There is a new “arthouse game development studio” called EYES OUT. It was founded by Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck and veteran game designer Cory Davis. The team is already working on its first title, which will be a cosmic horror game.

Blizzard and Respawn Entertainment lost a few key developers yesterday. The list includes Diablo IV lead designer, who reportedly was involved in an ongoing harassment scandal, and Apex Legends game designer, who was fired after his bigoted posts from 2007 have resurfaced.

Raccoon Logic is a new studio formed by games industry veterans and former Typhoon Studios employees. The company’s first group photo, however, caused controversy, with people criticizing the studio for the mostly white male staff and the lack of diversity.

A bipartisan bill was announced on Wednesday that can potentially reshape the business practices dominating the mobile distribution market. If passed, it will allow developers to add third-party payment systems to apps and inform users about discounts outside of stores. The bill has already been supported by Epic Games.

An employee who has ended up among dozens of people fired from Xsolla has discussed the scandal surrounding the company. He spoke about the controversial rating system, the layoffs, and founder Aleksandr Agapitov’s personality.

The list was published of 10 highest-grossing mobile games of all time. Chinese MOBA Honor of Kings sits on top, with its total revenue approaching $10 billion.

Developers from Typhoon Studios, known for Journey to the Savage Planet, have started new studio Raccoon Logic. On top of that, the industry veterans managed to secure the IP rights for their main title from Google.

John Hanke, founder and CEO of Niantic, has criticized the idea of virtual metaverse, calling it a “dystopian nightmare.” He proposed another concept of improving the real world with additional interactive objects and information using AR technology.

The so-called indiepocalypse flooded Steam with tons of bad-quality games. Valve managed to solve the problem by tweaking the store’s algorithm. However, there is now almost no room left for small titles on Steam due to these changes.

One of Activision Blizzard shareholders, investment group SOC, criticized the gaming giant for “the inadequate response from management.”

Famous game designer and programmer John Romero, who has both Cherokee and Aztec ancestry, discussed the representation of indigenous people in the games industry and explained whether his work (including Doom) was inspired by his heritage.

Tencent’s annual parties reportedly used to include disturbing activities demeaning to women, as shown in the videos that reappeared online. The company event shown in the video took place in 2017. Since then, the Chinese tech giant has apologized for the behavior seen in the footage and promised to tackle it “head-on”.

Krafton finally went public on August 10, raising $3.8 billion through IPO. However, the company’s shares dropped due to investors’ concerns that it relies only on one single game.

In the era of digital data, you can’t fully own the things you buy. And that’s what famous game designer Hideo Kojima is afraid of, speaking about the future without physical media.

Atomic Hearts developers continue to answer the most popular questions from fans. In the latest Q&A session, Mundfish discussed the game’s release date, gave new hints on its lore, and shared its opinion about DLCs.

Activision Blizzard chief compliance officer Frances Townsend resigned from the company’s women’s network. On August 6, Kellogg and T-Mobile suspended sponsorship of the Overwatch League. Coca-Cola and State Farm are “reassessing” their partnerships with Activision Blizzard.

There are now over 50,000 games on Steam. The new tool, developed by Level Up Labs co-founder Lars Doucet in collaboration with SteamDB, allows you to track engines and technologies used in all of these titles.

Bernard Kim, President of Publishing at Zynga, discusses the company’s Q2 2021 financial results and acquisitions, as well as trends and challenges in the mobile gaming space.

Last summer, Valve held its first Next Fest, which offered playable demos to Steam users. The company decided to share some stats ahead of this year’s edition of the festival to show how these online events impact wishlisting and sales rates.