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February 2018 Archive

    1. Ubisoft acquires 1492 Studio
    2. Horizon: Zero Dawn sells 7.6m copies in first year
    3. Weza Interactive's mission to become Africa's success story
    4. Crytek's Cevat Yerli steps down
    5. Hooked on loot boxes
    6. David Jaffe's The Bartlet Jones Supernatural Detective Agency closes down
    7. H1Z1 player base declines by 91% months before launch of pro league
    8. Facebook launches #SheTalksGames initiative to promote women in video games
    9. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: The State of Indie Games, with IGF's Kelly Wallick
    10. You have one day to enter GamesIndustry.biz 100: Future Talent
    11. Over half of games journalists see a future co-existing with influencers
    12. German distributor EuroVideo Medien enters mobile games market
    13. Toys R Us enters administration
    14. Trion Worlds remastering Defiance without TV show
    1. Almost $9bn spent on digital games in January - Superdata
    2. ESRB responds to loot box controversy with in-game purchase label
    3. Hellblade's simple twist of fate
    4. Space Ape: Chasing a genre-defining hit
    5. Rebellion trademark clash compels Ballistic Interactive to change game name
    6. Critical Force: "Mobile will become more and more important to esports"
    7. Layoffs at Wooga as studio refocuses on story-driven games
    8. Vulkan now supported on iOS and MacOS
    9. Are video games immune to cryptocurrency failure?
    10. Metacritic ranks Bethesda as top-rated big publisher of 2017
    1. PAX organiser ReedPop acquires Gamer Network
    2. Augmented and mixed reality revenue to overtake VR by 2021
    3. Facebook pulls VR shooting demo from display at CPAC
    4. Rhode Island politician proposes violent game tax
    5. League of Legends dev Riot Games details how it ensures fairer loot box odds
    6. New look Sports Interactive names Disney veteran Matt Carroll as COO
    7. UK Charts: Metal Gear Survive debuts at No.6
    8. Google launches ARCore 1.0
    9. 1,000 Dreams in partnership with Twitch to support female streamers
    10. Europe finally gets a video game chart with digital data
    1. Rovio's value halves following investor exodus
    2. "There's no excuse for unequal pay"
