A new gamedev union has been formed by a group of QA contractors at Keywords Studios. The team, which is now working on the next Dragon Age game, voted unanimously for unionization after defending its right to work remotely.

China has released a new list of approved games allowed for distribution in the country. This move comes amid concerns following the local regulator’s decision to license no domestic titles last month.

Pokémon GO has topped $6 billion in lifetime player spending since its launch in 2016, according to Sensor Tower. Niantic’s title also remained the highest-grossing AR game globally last quarter.

Players have been ripping Diablo Immortal apart, dropping its user score on Metacritic to near-zero values. It is now the lowest-rated Blizzard game ever, excluding remasters and other rereleases. However, the title continues to generate money on mobile.

Publisher Playstack has announced an acquisition of Magic Fuel Games, a mobile studio formed by former Electronic Arts developers. The team previously worked on the SimCity series and is now focused on city builders.

Dialbo Immortal, the first mobile title in the prominent ARPG series, had a successful launch despite the controversy surrounding its monetization. The game has already generated almost $800k on iOS and Android in 24 hours.

Railbound is an upcoming track-bending puzzle game created by Poland-based indie team Afterburn. We spoke with the studio’s founder Luke Spierewka about the game’s development and creating its distinctive, comic-inspired visuals.

Spain has joined several other European countries fighting against in-game loot boxes. According to local authorities, a new law will regulate all mechanics, which have real economic value.

Israeli mobile publisher Playtika has decided to close three in-house studios. As a result, the company will lay off 250 people and cancel all games that were in development.

Gaming crackdown in China continues, as domestic developers still face regulatory pressure. As a result, the government approved no new titles in May despite ending the licensing freeze a month earlier.

Shinji Hashimoto has announced his retirement from his position as corporate advisor at Square Enix. He worked for the company for 28 years, being in charge of Final Fantasy and other prominent series.

The Witcher 3 game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz has shared first details about an upcoming dark fantasy RPG from his new studio Rebel Wolves. The team wants to stay relatively small and offer a unique experience to players.

In 2021, the Chinese console market surpassed the $2 billion mark for the first time, according to Niko Partners. However, most of its revenues are coming from grey market sales.

Game marketing consultant Chris Zukowski has shared a deep analysis on genres that Steam users love to play. Based on this data, it is hard for an indie developer to make a profitable platformer unless it is mixed with other genres like metroidvania or roguelike.

Mathieu Duperré, CEO at Edgegap, discusses challenges of the multiplayer game development and how best to address them.

Valve has filed a new patent describing a feature that might potentially improve Steam recommendations. The proposed technology is supposed to create video compilations for users based on their preferences.

Supercell has invested $60 million in Trailmix. The company behind Crash Royale now owns a majority stake in the mobile developer based in London.

Several esports teams, which are parts of Overwatch and Call of Duty leagues, reportedly owe Activision Blizzard up to $420 million. These fees were previously paused due to the pandemic.

Publisher tinyBuild has introduced a new experimental system, offering unlimited days off for its employees at several departments. The company will later share the results of this initiative.