Skip to main content

January 2019 Archive

    1. Early teens gaming online more - Study
    2. Parents increasingly worried about kids spending in games - Study
    3. Netmarble readying bid for Nexon
    4. The long decline of the "narrative paramedic" in games writing
    5. Failbetter's final push to ensure Sunless Skies flies at launch
    6. Xbox's Chris Charla to headline GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit @ PAX East
    7. Keywords expects 2018 revenues to surpass €250 million
    8. Phoenix Labs' Dauntless migrating to Epic Games Store
    9. Second YouTuber complains of DMCA abuse from Escape From Tarkov developer
    10. Nintendo trims Switch target as net sales near $10 billion for fiscal year
    11. Capcom tops Metacritic publisher rankings for 2018
    12. Microsoft reports "largest gaming revenue quarter ever"
    1. Fellow Traveller: "Indie publishers need to stand for something"
    2. THQ Nordic "fully supports" Metro Exodus exclusivity
    3. Beyond PlayStation 5: Quantic Dream's next-gen, multi-platform vision
    4. Certain Affinity sets up Toronto studio
    5. VR Awards organisers launch AIXR trade body
    6. UKIE becomes "major funder" of Now Play This
    7. Star Control: Origins restored to GOG after DMCA block
    8. Sensor Tower: EA Sports free-to-play mobile games generate $1bn lifetime revenue
    9. Playtika opens $6m R&D centre in Bucharest
    10. FanAI acquires esports data firm Waypoint Media
    1. Unity acquires Vivox
    2. How Odama tilted the playing field
    3. GameStop gives up on selling the company
    4. Founder Mike Kulas returns to Volition after eight years
    5. NetEase acquires minority stake in Quantic Dream
    6. EA backs down over loot boxes in Belgium
    7. Nvidia shares tank 15% following Q4 revenue adjustment
    8. Twitch no longer advertising big streamer events on smaller channels
    9. UK payment startup PlayerLands secures funding from Mercia Technologies
    10. The importance of regional events in supporting a healthy industry
    11. Games investments raised $5.7 billion in 2018
    12. Capcom shipped 3 million units of Resident Evil 2
    1. Metro Exodus PC skipping Steam for Epic Games store
    2. Gaming mirrors Facebook's crisis of credibility
    3. Thoughts on game voice casting: Part Two
    4. GLAAD announces nominees for first ever Outstanding Video Game category
    5. Westworld Mobile shutting down following lawsuit settlement
    6. Epic overhauls how loot boxes work in Fortnite: Save the World
    7. Model accuses Tencent of using her likeness without permission in Ring of Elysium
    8. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe tops EMEAA charts
    9. EA BioWare refutes lack of planning for troubled Anthem demo
    10. Jagex up for sale as Chinese owner seeks to restructure
    11. Peter "Durante" Thoman opens PC port studio
    1. Resident Evil 2 debuts at No.1 in UK charts (again)
    1. Unity targets kids, educators with Unity Playground
    2. Early bird price for GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit @ PAX East ends today
    3. The crazy and costly world of First 4 Figures
    4. Development restarts on Metroid Prime 4, Retro Studios back in the fold
    5. Nintendo president: No price cut needed to meet Switch sales goal
    6. Ludicious - Zürich Game Festival finalises speaker line-up
    7. NetEase to impose restrictions on young gamers in China
    8. Facebook ignored solution to children overspending in games
    9. DeepMind AI beats StarCraft II pro players
    10. Ubisoft will change divisive Assassin's Creed Odyssey DLC
    11. China finally greenlights new Tencent, NetEase games - but Fortnite and PUBG still left waiting
    12. Talking up the positives about gaming | Opinion
    13. Introducing Gamedev.world, the first global game developer conference
    1. StreamElements lands $11.3M investment
    2. Just 6% of devs say Steam earns its 30% cut - Survey
    3. Only 16% of devs anti-union - Survey
    4. From Square Enix to startup: Wan Hazmer's plan to put Malaysia on the map
    5. Mythical Games attempts to set standard for blockchain game items
    6. SuperData: Worldwide digital spending down 2% last month
    7. Devs, mental health educator team up for WellBeings
    8. Analyst predicts first video games revenue decline since 1995
    9. Oliver Twins leaving Rebellion to start own consultancy firm
    10. Epic Games acquires Agog Labs
    1. Epic Games acquires 3Lateral
    2. Adobe acquires Allegorthmic
    3. Truth is stranger than Fictiorama
    4. Network Next raises $4.4m to create "internet fast lane" for games
    5. Thoughts on game voice casting: Part One
    6. Crytek and Improbable bringing SpatialOS GDK to CryEngine
    7. Riot Games announces UK as home to first League of Legends regional championship
    8. PlayStation Now coming to Spain, Italy, Portugal and Nordic territories
