Using ready-made 3D assets can save time and money for some teams, but there are also a lot of pitfalls. Maksim Nikifarovich, lead artist at Belka Games, has opened up about the key challenges that game developers may face.

miHoYo’s ambitions go beyond Genshin Impact. The Shanghai-based company is aiming to build its own virtual universe with a user base of roughly 1 billion players.

John Smedley, experienced executive and one of the creators of EverQuest, has stepped down as the head of Amazon Game Studios San Diego. He has been with the company for six years, but hasn’t shipped a single game.

Ubisoft is going through harsh times as it prepares for a targeted restructuring. This includes cutting costs, layoffs, the cancellation of several games, and lowering revenue targets amid weaker sales and an empty release schedule.

Counterplay Games has made its now-closed card battler Duelyst open source. This means everyone can now use its source code and assets to make their own projects based on it.

Blizzard Entertainment may soon reveal its new partner to operate World of Warcraft and its other games in China. And it looks like it won’t be able to renew a licensing agreement with local tech giant NetEase.

Having found success in the 90s, John Carmack helped many people, including game designer American McGee. While most of them chose to forget about the money, the Alice creator eventually managed to pay off his debt.

Garth DeAngelis has stepped down from his role as a senior franchise producer at Firaxis. He spent 14 years at the company working on the XCOM series and Marvel’s Midnight Suns.

Blizzard Proletariat leadership has decided not to voluntarily recognize a workers’ union. Instead, they requested an anonymous vote as part of the election process through the National Labor Rleations Board (NLRB).

Maverick Games is a new independent studio founded by several Playground Games veterans. Former Forza Horizon developers are working on an announced AAA game for consoles and PC.

WN Belgrade’23, the upcoming business conference for developers and other games industry professionals, has been announced. Let’s take a look at the first details about the two-day event, which will feature an expo zone and lectures from various experts.

Microsoft seems to be betting big on ChatGPT to bolster its cloud and AI presence. The next step might be a $10 billion investment, which would help it increase its stake in OpenAI, a research lab behind the technology.

UK developer and publisher Frontier Developments has experienced the biggest intraday decline in its stock price ever. The company also lowered its financial outlook for the current fiscal year.

Indie publisher Bigmode, established by popular YouTuber videogamedunkey, has revealed its first title, Animal Well. It is a puzzle platformer about surviving in a haunting pixelated world full of different creatures.

Steam has reached a new milestone, recording over 10 million active in-game players. The platform also recently saw a new concurrent users peak.

Jonathan Blow, renowed indie game developer and creator of Braid, has shared his thoughts on Elden Ring. While praising the game’s scale, he claimed that it has no design per se.

Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been approved in another jurisdiction. The Chilean regulator greenlit the record deal, saying it won’t significantly affect competition in the games market.

Valve has revealed a list of the highest-grossing Steam games of 2022. Elden Ring, Dying Light 2, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II were among the leaders by revenue this year, while Raft and Vampire Survivors were one of the most succesful titles released ouf of Early Access.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is not only considered a disappointment by many fans, but also a game that nearly buried one of the most famous fighting series. However, this failure also helped NetherRealm Studios pursue the idea for a much more succesful reboot and return the MK franchise to its brutal roots.