All posts | Game World Observer

Industry News August 4, 2021

Curve Digital sees indie action title The Ascent as ‘AAA competitor’ after it generates $5 million

Despite some mixed reviews from critics, players met The Ascent with generally positive reviews. And the game has already surpassed $5 million in revenue, which is a record for publisher Curve Digital.

Industry News August 4, 2021

Xsolla fires 150 employees using big data and AI analysis, CEO’s letter causes controversy

Russian payment services company Xsolla has fired 150 employees at once. What caused controversy wasn’t the staff reduction itself but the CEO’s letter, in which he tried to explain the reason behind this decision.

Industry News August 4, 2021

Epic Game Store expected to lose $130 million from its first wave of exclusive titles

It’s never been a secret that Epic Games has been losing tons of money from launching games exclusively on its store. Now we might have some exact figures dated 2019.

Industry News August 4, 2021

Activision Blizzard August 3 update: Blizzard HR head Jesse Meschuk fired, ABK Workers Alliance speaks against law firm WilmerHale, class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of investors, execs delete their Twitter accounts

Following the news of Blizzard president J. Allen Brack’s departure from the company, Activision Blizzard announced that Jesse Meschuk, Blizzard’s senior vice president of HR, also left (and took his Twitter account with him).

Industry News August 3, 2021

Report: Tencent to acquire King’s Bounty developer 1C Entertainment

Tencent is continuing its acquisition spree, with the latest report claiming that the Chinese company is ready to buy 1C Entertainment. The Russian-founded and Poland-based company is best known for reinventing the iconic King’s Bounty series.

Industry News August 3, 2021

Playrix to support charities in four countries as part of its $115K nonprofit contest

Mobile publisher Playrix has announced the results of its annual nonprofit contest, which lets employees request finances for a charity of their choice. The company allocated a total of $115,000 for this initiative.

Game Development August 3, 2021

Voodoo’s Corentin Selz on hybrid-casual games: “We want players to stay for 14 or 30 days, or even longer”

Corentin Selz, Publishing Manager at Voodoo, discusses how the publisher is transforming its existing portfolio of hits into hybrid-casual titles in order to meet the increased demand from users for more in-depth gameplay.

Industry News August 3, 2021

Tencent and NetEase shares sink after Chinese state media compare games to ‘electronic drugs’

In just 24 hours, shares of the Chinese tech giants like Tencent and NetEase dropped drastically in the wake of the state newspaper comparing games to drugs.

Industry News August 3, 2021

J. Allen Brack stepping down as Blizzard Entertainment president amid ongoing harassment scandal

On August 3, Blizzard Entertainment announced that J. Allen Brack is stepping down as the leader of the studio. After his departure, Jen Oneal and Mike Ybarra will co-lead the company. They will share responsibilities over game development and company operations.

Industry News August 2, 2021

Valve reportedly consents to fan-made Half-Life 2 Remastered Collection

Last week, a listing for Half-Life 2: Remastered Collection was spotted on the Steam Database. While it’s not an official remaster from Valve, insider Tyler McVicker claims the project has “Valve’s consent.”

Industry News August 2, 2021

Linux hits 1% user share on Steam for first time in years, which is over 1 million players

The share of Linux users on Steam has historically been pretty low. However, it has now reached 1% for the first time in years soon after the Steam Deck announcement.

Industry News August 2, 2021

Plarium buys Finnish studio Futureplay to expand and diversify its games portfolio

Plarium, known for mobile games like Raid: Shadow Legends and Vikings: War of Clans, has entered the Finnish games market. The Israeli company acquired local studio Futureplay for an undisclosed sum.

Industry News August 2, 2021

Gaming deals activity in H1 2021: “4x growth vs. H1’20 on all fronts”

According to InvestGame, the gaming segment in H1’21 saw “a vast 4x growth vs. H1’20 on all fronts,” with $32.7B (vs. $7.7B in H1’20) deal value across 267 deals, including $20.4B in M&As (+486% YoY), $2.8B in private transactions (+367% YoY), and $9.5B in public offerings (+157% YoY).

Industry News August 2, 2021

Misogyny tax, whistleblowing controversy, and other news in Activision Blizzard ongoing scandal

There is still a lot going on around Activision Blizzard. In our latest round-up, we report on Frances Townsend blocking her own employees on Twitter, a story about the so-called “misogyny tax” against the company, and a former Diablo developer urging to create unions.

Industry News August 2, 2021

New World tops Steam weekly chart for second week in row

Amazon’s new MMORPG New World continues to lead the Steam chart. It was also the only game from the previous week, besides GTA V, which managed to stay in the top 10.

Industry News August 2, 2021

Video Game Insights on Steam games released in 2021: “a reasonable proxy” for units sold is 30 times game’s total reviews

Steam reviews have been a fairly accurate estimate for units sold, as proved by Jake Birkett, Simon Carless and others. Video Game Insights has found that different review multipliers should be used depending on the year a game came out.

Industry News July 30, 2021

Panic sells over 20,000 Playdate handhelds for indie games in less than 20 minutes

On July 29, Panic opened pre-orders for Playdate, a handheld device for indie games fitted with a crank. It has been making a buzz for its design and cute look for a while. And it seems that the hype was justified, as it took less than 20 minutes to sell over 20,000 units.

Industry News July 30, 2021

The Witcher: Monster Slayer generated $500,000 in 7 days, with Poland leading in downloads

The Witcher franchise continues its expansion to other platforms. It’s been revealed that mobile AR game The Witcher: Monster Slayer has already surpassed $500,000 in player spending on iOS and Android.

Industry News July 30, 2021

Developers discuss NDAs and working on several cancelled AAA games in row

A redditor posted a story about the cancellation of a AAA game they’ve been working on for a few years. The thread went viral, with other users sharing their own experiences of developing high-budget projects and being shackled by different NDAs.

Industry News July 30, 2021

Activision Blizzard hires union-busting law firm, confirms firing WoW creative director for misconduct

We continue to share and update the timeline of the ongoing Activation Blizzard story. In the latest news, the company finally confirmed the reason for firing the former World of Warcraft creative director. Activision Blizzard also hired a famous law firm known for preventing employees from creating unions. Meanwhile, Ubisoft employees, who also stepped up amid the scandal, responded to their company’s comments regarding harassment problems.