Psychonauts 2, a long-awaited sequel to one of the weirdest and most beloved Double Fine games, has finally been released. Considering that it has no negative reviews so far, it might be safe to say that Tim Schafer and his team made an impressive comeback.

It’s been five years since Playrix released its mobile hit Gardenscapes, which has generated over $3 billion in player spending on iOS and Android by now.

This week, Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed an expanded anti-discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. In addition to the female full-time staff, it now includes contract workers. Moreover, DFEH alleges the publisher’s “failure to maintain and produce records.”

According to Unity’s latest survey, seven in 10 players have experienced toxic behavior in online games. To make the gaming environment safer, the company decided to acquire OTO, a platform to analyze audio messages in chats to find toxic players.

Today, South Korea’s parliament is expected to approve the amendment of the Telecommunications Business Act, dubbed the “Anti-Google law.” The piece of legislation will allow mobile devs to bypass Google and Apple app stores by using independent payment systems.

EA has unveiled a pledge to make some of its accessibility-related patents royalty free for every developer in the industry. It means that other studios will be able to implement technologies in their games to make them more inclusive.

Last month, several staff members at Fusebox Games were laid off as part of restructure, with the company shifting to a “more agile co-development approach.” Some of these redundancies, it now turns out, might have to do with the open letter signed on May 24 by 31 employees warning the executive team of “problematic content” in mobile title Matchmaker: Puzzles and Stories.

Facebook Gaming has reopened applications to its special program for Black gaming creators, which was initially established last December. It should give the next generation of Black streamers and content creators a platform to express themselves and help build an audience on Facebook.

Apple has changed its payment rules. Starting October 22, developers will have to provide the bank account holder’s address in App Store Connect.

Starting November 2021, app ratings on Google Play Store will be tied to specific regions. It means that users from the US won’t be able to see reviews from Japanese citizens and vice versa.

Some Unity staffers are concerned they might be working on projects for the military without knowing it.

On Thursday this week, site for game developers Gamasutra is updating its name to Game Developer and relocating to gamedeveloper.com.

American McGee has posted the full story for Alice: Asylum, the third game in series from Mysterious Studios. McGee intends for Alice: Asylum to become “the world’s first ever crowd-designed triple-A game.”

Gamescom has finally revealed the list of nominees for its annual award. Elden Ring, an upcoming action RPG developed by FromSoftware, leads the list with five nominations.

Everdale, co-op builder set in a fantasy world and developed by Supercell, has just been released in soft launch. If the game survives until the global release, it will become the first new IP from the Finnish company since 2017.

Starting November 1, a new data privacy law will take effect in China. It will compel tech companies to collect less information to protect online users. They also should have a special person in charge of personal data protection.

Last year, Tencent acquired Chinese holding company Leyou Technologies, which owns IPs like Warframe and Gears Tactics, for $1.3 billion. Following the acquisition, Leyou became a “satellite studio” due to the mass exodus of employees and a few cancelled projects.

Last week, Activision debuted Call of Duty: Vanguard with a trailer that for the first time in the series’ history ran with the slate “Call of Duty presents.” No mention of Activision. Nor did the video feature the publisher’s logo. The only reference to Activision is made in tiny print in the legally required copyright part at the very end of the video. Could it be that that the company is trying to disassociate its…

A recent survey by Game, the German Games Industry Association, asked domestic publishers and studios to rate the international competitiveness of Germany as a video games economy. 56 percent of the respondents rated the country “rather bad,” with 14 percent rating it “bad.” Only 30 percent chose the answer “rather good.” Zero companies answered “very good.”