    9. My Time At Portia developer assures that voice actor pay issues are resolved
    10. Capcom expands Street Fighter esports efforts to US
    11. Gameye closes $1.6m seed round
    12. NPD: US video games sales reached $43.4 billion last year
    1. App Annie: Mobile gaming was the fastest-growing gaming sector in 2018
    2. Hothead Games launches mobile publishing arm
    3. European PlayStation HQ to remain in London as no-deal Brexit fears mount
    4. Stack Up awarded CDC grant to assist US veterans
    5. Eximius developer uses DMCA to reclaim Steam page from publisher
    6. Hatch to make games supporting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
    7. Square Enix trademarks terms for Octopath Traveler's visual style
    8. Dean Trotman joins Sumo Digital as commercial director
    9. Metro Exodus publisher confident over showdown with Crackdown and Far Cry
    10. Games industry names help YouTuber raise $340,000 for trans charity in Donkey Kong 64 marathon
    11. Tencent and NetEase absent from third wave of Chinese game approvals
    12. Resident Evil 2 demo played by 2.4m people
    1. CI Games launches United Label publishing business
    2. Challenging the inevitability of online harassment | Opinion
    3. Digital Extremes and PUBG company Krafton looking for developers at PAX East
    4. Ukie to explore British game dev history with "30 Years of Play" campaign
    5. Microsoft CEO states "Netflix for games" ambitions
    6. How Mediatonic is bringing Gears of War to mobile
    7. Star Control: Origins restored to Steam amid legal battle with series' creators
    8. Layoffs hit NCSoft's Iron Tiger Studios
    9. Forza Horizon 4 hits 7 million players
    10. Otter Media blocks all Machinima content on YouTube
    11. UK Charts: Ace Combat 7 breaks franchise records, but Mario holds No.1
    1. Former Heroes of the Storm team files suit against ex-owner for unpaid wages
    1. Splash Damage releases full Dirty Bomb design document
    2. Media Create: New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe sells through over half of first-week shipment
    3. Indian education technology startup Byju's buys Osmo for $120 million
    4. Facebook gets a new boss of VR Hardware
    5. New CEO for Hi-Rez as founder Erez Goren steps down
    6. Fast Travel Games sold more on PSVR than Steam, Oculus and Viveport combined
    7. How to build a Bandersnatch
    8. FIFA 19 trumped Red Dead and COD as Europe's highest selling game in 2018
    9. Secret6 expands into Europe with Madrid office
    10. Starbreeze delays Overkill's The Walking Dead on console
    11. Netflix: "We compete with (and lose to) Fortnite more than HBO"
    12. GDC 2019 will feature new mentoring program for attendees
    13. Changing industry economics let Bungie forge a new destiny | Opinion
    1. US, Canada mobile gaming brought in $9.37 billion in 2018
    2. Rieko Kodama to receive GDCA Pioneer Award
    3. Nexon reportedly up for sale
    4. IndieDB, ModDB founder launches mod-focused publishing arm
    5. The Bandersnatch effect
    6. Former PlayStation, Take-Two, Nintendo execs launch blockchain publisher
    7. Ex-Infinity Ward developers open new studio Winterborn
    8. GAME's shares improve following "solid" Christmas results
    9. Ubisoft apologises for forcing heterosexual romance in Assassin's Creed Odyssey DLC
    10. Playtika acquires Austrian mobile developer Supertreat
    11. How European expansion bolstered Bulkhead against Brexit
    1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sold 5 million globally in first week
    2. Unity CEO clarifies Improbable violations, future plans in AMA
    3. Cybersecurity firm exposes Fortnite vulnerability
    4. ReKTGlobal announces $10.8 million funding round
    5. Unity changes course following dispute with Improbable
    6. Fortnite tops SuperData's 2018 chart with $2.4 billion digital revenue
    7. PEGI announces new content descriptor for in-game purchases on physical products
    8. Softgames opens office in Toronto
    9. Jam City announces $145m in strategic finance just weeks after layoffs
    10. YoYo Games promotes Stuart Poole to general manager
    11. Niantic raises $245 million in Series C funding
    12. IO Interactive opens new studio in Malmö
    13. Nintendo of Europe issues formal warning to Russia boss after investigation
    14. Success and sustainability at Supercell
    15. Take-Two and NBA extend partnership in $1.1bn deal
    16. Seriously revenues up 65% to $69 million in 2018
    17. Roblox launches Digital Civility Initiative
    18. Forgotten Key shuts down
    19. EA has reportedly canceled Vancouver studio's Star Wars title
    1. Forza Horizon 4 removes dance moves following Fortnite lawsuits
    2. NPD: US, Canada saw more mobile gamers in 2018
    3. ESForce sells majority stake in SK Gaming
    4. Ico Partners: Video games see fewer crowdfunded projects, steady amount funded in 2018
