the clear winner” of next-gen consoles
2025 is set to be a bumper year of growth for the games industry due to the long-awaited launches of Switch 2 and Grand Theft Auto 6. This is according to DFC Intelligence, which released its annual market report and forecast last week (via VGC). The firm predicted that Nintendo would be “the clear winner” […]
GamesIndustry.biz presents… The Year In Numbers 2024
Tis the season to be jolly pouring over pie charts, bar graphs, tables and any other statistics we can throw at you. Yes, the approach of the holiday break means the annual GamesIndustry.biz Year In Numbers infographic is ready to go, perfectly capturing the current state of the video games market in one (admittedly very […]
Raccoon Logic: We’re doing the last hurrah of the games industry we grew up with
Across the road from The Game Awards, in a car park featuring a couple of trailers and some plastic flamingos, sits the Racoon Logic team. The developer behind the upcoming Revenge of the Savage Planet is demoing the title and conducting interviews with journalists as opposed to doing a big Game Awards trailer. It’s a […]
2024 was the year of Microsoft’s grand pivot | Opinion
At the outset of 2024, the most often expressed concern about this year in the games business was that it was going to have a very sparse and underwhelming release calendar, at least compared to the spectacular heights of 2023. This was to some extent a ripple effect from the pandemic years: a backlog of […]
Activision confirms it has replaced Call of Duty Black Ops 6 voice actors during SAG-AFTRA strike
Activision has recast some of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s voice actors amid the SAG-AFTRA strike. After players noted characters William Peck and Samantha Maxis sounded a little different, voice actor Zeke Alton acknowledged that his performance of Peck in the Zombies mode appears to have been replaced. He has also been removed from […]
EA Sports College Football is now the US’ best-selling sports game of all time | US Monthly Charts
Electronic Arts’ college football game is now the biggest selling sports video game in US history when it comes to dollar sales. That’s according to the November report from Circana, which also reports EA Sports College Football 25 is among the top 50 best-selling games of all time by the same metric. It is also […]
Flashbulb Games makes cuts as unannounced project cancelled
Flashbulb Games has laid off seven of its staff. The Danish studio said it was a “tough decision” but although it was forced to shut down development on an unannounced project, all but seven employees were redeployed to its vehicle-building game, Trailmakers. “While this was a tough decision, the majority of the team previously working […]
Reflecting on The Game Awards 2024 | GI Microcast
The latest episode of The GamesIndustry.biz Microcast is available to download now.
This week, our show focuses on The Game Awards 2024. Chris reports on his experiences from attending the event, we discuss some of the big winners, and (inevitably) dive deeper into the big announcements from the night, as well as what […]
Zenimax Online Studios workers unionise
Workers at Elder Scrolls Online developer Zenimax Online Studios have unionised, Communications Workers of America has announced. The union, called ZOS United-CWA, has been recognised by parent company Microsoft and is made of 461 members, including “web developers, designers, engineers, and graphic artists,” the announcement said. A majority of the unionised workers are based in […]
Marvel Rivals is a bright spot in a dark year for live service | Opinion
Turning points are tricky things: they seem so obvious in hindsight, but are tough to spot when they’re actually happening. False positives are common, because all manner of things can seem pivotal in the moment, but transpire to be far less important in the long term. This probably speaks to a general tendency to underestimate […]
Sounds disruptive: How video games are resetting the music medium’s conventions | Playable Futures
This series of Playable Futures articles considers how the design, technology, people, and theory of video games are informing and influencing the wider world. The snowballing intersection of music and video games has been a near-obsessive talking point across both sectors over recent years. From famed musicians taking starring roles in triple-A titles, to placement […]
uBroker Spa acquires a 49% stake in Italian indie Memorable Games
uBroker Spa has acquired a 49% stake in Italian indie studio, Memorable Games. The firm – which invested €1m in the Turin-based Memorable – said it was “setting its sights on revolutionizing the gaming sector while promoting environmental awareness.” Going forward, Memorable said its “goal is to create increasingly ambitious projects that can make a […]
Why RuneScape creator Andrew Gower has returned to MMORPGs with Brighter Shores
A new game from Andrew Gower has been a long time coming. The British development veteran is best known for creating the hit 2001 MMORPG RuneScape – a title that is still very running today – and co-founding Jagex. In 2010, he departed the studio and, that same year, set up a new outfit, Fen […]
Clear Angle Studios opens new location in Los Angeles
3D capture and processing company Clear Angle Studios has opened a new location in Culver City, Los Angeles. Clear Angle, headquartered in Pinewood Studios, provides character scanning, digital facial and environment capture, prop and costume scanning, and other services. It has been supplying studios with its portable scanning units in Los Angeles for some time, […]
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D remake tops November charts | Japan Monthly Charts
Square Enix’s Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D remake launched at No.1 on Japan’s November charts, having sold 712,188 copies on Switch within two weeks. The title also came in second on PlayStation 5 at 200,944 units. Overall, the game sold a combined total of 913,000 copies since its release on November 14, 2024. Compared to other […]
Stories from 30 years of PlayStation
During EGX in London, PlayStation veterans Chris Deering, David Wilson, Geoff Glendenning, David Ranyard and Masami Kochi took to the stage to share stories from the history of PlayStation. I hosted the special session and there were some fascinating little insights into working on PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4. To mark the 30th anniversary of […]
Apple faces UK class action lawsuit for “anti-competitive” 30% fee
Apple is facing a class action lawsuit from UK developers alleging that the App Store’s 30% fee is anti-competitive. As reported by Bloomberg, Apple could be paying back up to £785 million in fees to 13,000 developers. The claim alleged that Apple’s 30% cut creates an “anti-competitive tax on the nation’s tech industry,” the publication […]
75% of UK students in favour of esports education in schools
75% of UK students advocate the integration of esports into the school curriculum, with 64% already engaged in esports-related academic activities. This is according to new research commissioned by Tencent in collaboration with the British Esports Federation and Ukie. Conducted by Censuswide, the report surveyed 2,000 respondents aged between 16 and 27 who were interested […]
