In Australia, all games featuring in-game purchases must disclose it on the box art of their retail versions. This applies to all games submitted to the Australian classification board since May 2020.

In the latest blog post, discoverability guru Simon Carless discusses how developers or publishers’ net revenue compares to what gamers actually spend on the game.

Chinese giant Tencent acquired a minority stake in Voodoo, French hyper-casual developer and publisher. Following the deal, Voodoo is valued at $1.4 billion.

Film production company Snoot Entertainment is working with studio Campo Santo on a film adaptation of 2016 indie hit Firewatch.

Last week saw a major standoff between Apple and Epic Games. In response to a civil antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic against Apple, the latter decided to terminate all Epic’s developer accounts and block iOS and Mac development tools for the Fortnite company. The decision will come into force on August 28.

Nearly 40% of the world’s population is gamers. This is according to research firm DFC Intelligence, which found that 3.1 billion play games. Half of them play on mobile.

UK gaming company 110 Industries raised $20 million from Roman Abramovich’s investment company Norma Investment, GEM Capital, and film producer Sergey Kornykhin, Vedomosti reports.

Yesterday, Aeon Must Die! developer Limestone Games published a press release denying transgressions alleged by the team of its former employees. One of them, the studio’s former Chief Creative Officer Aleksey Nehoroshkin, talked to Game World Observer.

Well, that escalated quickly.

Aeon Must Die! developer Limestone Games had denied transgressions alleged by its former employees.

Russia’s tech giant Yandex said unidentified armed men blocked entry and exit into its Minsk office. Yandex employs around 120 people in Minsk. While most of them are now working remotely, some employees are currently blocked in the office.

Embracer Group announced a major purchase. Through its subsidiary Saber Interactive, it acquired 100% of Malta-based 4A Games. The studio is best known as the developer of the Metro shooter series.

Xbox Series X will be released in November 2020, along with fifty new titles. Halo Infinite, though, won’t be one of them.

The UK’s National Literacy Trust has published a new study examining the impact of video games on young people. The research shows that games often improve literacy, creativity, empathy, as well as mental wellbeing.

The Estonian chapter of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) talked to Game World Observer about the situation around Aeon Must Die! The development team behind the title accuse the employer, Limestone Games, of unbearable work conditions, manipulation and corruption.

Q2 2020 saw the US players spend $11.6 billion on video games and related products. The figure, according to the NPD Group, is an absolute record for the US market. More interestingly still, every third PS4 or Xbox One owner actually owns both consoles.

Last Thursday, side-scrolling beat-’em-up Aeon Must Die! was unveiled during PlayStation’s State of Play event to immediately become another workplace horror story plaguing the industry.