• PlayStation Shares Plans to Use AI to Increase Content Output and Diversity
• CWA Canada president calls on government to scrutinize EA buyout
• Rockstar should raise GTA 6’s price for good of ‘the entire industry’, says Bank of America | VGC
• GameStop stock sinks after surprise eBay takeover bid, Cohen's combative CNBC interview
• More Rockstar Games Remasters Could Be On The Way
• FBC: Firebreak Is Not Shutting Down, Remedy Says - GameSpot
• One mad modder got the entirety of The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind running on Fallout 4's in-game Pip-Boy | PC Gamer

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• GTA 6 Developer Rockstar Reportedly Hacked, Data Being Ransomed
• Filming has wrapped on The Legend of Zelda (UPDATE) | GoNintendo
• Shuhei Yoshida Shares Why Releasing First-Party Games On PC Day One Is A Bad Strategy For PlayStation
• Microsoft is considering doing a customizable Xbox Game Pass subscription - IG News
• Windrose sells 1 million copies in less than a week, and as the open-world pirate game passes 220,000 concurrent Steam players, devs say the support is "absolutely astonishing" | GamesRadar+
• NZXT to cough up $3.45 million over 'predatory' Flex PC rental scheme in RICO class-action settlement

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• Checking In On ‘Marathon’ A Month After Launch
• Off the Grid maker and Game Informer owner Gunzilla Games accused of missing staff salary payments | GamesIndustry.biz
• Pokemon Go champion stripped of title for celebrating his win - Dexerto
• Beat ’em up pioneer and Double Dragon creator Yoshihisa Kishimoto has died at 64 | VGC
• PlayStation hunting for "biggest fans" so it can scan their faces and put them in games | Eurogamer.net
• Build a Rocket Boy CEO responds to end of publishing agreement with IOI Partners | GamesIndustry.biz

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• Sony Removes Over 1,000 Low-Quality Games From PlayStation Store
• Rockstar Games Illegally Underpaid Staff at GTA 6 Studio, UK Government Confirms - RockstarINTEL
• Fortnite Maker Epic Games Cuts About 1,000 Jobs Across Company - Bloomberg
• https://www.reddit.com/r/ItsAllAboutGames/s/8yWuU0pMFX
• US patent office revokes Nintendo’s patent on summoning characters to make them battle | VGC
• Disney could be interested in buying Fortnite maker Epic Games, but not everyone's on board with the idea | Eurogamer.net
• Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Dev Is Reportedly Developing The $100 Million Lord Of The Rings Game

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• Sony Shuts Down Video-Game Studio Bluepoint
• Former Xbox President's direction reportedly "offended" employees
• Human brain cells on a chip learned to play Doom in a week | New Scientist
• Video game PEGI age-ratings are changing in Europe and it's probably not good news for EA Sports FC | Eurogamer.net
• EA Lays Off Staff Across All Battlefield Studios Following Record-Breaking Battlefield 6 Launch - IGN
• Valve argues loot boxes "widely used, not just in video games but in the tangible world" as it expresses 'disappointment' over New York state lawsuit | Eurogamer.net

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• DRAM prices expected to nearly double in Q1 • The Register
• Baldur's Gate is getting an HBO TV series set after Baldur's Gate 3 | TechSpot
• MindsEye Boss Legally Threatens YouTuber After Epstein Video
• Indie game film adaptation Iron Lung earns $21.5 million on opening weekend | GamesIndustry.biz
• Arc Raiders Dev Says It's Being Hit By Coordinated DDoS Attacks - GameSpot
• Call of Duty' Microtransactions Surge Followed Jeffrey Epstein Advice to CEO | IBTimes UK

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• Why is Valve’s Steam facing a $900 million UK lawsuit over anti-competitive practices?
• One-Third of U.S. Video Game Industry Workers Were Laid Off Over the Last Two Years, GDC Study Reveals
• Ubisoft unions in France call for international strike
• CD Projekt issues DMCA notice against Cyberpunk 2077 VR mod | GamesIndustry.biz
• https://www.gamescensor.com/hideki-konno-leaves-nintendo-mario-kart-yoshis-island/
• Roblox releases statement after player confirmed missing - Dexerto
• More than 50% of game developers say generative AI is harming the industry, the highest level to date | TechSpot
• United Video Games union writes to US Fed in protest of Saudi EA acquisition, attaching public petition | Eurogamer.net
• Fable Gameplay Teaser - Xbox Developer Direct 2026
• Forza Horizon 6 - Gameplay Teaser Trailer

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• Paramount Escalates WBD Fight, Sues Over Netflix Deal and Aims to Install Friendly Directors at Warner Shareholder Meeting
• Ryan Hurst Cast As Kratos In Prime Video’s 'God of War'
• Meta is closing down three VR studios as part of its metaverse cuts | The Verge
• First Look at Sophie Turner as Lara Croft in Amazon's Tomb Raider TV Series - IGN
• The Future of New World: What to Expect - News | Official New World: Aeternum Website
• Ubisoft hits The Division and Avatar studio, Massive Entertainment, with layoffs | VGC

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• Disgraced Thai e-sports queen denies cheating but faces lifetime ban
• Report: GameStop closing hundreds of stores in the United States | GamesIndustry.biz
• CWA Canada says it will "pursue every legal recourse" to protect unionised Ubisoft Halifax workers | GamesIndustry.biz
• Hochul targets Roblox, kid-focused platforms in renewed push for online child safety | News, Sports, Jobs - Adirondack Daily Enterprise
• Rainbow Six Siege Has Been Hacked Again, And Players Are Reportedly Getting 67-Day Bans
• New games performed really well on Steam last year, shaking the dominance of the same old live service games | Eurogamer.net

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• PS5 reigns supreme over Black Friday, accounting for a staggering 62% of all console sales | Eurogamer.net
• Steam Deck LCD production is ending — Valve's budget handheld gaming PC will no longer be available once stock is gone
• Video Game Physical Software and Hardware Sales Just Had the Worst November in the U.S. Since 1995 - IGN
• The first post-EA FIFA soccer sim will be a Netflix Games exclusive
• The Game Awards 2025: Complete list of winners as Clair Obscur wins Game of the Year and sets a new record for awards won | VGC
• The Game Awards 2025 – All the Announcements and Trailers

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• Epic's Sweeney says platforms should stop tagging games made with AI | GamesIndustry.biz
• Xbox Cloud Gaming Expands to More Countries, Is Increasingly Popular Among Game Pass Users
• Rockstar insider reveals Discord messages that reportedly caused mass firing - Dexerto
• EXCLUSIVE: Netflix’s ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Set To Explore Ancient Rome
• Saudi Arabia's public investment fund to own almost all of EA under buyout plan, report says - Los Angeles Times
• Supreme Court hears billion-dollar battle over online piracy - ABC News
• It’s Official: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros. in Deal Valued at $82.7 Billion
• Disney Working On A "Groundbreaking Game Experience" For Star Wars - GameSpot
• iam8bit is suing Skybound Game Studios alleging fraud and theft of designs

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• Krafton launches voluntary resignation program for employees as it transforms into an “AI first company” - AUTOMATON WEST
• Black Ops 7 Is The Worst User-Reviewed Call Of Duty, Dropping Below Modern Warfare 3
• Subnautica 2 publisher Krafton allegedly looked to ChatGPT to figure out how to not pay that $250 million bonus | Rock Paper Shotgun
• Battlefield 6 Just Had the Best Month of Sales in the U.S. of Any Game in the Last Three Years - IGN
• Elon [Musk] truly would be the best owner of any game company,' claims former Activision CEO Bobby Kotick with a completely straight face | PC Gamer
• Update: Tencent completes €1.16 billion investment in Ubisoft subsidiary
• "They didn’t plan ahead at all": Leaker says Xbox Series prices may increase again due to severe RAM shortages, with Microsoft reportedly telling partners the impact is coming "very, very soon"
• F1 26 to be skipped in favor of a paid expansion for F1 25

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• Nintendo says it plans a ‘consistent release’ of new films following the Super Mario Galaxy and Zelda movies | VGC
• Protests erupt at Rockstar Games offices accusing GTA 6 developers of “Union Busting” - Dexerto
• GTA 6' Release Delayed to November 2026
• Square Enix announces mass layoffs as "restructuring" plan pulls development from "overseas" | GamesIndustry.biz
• Borderlands 4 Came In Below Take-Two's Sales Expectations - GameSpot
• Square Enix Confirms Multiplatform Strategy Is Paying Off As HD Games Segment Returns To Profitability
• Marvel Games says it’ll continue to work with Spider-Man and Wolverine studio Insomniac ‘for many years to come’ | VGC

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• EA's AI Game Development Tools Are Apparently So Bad That It's Costing More Money To Fix Their Mistakes
• YouTube's strengthened approach to online gambling and graphic violence in gaming
• After Massive Layoffs, Amazon Studios Announces That New World Won't Be Getting New Content Anymore
• Rockstar accused of "ruthless" firing ahead of GTA 6, cutting over 30 employees tied to dev union: Take-Two claims "gross misconduct," labor group says "we won't back down"
• After 22 games over 22 years, the live-action Call of Duty movie is finally moving forward with Deepwater Horizon director and Yellowstone creator at the helm
• IOC, Saudi Arabia cancel 12-year deal to host Esports Olympics - ESPN
• Xbox console revenue fell 30 percent year-over-year this summer
• Microsoft’s CEO agrees Xbox’s competition isn’t other gaming platforms, it’s TikTok | VGC