    5. Balancing beauty and meaning in Gris
    6. Rez and the power of owning your own experience
    7. Develop:Brighton 2019 opens call for speakers
    8. Rockstar threatened with legal action over Red Dead 2's Pinkerton agents
    9. Riot Games updates company values following "bro culture" toxicity claims
    10. Frontier's Jurassic World Evolution and Planet Coaster both cross 2m sales milestone
    11. Writer's Guild of Great Britain honours Reigns: Her Majesty
    12. Rocket League finally gets cross-platform play on PS4
    13. Law firm investigating Activision-Blizzard on behalf of investors
    1. Valve working on new algorithmic recommendation tools for Steam, curating features
    2. Former Gearbox lawyer reportedly filed discrimination claim ahead of November lawsuit
    3. Fortnite dance lawsuits continue with "Orange Justice"
    4. Dusk sells 69,420 copies as Steam-exclusive
    5. Sergey Galyonkin: Epic Games store courting a younger, Steam-less audience
    6. Awesome Games Done Quick 2019 raises $2.4 million
    7. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: What now for Activision?
    8. Voting is now live for esports business awards - The Game Shakers
    9. Survey reveals parents' reluctance to encourage careers in creative industries
    10. Franchises are the endgame | Opinion
    11. UK's digital download charts - everything you need to know
    12. Fortnite was Europe's most played Switch game of 2018
    13. Keywords Studios backs GamesIndustry.biz Marketing Summit
    14. UK Charts: New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe takes No.1 in quiet week
    1. Verizon reportedly also testing cloud game streaming service
    2. Epic Games store establishes new refund policy
    3. Ex-Gearbox lawyer, CEO Randy Pitchford enter legal battle over contract violations, corporate irresponsibility
    1. Improbable says Unity putting devs in a "farcical situation"
    2. Media Create: Nintendo begins 2019 strong in Japan
    3. PlayStation, Kickstarter and Merge join GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit @ PAX East
    4. UK industry braces for no-deal Brexit
    5. World Health Organization and ESA meet to discuss gaming disorder diagnosis
    6. Blizzard extends Chinese publishing agreement with NetEase
    7. Mike Morhaime fully departs Blizzard this April
    8. Free-to-play shutdowns risk a consumer backlash in 2019 | Opinion
    9. The UK Games Industry in 2018: Winners and Losers
    10. Epic, Improbable team up for $25 million fund to bring SpatialOS developers to "more open engines"
    1. Unity explains Improbable license revocation, says SpatialOS creator's claims "incorrect"
    2. Bungie breaks from Activision to publish Destiny on its own
    3. God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man lead nominations for 22nd annual DICE Awards
    4. Amazon reportedly developing its own game streaming service
    5. Changes to Unity terms of service are "insanity" says Improbable CEO
    6. "Just being around for a long time is really valuable"
    7. SpatialOS games under threat as Unity revokes Improbable's license
    8. THQ Nordic acquires Outcast IP from Appeal Studios
    9. From forum post to feature update: Supercell's community connection
    10. Streamlabs: Twitch growth slows as streamers turn to YouTube and Facebook
    11. Game marketing specialist Moov2 acquired by Etch Group
    12. Chinese government approves another 84 games for release
    13. Weavr Consortium receives £4m grant to develop esports viewing tech
    14. IGDC: Solving the monetisation problem in India
    15. Call of Duty has made more money than the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars
    16. Epic Games store planned for launch on Android this year
    1. Ubisoft forgoes Steam in favour of Epic Games for The Division 2
    2. Tencent takes minority stake in Warhammer: Vermintide developer Fatshark
    3. Activision Blizzard names new divisional presidents
    4. Exhibition on LGBTQ gaming history opens in Berlin
    5. Nintendo dominated UK games market over Christmas
    6. Supercell's killed games: Celebrating lessons, not failures
    7. Buyers circle GameStop as retailer continues to struggle
    8. Former Blizzard employee alleges racism and discrimination drove him to leave
    9. Dark Souls and Ico creators to discuss their careers in joint keynote at Reboot Develop Blue
    10. FIFA's fight to join the "big three" of esports
    11. Funcom acquires work-for-hire studio ZPX
    12. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom selling at a ratio of 8:1 on Switch vs. other platforms
    1. Supercell brings in nearly $1.4 billion in 2018
    2. Splash Damage pulls all monetization from Dirty Bomb
    3. Apptopia December report: No gods, no kings, only revenue
    4. Sony acquires Audiokinetic
    5. Paradox acquires Prison Architect from Introversion Software
    6. “TV doesn't trust games enough”
