It looks like Pokémon GO was quite popular among US soldiers who served in Afghanistan. After the troops had been withdrawn from Bagram, some virtual creators were left there (possibly, forever).

China once again has become a topic of discussion in the games industry after players found out a few changes made in the latest patch for Guilty Gear Strive. In fact, developers removed all references to Uygur, Tibet, Taiwan, and some other China-related regions.

Bloober Team received at least four grants, each worth €150 thousand, through the European Union’s Media Program. The European Commission awarded these grants to the studio to support the development of four horror games, including The Medium and Layers of Fear 2. Here’s what the European Commission saw in them.

Mehmet Aydin, who created the fraudulent game Farm Bank, has been extradited to Turkey after a few years of hiding abroad. He is now facing up to 75,000 years in prison for swindling money from thousands of people.

In 2021, the video games industry has seen 635 deals announced and/or closed that are worth a combined $60 billion.

Last week, TV ad tech company Simulmedia announced the launch of advertising platform called playerWON. It’s designed to allow developers to add TV-style commercials into console and PC games. The company also claimed it had already signed deals with several big gaming brands, including EA. EA, however, is denying its involvement.

Nexus Mods, a world-famous website for gaming enthusiasts, has implemented some major changes to its rules. Starting next month, users will be able to only archive mod files instead of deleting them forever. According to the platform, these changes were necessary due to the implementation of a new collections system.

Microsoft and Hideo Kojima reportedly have signed a letter of intent, according to the latest report. It means that they might really have intentions to develop a new game for Xbox together.

Rumors surrounding a new game in the Dead Space franchise have been circulating for a while. According to the latest report, the project might be a remake inspired by how Capcom reworked classic Resident Evil installments.

Soon after playerWON announced its plans to add TV-style commercials into console and PC games, players and some developers criticized the advertising platform. Some of them promised to never give their money to companies that would implement this system.

Xsolla and WN Events announced the Game Developer Day LATAM that will take place on July 27, 2021. Devs based in Latin America making games in any genre and for any platform are invited to enter XDC Contest for LATAM Developers.

This week will see the launch of advertising platform called playerWON. It allows PC and console devs to code TV-style video ads into their games.

YoYo Games has introduced a new free version of its engine GameMaker Studio 2. It means that developers will be able to use it for as long as they want in contrast to the previously available 30-day trial version, although the new license has a few limitations.

Nixxes Software is another studio to join the PlayStation family. The Dutch company is known for bringing many console games to PC, including Tomb Raider, Hitman, and Deus Ex.

Sony faced a new wave of criticism after it was revealed that PlayStation charges devs at least $25,000 for promotion. Indie developers started sharing their experiences of working with the company, pointing out the lack of support, bad discoverability, and low sales among other problems.

Nintendo denied forced labor being used in its supply chain.

There are not many developers who openly share their experience of working with platform holders. But Neon Doctrine co-founder Iain Garner got so frustrated that he decided to “burn some bridges” with Sony.

Developers from PardCode are known for their video tutorials about game development. Now the team has launched a new series to show the process of creating a game engine from scratch. And the first episode is already here.

Over the past years, games’ stories and worlds have become so big that companies struggle to keep everything consistent. That’s why Bungie has opened a unique position of “Destiny Historian” to catalog the game’s universe and narrative.