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• Massive Pokemon leak purportedly covers next-gen games, scrapped ideas, and more
• PS6 and next Xbox console are both aiming for 2027 release, separate reports claim | VGC
• CS2 skin update ‘rug pulls’ collectors as $1 billion wiped from market cap - Dexerto
• Releases - Remedy Investors
• Warner Bros. Discovery puts itself up for sale
• Major AWS outage took down Fortnite, Alexa, Snapchat, and more
• Grand Theft Auto made him a legend. His latest game was a disaster
• Football Manager and FIFA sign multi-year partnership

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• Doug Bowser to Retire as Nintendo of America President, Devon Pritchard Named Successor
• Videogame Giant Electronic Arts Nears Roughly $50 Billion Deal to Go Private
• $2.6 Million Kickstarter Cozy Game Wipes Its Websites, Ghosts Its Backers
• The ROG Xbox Ally X priced at $1,000 and available to preorder in October, making it officially the most expensive 'Xbox' ever | PC Gamer
• Video gamer Electronic Arts to be bought in largest-ever private equity buyout valued at $55 billion
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gets $10 price increase | Shacknews
• Xbox Game Pass Will Receive Major Changes To Pricing/Tiers, Cheap Tier With Ads Rumored For 2026
• Microsoft reportedly estimated that Game Pass led to $300 million in lost sales of Black Ops 6, with 82% of copies sold being on the Game Pass-less PlayStation 5 | PC Gamer
• As Microsoft lays off thousands and jacks up Game Pass prices, former FTC chair says I told you so: The Activision-Blizzard buyout is 'harming both gamers and developers'
• More than 60% of US game players only buy two games or fewer per year, survey finds | VGC

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• Borderlands 4 is a premium game made for premium gamers' is Randy Pitchford's tone deaf retort to the performance backlash: 'If you're trying to drive a monster truck with a leaf blower's motor, you're going to be disappointed'
• Nintendo argues mods don't count as proper games as Pokémon v. Palworld lawsuit continues | Eurogamer.net
• The Subnautica 2 lawsuit is getting even messier, with Krafton doing a massive U-turn, confusing both the ousted founders' lawyer and the judge: 'This is a little bit bewildering' | PC Gamer
• Microsoft is raising prices on Xbox consoles in the US again | The Verge
• A casting call for the Mass Effect TV show is out there, and if you're 'A young Colin Farrell-type male', then do I have great news for you | PC Gamer
• Rumour: Kratos to Wield 'Egyptian Sword' in God of War's Next Main Game | Push Square
• Tencent responds to Sony lawsuit against "slavish" Horizon clone, stating its claims of originality are "startling" | Eurogamer.net
• Ubisoft Staff Reportedly Raised Concerns About Saudi Arabia Deal for Assassin's Creed Mirage DLC, as Company Insists it Maintains Creative Control - IGN

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• Last week, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company received a U.S. patent on summoning a character and letting it fight another – games fray
• Borderlands 4 Launches To Mostly Negative Steam Reviews Over Performance Issues And Crashing
• The Super Mario Galaxy Movie – Official Title Announcement
• Ubisoft confirms Far Cry will ‘more predominantly push multiplayer’ in future | VGC
• Lara Croft Voice Actor Sues Aspyr Media For Using AI To Clone Her Lines In Tomb Raider 4 - 6 Remastered
• Former BioWare producer says a lot of Anthem's problems "come from a misunderstanding about multiplayer games," which the Mass Effect leadership team weren't equipped to deal with
• Roblox ‘Saddened’ Amid Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Teenager’s Suicide: ‘Tragic, Unimaginable Loss’
• Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection - Release Date Trailer

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• ‘Call of Duty’ Coming to Theaters as Paramount, Activision Strike Major Film Deal
• "Legality Is Not The Defining Factor": Steam Censorship Campaign Details It Seeks Removal Of Games Whether Legal Or Not
• Saudi Arabia Now Co-Owns Biggest Street Fighter Tournament Of The Year
• Hollow Knight: Silksong's Launch Just Crashed Steam | GameLuster
• Circana Data Shows Fewer Young Adults Are Purchasing Video Game Consoles - Sales
• Work to Improve the Disastrous MindsEye Continues, With Build a Rocket Boy Releasing Hefty Update 4 - IGN
• Nintendo wins $2 Million settlement against a modder
• 007: First Light Trailer

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• Gaming Market Report: Aream & Co Q2 2025 | GAM3S.GG
• Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Has Made Certain Bosses And NPCs Unkillable Following Backlash In China
• NSFW content row continues as Valve confirms PayPal no longer supports Steam purchases in some regions | GamesIndustry.biz
• Rumor: Chris Hansen Is Planning a Documentary on Roblox
• Sony Closes All Operations in Russia After 18 Years, Ending PlayStation, Music, and Film Presence — UNITED24 Media
• Louisiana sues Roblox for allegedly choosing "profits over child safety", claiming "it's basically open season for sex predators on this app" | Eurogamer.net
• Starbreeze appoints former EA exec Jonas Skantz as Payday's general manager | GamesIndustry.biz
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8B89MssneU

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• Digital Foundry goes independent | GamesIndustry.biz
• After Sony’s 'Horizon' Knock-Off Lawsuit Against Tencent, Light of Motiram Dev Scrubs Store Page, Changing Game Description, Images, and Key Art
• After Concord's flop, Sony admits its live-service plan 'is not entirely going smoothly' but says it will continue and learn from its mistakes | TechRadar
• Gen Z Is Cutting Back On Video Game Purchases. Like, Really Cutting Back
• Zach Cregger Says His ‘Resident Evil’ Movie Exists ‘Outside’ of the Original Characters Because Fans ‘Already Have That’ With the Games: ‘I’m Not Going to Tell Leon’s Story’
• Baldur's Gate 3 Actor Thinks Video Game Performers Are Being "Slept On" In Film And TV Adaptations - GameSpot
• "This is Battlefield's biggest Open Beta ever," says EA | Eurogamer.net

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• Mastercard Denies Pressuring Steam To Censor 'NSFW' Games [Update: Valve Responds]
• Itch.io are seeking out new payment processors who are more comfortable with adult material | Rock Paper Shotgun
• Epic just won its Google lawsuit again, and Android may never be the same | The Verge
• EA Entertainment President on ‘Battlefield 6’ Release Date, ‘Sims’ Movie and Multiplayer Game Update, and Balancing Owned IP With ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel Titles (EXCLUSIVE)
• Warner Bros. Is Making Another DC Comics Live Service Game (Despite Suicide Squad Bombing)
• Yes, Reality Labs is still losing billions
• Marvel Rivals will now automatically record all in-game voice chats to "shield the community" from toxic behaviour - VideoGamer
• ‘I was just taken with it’: Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica writer Ronald D Moore explains why he’s showrunning God of War | VGC
• Roblox CEO Says that the Platform Will Have Dating Some Day

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• Candy Crush Developers Set To Be Laid Off By Microsoft Are Reportedly Being Replaced By The AI Tools They Were Told To Build
• Splitgate 2 Reportedly Shelled Out $400K For Streamers
• Krafton Extends $25 Million Bonus Period For Subnautica 2 Devs - Insider Gaming
• Virtuos, the studio behind Oblivion Remastered, is laying off around 270 employees
• Valve Pulls 'Adult Only' Games From Steam as It Tightens Rules to Appease Payment Partners - IGN
• Rainbow Six Siege underperforms to leave Ubisoft net bookings 'below expectations'
• Nintendo Rewrites Patent Mid-Case in Ongoing Lawsuit Against Palworld Dev Pocketpair — but Why? - IGN

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• Video Game Actors Contract Ratified: SAG-AFTRA Leaders Talk Gaming Execs’ Reckoning With Hollywood’s AI Standards, 11-Month Strike’s Turning Point
• Krafton Delays ‘Subnautica 2’ Game Ahead of $250 Million Payout - Bloomberg
• Subnautica 2 publisher Krafton confirms 2026 delay, says the change 'was not influenced by any contractual or financial considerations' | PC Gamer
• Major Nintendo Switch Piracy Website Seized By FBI
• You can now play The Last of Us Part 2 in yet another way, as Naughty Dog releases "Chronological" mode | Eurogamer.net
• Epic Games settles antitrust lawsuit with Samsung | GamesIndustry.biz
• EA is reportedly hitting the brakes on the Need for Speed franchise
• Every Video Game Canceled in 2025 - IGN

