Microsoft has once again tried to convince the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that the Activision Blizzard acquisition wouldn’t hurt competition. The deal will also help the company significantly increase its mobile revenues.

Scott Thunelius, programmer and 3D artist known for his work on Subnautica, has shared with us the key principles behind creating retro-style graphics. As an example, he used Warpips, a tug-of-war strategy game he made with his friends in the spare time.

Pony Ma, co-founder and CEO of Chinese tech giant Tencent, has delivered an angry address to employees. He criticized almost every division of the company, warning that some of the businesses might be closed in the face of the crisis.

Tomb Raider has cemented itself as one of the best-selling video game franchises in history. The total sales of all titles in the series about Lara Croft’s adventures are now approaching the 100 million mark.

Kickstarter has responded to the controversy over Unstable Diffusion, a project for AI generation of NSFW images. The platform suspended the crowdfunding campaign, also updating its AI art policy and pledging to protect the real humans behind the creative work.

The UK antitrust watchdog has asked the public to share their opinion on Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. And it seems that most consumers fully support the record merger.

Bohemia Interactive has summed up 2022 by sharing some numbers for its hardcore survival title DayZ. Despite almost four years since its official launch, the game continues to draw millions of new players.

OpenAI, the startup behind DALL-E, has released its new system called Point·E. It combines several models to generate low-res 3D objects in a matter of minutes.

The European Commission wants to hear what rivals think about Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Through a large questionnaire, antitrust regulators plan to find out how this deal could affect the games market.

Havok Physics for Unity has now officially become supported for production. Developers will be able to use the physics engine for free and implement its features in their games.

VFX editor Pixel Composer has been officially released. The tool for creating animated effects for pixel art is now available for purchase, with 100+ various nodes to experiment with.

After more than a decade at Riot Games, Joseph Ziegler has announced his decision to leave the company. He will now be the game director at Destiny developer Bungie.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has hit Epic Games with a $520 million fine. The Fortnite maker will pay a whopping sum for violating children’s privacy law and tricking players into making unwanted purchases.

WN Connect Shenzhen’22, a networking event for China-based games industry professionals, will take place later this week. Attendees can look forward to Tencent, Roblox, and other big companies operating in the Chinese market.

Ryan Smith, tech art director of R&D at Gearbox, has opened up about how the studio is already using AI in its work. He encouraged other artists to learn these tools, because they can help in solving routine tasks.

Crash Bandicoot: On the Run will soon be abandoned by King. The mobile developer has decided to terminate all services for the game, which has been declining in revenue for a while now.

Activision Blizzard has announced a change in its leadership team. Daniel Alegre, who has served as its president and COO since 2020, will leave the Call of Duty publisher in 2023.

Why do players consider some events and details in the game more significant than others? This is directly related to the so-called narrative weight. Andrei Medvedev, game designer at Friday’s Games, breaks down what this term means and why it is critical for game designers to be able to adjust the importance of certain elements.

Chris Metzen has returned to Blizzard Entertainment six years after announcing his departure. He will again be working on the Warcraft franchise, the universe he has been involved in since its inception.