    3. Trump decries violent games after school shooting
    4. New BAME exhibition to debut at London Games Festival
    5. Vision Esports raises $38 million in funding
    6. Overwatch: Building an esport from the ground up
    7. Nintendo's disappointing year on mobile
    8. Star Control creators file counterclaim against Stardock
    9. FanAI raises $2.5 million for esports audience monetisation
    10. Zelda and Nintendo clean up at the DICE Awards
    1. Smite esports leagues will be exclusive to Microsoft's Mixer
    2. Ubisoft's "Minority Report of programming"
    3. Kingdom Come: Deliverance hits 1m sales
    4. Australians spent AU$3.23bn on video games in 2017
    5. Why release a new N64 game in 2018?
    6. Ex-Quantic Dream dev launches video game storytelling course
    7. Nintendo's eShop refund policy found to violate European consumer rights
    8. Newzoo lays down ten key factors that will determine the growth of esports
    9. NPD: US games business had its best January since 2011
    1. Microsoft: "Representation isn't just good common sense, it's good business sense"
    2. Global esports revenue projected to reach $905.6m in 2018
    3. Mediating the meeting of games and movies
    4. New Angry Birds game targets esports-style cash tournaments
    5. A new EGX is coming to Berlin in September 2018
    6. Fire Emblem Heroes generates five times more revenue in its first year than Super Mario Run
    7. Tim Schafer to receive BAFTA Fellowship
    8. BBG Entertainment acquires First Star Software name and licensing rights
    9. Sonic movie set for release in November 2019
    10. British Games Institute “becomes real” with National Videogame Foundation merger
    11. Sledgehammer Games founders leave Call of Duty for "new executive duties"
    1. Developers and publishers: Co-op or PvP?
    2. Twitch delays enforcement of new community guidelines over clarity concerns
    3. Super Rare Games bringing limited edition indie games to Nintendo Switch
    4. Mobile dev Small Giant Games secures $41m investment ten months after first release
    5. Banned Twitch streamer files lawsuit against platform for loss of earnings and "reputational harm"
    6. InnoGames reports revenue growth of 24% last year, up to €161.5m
    7. Epic Games partners with Mail.Ru to fund indie titles
    1. Ubisoft Berlin's growth ambitions will need government support
    2. How multimedia trade marks could kill cloned games
    3. Jobs roundup: New leadership at Paradox, IGDA
    4. GamesIndustry.biz Magazine to return at E3
    5. Significant downsizing at CI Games despite profitable 2017
    6. Unity assimilates ProBuilder and Polybrush
    7. ESA opposes potential DMCA rule change aimed at preserving abandoned online games
    8. G2A developer studio spins out as Monrad Rock
    9. UK Charts: Nintendo Switch push sends FIFA back to No.1
    10. Nightdive puts crowdfunded System Shock reboot on hiatus
    11. Outsourcer suing Gameloft over Asphalt assets and trade secrets
    1. PLAY Paris brings PAX to Europe
    2. Atari launching two cryptocurrencies
    3. Gree VR Fund invests $18.3m into 17 augmented and virtual reality startups
    4. Meet the brewery making its own video game
    5. Report: 69% of consumers find cosmetic microtransactions acceptable
    6. Mafia III developer Hangar 13 hit by redundancies
    7. Steam overhauls store wishlist
    8. Virtual reality plant breeding game Seed wins $150,000 Developing Beyond prize fund
    9. Learning to love older games
    1. Eugen Systems employees on strike
    2. Viveport Subscription increases price
    3. Hawaii proposes landmark legislation against loot boxes
    4. Kakao Games secures $131m from five investors
    5. Why 2m sales means the Human: Fall Flat developer never has to work in IT again
    6. 27% of Brits have purchased 18-rated games while still underage
    7. The Humble beginnings of National Insecurities
    8. Starbreeze Studios report pre-tax loss of $22.2m for 2017
    9. Bandai Namco opens two virtual reality arcades in south England
    1. Supercell sales, earnings down in 2017
    2. Senator calls on ESRB to re-consider loot boxes
    3. Machinima: "We're no longer an upstart teenager"
    4. “History is our playground”: Bringing Assassin's Creed into the classroom
    5. Chatterbox secures €325,000 to develop games for instant messenging platforms
    6. Channel 4 announces retro games mini-series starring Rob Beckett
    7. GamesIndustry.biz 100: Future Talent event set for EGX Rezzed
    8. UK screen industries back "zero-tolerance guidance" on harassment and abuse
    9. If loot boxes are free-to-play's present, what will be the future?
    10. Game Dev Tycoon loses 77% of positive Google Play reviews
    11. Bury Me, My Love triumphs in Google Play Indie Games Contest
    12. Twitch surpasses CNN and MSNBC with record-breaking viewership
    13. Daedalic Entertainment opens new Munich office
    14. South Australian Game Development Fund now open
    15. De Blob publisher THQ Nordic buys Koch Media for €121m
    1. Epic story, sublime design, and controller support
    2. SAG-AFTRA board unanimously approves new sexual harassment code of conduct
    3. Poundland enters games retail with £5 console titles
    4. Applications open for second Nordic VR Startups accelerator
    5. Develop:Brighton reshuffle spreads main conference over three days
    6. Horizon Zero Dawn wins Writers Guild Award for best video game writing
    7. Rare's voyage into uncharted waters with Sea of Thieves
    8. Fredrik Wester stepping down as Paradox CEO
    1. Assassin's Creed: Origins on track to double Syndicate sales
    2. Watching over Overwatch pros
    3. IGDA officially appoints Jen MacLean executive director
    4. Network N acquires Slitherine's media websites
    5. Sports Direct and GAME: Is this the future of games retail?