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• Microsoft is closing down Xbox studio The Initiative, with Perfect Dark killed as well — joining Everwild and ZeniMax's new IP, and other unannounced projects
• After Microsoft laid off 9000 employees, Xbox producer Matt Turnbull suggested affected workers use AI to “reduce the emotional and cognitive load that comes with job loss” - VideoGamer
• European game publisher group responds to Stop Killing Games, claims 'These proposals would curtail developer choice" | PC Gamer
• Helldivers 2 is the first PlayStation-published Xbox game | The Verge
• Former senior Ubisoft staff convicted in French harassment case, receive fines and suspended sentences | Eurogamer.net
• Nintendo is restricting the Switch 2's USB-C port — most third-party docks and accessories won't work thanks to proprietary protocols | Tom's Hardware

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• Report: Microsoft is planning another round of major Xbox layoffs
• ‘Fortnite’ Players to Receive More Than $126 Million in Refunds From FTC
• Epic Store Reportedly Redirecting Users to Malicious Third-Party Websites
• Sony faces Dutch lawsuit over "artificially high PlayStation prices" | GamesIndustry.biz
• Games run faster on SteamOS than Windows 11, Ars testing finds - Ars Technica
• Desperate to avoid saying 'we want that $10 billion', League of Legends dev Riot Games tries to justify legalizing esports gambling sponsors, but players aren't buying it
• The 'Stop Killing Games' initiative is close to its final deadline, and after that, its leader is understandably done: 'Either the frog hops out of the pot, or it's dead' | PC Gamer

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• MindsEye launches with myriad of glitches and issues, as developer promises performance update | Eurogamer.net
• Microsoft Reportedly Cancels Its In-House Xbox Handheld as Focus Shifts to New Software Ecosystem
• People Are Less Willing to Pay': Dev Speaks Out Against Day One Releases on PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass
• SAG-AFTRA Ends Video Game Actors Strike
• An Update From Dark0ne at Nexus mods and community
• Take-Two Interactive extends partnership with NBA, NBPA, WNBA, and WNBPA
• Intel to layoff 10,000+ employees, and why none of them will be getting any severance - The Times of India

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• Fans drive huge Nintendo Switch 2 launch; others play the waiting game : NPR
• Don’t take off the Switch 2’s screen protector | The Verge
• Activision says gross Call of Duty loadout screen ads were only a test that was added “in error”, but it doesn’t excuse how vile that test is - VideoGamer
• MindsEye studio execs depart Build a Rocket Boy, one week before game's debut | Eurogamer.net
• Mark Rubin leaves Ubisoft, XDefiant officially shuts down | GamesIndustry.biz
• Tencent buys 15.75% stake in Helldivers 2 dev Arrowhead | Windows Central
• Princess Peach’s voice actor of 18 years confirms she’s been replaced | VGC
• https://www.ign.com/articles/summer-game-fest-2025-everything-announced

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• EA Cancels Black Panther Game, Closes Cliffhanger Games - IGN
• Activision Quietly Force Adverts into Call of Duty Black Ops 6 and Warzone Loadouts and Players Absolutely Hate It: 'At This Point It Really Feels Like Opening Up a Mobile Game' - IGN
• ZeniMax QA union reaches a tentative contract agreement with Microsoft including 'substantial across-the-board wage increases,' worker protections, and more | PC Gamer
• Cyberpunk 2077 sequel gets a new name as pre-production phase now officially underway | Eurogamer.net
• "A Concerted Effort To Trash The Game": MindsEye Lead Thinks Negative Reception Is Coming From Paid Bots, Seemingly Blames Rockstar
• Kojima Productions is working on an anime adaptation of Death Stranding | GamesIndustry.biz
• Elden Ring: Nightreign' is both a hit and a headache for fans | Laptop Mag

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• SAG-AFTRA Statement on Fortnite’s Use of A.I. Darth Vader Voice and ULP Filing
• French trade union says Ubisoft CEO will be summoned at harassment trial of three former execs | VGC
• Ex-Bungie Dev Says Marathon Leadership Was "Extremely Toxic And Humiliating" To Work With: "Bungie Leadership Needs To Be Gutted Completely
• PlayStation Stars Loyalty Program Shutdown Announced After 3 Years - IGN
• Alex Garland Confirmed to Direct Live-Action ‘Elden Ring’ Movie From A24 and Bandai Namco
• Dragon Age maestro says EA always spoke about a hypothetical 'nerd cave' full of diehard RPG fans who would "always show up," so you "didn't have to try and appeal to them"
• FTC drops case against Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal | The Verge

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• After Suicide Squad's $200 million flop and a massacre of studios, Warner Bros acknowledges it has "no releases" out, it's spending 66% less on game content, and the Hogwarts Legacy boom is wearing off
• Former Employees, Community Members Allege AbleGamers Founder Fostered Abuse Behind Closed Doors - IGN
• Ubisoft Delays Multiple Upcoming Games - GameSpot
• Valve takes another step toward making SteamOS a true Windows competitor - Ars Technica
• The empire strikes back with F-bombs: AI Darth Vader goes rogue with profanity, slurs - Ars Technica
• Payday developer Starbreeze planning player involvement for Dungeons & Dragons game
• Lego Bionicle fan game Masks of Power shut down after eight years in development
• As GTA 6 hype builds, GTA 5 is continuing to sell 5 million copies every 3 months, and Red Dead Redemption 2 is now the "best-selling title of the past 7 years in the US"

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• FTC loses appeal on Activision Blizzard deal - XboxEra
• The new Diablo 4 Berserk crossover skins will cost you up to $150
• Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy | Eurogamer.net
• Palworld developer says Pokémon lawsuit will prompt more "disappointing" changes, as it continues to "dispute" claims | Eurogamer.net
• As Fortnite gears up for an App Store relaunch, Epic is cranking up its Rewards program to encourage people to use its payment system instead of Apple's | PC Gamer
• EA Expects Apex Legends To Suffer Huge Decline In Coming 2025 Months | Yardbarker
• Ex-Far Cry lead says ‘lame’ Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards lose what makes gaming ‘special’, but ‘Nintendo is going to get away with it’ anyway - VideoGamer
• EA confirms it is "reducing roles" at Codemasters, and "redeploying as many as possible" | Eurogamer.net

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• Russia moves to seize World of Tanks developer over Ukraine support | VGC
• US court slams Apple for 'obvious cover-up' in major Epic victory that could see Fortnite return to iOS soon | PC Gamer
• Microsoft Raises the Price of All Xbox Series Consoles, Xbox Games Confirmed to Hit $80 This Holiday - IGN
• Electronic Arts lays off hundreds of staff, cancels early-stage Titanfall universe extraction shooter - Gematsu
• Polygon Sold To Valnet And Hit With Mass Layoffs [Update]
• Epic Games is launching webshops to allow developers to circumvent app store fees after new ruling | TechCrunch
• Nintendo Files Lawsuit Against Genki Over Unauthorized Switch 2 Mockups and Trademark Use at CES 2025
• Grand Theft Auto VI is Now Coming May 26, 2026 - Rockstar Games

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• Retro game console maker Anbernic suspends US shipments due to tariffs | GamesIndustry.biz
• Sony's Absurd New Way to Make MP Games "Fair" Could Hurt Competitive Integrity
• Ubisoft Game Faces £79m Fine as Privacy Experts Uncover Hidden Data Harvesting | IBTimes UK
• IGN and Eurogamer owner Ziff Davis is suing OpenAI for content theft | VGC
• Nintendo files request to subpoena Discord for Pokémon leaker identity | GamesIndustry.biz
• Devolver Digital reveals which IPs and platform have made the most money as it shares its future strategy | VGC
• Bethesda has "no intention" to shut down fan-made Skyblivion mod | Eurogamer.net
• Ubisoft begins testing The Crew 2 offline mode next week | Eurogamer.net

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• Former PlayStation CEO Says Companies Should Have "Baked In" $5 Price Hike in Every Generation to Acclimate Gamers
• Eugh: Discord is scanning some users' faces and IDs to 'experiment' with age verification features | PC Gamer
• 10-year-old girl kidnapped by man she met on Roblox, police say
• Palworld developers challenge Nintendo's patents using examples from Zelda, ARK: Survival, Tomb Raider, Titanfall 2 and many more huge titles
• Nintendo Switch 2 price remains $450 in US despite tariffs but "accessories will experience price adjustments," and US pre-orders open April 24
• Ultrakill publisher co-founder throws up hands, jokes 'Tarkov has done irreparable f*cking damage to the game industry' because even FromSoftware games are extraction shooters now | PC Gamer
• Pokémon Go creator Niantic lays off 68 people following $3.5bn games sale | Eurogamer.net
• Rebellion CEO hails Xbox Game Pass as ‘huge success’ for indie hit Atomfall | VGC
• Sony finally removes three scam PS5 game makers from PS Store

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• Japanese Gaming Companies' Shares Tank Due to US Tariffs
• Nintendo confirms: Switch 2 Joy-Cons won’t feature Hall Effect sticks | VGC
• Nintendo Steps on PR Minefield as Exec Tells People They Can Buy the Switch If They Can't Afford the Switch 2
• Ubisoft Crew Lawsuit
• Valve quietly removes explicit game featuring extreme sexual violence from Steam in UK | Eurogamer.net
• Devil May Cry Anime Renewed For Season 2 On Netflix - GameSpot
• Fight Club film director creates Xbox advert starring CGI rats | Eurogamer.net

