games industry news
Activision-Blizzard artists express anxiety and disgust as the studio foists AI tools on existing workers
Like it or not, AI tools are proliferating throughout gamedev, and the human cost is already being showcased. According to reporting from Wired, which...
SAG-AFTRA is prepared to strike if game companies don’t address demands related to AI tools
Members of the SAG-AFTRA voice actors union are once again pushing back against game companies and their use of AI tools. The union has...
Former World of Warcraft general manager John Hight is named president of WotC and digital gaming
Back in the middle of June, we learned that World of Warcraft general manager John Hight was stepping down from his position in pursuit...
Microsoft calls FTC’s Game Pass filing ‘misleading’ owing to multiplayer functionality and Call of Duty availability
Over the weekend we reported on the FTC putting a fresh legal filing before the US Court of Appeals that argued Microsoft's price hike...
Devs from multiple Bethesda offices formally create a ‘wall to wall’ union of over 200 workers
The unionization movement among video game developers has taken yet another large step forward this weekend, as workers from Bethesda Game Studios offices located...
Layoffs have once again impacted workers at Ubisoft and Microsoft
We have the unfortunate duty to report that layoffs in the gaming industry don't appear to be abating anytime soon, as there are new...
Amazon Games shares its long focus approach while saying that the Lord of the Rings MMO is ‘not too far away’
It can be pretty easy to assume that the strategy of Amazon Games is to throw handfuls of anything at the wall to see...
Embracer Group talks up aspirations for AI tool integration with a ‘human-centric approach’
Embracer Group would like gamers to remember that it's still pretty villainous. The company's annual report for 2024 is out, and among its colorfully...
Valve faces an $838M UK lawsuit that accuses Steam of overcharging consumers and monopolizing prices
That's right, it looks like another legal firm is hoping to take a big meaty swing at Valve's enormous and probably jowly face: The...
‘I have to run a sustainable business’ – Microsoft’s Phil Spencer addresses layoffs and studio shutdowns
Some new statements out of Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer during this year's IGN Live gaming presentation can be absorbed as either admission of the...
Twitch eliminates its safety advisory council after just four years of operation
How long does it take for Amazon and Twitch to believe that people will forget about improving safety and security on the streaming platform?...
Mike Morhaime’s Dreamhaven game studios open playtest sign-ups for their upcoming games
Back in 2020 we got wind of Mike Morhaime's return to the games industry after leaving Blizzard thanks to the formation of Dreamhaven, a...
Lawsuit accuses Activision and Facebook of partial blame in deadly 2022 school mass shooting
The 2022 mass shooting that took place at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, is one of the most shameful events in the US...
Helldivers 2 CEO steps down into a lead developer role and outlines his general vision for improvements
The name of Johan Pilestedt has been one of the more memorable ones for fans of Helldivers 2, particularly for his candid level of...
MMO Business Roundup: Nexon’s Q1 2024, Microsoft’s AI fiddling, XDefiant’s monetization
Welcome back to another quick roundup of some MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news! This time around, we've got only one first quarter report to...
Activision opens a new studio in Poland for work on ‘narrative-based and genre-defining AAA franchise’
Apparently Microsoft subsidiary Activision thinks now is a good time to open a new studio and put together a team to develop an entirely...
Square-Enix confirms that layoffs are coming to US and EU employees in June
Yesterday we reported on Square-Enix's first quarter outlook for 2024, in which it announced among other things that it plans to "rebuild its ...
MMO Business Roundup: Krafton and Roblox post Q1 2024 gains while Unity bleeds nearly $300M
Welcome back to another quick roundup of some MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news! And this time around, it's the Oops! All Q1 Reports edition!...
Square-Enix Q1 2024: Profits plummet as it promises to ‘reboot and awaken’
The opening quarter of the 2024 fiscal year indeed isn't a good one for Square-Enix. Shortly after the company warned investors of "extraordinary losses"...
Lightforge Games halts social RPG production, downsizes to a skeleton crew
Over the past few years we've been reporting on Lightforge Games, a development studio that entered our general genre radar for snapping up former...
