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Industry News September 23, 2021

Charlie Oscar founder on definition of ‘indie’ and being €100K short ahead of Gremlins, Inc. release

Charlie Oscar founder Sergei Klimov has given his own definition of the term “indie.” He also shared some insights into financial hardships and risks the studio had to take to release its games.

Industry News September 23, 2021

Amazon Games to publish game from Glowmade, whose team worked on titles like Fable and Battlefield

Amazon Games has announced its partnership with indie studio Glowmade. It will develop an original IP, which will be an online co-op game inspired by Labyrinth and Wrestlemania.

Industry News September 23, 2021

miHoYo partners with Tencent, which reportedly agreed to reduce fees for Genshin Impact

Genshin Impact has been finally released on Tencent’s Android store. According to the latest reports, miHoYo reached a cooperation with the Chinese tech giant. It includes not only different promotional activities but also a reduced commission.

Industry News September 23, 2021

Tim Sweeney claims Apple ‘lied,’ as Fortnite might be blacklisted from App Store for next 5 years

According to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, Apple has “blacklisted” Fortnite from the App Store. The game is expected to be banned until all court appeals are exhausted, which could take up to five years.

Industry News September 22, 2021

Developers share their impressions of Steam Deck: “Honestly a bit of a game-changer for me”

As first developers got their Steam Deck dev kits, they started to share their impressions of Valve’s portable PC. And most reactions are positive, with games industry professionals praising the device’s performance.

Industry News September 22, 2021

SNKRX dev compares its average playtime to other roguelites, with Slay the Spire being absolute leader

Roguelites usually have huge replayability, as their gameplay loop motivates players to come back to them over and over again. Indie developer a327ex, who created SNKRX, decided to compare his game’s playtime stats to similar titles on Steam.

Industry News September 22, 2021

Blizzard staff exodus continues as Overwatch 2 executive producer announces his departure

Chacko Sonny will leave Blizzard Entertainment this Friday. He is best known as an executive producer of Overwatch 2. However, there is reportedly no connection between Sonny’s departure and the ongoing scandal.

Industry News September 22, 2021

Embracer Group snaps up QA studio Bytex known for working on games like SnowRunner and World War Z

Embracer has acquired another studio through its subsidiary Saber Interactive. The Swedish holding company now has a 100% stake in Russian studio Bytex. The financial terms of the deal, however, remain undisclosed.

Industry News September 22, 2021

Roblox rolls out two-stage age verification system, using ID scan and selife

Only users aged 13 and older will be able to use Roblox’s upcoming voice chat. To check a person’s identity, the platform has introduced a special two-stage age verification system.

Industry News September 21, 2021

China’s police arrest 469 scammers who pretended to be women and tricked men into spending money on games

Over 300 police officers have carried out a massive raid to arrest 469 online scammers in China. They tricked men across the country into spending real money on games by pretending to be female players.

Industry News September 21, 2021

Indie developer Arnold Rauers’s revenue increased by 41% after adopting free-to-play model

In August, indie developer Arnold Rauers decided to make his mobile games free-to-play on the App Store. As a result, his revenue has grown by 41%.

Industry News September 21, 2021

SEC launches investigation into Activision Blizzard, subpoenas Bobby Kotick

Activision Blizzard is now facing another investigation in the wake of the ongoing scandal. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has subpoenaed the company, including its CEO Bobby Kotick, to find how the publisher handled the allegations of discrimination and harassment.

Industry News September 21, 2021

UPD: Quantic Dream wins libel case against Le Monde but loses against Mediapart

Quantic Dream has won the libel case against French newspaper Le Monde, which published claims by the studio’s employees of alleged harassment, homophobia, racism, and sexism in the workplace.

Industry News September 21, 2021

Netflix secretly developing VR game Eden Unearthed for Oculus Quest

Netflix has released a free-to-play VR game called Eden Unearthed for Oculus Quest. The game is available through App Lab, rather than through the Oculus Store, meaning the title hasn’t gone through the full Oculus review process and could be experimental or still in development.

Industry News September 20, 2021

EA to implement Preview Packs in FIFA 22, allowing players to look inside loot boxes

After years of being criticized for its loot boxes policy, Electronic Arts has decided to make the so-called “Preview Packs” a permanent feature in FIFA 22. These packs let players look at all specific items inside loot boxes before buying them.

Industry News September 20, 2021

Rumor: Quantic Dream working on Star Wars game with Disney for about 18 months

Quantic Dream, known for games like Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain, might be working on its new game. According to a few sources, it will be a title based on the Star Wars franchise.

Industry News September 20, 2021

Single skeleton for all characters and other technical details of King’s Bounty II

1C Entertainment technical art director Alexey Vlasov has shared some details about the development of King’s Bounty II. The main production took only about two years, so it was a challenge for the whole team to make everything on time and optimize the game for all platforms.

Industry News September 20, 2021

How chess-based roguelike Pawnbarian reached over 10K wishlists prior to launch

Indie developer Jan Wojtecki has shared his experience of promoting its roguelike Pawnbarian. Although he had no budget for marketing, he managed to attract more than 10,000 wishlists on Steam.

Industry News September 20, 2021

MY.GAMES acquires hyper-casual publisher Mamboo Games

MY.GAMES has announced the acquisition of Minsk, Belarus-based Mamboo Games, which publishes hyper-casual and hybrid-casual titles and develops its own games. In total, the Mamboo Games portfolio includes over 30 titles.

Industry News September 20, 2021

Blackbird conducting internal investigation in wake of harassment allegations against Jennifer Scheurle

Blackbird Interactive CEO and founder Rob Cunningham revealed that the studio is investigating if any cases of emotional abuse and manipulation have taken place at the studio. This is in response to the harassment allegations against Jennifer Scheurle, who joined the studio in January 2021.