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• ESA Responds to Trump Tariffs: ‘If We Think It’s Just the Switch 2, Then We Aren’t Taking it Seriously’ - IGN
• First-party Switch 2 games—including re-releases—all run either $70 or $80 - Ars Technica
• FromSoftware's focus hasn't shifted to multiplayer, Miyazaki says, despite Elden Ring: Nightreign and The Duskbloods | Eurogamer.net
• Monster Hunter Wilds sets a new Capcom sales record, director details 2025 roadmap – Destructoid
• Ubisoft Internal Memo Reveals Uncertainty in Tencent Subsidiary Plans - gamevro
• Box Office: ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Strikes Gold With Record-Shattering $157M U.S. Launch, $301M Globally
• Ubisoft frantically patches nudity back into Far Cry 4 after accidentally patching it out | PC Gamer
• Nintendo Announces Switch 2 Welcome Tour, A Paid Game That Explains The New Console Features - GameSpot

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• Ubisoft and Tencent unveil new subsidiary for Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six | VGC
• Netflix games boss says ‘8-Year-olds aren’t dreaming of PlayStation 6’ | VGC
• Nintendo just carried out a major test of its reach in a post-Twitter world
• Nintendo announces new lending feature for digital games | GamesIndustry.biz
• Japanese shrine once repaired thanks to Ghost of Tsushima fans bans all tourists after “unforgivable act of disrespect” - AUTOMATON WEST
• Game Informer Is Back
• Unannounced Hogwarts Legacy Paid DLC Reportedly Canceled by WB - IGN

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• Assassin’s Creed Shadows Hits 2 Million Players, Beating Origins And Odyssey Launches | GameLuster
• Star Wars Hunters Announces Shut Down Just 9 Months After Launch, Steam Release Appears Scrapped - IGN
• EA Adds Microtransactions To Skate's Closed Alpha - Insider Gaming
• Free-To-Play Game Of Thrones RPG Launches On Steam Soon, But You'll Have To Pay - GameSpot
• Discord heightens ad focus by introducing video ads to mobile apps in June - Ars Technica
• Commission and national authorities take action to protect children from harmful practices in video games
• A new industry-wide union has been launched for all American and Canadian developers
• SAG-AFTRA actors' strike set to continue, as union warns of "alarming loopholes" for "AI abuse" in latest proposal | Eurogamer.net
• Pokémon Go developer Niantic to sell gaming business to Saudi group | The Verge

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• Epic Games Is Being Sued Over "Fake Sales with Made-Up Expiration Times"
• Until Dawn remake studio reportedly "effectively closed", with all developers gone
• French Supreme Court rules in favour of Nintendo against site hosting pirated copies of its games
• Early backers of game decry 'bait and switch' after it backtracks on monetisation promises
• One of 2024's most critically acclaimed games is now free on PS Plus
• Discord ‘in talks to become a public company’
• Killing Floor 3 Update

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• Monster Hunter Wilds' massive launch is being dampened by "Mixed" Steam reviews, as hunters report "atrocious" performance issues in the action RPG
• Twitch CEO reveals 2025 plans: collaboration, mobile, and more monetisation
• Warner Bros. closes Monolith Productions and MultiVersus studio, cancels Wonder Woman game
• The Pokémon Company settles lawsuit against copyright-infringing mobile game for "a huge sum"
• Call of Duty Admits It's Using AI-Generated Assets
• Pokémon TCG Pocket has passed 100 million downloads
• French Apex Legends Voice Cast Unanimously Reject Generative AI Training Agreement

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• [13:46] PS5 Pro sales ‘have fallen behind PS4 Pro in the US’ | VGC
• [23:03] A massive, massive moment of wow.' Microsoft CEO predicts AI-generated games are a 'CGI moment' for the industry | PC Gamer
• [29:54] Rumour: Rocksteady's Next Single-Player Game Based on Batman Beyond, May Be a PS5 Exclusive | Push Square
• [40:07] Ubisoft CEO says the plan is to focus on open-world and live service games ‘year after year’ | VGC
• [49:44] Amazon tried to beat Steam, but despite being “250 times bigger,” it still lost
• [54:40] Nintendo Obtains New Anti-Palworld Patent and Seeks Even More
• [58:22] Valve Seemingly Bans All Steam Games That Require Watching Advertisements To Play - GameSpot
• [01:01:19] PlayStation quietly removes "slop" shovelware PS5 games following investigation | Eurogamer.net
• [01:05:16] Update: Unity lays off staff and axes Behavior team | PocketGamer.biz
• [01:09:20] https://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=238809
• [01:16:41] ‘Pokémon Go’ Maker Nears $3.5 Billion Deal to Sell Games Unit

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• [09:01] Hackers have been executing DDoS attack on Arma Reforger and DayZ servers for a week, now reportedly demanding ransom
• [14:57] Trump's Tariffs on Video Games Would Cause 'Significant Harm' to 'Everyday Americans,' ESA Warns - IGN
• [18:56] I Could Make "Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game" and Maybe It Would Eventually Get Taken Down' - Devs Reveal Why the Consoles Are Drowning in 'Eslop'
• [25:53] It sure sounds like Electronic Arts thinks cutting Dragon Age: The Veilguard's live service components was a mistake
• [34:39] Days after EA CEO suggests players crave live service guff, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 boss says their single-player RPG made all its money back in one day
• [40:38] Development Update: Football Manager 25
• [45:28] 2K Games Fires Studio Head Michael Condrey After Disappointing Project Ethos Reveal
• [51:06] Donkey Kong Level Unlock
• [56:45] E3 organiser announces iicon, a "first-of-its-kind" new event to connect gaming "thought leaders"

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• [08:58] MultiVersus to Shut Down When Season 5 Concludes in May
• [18:58] After ‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ Layoffs, BioWare Has Under 100 Employees
• [28:06] Insider Claims GTA Online Will Be Sold Separately from GTA 6
• [38:23] Ubisoft announces studio closure as it lays off 185 staff
• [48:10] Sony removes PlayStation account requirement from 4 single-player Steam games
• [52:40] https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/s/nmeFIGwm8Z
• [56:52] Elden Ring Nightreign beta test scalpers reckon you'll pay £400 for a free network test code

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• [04:07] GTA 6 at $100 Would Be 'A Bridge Too Far' — Even for Grand Theft Auto
• [16:40] Xbox Series X/S sales trailing behind Xbox One in US, while PS5 outpaces PS4 | Eurogamer.net
• [27:56] PC development has skyrocketed,' GDC survey finds: 80% of developers are now making games for PC
• [33:08] ‘Apex Legends’ Lost 70% Of Its Steam Players In 2024
• [40:09] Sega Launches Account System With Benefits and Rewards, Opens With Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
• [45:58] Warner Bros. Games Chief David Haddad to Exit
• [50:45] What’s next for Insomniac Games – PlayStation.Blog

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• What We Know About the TikTok Ban - The New York Times
• Nintendo Switch 2
• 50 years in, Dungeons & Dragons is still popular—and profitable
• Rockstar shuts down ambitious mod that put GTA 4's Liberty City in GTA 5
• GOG bolsters game preservation efforts by joining European game archivist organisation
• Video Game Piracy Enters New Era as Japan Arrests Its First Alleged Modder of Nintendo Switch Consoles
• After the catastrophe of Concord, Sony is reportedly cancelling other projects including a God of War live service game
• Genshin Impact Game Developer Will be Banned from Selling Lootboxes to Teens Under 16 without Parental Consent, Pay a $20 Million Fine to Settle FTC Charges
• Marvel Snap Vanishes in the US After TikTok Ban
• This video game controller is grown from bacteria and yeast rather than being constructed from plastic

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• [05:53] Call of Duty's massive development budgets revealed: $700 million for Black Ops Cold War
• [`16:03] 15 Years After It Was Announced, The Shadow Of The Colossus Movie Is Alive And Has A Script
• [25:31] Assasin's Creed Shadows Delayed
• [33:08] Notch cancels the "Minecraft 2" he announced days prior because spiritual successors are "always kinda sad nostalgia dumps"
• [38:00] Team Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with 'the absolute best hat you can get' going for around $40K
• [44:37] After 15 years of awesome speedrun events, Games Done Quick has raised over $54 million for charity with AGDQ 2025 bringing in $2.5 million
• [51:35] The US government wants to start protecting you from Robux scams

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• [02:28] Epic Games files lawsuit against Fortnite player for violating rules
• [09:03] Notch Announces New Game Development after Minecraft
• [12:37] Overwatch 2 Twitch viewership halved as Marvel Rivals takes over
• [19:39] Tim Cain discusses AAA gaming trend around violence
• [27:56] Stardew Valley Has Reached an Impressive Sales Milestone
• [33:22] Net neutrality is dead again: US court says the FCC can't bring back Obama-era internet regulations
• [42:46] GamesIndustry.biz presents… The Year In Numbers 2024

