It looks like The Initiative is now facing more problems during development of the Perfect Dark reboot. According to the latest report, dozens of core devs left the studio during the last year.

Linus and Viktor Blomberg, known as Avalanche co-founders, have started new game development studio Elemental Games. The team of industry veterans will continue to create open-world games.

Multiplayer shooter World War 3 had a spike in popularity over the last week and a half, with its peak concurrent player count growing by 5.5 times. 

Guardians of the Galaxy is another example of how Game Pass can boost the audience interest. Thanks to its addition to the library, the title has climbed more than 200 places in the chart of the most popular Xbox games.

Chinese regulators want to spread anti-addiction laws that already apply to video games across live streaming and other online services. It would result in limiting the time and spend for underage users.

Kyiv-based developer GSC Game World has shared two updates on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. First, it changed the game’s subtitle in accordance with Ukrainian language rules. Second, the studio decided to prohibit sales of the upcoming title in Russia.

Riot Games has strengthened its partnership with Fortiche Production by making a new equity investment in the animation studio behind Arcane.

Steam has been increasing its user base with each year, leaving all its rivals behind. As of 2021, it has the highest MAU among other video games platforms, including the ones of Sony, Microsoft, and Epic Games.

Winners of the Video Game Accessibility Awards 2021 have been announced. Halo Infinite took home two awards, with the remaining ones going to Guardians of the Galaxy, Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, and some other titles.

Game companies across the world continue to help Ukrainian citizens and their employees in the country. Playrix and Bandai Namco have now joined the efforts by making donations to humanitarian efforts.

The regulation of tech companies in China is getting tougher as Tencent is now facing a potential fine for breaching the central bank’s compliances. It is suspected of allowing money-laundering schemes using WeChat.

David Polfeldt, who has been on a sabbatical since last June, has decided to not return to Ubisoft. He led Massive Entertainment for more than a decade and contributed to the studio’s key games, including The Division.

In February 2022, the video game industry consumer spend in the US saw a slight decline year-over-year, the NPD Group reported. Overall sales were $4.4 billion, which is down 6% compared to a year ago.

Google and Meta are now under investigation by the EU and UK. According to the European Commission, a deal that the two corporations made in 2018 endangers competition and is used to push smaller companies from the online ad market.

Following Meta’s decision to allow hate speech towards the Russian military on its platforms, the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office has called for a ban on Instagram, with the company being recognized as an “extremist organization.”

Ubisoft has shared a new update on last week’s “cyber security incident.” The company is now investigating the issue, which affected some of its games.

Ben Lee has announced that he is stepping down from his role of the Hearthstone game director. Instead, he will now be working on another secret title, which Blizzard has in the making.

Activision continues its expansion into mobile by formally announcing a version of Call of Duty: Warzone for iOS and Android. No trailers and big reveals — just a short message and the list of open positions.

The exodus of game companies from Russia and / or Belarus continues as Humble Bundle, Niantic, Plarium, and SEGA remove their titles from these countries.