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Industry News February 22, 2024

Report: Skull and Bones attracted just 850k players in its first week, less than other major 2024 releases

Ubisoft has yet to disclose official figures for Skull and Bones, its new pirate action title that suffered from exhausting and troubled development. But a new report sheds light on the game’s not-so-impressive player count.

Industry News February 22, 2024

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor sells 500k copies in its first week, exceeding studio’s “wildest imagination”

More than 500k players have already purchased Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. It took the new auto shooter just one week to reach this milestone.

Industry News February 22, 2024

Elden Ring hits 23 million copies sold, cementing its status as best-selling FromSoftware game

Following the announcement of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, FromSoftware has updated sales figures for the original Elden Ring game. It seems that players continue to actively buy the studio’s action RPG.

Industry News February 21, 2024

Palworld became top game in UK and US by revenue last month, with its players overlapping with Lethal Company and BG3

Market intelligence firm Newzoo has shared its own data on Palworld, the breakout hit from Japanese indie studio Pocketpair. Here is how the game performed in key markets last month.

Industry News February 21, 2024

Nightingale and Balatro enter top 10 Steam releases of 2024 by peak CCU: digging into their launch numbers

Nightingale and Balatro are drastically different games released on the same day: one is a Victorian survival title and the other is a poker roguelike. But they both managed to attract tens of thousands of concurrent players at launch.

Industry News February 21, 2024

Phil Spencer says cloud now accounts for double-digit percentage of total hours played on Xbox

Phil Spencer continues to discuss his vision of the Xbox future following the recent business update. This time, the Microsoft Gaming head opened up about the main growth areas, mass layoffs, and finding new customers outside traditional console markets.

Industry News February 21, 2024

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader hits 500k copies sold in its first month: how it compares to other Owlcat games

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader has reached its first sales milestone one month after its global launch. Let’s take a look at its launch figures and recall the commercial performance of Owlcat Games’ previous titles.

Industry News February 20, 2024

Helldivers 2 remains highest-grossing game on Steam, while Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor debuts in top 10

After losing its crown earlier this month, Palworld has failed to reclaim the title of top-grossing game on Steam. But there were still enough changes on the platform’s charts last week.

Industry News February 20, 2024

Skull and Bones debuts poorly on UK boxed charts, with physical sales 4x weaker than Sea of Thieves’ launch

It seems that the launch of Skull and Bones is far from a success, especially for a big-budget project branded as a “AAAA game.” Ubisoft has yet to reveal any figures, but we can take a look at how it performed in terms of physical sales.

Industry News February 20, 2024

Over 500 Steam games grossed $3+ million in 2023, and other notable records for Valve’s platform

Steam has summed up 2023, calling it a “landmark year for Valve.” The platform set several new records, while also introducing multiple features/improvements for both players and developers.

Industry News February 19, 2024

ZA/UM confirms layoffs, with Disco Elysium writer saying “Un jour je serai de retour près de toi”

ZA/UM has finally confirmed the layoffs and the cancellation of an unannounced expansion for Disco Elysium. And two former employees, including one of the game’s original writers, also shared more details about the current situation at the studio.

Industry News February 19, 2024

PlayStation operating margins plunge to decade-lows, wiping $10 billion off Sony’s market value

Despite strong revenue growth, many investors and analysts were disappointed by the performance of Sony’s gaming business in the most recent fiscal quarter. The main reason was the company’s declining margins.

Industry News February 19, 2024

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor peaks at over 56k concurrent players, surpassing original game to publisher’s surprise

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, an auto shooter based on the world of the original co-op FPS by Ghost Ship Games, has proven to be a surprise hit. And it looks like even the studio itself didn’t expect such a strong player interest.

Industry News February 19, 2024

Helldivers 2 becomes 24th most played game on Steam of all time, attracting nearly 410k concurrent users

It’s been almost two weeks since the launch of Helldivers 2, but player interest in the game is only growing. The co-op third-person shooter, developed by Arrowhead Game Studios and published by PlayStation, may soon enter the top 20 most played titles on Steam of all time.

Industry News February 16, 2024

Players spent $950 million on Epic Games Store in 2023, iOS launch in Europe officially coming this year

Epic Games Store has summed up its 2023 results, disclosing the number of users and player spending on the platform. The company also shared its plans for this year, including the launch of the iOS version in Europe.

Deals February 16, 2024

Trends in gamedev venture capital deals — legal overview by REVERA law group

What were the biggest trends in VC investment deals across the games industry in 2023 and which ones will remain relevant this year? This is an overview by legal experts Anna Solovei and Viktoryia Semianitskaya, representing REVERA law group.

Industry News February 16, 2024

Alan Wake 2 hits 1.3 million copies sold, but Remedy is yet to see any revenue from it

Alan Wake 2 has become the fastest-selling game in the history of Remedy Entertainment. The psychological horror title has sold 1.3 million copies in more than three months.

Industry News February 16, 2024

Xbox testing waters with four first-party games coming to PS5 and Switch to see if they benefit its long-term health and growth

Microsoft has finally shared the promised update on the future of Xbox and its business strategy. The company detailed its approach to game exclusivity and finding players on other platforms, as well as its plans for Game Pass and next-gen hardware.

Industry News February 15, 2024

Report: 24 ZA/UM employees face layoffs as studio cancels unannounced Disco Elysium expansion

Dozens of ZA/UM developers are at risk of losing their jobs. The Disco Elysium developer has reportedly shut down one of the unannounced projects that was a few years from shipping.

Industry News February 15, 2024

What’s happening at Embracer: $166 million net loss, 22 game write-downs, 1,387 layoffs, and focus on own IPs

Embracer Group has released its financial report for the third quarter ended December 31, 2023. The Swedish holding company is approaching the final stage of its restructuring program, which has already resulted in nearly 1,400 job cuts, while also making adjustments to its game development strategy.