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• Borderlands 4 will cut back on 'toilet humor,' says Gearbox: 'If the word skibidi ships in the game under my watch I'm gonna cry real tears'
• Elden Ring Nightreign can be played in 3-player co-op or single player, but not as a duo
• Sony Becomes Largest Shareholder in FromSoftware Parent Kadokawa, No Full Takeover for Now
• ‘Pacific Drive’ TV Series Based on Indie Survival Game in the Works From James Wan
• Only 15% of all Steam users' time was spent playing games released in 2024
• Two Epic Games directors step down after US Department of Justice investigate games companies under antitrust laws
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was successful enough that Disney reportedly "picked up the phone and wants more"
• China Has Approved The Release of 1,416 Games In 2024- A Record For 5 Years

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• Blizzard is delisting Warcraft 1 and 2 from GOG, but GOG says it's gonna preserve them forever anyway, hands out a discount, and announces new policy for its preservation program to boot | PC Gamer
• Former PlayStation chief calls the PS3 Sony's Icarus moment: "We flew too close to the sun, and we were lucky and happy to have survived the experience"
• Electronic Arts Announces More Accessibility Patents
• Ex-PlayStation boss says games should be shorter because development costs are ‘not sustainable’ | VGC
• Gamers May Spend More Time Watching Games Than Playing Them - GameSpot
• Amid 'Pokémon' Patent Lawsuit, Pocket Pair Removes Sphere-Throwing From 'Palworld' Summoning Mechanics - Bounding Into Comics

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• [09:36] Microsoft Confirms Windows 11 Update Kills Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and Other Ubisoft Games
• [14:53] Former BioWare boss Casey Hudson is closing the studio he launched in 2021 without releasing a single game
• [22:25] That lawsuit against Steam’s 30% cut of game sales is now a class action, meaning many other developers could benefit
• [34:57] Nintendo Files Court Documents To Target 200,000-Member Subreddit SwitchPirates
• [42:07] Microsoft says it's ready to let you buy and play games directly via Xbox app on Android, but court ruling now blocking launch
• [49:04] New Cyberpunk Netflix animation confirmed as 2077 tops 30 million sales
• [56:19] Nintendo Switch eShop and online services are ending in China in 2026
• [01:01:26] Eight years after its rocky launch, No Man's Sky finally hits "Very Positive" reviews threshold on Steam

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• [13:59] Steam is 'an unsafe place for teens and young adults': US senator warns Gabe Newell of 'more intense scrutiny' from the government if Valve doesn't take action against extremist content
• [21:45] Gabe Newell says no-one in the industry thought Steam would work as a distribution platform—'I'm not talking about 1 or 2 people, I mean like 99%'
• [28:56] Steam tighten up rules for games with season pass DLC: "you have to commit to completing that content on time"
• [36:37] Nintendo patent lawsuit could be tipped in Palworld’s favor by a GTA5 mod from 8 years ago, Japanese attorney suggests
• [41:44] Balatro's mobile release has managed the almost impossible task of knocking Minecraft from its long-maintained top spot on the charts
• [47:52] After losing money in 2022, Larian raked in a whopping $260 million profit of Baldur's bucks in 2023
• [54:32] Microsoft Edge Game Assist lets you check out guides, tips, and videos without leaving your game
• [01:00:39] Chasing live-service and open-world elements diluted BioWare's focus, Dragon Age: The Veilguard director says, discussing studio's return to its roots
• [01:09:04] Xbox Cloud Gaming now lets players stream select games they own

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• [14:07] America's Biggest Video Games Union Goes On Strike Over Microsoft Outsourcing
• [19:57] GOG Preservation Program
• [28:07] Surprise! Nintendo Tracked Down Alleged Switch Pirate in Arizona via Reddit Posts and Repair Orders
• [34:57] Xbox CEO Says There Will 'Definitely' Be Future Consoles
• [51:23] Sony Wants to Monitor Your “Excitement” Levels to Adjust Difficulty
• [57:25] SAG-AFTRA announces new agreement for video game localisation
• [01:03:47] Three years later, GTA Trilogy finally gets PC and console fixes from improved mobile port

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• [20:41] PlayStation has closed Concord developer Firewalk
• [26:37] Ubisoft launches first-ever blockchain game, with NFTs costing up to £50k
• [32:46] Ubisoft’s NFT RPG has reportedly been plagued by a single player auto-winning every game
• [35:57] Warner Bros. Admits MultiVersus Underperformed, Contributing to Another $100 Million Hit to Revenue in Its Games Business
• [47:01] ‘Mass Effect’ TV Series in the Works at Amazon From ‘Fast & Furious 9’ Writer (EXCLUSIVE)
• [56:20] Employees From Team Working on 'Marvel Rivals' and 'Destiny: Rising' Were Arrested
• [01:00:07] Palworld Dev Reveals Patents at the Heart of Nintendo and The Pokémon Company Lawsuit — and How Much Money It’s Being Sued For
• [01:08:35] Xbox Testing Big Cloud Gaming Upgrade
• [01:13:34] Sony's 'universal' rewind button is probably just a glorified video capture feature

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• [12:11] Black Ops 6 Has An Option To Pay For Better Audio
• [22:08] Publishers are absolutely terrified "preserved video games would be used for recreational purposes," so the US copyright office has struck down a major effort for game preservation
• [33:14] Roblox announces policy changes for pre-teen users amid ongoing accusations of child-safety failures
• [43:38] Survey says half of developers consider VR market on decline or stagnation
• [53:08] Key Austrian court finds FIFA Ultimate Team packs are not gambling
• [01:04:31] Fawzi Mesmar becomes creative director for Beyond Good & Evil 2
• [01:09:09] Video Game Actors Strike Continues, SAG-AFTRA Extends Negotiations

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• [07:42] Pokémon dev Game Freak appears to have suffered a 'teraleak' that includes 25+ years of never-before-seen Pokémon art, assets, documents, and even canceled movies
• [15:13] Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Sells an Incredible 3 Million Copies in Just 24 Hours
• [22:16] Microsoft Settles Gamers’ Antitrust Lawsuit Over $69B Activision Blizzard Buy
• [31:14] Report: Bandai Namco Laying Off Hundreds of Employees; One Piece and Naruto Games Canceled or Paused - MP1st
• [35:53] Former PlayStation exec says there's a "collapse of creativity" in the industry
• [46:10] FTC New 'Click to Cancel' Rule Will Make it Easier to Cancel Subscription Services
• [54:56] Ubisoft Milan joins Ubisoft France strike over return to office
• [59:19] Star Citizen' Spin-Off 'Squadron 42' On Track For 2026 Release Says Developer

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• [11:24] Here's another headache for Ubisoft: Lawsuit alleges it illegally shared Ubisoft Store customer data with Meta
• [22:26] Japan’s PC Gaming Market Nearly Triples with a 187% Surge in Only Four Year
• [28:07] Steam now tells gamers up front that they're buying a license, not a game
• [34:09] With development costs rising, we need to make games based on user feedback, not numbers and data from the past, says NEXON Games executive
• [45:23] Google must crack open Android for third-party stores, rules Epic judge
• [57:01] Ex-Humble Games staff form new publisher, Good Games Group
• [01:00:55] AI in games might've just proven itself useful for a change—Activision claims Call of Duty's seen a 43% drop in 'disruptive voice chat'

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• [14:32] It's Stellarblade Versus Stellar Blade as Louisiana Company Sues PlayStation and Shift Up Over Name - IGN
• [21:08] Court orders X to reveal the identities of Genshin Impact leakers
• [30:44] PS Store Might Be Forced to Admit Players Are Licensing Games - PlayStation LifeStyle
• [37:23] Annapurna Video-Game Division Imploded Because of Power Struggle – BNN Bloomberg
• [45:55] Tencent and the Guillemot family are reportedly considering taking Ubisoft private | VGC (videogameschronicle.com)
• [54:29] Epic Games files lawsuit against Google and Samsung, claiming it's torpedoing the game studio - The Mirror US
• [1:02:06] The games industry is undergoing a 'generational change,' says Epic CEO Tim Sweeney: 'A lot of games are released with high budgets, and they're not selling' | PC Gamer

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• [11:18] Palworld: Nintendo sues 'Pokémon with guns' video game firm
• [25:04] Fake retro video game ring worth €50m smashed in Italy
• [37:22] Square Enix admits Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Final Fantasy 16 profits "did not meet expectations
• [44:45] "Microsoft Spends $1 Billion Annually To Get Third-Party Games On Game Pass - Report
• [53:05] Zynga owes IBM $45M after using 1980s patented technology for hit games
• [58:39] Exclusive: How Intel lost the Sony PlayStation business
• [01:05:19] Australia Government Cracks Down On Loot Boxes and Gambling Content