    7. What happens when you turn a studio upside down?
    8. New awards event Develop:Star set for Develop:Brighton
    9. Tim Sweeney enters billionaire index nearly $3bn ahead of Gabe Newell
    10. HTC Vive to offer unlimited access with Viveport Infinity subscription
    11. Facebook rejects Gris ad for "sexually suggestive" content
    12. HTC Vive targets mobility and ease of use with new Cosmos headset
    13. PS4 sales reach 91.6 million worldwide
    14. Fortnite sees best month on iOS yet in December
    1. Robot Entertainment to shut down Orcs Must Die! Unchained, Hero Academy games
    2. Writer's Guild Awards nominees include Spider-Man, God of War
    3. Super League Gaming proposes IPO
    4. Unity for Humanity offers $25k prize for "pioneering" projects
    5. Humble Store now selling 3DS, Nintendo Switch games
    6. Slightly Mad CEO shows off Mad Box concept designs
    7. UK games industry optimistic for 2019 - Survey
    8. Everyday bisexuality in video games
    9. Ten things to consider when choosing a video game release date
    10. Nintendo could "shift away from home consoles" says company president
    11. FIFA 19 returns to No.1 in UK physical charts
    1. Overwatch Contenders team apologizes after player fabricates identity
    1. Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Spider-Man lead nominations for Game Developers Choice Awards
    2. Jobs Roundup: Telltale marketing director hired at Sumo
    3. Half-Life and Portal writer Erik Wolpaw returns to Valve
    4. Stand Up For GamesAid comes to Brighton
    5. Eugen responds to accusation of retaliatory firings
    6. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: What we expect from 2019
    7. Mobile game engine Corona goes open source
    8. New games must comply to accessibility guidelines after FCC waivers expire
    9. Star Control creators defend DMCA takedown notice against Stardock
    10. Old School Runescape mobile downloads hit 5m
    11. Last chance to join the Games London Pitch Bootcamp
    12. Moving platforms forward in an Epic Games world
    13. Niantic closes out $190m investment round
    14. Super Smash Bros and PlayStation gift cards dominate Amazon 2018 chart
    15. "Not enough evidence" that screen time is harmful to children
    16. Blizzard CFO poached by Square Inc
    17. Bethesda, Behaviour Interactive resolve copyright infringement dispute
    1. Second Dinner raises $30 million for upcoming Marvel game
    2. Nexon founder reportedly preparing to sell controlling share in company
    3. Return of the Obra Dinn racks up nominations at Independent Games Festival
    4. Let people know what they're buying - A New Year's resolution for gaming
    5. Bonnie Ross: "Diversity attracts diversity"
    6. Rebellion acquires TickTock Games
    7. Number of Steam users with VR headsets almost doubled in 2018
    8. Reselling unauthorised game keys now illegal in Japan
    9. Square Enix president promises year of "aggressive expansion" overseas
    10. UK video games market is now 80% digital
    1. Slightly Mad developing standalone, VR-supportive console
    2. The Scroll of Taiwu sells one million units on Steam
    3. CIS region game devs hit with 7.4% decline in median salary last year
    4. Sony: Home of the Whopper
    5. What is the industry looking forward to in 2019?
    6. What lies ahead? Analysts make 2019 predictions
    7. BioWare founders honoured with Order of Canada
    8. UK boxed software sales slip in 2018, but hardware is up
    9. Star Control creators block Origins release
    10. Gumi Inc. acquires stake in blockchain game developer Double Jump.Tokyo
    11. HMV faces administration in the UK
    12. Rami Ismail launches game-a-day collection Meditations
    13. Tencent and Netease absent in first wave of China game approvals
    14. Activision Blizzard terminates CFO Spencer Neumann
    15. Rebellion's Chris Kingsley receives OBE