industry
Disney axes its fledgling metaverse division as part of a 7,000 employee layoff round
How long does it take for the House of Mouse to decide the metaverse isn't worth it? Roughly a year, apparently, as Disney has...
Japan drops Microsoft/Activision-Blizzard antitrust probe as lawmakers scrutinize Japanese gaming market
Activision-Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick released a memo to his staff (and everyone else in the entire world) on the ABK Substack (which exists) last...
FTC finalizes fine for Fortnite’s dark patterns as Epic talks up NFT ‘games’ on EGS
Usually when people says things are going "pretty well," your first sympathetic instinct is to ask about what might be troubling them; those words...
Final Fantasy XI producer Akihiko Matsui passes the torch to Yoji Fujito
After a decade of leading the team behind Final Fantasy XI, producer Akihiko Matsui announced today that he will be stepping down from his...
Final Fantasy XIV examines how its project managers work on the game behind the scenes
If you're not familiar with what project managers do, you might not understand why Final Fantasy XIV needs them or what they're doing on...
Roblox confirms that it had $150M in Silicon Valley Bank, now shut down by regulators
We would love to be in the kind of position where seeing millions of dollars disappear registers an "everything is fine" response. That looks...
Square-Enix is relocating its Japanese offices to Shibuya in late 2024
In Neo: The World Ends With You, released in 2021, the plot centered around a neverending metaphysical competition in Tokyo's Shibuya district in the...
Congress is very disappointed in gaming’s response to extremism in games as the ESA downplays the problem
In mid-December, members of the US Congress sent signed letters to major game companies about what they're doing to combat the rise of online...
The Daily Grind: What’s the most shameful MMO relaunch you can think of?
We love a good relaunch story around here. We all like to tell stories like Final Fantasy XIV where a game comes out, isn't...
Sega plans to raise the salaries of its Japanese workforce starting in July, but they still fall short of national averages
At first blush, there's some good news coming out of Sega for its Japanese workforce, as the company announced plans to raise pay rates...
The Daily Grind: Which MMO studio has the most credibility?
Some MMO studios love to treat credibility in much the same way that you treat a tissue during a head cold, there to be...
PSA: Overwatch 2’s battlepass is confusing – make sure you understand what you’re buying
So here's an interesting tale of how a subtle change in an interface element can be deceptive, intentionally or otherwise. If you play Overwatch...
UK regulators suggest Microsoft choked Google Stadia out of the cloud gaming market
The findings shared by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) related to Microsoft's buyout of Activision-Blizzard already had a few things to say...
PSA: World Eternal Online is actually just the blockchain MMO Core Loop announced last year
Do you remember last year when developer Core Loop raised $12 million in order to develop a blockchain-integrated MMO? Probably not, there has been...
Final Fantasy XIV’s Naoki Yoshida espouses excitement and encouragement for the upcoming Blue Protocol
In the grand battle between the upcoming Blue Protocol and the current master of the Japanese MMORPG market, Final Fantasy XIV, producer and director...
GDC’s State of the Games Industry survey once again demonstrates dev skepticism for metaverse and blockchain hokum
This year's State of the Game Industry from GDC - its 11th since beginning the project - delivers a range of insights from the...
EU Parliament adopts resolution to regulate games industry harms from lockboxes to manipulative design
Call them lockboxes, lootboxes, gambleboxes, or gachapon: The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution "ensuring a safe online environment for online...
Microsoft and Unity collectively shed over 10,000 employees in latest round of tech layoffs
Another round of layoffs are coming to both Microsoft and Unity. Both tech companies are dropping more employees from their respective workforces, with Unity...
Stadia offers one last game to subscribers in the form of Worm Game
Before Google Stadia closes its doors for good, the service is offering its fans one final game to play for free. Lest you get...
World of Warcraft is offering everyone bonus Trader’s Tender for purchasing Dragonflight
Have you bought Dragonflight yet? The developers of World of Warcraft are really hoping that the answer is yes, and in the game's continual...