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• [07:15] Sony Officially Announces PS5 Pro with New Features, Priced at $700
• [14:48] Games industry layoffs not the result of corporate greed and those affected should "drive an Uber", says ex-Sony president
• [23:26] After killing The Crew, Ubisoft says The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest will get offline modes
• [27:17] Ubisoft Investor Calls for Company to Go Private, and CEO Yves Guillemot to Be Replaced | Ubisoft's slump continues: Star Wars Outlaws fails to turn things around, XDefiant numbers are sliding, and we still don't know where The Sands of Time is
• [42:02] Roblox to allow devs to sell premium titles with up to 70% revenue share
• [46:30] Annapurna Interactive team quits after spin-off talks fail
• [52:14] Exclusive: Unity is killing its controversial Runtime Fee
• [58:54] Blizzard Reveals How Much Money Players Spent on Microtransactions in Diablo 4. Sales Revenue Has Already Exceeded $1 Billion

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• [09:58] ]An important update on Concord – PlayStation.Blog
• [17:20] Bringing Dune Awakening to the Xbox Series S will be a "challenge", according to Funcom chief product officer
• [21:34] Spectre: Divide Price Cut Highlights Predatory Gaming Industry Practices
• [33:35] Voice Actors' Union Has Signed Deals With 80 Individual Games As Strike Continues
• [38:56] ANIME "Sekiro : Shadows Die Twice (セキロ：シャドウズ ダイ トゥワイス)" is animated by Qzil.la! - OECUF
• [43:46] Rocksteady hit by layoffs after Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League underperforms | Eurogamer.net
• [46:34] Warner says a Hogwarts Legacy follow-up is a major priority for the company
• [50:54] Heaven 17 claims it turned down GTA 6 soundtrack offer over pay offer: ‘Go f*** yourself’
• [54:44] Raccoon Logic: "Let people own the game they bought" | GamesIndustry.biz

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[4:43] ] PlayStation 5 Gets Steep Price Hike in Japan, Sony Confirms

PS5 Spec

[12:38] GameStop launches classic gaming stores

[19:33] Top Director at Bungie Was Fired After Misconduct Investigation

[23:59] Baldur's Gate 3 Developer Thinks All Games Should Cost More at a Base Level, Says GTA 6 Might Raise Prices Over $70

[34:56] Tencent, NetEase Rethink Japan Approach as Game Strategy Stalls

Visions of Mana developer Ouka Studios reportedly set to close, days after game's release

[43:01] Microsoft, Nintendo praised for improvements to use of minerals from conflict zones

[48:25] Alan Wake and Control film and television rights acquired by Annapurna

[53:58] Consumer Protection In Gaming: European Initiative Targets Video Game Publishers

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• [07:28] Alien Isolation sees a whopping 120% player count boost post-movie
• [17:13] Abby Actress in HBO's The Last of Us Season 2 Receives Extra Security Due to Gamer Backlash
• [26:07] Amazon Games boss says we need more AI and it's not "taking work away" because "for games, we don't really have acting"
• [32:54] Black Myth: Wukong Sells an Incredible 10 Million Copies in Just 3 Days
• [43:55] A Prominent Accessibility Advocate Worked With Studios and Inspired Change. But She Never Actually Existed. - IGN
• [51:42] What Went Wrong With WoW? A Blizzard Veteran’s Theory on World of Warcraft’s Fall From Its 12 Million Subscriber Height
• [1:01:00] Sony Launching Its Own Blockchain For NFTs and Play to Earn Games

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• Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer Mod Canceled the Day Before Launch After Activision Sends Devs Cease and Desist
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard gets the EA special: 23 deluxe-exclusive cosmetics, 2 editions that don't include the game, pre-order armor, and 3 artbook editions alone
• US FTC finalizes ban on companies buying and selling fake online reviews
• Epic Games launches mobile store, bringing Fortnite and Fall Guys to iOS and Android
• Epic’s Tim Sweeney: Fighting Apple and Google has cost Epic about $1 billion
• Actors demand action over 'disgusting' video game sex scenes
• New game tech report claims biggest issue affecting game dev right now is funding

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[08:49] Xbox Hardware Revenue Down 42% From Last Year as Activision Acquisition Continues to Boost Content Sales

[12:59] Intel To Lay Off 15,000 Employees

[22:36] Game Informer to Shut Down After 33 Years

[27:54] Early Borderlands movie impressions brand it "disaster" and "huge misfire" | Eurogamer.net

[34:53] Former Xbox studio Tango Gameworks and 'Hi-Fi Rush' have been acquired by PUBG's Krafton Inc, saving it from closure

[38:27] Nintendo against sheet music: their war against piracy has reached the point where even arrangements of their songs can’t be made - Softonic

[44:27] Meta shuts down Quest developer Ready at Dawn

[50:19] How Outersloth is turning Among Us' success into funding for indies

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[05:45] Warner Bros. has acquired MultiVersus studio Player First Games | VGC

[12:01] Humble Games Announces 'Restructuring of Operations' Amid Layoffs - IGN

[16:38] Activision Reportedly Sold an AI-Generated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Cosmetic - IGN

[21:33] Activision Can Listen In On Players And Use Sound Data To Train Its AI Models

[28:53] Live service games get ditched "too soon" by big publishers, Warfame boss says | Eurogamer.net

[35:54] Twitch updates sexual harassment policy to make it "easier to understand" | Eurogamer.net

[38:16] Roblox Predator Problem Potentially Exposes Kids to Pedophiles

[50:49] World of Warcraft developers form Blizzard’s largest and most inclusive union - The Verge

[53:22] Video Game Actors Are Going On Strike Over AI, Video game performers will go on strike over artificial intelligence concerns

[1:01:19] Research identifies suspicious behaviour on Steam Marketplace that may suggest money laundering | GamesIndustry.biz

[1:07:07] Matchmaking Series: The Role of Skill Matchmaking

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[11:14] The First Descendant’s Playercount Shows Why People Are Still Making Live Looters

[18:20] Here’s how much Valve pays its staff — and how few people it employs

[24:52] "Go and learn how to mod": CD Projekt lead says "half" of the people making quests for Cyberpunk 2 right now are former modders

[30:58] 2.2 Million People Were Willing to Pay $100 to Play College Football 25 3 Days Early

[41:36] The FTC Pushes Back Against Xbox Game Pass Price Increases

[50:07] Halo' Canceled at Paramount+ After Two Seasons

[55:42] Bethesda Game Studios workers have unionized - The Verge

[59:40] Report: 82% of US gamers made an in-game purchase in freemium titles in 2023

[1:03:49] 37 years later, Hideo Kojima says Metal Gear was so "ahead of its time" because of its portable radio, not its stealth-action

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[01:37] The end is in sight'—Fallout: London, a DLC-sized mod plagued by delays, will arrive soon with its own installer to help slim the chances of Bethesda breaking it a 2nd time

[08:47] PS5 Dev Kit sold as 'PizzaStation 5 Development Kit' which sold for $6500, includes spatula

[11:52] Microsoft is hiking the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and launching a new ‘Standard’ tier

[20:05] Suicide Squad Season 2 Delayed Just Two Days Before Release

[24:59] Palworld Dev Signs Deal With Sony to Form Palworld Entertainment and Expand the IP

[32:42] Piranha Bytes closed. The end of the studio behind Gothic, Risen and Elex

[37:15] The Esports World Cup Has An Insane List of Sponsors - IOC announces Olympic Esports Games to be hosted in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

[45:32] Disney reportedly victim to a 1TB data breach

[51:04] Stellar Blade dev generates over $300m in IPO, South Korea’s second-largest this year

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[04:18] GTA Online adds a quality-of-life feature players have wanted for years then upsets everyone by paywalling it

[13:09] Netflix's Horizon Zero Dawn Series Has Been Canned, Report Claims

[21:37] Co-op games on Steam is on the rise

[27:26] Why are Japanese developers not undergoing mass layoffs?

[34:10] Epic Games refers Apple to the European Commission, after dispute over button design

[38:46] Nintendo war against Switch piracy ramps up with two fresh cases

[49:17] "Atreus is a terrible character…": God of War Creator David Jaffe Likes Only 1 Part of Atreus, and Thinks Ragnarok Failed Him Terribly

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• [11:03] Microsoft has begun sending out refunds for both the Xbox and Steam versions of the Redfall 'Bite Back' Edition
• [16:50] Sony's New Tech Lets You Create Mini-Games Out Of Your Gameplay
• [23:30] Sega sees net loss of 6.6 billion yen due to business restructuring in Europe and cancelled games
• [27:18] FromSoftware Owner Hit By Massive Ransomware Attack
• [31:19] Escape From Tarkov Adding New Incentive for Reporting Cheaters
• [37:10] SAG-AFTRA announces fourth tier to new indie dev contract
• [43:51] Multiple Assassin’s Creed remakes are on the way, Ubisoft CEO confirms
• [51:56] PlayStation May Go Fully Digital After PS6, Analyst Predicts
• [59:27] Dragon Age developer discusses why big games take so long, and why they're announced so early
• [1:08:06] Xbox Exec On Why Microsoft Closed Hi-Fi Rush Studio Despite The Game Doing Well