    6. UK Charts: Shadow of Colossus PS4 beats PS2 original in first week sales
    7. GameStop fires COO and EVP without cause
    8. David Gaider leaves Beamdog after two years
    9. Sports Direct buys 50% of GAME's esports arenas in £3.2m deal
    1. Nintendo plots longer lifecycle for Switch
    2. Jobs roundup: Alex Peters joins Sega as VP of production and development
    3. Monster Hunter: World hits 6 million shipped
    4. Hyper casual in the capital: The growth of Gram Games London
    5. Over 3,000 British jobs facing the axe as Toys R Us UK put up for sale
    6. Twitch ramps up anti-harassment efforts with new community guidelines
    7. Chinese and UK focus promised as Bandai Namco reports profits dip
    8. ESL acquires minority stake in Indian publisher Nazara Technologies
    9. Stugan opens 2018 applications
    10. Planning for the end of the one-hit wonder
    1. Activision Blizzard posts record quarter, full-year results
    2. Viacom Next VR/AR studio shuts down
    3. Building MechWarrior Online
    4. Why non-gaming influencers may be the best fit for your game
    5. Nintendo adds Gold Points discounts for Switch eshop
    6. Relic ceases support for underperforming Dawn of War III
    7. Milton Jones leads all-star line-up for 2018 StandUp For GamesAid
    8. Gameloft closes New Orleans studio - report
    9. Starbreeze plotting IPO for StarVR
    10. Nintendo inspires improved January sales for UK retail
    11. Number of streamers earning money on Twitch spikes by 223% in 2017
    12. Strong mobile launches drive NetEase revenues
    13. Nexon reports a record-breaking year
    14. Update: Swedish gambling legislation review unlikely to impact loot boxes
    15. Zynga returns to full-year profits for the first time in seven years
    16. Take-Two expecting "another record year for GTA Online"
    1. Take-Two's usual performers carry company to solid quarter
    2. Sunless Skies sales lead to Failbetter Games layoffs
    3. Tencent acquires stake in Shanda
    4. Google prepping game streaming service - Report
    5. Vreal looks ahead to VR "tipping point" with $11.7m Series A round
    6. How mobile game devs are evolving test and launch strategies
    7. Animoca Brands acquires Finnish mobile developer Tribeflame
    8. NCsoft posts another year of record-breaking growth
    9. Curve Digital makes retail debut with Sold Out partnership
    10. E3 2018 specifies industry-only hours as public tickets return
    11. Applications open for Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibition
    12. Quantic Dream labels claims of toxic conditions as "smear campaign"
    13. Why isn't Nintendo Switch breaking records in the UK?
    1. GameStop names new CEO
    2. Viz Media turns games publisher with three-game indie partnership
    3. New studio Lunar Great Wall will also teach games development
    4. Making RAWG the 'IMDB for games'
    5. Pillars of Eternity II director on Obsidian's shift from studio-for-hire to building its own IP
    6. Indiegogo threatens to recoup Spectrum Vega+ funds, new release date promised
    7. Why Nintendo Switch needs to find a new model of discovery
    8. German Youth Protection Commission investigates loot boxes
    9. Smartphone success boosts Square Enix after a quiet nine months on consoles
    10. Tranzfuser 2018 competition now open
    11. PUBG Corp prepares to introduce new anti-cheat solution as total bans exceeds 2.5m
    12. Subnautica developer fired over "many hateful statements"
    13. Jump in physical game sales can't save Sega from sales and income drops
    1. Layoffs at Capcom Vancouver
    2. Gamevil and Com2us merge in the US
    3. When the brands come marching in
    4. Encouraging charity with Don-Ay, the first 'donation game'
    5. Tamatem secures $2.5 million to localise mobile games for MENA region
    6. GungHo details Puzzle & Dragons rescue plan following further decline
    7. Monster Hunter World retains No.1 in UK chart
    8. PlayStation UK names Mark Bowles as new marketing director
    9. Latest Steam survey puts Oculus Rift and HTC Vive with equal market share
    1. NetEase to build online games with Improbable's SpatialOS tech
    2. "It's hard to put in words how life-changing blockchain technology will be"
    3. Counter-Strike's Jess Cliffe arrested for sexual exploitation of a child
    4. Jobs roundup: Kate Edwards joins Devcom's program team for 2018
    5. Platinum Games' Hideki Kamiya and Atsushi Inaba headline Reboot Develop
    6. Etermax reveal plans to open European studio
    7. YouTube "tightening and enforcing" policies toward content creators
    8. Capcom's hunt for a global audience
    9. Sony's software strength offsets flat hardware sales
    10. Jobs lost as Nexon America restructures
    11. Kaz Hirai steps down as president and CEO of Sony Corp.
    1. Ex-Apple execs' streaming platform draws $46 million backing
    2. Niantic acquires AR dev Escher Reality
    3. Red Dead Redemption 2 delayed again
    4. Trailmix aims to reinvent casual games - with a little help from Supercell
    5. The Myth of Metacritocracy
    6. $10m Future Fund seeks innovations in blockchain, esports, AR and more
    7. GOG.com reverses decision on Opus Magnum release
    8. Keywords expects $186m in revenues after 11 acquisitions in 2017
    9. EA stock reaches all-time high ahead of Battlefront II loot box return
    10. Gigantic servers shutting down in July, developer Motiga confirms
    11. Microsoft responds to indie retail backlash over Xbox Game Pass
    12. Nintendo announces Super Mario movie in partnership with Illumination
    13. UK game dev sector grows more than four times the rate of the economy in 2017
    14. Nintendo Switch Online service will launch in September
    15. Nintendo will release a Mario Kart mobile game by March 2019