industry
MMO Business Roundup: ESA’s PAC, mail criming, Steam by the numbers, and Blizzard charity
Welcome back to another quick roundup of MMO- and MMO-adjacent industry news in our first MMO Business Roundup of 2021!
The ESA: The Entertainment Software...
Fortnite’s Epic Games snaps up a… shopping mall for its new HQ
Did any of you spend time as a kid playing that Mall Madness board game where you got to shop for pretend stuff with...
Black Desert extends free play for PlayStation first-timers unable to purchase the game properly
On paper, the whole free play idea for Black Desert seemed like a pretty great idea. The game lets everyone play for free for...
Would you watch a TV show based on The Elder Scrolls franchise?
We already knew that the Fallout franchise was supposedly getting a full show treatment, but wholly unsubstantiated rumors this week suggest that Netflix might...
The Daily Grind: Did you try out any MMO rogue servers in 2020?
Last year was the year when rogue servers became an even bigger deal for many veteran MMO players than usual, due in no small...
China’s video game regulators introduce a three-tier age rating system for games
If you're accustomed to the age rating of games in the US, it's easy to forget that this is a voluntary system rather than...
Microsoft outlines shared goals with Sony and Nintendo to make gaming ‘safer’
There are a lot of things that Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all disagree about. Which company gets your money, for example. But a new...
Cyberpunk 2077 appears to have the biggest PC launch of all time
It turns out a lot of people want to live in a cybernetic dystopia other than the one we are presently engaged with, based on...
For Science: Researchers investigate why some players invert their directional controls
When you have an analog stick to control the camera, does pushing the stick forward tilt the camera up or down? The Guardian published...
The Daily Grind: Are you more hopeful about Daybreak after the latest sale?
There's a strong sense of cynicism around these parts when it comes to Daybreak, probably due to how frequently Daybreak goes to extreme lengths...
PlayStation 5 launch is officially the biggest console launch in history
The PlayStation 5 has a lot to recommend it. It has backwards compatibility with a good library of games. It's rather nice to look at....
Square-Enix announces a permanent program allowing employees to work from home
Like many companies, Square-Enix had to embrace work-from-home options earlier this year to deal with lockdowns across Japan. It appears those programs were considered...
Roblox goes public on the stock market with an IPO filing, confirms it’s operating at a loss
The massively popular online game-building game Roblox is going to toss its hat into the stock market ring. The company has officially filed an...
Albion Online bans more than 600 accounts for buying currency
You are probably aware that buying Silver in Albion Online from a third-party site is not allowed, not least because there's a legitimate first-party option...
NCsoft expected to change its name to NC before September
Evidently, NCsoft is no longer going to be soft. It's not going to be hard, either, or even slightly squishy. It's simply going to...
Activision-Blizzard Q3 2020: Blizzard MAUs fell to 30M as overall ActiBlizz revenues hold steady
It's time for another round of Activision-Blizzard financials as today covers Q3 2020. It's been a weird couple of years for the company as...
The Daily Grind: Which doomed MMO would you love to play again from launch?
Good news! Your friend, Professor Hypothetical-Question, has developed a time machine! Unfortunately, it's pretty limited. It will allow you to do one thing and...
Canadian class action lawsuit argues EA’s lootboxes constitute illegal gambling
Ah, it's a good thing for the companies relying on lockboxes that people have completely forgotten about those this year, isn't it? Turns out...
Cliffy B now states he might return to game development after all
In November of 2018, Cliff Bleszinski (or "Cliffy B" if you prefer) stated that he was never making another game ever again, for real,...
LA Comic Con 2020 is finally cancelled
Well, this qualifies as good news. Sure, we have absolutely zero doubt that some people will be sad to hear that LA Comic Con...