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• According to the game's director, the $500 League of Legends Ahri skin wasn't meant for the average fan, but instead 'players who are willing to spend $200 a month on their hobbies'
• Nintendo issues multiple DMCAs on modding site GameBanana
• https://x.com/helldivers2/status/1801634190665871572?s=19
• Starfield Gets Review Bombed as Bethesda Upsets More Gamers
• Xbox's Phil Spencer Reflects On "Dark Days" During Microsoft-Activision Buyout Process
• Nintendo, Xbox, And PlayStation Have All Now Abandoned Twitter/X Integration
• Valve being sued for £656m in UK amid accusations of Steam market rigging
• Black Myth: Wukong Delayed On Xbox Due To Series S Optimization
• Until Dawn' Pic Sets Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino. To Star

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• Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Dev Blames Xbox Series S For Limited Scope
• Like a Dragon: Yakuza' Live Action Series Heading to Prime Video
• MultiVersus Charges to Buy Extra Lives Using Real Money Was a Bug, Claims Developer
• Why clicker game Banana — the 'legal infinite money glitch' — is going viral on Steam
• AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel next-gen GPUs most likely arriving in 2025
• Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Addresses Studio Closures - IGN Live 2024
• Summer Game Fest
• XBOX Showcase

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• The Witcher 4: CD Projekt Explains Why It Switched to Unreal Engine 5
• It's Game On In Dubai With New Gaming Visa For Gamers, Developers, Creators
• PlayStation 5 "most profitable generation to date", Sony says
• Just Cause' Movie in the Works from 'Blue Beetle' Director Ángel Manuel Soto, 87North
• Netflix Announces Animated Minecraft Series is Coming Soon
• Riot will now hardware ban toxic players in Valorant
• State of Play - PlayStation

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• Microsoft's new Copilot AI will be inside Minecraft, and other Xbox, PC games
• Amazon Games is opening its first European studio, helmed by a Ubisoft veteran
• Masahiro Sakurai refused to add Dolby Surround to a Kirby game because players had to sit through the logo
• IGN Entertainment acquires Eurogamer, GI, VG247, Rock Paper Shotgun and more
• Alone in the Dark Reboot Flopped, Embracer Says After Laying Off Staff
• Atari acquires longtime rival Intellivision - The Verge
• Embracer CFO and deputy CEO Johan Ekström stepping down
• Nintendo is opening an official store in San Francisco next year | VGC

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• Nexon Reveals The Finals Isn't Performing As Well As Expected - Insider Gaming
• Microsoft using AI to tackle community safety in voice chats, but there's still a long way to go | Eurogamer.net
• New Leadership Structure Formed at Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Polish Competition Authority Probes Sony For Anti-Competitive Practices
• Square Enix confirms US, Europe layoffs as part of restructuring
• Summer Game Fest has confirmed a line-up of over 55 partners
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Inside Ubisoft’s Ambitious Open World Japan
• Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut PC players are getting auto-refunds if they cannot legally sign up for PSN
• Fallout is officially coming to Fortnite, and it looks like Epic's already teasing a new POI and the Brotherhood of Steel
• Redfall Final Update

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• Warner Bros. Says the Failure of Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League Contributed to a $200 Million Hit to Revenue
• WB Blames ‘Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’ For Quarterly Miss
• EA is looking at putting in-game ads in AAA games — 'We'll be very thoughtful as we move into that,' says CEO
• Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More in Devastating Cuts at Bethesda
• Redfall's Planned Offline Mode Scrapped as Arkane Austin Shuts Down
• Nintendo president: “Game development will become even longer, more complex, and more sophisticated”
• Netflix unveils "digital theme park" Nextworld on Roblox
• Devolver co-founder says large-scale game dev "crushing under its own weight a little bit"
• Marvel Rivals terms of service has "non-disparagement" clause to prevent players giving "negative reviews"
• Square Enix "aggressively pursuing" new multiplatform strategy after reports FF7 Rebirth underperformed on PlayStation

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• HELLDIVERS™ 2 Account Linking Update - Steam News
• Hasbro is investing $1 billion to make video games in house | TechSpot
• TopSpin 2K25 players furious at server issues impacting single-player career mode
• Unity's New CEO Nets Millions Months After Layoffs and Scandals
• Ubisoft's free-to-play shooter XDefiant gets release date after numerous delays
• Biden signs TikTok ‘ban’ bill into law, starting the clock for ByteDance to divest it - The Verge
• Alan Wake 2 Still Not Profitable Nearly Six Months Later
• Todd Howard Said Fallout Won't Leave The United States
• Todd Howard reckons he knows why Starfield was so divisive: It was too 'different than you've seen from us in past'
• Todd Howard says Bethesda's trying to 'increase our output' with Elder Scrolls and Fallout 'because we don't want to wait that long either'

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• Embracer Group splits into three: Everything you need to know
• Fallout 4 Next-Gen Update Riddled With Issues
• Pokémon GO players rally against Niantic after poor customer service
• Garry's Mod - Nintendo stuff on Steam Workshop
• ‘Escape From Tarkov’ Fans Are Outraged At New $250 Pay-To-Win Edition
• An Update on This Year’s BlizzCon and Blizzard’s 2024 Live Events
• Valve Updates Steam Refund Policy To Include "Advanced Access"
• Watch Dogs Series Is "Dead and Buried"; "Fairly Original" Battle Royale Project Has Been Canceled
• Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers
• Fallout London's project lead is not taking the surprise drop of Fallout 4's update well: 'That has, for a lack of a better term, screwed us over'
• Xbox Games Top PlayStation Charts as Exclusivity Wanes
• Facebook owner Meta loses a billion per month on its AR/VR division, but believes it will be worth it
• Activision Blizzard boosts Microsoft earnings, but Xbox console sales plummet

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• The number of Japan arcades ‘has declined by 8,000 in 10 years
• ’Abusive privacy policies in video games a grim sign for industry
• Content Warning opens to near-205K players, nets 6.2M owners at launch
• EA enlists Dead Space remake team to work on next Battlefield game
• EA raising price of EA Play subscription
• Rockstar Announces GTA+ Subscription Price Increase
• Ubisoft accused of stealing The Crew from paying customers
• Former Blizzard boss suggests players should be able to ‘tip’ devs after finishing a game
• 70% of developers concerned about sustainability of live-service games, new study suggests
• GTA 6 Publisher Take-Two to Layoff 5% of its Workforce and Cancel Games
• ISPs can charge extra for fast gaming under FCC’s Internet rules, critics say
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Is Releasing In 2024 - Insider Gaming

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[7:24] We don't see a place for microtransactions in singleplayer games', says CD Projekt Red following Dragon's Dogma 2's DLC fiasco | PC Gamer

[11:45] 60 Percent Of Playtime In 2023 Went To 6-Year-Old Or Older Games, New Data Shows

[16:24] PC, console growth to lag pre-pandemic levels as gamers clock in fewer hours, report says | Reuter

[22:49] Atari has bought Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 for $7m | Eurogamer.net

[27:14] Roku wants to patent the ability to display ads when consoles connected to its TVs are paused | VGC

[35:19] Discord Is Going To Start Showing Users Ads Despite Past Claims Of Being Against It

[39:21] US government blocks "age estimation" technology that would have analysed faces | Eurogamer.net

[44:49] Ugly film Sonic changed how Hollywood makes video game movies | Eurogamer.net

[51:03] Ark: The Animated Series surprise releases in US and Canada, ahead of April debut elsewhere | Eurogamer.net

[55:36] Apple opens the App Store to retro game emulators - The Verge

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[01:48] PS5 Pro developer verdict: ‘I didn't meet a single person that understood the point of it’ | PS5 Pro Enhanced Requirements Detailed

[08:07] Embracer Group Sold Gearbox Entertainment to Take-Two for $460 million | Embracer CEO says it’s ‘too early’ to start buying studios again

[14:37] Xbox boss Phil Spencer says multiplatform ‘brand pivot’ partly driven by Gen Z habits

[16:34] Phil Spencer discusses potential Xbox handheld plans

[24:47] The First Neuralink Recipient Used It To Play Civilization 6

[31:12] Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League's Joker Season Is Unbelievably Bad

[39:13] Indie developers say the Game Pass and Epic Games Store gravy train is over

[45:36] Jim Ryan, CEO of PlayStation, Retires

[47:51] Toxic Gaming Tackled by Ubisoft's Unique Alert System

[54:51] Dragon's Dogma 2's first proper patch adds a much-needed new game option and makes it easier to get a house | Dragon's Dogma II: The Dragon Princess details (Expansion Pack bigger then Dark Arise

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Timestamps:

[01:43] U.S. Sues Apple, Accusing It of Maintaining an iPhone Monopoly

[10:49] Microsoft, Meta, X, and Spotify file legal brief supporting Epic Games fight against Apple

[20:22] Bloomberg at GDC: creativity way too risky as AAA budgets hit 300 mil, painting bleak future with mostly safe IPs

[36:15] Baldur’s Gate 3’s director says publisher ‘greed has been f***ing up’ the industry and causing layoffs

[43:20] Larian Not Planning Baldur's Gate 3 DLC or Sequel

[45:20] Resident Evil 9 Possibly Going Open World, It’s Claimed

[51:48] EA, Miniclip, Jagex loot box ads broke UK advertising rules

[58:17] Overwatch 2 PvE completely canceled after poor sales: report

[1:02:29] Dragon's Dogma 2 launches to "Mostly Negative" review bombing after microtransaction reveal | Windows Central

