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Industry News December 7, 2022

Microsoft pledges to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo following its merger with Activision Blizzard

Microsoft is looking for new ways to persuade regulators to approve its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The company has now entered into an agreement to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo.

Industry News December 6, 2022

Krafton honored for its contribution to South Korea’ economy as its export revenue hits $1 billion

Krafton has been awarded by the South Korean government for its contribution to the development of the national economy. The PUBG maker was the only game company with such a large share of export revenue.

Industry News December 6, 2022

CD Projekt to shut down The Witcher: Monster Slayer in 2023, merger with Spokko on the way

CD Projekt has announced the discontinuation of its AR game The Witcher: Monster Slayer. It will be completely closed next year, as it no longer fits into the company’s updated business strategy.

Industry News December 6, 2022

PUBG Mobile tops $9 billion in lifetime revenue, generating over $5 million per day on average

PUBG Mobile has reached another milestone by crossing the $9 billion mark in lifetime revenue. Players have spent another $1 billion on in-game purchases over the last two quarters.

Industry News December 6, 2022

300+ ZeniMax QA testers announce first union at Microsoft to secure fair treatment and wages

Hundreds of workers at ZeniMax Media have started taking steps to form their own union. This would require recognition from Microsoft, which pledged to stay neutral throughout this process.

Industry News December 5, 2022

CD Projekt to end content support of GWENT after 2023: “Gwentfinity” or more like imminent oblivion?

CD Projekt has outlined its plans for GWENT and opened up about the project’s future, which doesn’t look bright at all. The company will stop making new content for its CCG after 2023. But does it mean the game will soon die?

Legal December 5, 2022

Report: FTC might finally approve Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard despite Chair’s objections

There is a chance that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will eventually approve Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. According to the latest report, one more member of the panel reviewing the deal is now leaning towards this.

Industry News December 2, 2022

Supercell forms two new US studios led by former Riot Games and Valve devs

Supercell has formed two new development teams in the US. They will be led by several industry veterans who have worked at companies like Riot Games, Blizzard, and Valve.

Industry News December 2, 2022

Krafton sees its shares plunge 8% due to mixed reception of The Callisto Protocol

The Callisto Protocol, one of the most anticipated horror games, has come out to some mixed reviews and received criticism from PC players. As a result, the game’s publisher Krafton saw its shares decline.

Events December 2, 2022

WN Tel Aviv’22 brought together 1,100 games industry professionals from MENA, Europe, and North America

WN Media Group has shared the results of its latest conference, which took place November 23-24 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Here is some data about the attendees and games showcased during the event.

Dev Interviews December 2, 2022

How to design turn-based combat system: explained by Untamed Tactics dev Grumpy Owl Games

The Netherlands-based studio Grumpy Owl Games has shared with us some tips for designing a turn-based combat system. They also used their own tactical RPG Untamed Tactics as an example.

Game Development December 1, 2022

How to create Red Alert-inspired game assets by fine-tuning Stable Diffusion

Tools for AI-generated assets are constantly evolving. Scenario co-founder Emmanuel de Maistre has shown what game developers can achieve by fine-tuning Stable Diffusion.

Industry News December 1, 2022

Member of CD Projekt’s board of directors sells 50,000 shares for almost $1.5 million

Michał Nowakowski, senior VP of business development at CD Projekt, has sold a portion of his stake in the company. Overall, he sold 50,000 shares.

Industry News December 1, 2022

Persona 5 Royal reaches 3.3 million units sold, with total sales surpassing 8 million copies

Atlus has disclosed sales of Persona 5 Royal remaster recently released for PC and consoles. The Japanese company also shared total figures for Persona 5 and its spin-offs.

Industry News December 1, 2022

Apex Legends Mobile becomes best game of 2022 for both Android and iOS

Google has revealed the winners of its 2022 Play Awards. Just like Apple did earlier this week, the company named Apex Legends Mobile the best game of the year.

Industry News November 30, 2022

Todd Howard on making games playable for 20 years: “It changes the way you think about how you architect them from the get-go”

It has been 11 years since the latest Elder Scrolls title came out. While Todd Howard wants the new game to come out as soon as possible, he believes that Bethesda must figure out how to create projects that can be played for decades.

Industry News November 30, 2022

Valve removes SimFabric games from Steam over fake reviews allegations

Polish developer and publisher SimFabric has seen almost all of its games removed from Steam. Valve also blocked the company’s account due to the massive wave of positive reviews that turned out to be fake.

Industry News November 30, 2022

Loot boxes cause financial and emotional harm to kids due to gambling-like design techniques, UK study says

A group of UK researchers have conducted a study of games with loot boxes and other chance-based rewards. They identified the harm these mechanics cause to children and shared their recommendations for solving this problem.

Marketing November 29, 2022

Median indie game earnings on Steam barely exceed $1,000 lifetime

It is unlikely that every indie developer expects their game to generate millions of dollars. However, the median lifetime earnings on Steam might not be enough to even stay in this industry and make another project.

Featured November 29, 2022

“It should serve as a lesson in how not to do business”: what does the end of Stadia mean for cloud gaming?

Google’s decision to shut down Stadia has raised concerns about the prospects for the global cloud gaming market. Olivier Avaro, CEO of cloud gaming service Blacknut, explains why Stadia failed, what lessons the industry can learn from it, and what it means for the future of this sector.