Spotify has made its first game-related acquisition. The company announced its intent to buy Heardle, a music trivia game inspired by this year’s hit Wordle. The financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed.

Tencent has dispelled rumors that it will allow Chinese underage gamers to play for more than three hours a week during the summer. The company will continue to follow the country’s strict rules, saying that kids should better go outside.

Hundreds of people lost their jobs when Guns of Boom developer Game Insight announced the liquidation of its Russian entity last month. The company, which refuses to pay salaries and demands that employees return their computers, says that it has no money in its accounts, although its games continue to generate revenue. 

Supermassive Games is now fully owned by Nordisk Games, a gaming subsidiary of Danish entertainment company Nordisk Film. The financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed.

Sony has officially closed the deal to acquire Haven Studios. Founded by Jade Raymond, the team will focus on finding innovative ways to use cloud technology in live service games.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has tried to cheer on a new generation of game developers, especially those who feel they missed their chance. He recalled the times when he was afraid of “titans” like Electronic Arts while working on the first Unreal.

Today the world knows Josef Fares as one of the most prominent game developers. However, he could have ended up on the streets if A Way Out didn’t succeed. The Hazelight founder has opened up about this bumpy road and how he managed to find a way out of this crisis.

Valve hasn’t disclosed any official numbers for Steam Deck yet. However, the latest estimates suggest that the company might ship up to 1 million devices by early 2023.

Level design is one of the core elements of game development. Understanding your goals and basic principles is crucial in creating a great experience for players. Here’re a few tips for beginners from Grant Morgan, an indie dev working on an untitled project and game design critic focusing on dialogue and level design.

Anime-style games are one of the highest-grossing categories on mobile. In 2021, these titles generated $16.97 billion globally, according to the latest data.ai report.

Supercell has invested $37 million in Space Ape Game, a developer of Beatstar and other mobile games. The deal will bring the Clash of Clans maker’s stake in the studio to 75%.

Another Tencent’s product will soon be closed. The Chinese tech giant has announced its decision to shut down the mobile app of WeGame, a game store dubbed its answer to Steam.

Industry analysts continue to say that the games market will experience a decline this year. According to the NPD Group, US consumer spending will fall to $55.5 billion in 2022, which is down 8.7% year-over-year.

Mike Ybarra, the president of Blizzard Entertainment, has tried to defend the controversial monetization model of Diablo Immortal. He thinks that it is still a gameplay-first project with a free campaign.

Bungie might be joining a handful of AAA game developers that have brought their main franchises to mobile. According to the latest report, the studio is now working on a new FPS for iOS and Android, which is based on the Destiny IP.

WN St. Petersburg 2022, a conference for game developers and publishers, starts today. Here are opening remarks by Pavel Ryaykkonen, CEO and founder of WN Media Group.

Global player spending in mobile games has reached $41.2 billion in the first half of 2022, according to Sensor Tower. Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile, the two highest grossing mobile titles, have generated over $1 billion each.

The Netherlands might follow Belgium’s example, becoming the next European country to ban loot boxes. Several political parties have proposed a bill to impose restrictions on these in-game mechanics, which they say are addictive and can manipulate kids.

Over 150 developers from 49 countries took part in the WN Dev Contest last month, competing for a $150,000 prize pool. Let’s take a look.