[1:17:34] Dragon's Dogma 2 PC Performance Is a Mess, But It Didn't Have to Be - IGN

Extra Links:

Denuvo's new feature can invisibly watermark your game footage so publishers can track down leakers | PC Gamer

Dragon's Dogma 2 fans warn Denuvo is bricking the game on Steam

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Lots of things happening in video game industry. In this episode, we covered

Timestamps:

• The Department of Homeland Security and FBI are in dialog with Roblox, Discord, Reddit, and others.
• Ubisoft's Watch Dogs the latest game series to get the movie treatment
• 600 Activision QA Workers Have Formed Union
• Starbreeze Studios CEO Out Less Than Six Months After Payday 3 Launch
• The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that could remove the video platform from app stores
• Star Wars: Battlefront games re-release to mostly negative Steam reviews as multiplayer fans try to cram into one of three servers
• GTA 6 could be the most important thing "to ever release in the industry, so no pressure," reliable analyst predicts
• US game spending ‘could be down 10% this year’
• Disney Dreamlight Valley Announce Dungeons and Dragons Project
• Google Has Developed An AI That Can Play Games Like A Human
• Discord is letting third-party developers create games to play on its platform
• SAG-AFTRA may strike over AI terms in video game contract

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• Warner Bros. Discusses "Volatile" AAA Console Games, Will Lean Into Free-To-Play And Mobile
• Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu will utterly fold and pay $2.4M to settle its lawsuit
• Epic Games just got unbanned by Apple — again
• Square Enix Points To Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy’s PlayStation Exclusivity As A Key Reason For It’s Success Thus Far
• Exclusivity is the game industry's "Achilles' heel", says former PlayStation boss
• Seven Years Ago, Nintendo’s Risky Gamble Paid Off Handsomely
• EA’S CEO SAYS 60% OF DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES COULD BE ‘POSITIVELY IMPACTED’ BY AI
• Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama Passes at 68

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Timestamps:

[01:24] Sony to release a ‘Pro’ version of the PlayStation 5 this year after cutting outlook, analysts say

[07:57] Red-Haired Cate Blanchett Teams Up with Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart and More in Borderlands First Look

[15:23] Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League's Sales Disappointed, Hogwarts Legacy Is a "Big Win"

[25:03] Tik Tok White Paper on Modern Mobile Gamer

[37:18] Microsoft's Phil Spencer on Xbox growth, recent job cuts and the future of games on discs

[49:00] Ubisoft explains what Assassin's Creed Infinity actually is

[54:50] Nintendo suing makers of open-source Switch emulator Yuzu

[01:00:00] Electronic Arts is laying off 5% of its workforce

[01:06:00] Pacific Drive Review

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In this episode, we covered

Timestamps:

[01:20] EA flop Immortals of Aveum reportedly cost around $125 million, former dev says

[08:46] Embracer Q3 Results Lower Than Expected, Boosted by ‘Lord of the Rings’ Licensing Revenue

[13:27] PlayStation Wants to Improve Operating Profit with a More Aggressive PC First-Party Games Release Plan

[21:27] Microsoft & XBox start moving towards multi-platform albeit slowly

[23:52] Nintendo Switch 2 to launch Q1 2025, Report & Rumor Say

[31:38] Bandai Namco reveals it recently cancelled five games, saying it plans stricter quality control

[37:47] Top Call of Duty esports players sue Activision for $680M in damages, alleging the publisher has an unlawful monopoly on the game's esports scene

[48:45] Helldivers 2 Experience & Review

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In this episode, we covered

Timestamps:

[01:08] IGN Staff Announce New Union Amid 'Hectic Media Landscape'

[06:58] Tencent working on mobile version of hit console game 'Elden Ring', sources say

[12:28] Disney invests $1.5 billion in Epic to create ‘persistent universe’ tied to Fortnite

[19:04] Roblox continues to grow revenues, deepen losses

[28:28] Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot has defended the $70 price tag for Skull and Bones, calling it a “quadruple-A game”

[35:22] Nexus Mods surpasses 10 Billion Downloads to date

[37:44] Take-Two argues that virtual currencies are "fictions" in bid to dismiss lawsuit

[45:54] Microsoft is working on its own DLSS-like upscaler for Windows 11

[46:55] Rollerdrome Review

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In this very tipsy episode, we covered

Timestamps:

• [00:27] Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League taken offline for the second time, eating through players' early access playtime
• [07:23] 95% of studios are working on or aim to release a live service game
• [12:58] Starfield Update 1.9.51 Reveals Major Changes To Lighting
• [16:53] Xbox Head Is Not Happy With Apple's New App Store Policy
• [24:12] PlayStation State of Play
• [47:06] The Last Of Us Part II Actor Says Fans Threatened Her Son
• [56:25] Immortality Game Review

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In this episode, we covered

Timestamps:

[00:00] Introduction

[00:40] Riot Games Layoffs

[03:18] Microsoft + XBOX + Activision Blizzard Layoffs

[05:53] Sledgehammer Layoffs

[09:10] Matthewball VC Blogpost

[15:10] The Day Before Developers have new projects

[19:02] Walmart starts removing XBox games from shelves

[23:21] Nintendo investigates potential infringements (Palworld)

[38:35] Twitch makes changes to Partner / Affiliate Program

[43:11] Apple allows Streaming Apps after European Antitrust investigation

[46:57] The Last of Us 2: No Return Review

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In this episode, we covered

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:00 Ubisoft wants you to get used to not owning your own game
• 09:25 Gamestop shuts down its NFT operations
• 13:32 Rockstar, T-Pain and NoPixel
• 18:15 Square Enix wants to less fewer but better games in future
• 25:15 Top Grossing Mobile Games of 2023
• 30:05 Microsoft might be planning to make competitive App Store
• 37:02 Yakuza: Infinite Wealth has new game plus behind paywall
• 40:39 Xbox Developer Direct
• 48:07 Russ Scott sues Ubisoft for closing The Crew
• 51:09 Sniper Elite V Review

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In this episode, we covered

Timestamps:

• 00:19 Introduction
• 00:58 Mobile Games made $107 Billion in 2023
• 04:58 DLSS 3 games coming in 2024
• 08:45 CAPCOM has new DRM installed in older games
• 17:35 Twitch laid off 35% of its staff
• 25:49 God of War TV Show adaptation
• 29:20 Indiana Jones & The Great Circle possible video game from Bathesda
• 33:41 SAG AFTRA makes a deal with Replica Studios on AI usage of voice actors
• 39:47 Bathesda releasing Starfield improvements starting January 17th 2024
• 45:53 Evil West Review

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In this episode, we covered

Timestamps:

• [00:00]-Introduction
• [01:21]-XBOX Achievement Overhaul
• [04:27]-Square Enix CEO wants to use AI more aggressively
• [08:09]-Horizon MMORPG
• [11:24]-The Finals Battlepass frustrations
• [19:23]-Firewall, VR game developers, shuts down
• [26:00]-Walmart and Unity working together
• [31:12]-MSI Handheld coming out soon
• [36:05]-Netflix wants to monetize its gaming platform
• [42:47]-Sifu & En Garde Double Review

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In this episode, we covered

Timestamps:

• [00:00]-Introduction
• [01:01]-Insomniac Leaks
• [03:47]-Ubisoft Hacks
• [08:30]-Rockstar hacker gets indefinite hospital stay order
• [12:01]-Sony worried about MSFT business model
• [27:06]-Obsidian wanted to collab with Bathesda once more
• [34:21]-Sea of Stars Review
• [01:02:04]-Avatar Frontiers of Pandora Rant

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• Email: highpingbasterds@gmail.com

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In this episode, we covered

Timestamps:

• [00:00]-Introduction
• [00:44]-Speculation regarding ad integration in Xbox Gamepass
• [07:30]-Refund for The Day Before purchases exceed 50%
• [12:00]-Hideo Kojima OD easter egg and Death Stranding Movie Adaptation
• [24:19]-E3 is Dead
• [30:57]-Epic v. Google & Apple
• [40:04]-GTA games in Netflix platform
• [45:03]-James McCaffrey & Andre Braugher
• [50:21]-Avatar Frontiers of Pandora Experience

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• Email: highpingbasterds@gmail.com

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• GTA 6 Trailer
• The Day Before Release
• Star Citizen Funding Milestones
• Game Awards 2023

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• Blizzard's leaked customer survey for Diablo 4
• CDPR documentary by Gamespot
• Dragon's Dogma 2 Trailer
• Bathesda's absurd decision to respond to their negative reviews
• Fallout TV show trailer
• GTA 6 footage leak

We will also discuss our most played games of 2023, Everspace (1&2) and F1 2021/2023

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• Warner Bros. dipping their toe into Live Service games
• Parents suing video game studios due to addiction
• CEO of Take Two talking about changing the way video games are paid for
• Video Game Studios laying off their developers
• Ubisoft pops a banner while you play Odyssey

We will also revisit an old but gold, Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen for an extended review.

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