Category: Gaming

Rockstar Games has confirmed that a data breach affected company information, saying a “limited amount of non-material company information” was accessed through a third-party incident and that the episode has had no impact on its operations or players. The disclosure lands at a sensitive moment for one of the world’s most closely watched game developers, with Grand Theft Auto VI still one of the industry’s biggest commercial events on the horizon.The company’s wording appears designed to calm investors, business

Amazon has drawn a hard line under Amazon Luna’s experiment with digital game sales, ending the purchase of standalone titles on the cloud platform and stripping out third-party store access and subscriptions as it pushes the service towards a fully subscription-led model. The change took effect on April 10, with Amazon saying users will no longer be able to buy individual games through Luna or sign up to outside subscriptions such as Ubisoft+ through the service.The shift goes further

Sony Pictures has handed fresh momentum to its long-gestating Metal Gear Solid film, attaching directing duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein to steer the adaptation of Konami’s espionage franchise, a move that signals the studio is trying again to bring one of gaming’s most cinematic properties to the big screen after years of stalled development. Trade reports say the project is set up at Columbia Pictures, with Avi Arad and Ari Arad producing, though no release date, start of

Gunzilla Games, the studio behind blockchain-linked shooter Off The Grid and the new owner of Game Informer, has been accused by current and former workers of failing to pay salaries for months, opening a fresh controversy around one of gaming’s more closely watched independent publishers. Multiple reports published on April 8 and April 9 said staff and contractors alleged they had gone unpaid since late 2025, while the company’s chief executive publicly pushed back on the claims and said the

Take-Two Interactive has reportedly cut its artificial intelligence team in a move that jars with the company’s own public language on generative AI and raises fresh questions about how one of the world’s biggest games publishers plans to use the technology ahead of a packed release slate. Reports over the past few days said the publisher removed its head of AI, Luke Dicken, along with other members of the group, while the company itself has not issued a formal public

Bit Reactor founder Greg Foertsch has praised Lucasfilm Games and Respawn Entertainment for backing Star Wars Zero Company, saying the decision to build a turn-based tactics title around one of entertainment’s biggest franchises stood out at a time when much of the games business is leaning towards safer, more familiar ideas. Foertsch said the two companies showed “vision and the courage and the conviction” by trusting a new studio with a genre they had not tackled before.The remarks come

Coffee Stain has shut its mobile-focused Malmö studio, ending a unit that was set up to bring the company’s irreverent game brands to phones and tablets and leaving fresh questions over how the newly listed Swedish group intends to handle mobile development. The closure was disclosed by Daniel Persson, the company’s vice-president of mobile, who said Coffee Stain had decided to close the office in Malmö and that his chapter leading the team had come to an end.The decision

Rec Room, the social VR platform that once stood among the most closely watched bets on the so-called metaverse economy, will shut down on June 1, 2026, ending a decade-long run that drew more than 150 million players but failed to produce a sustainable business. The Seattle-based company said the service will go offline at noon Pacific time after years of trying to turn broad user engagement into reliable profit.Platform’s final shutdown date setRec Room said popularity alone did not

Blippo+ has arrived as one of the stranger releases to gain traction across independent gaming, presenting itself not as a conventional narrative title but as a faux television service from an alien world. Built around channel surfing, short-form live-action broadcasts and a deliberately warped retro aesthetic, the project has drawn attention for turning the language of late-20th-century television into an interactive spectacle that feels equal parts parody, art installation and game.Published by Panic and developed by YACHT, Telefantasy Studios and

Ziff Davis has struck a new licensing agreement to launch a dedicated French edition of IGN, extending the global reach of its gaming and entertainment media brand through a partnership with European publisher eMense.The deal will see eMense operate IGN France under licence, marking the latest step in Ziff Davis’s strategy to scale its media properties internationally without direct ownership of local operations. The move builds on an existing relationship between the two companies, with eMense already managing regional editions

Capcom’s latest instalment in its long-running survival horror franchise signals a decisive break from its own mythology, as Resident Evil Requiem dismantles legacy narratives to reposition the series for a new era.Requiem arrives with a clear narrative intent: to close the chapter on a sprawling continuity that has grown increasingly complex since the early 2000s. By directly confronting the consequences of Resident Evil 6, the game reframes what had once been seen as an overextension of the franchise into a

A fresh controversy has emerged in the video game industry after a former Blizzard president argued that players should accept the growing use of artificial intelligence in game development, intensifying an already polarised debate over creativity, labour, and the future of digital entertainment.The remarks followed criticism directed at developers of Crimson Desert, who had apologised after acknowledging the use of AI-generated elements. The apology triggered widespread discussion among players and industry professionals, with concerns ranging from job displacement to the

Savvy Games Group has agreed to acquire Moonton, the mobile gaming studio behind the widely played title Mobile Legends, from ByteDance in a deal valued at about $6 billion, marking a significant expansion of Saudi Arabia’s ambitions in the global gaming industry.The transaction underscores a strategic push by Savvy, a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund, to deepen its presence in the fast-growing mobile gaming sector. Moonton, headquartered in Shanghai, has built a strong international footprint, particularly in Southeast Asia,

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has pushed back against mounting criticism of the company’s next-generation DLSS 5 upscaling technology, insisting detractors misunderstand its purpose and impact on creative control in game development.Speaking amid industry debate over the expanding role of artificial intelligence in graphics rendering, Huang said concerns that DLSS 5 overrides artistic intent are misplaced. He argued the technology is designed to enhance performance and visual fidelity without altering the core vision of developers. “The idea that it removes

Take-Two Interactive chief executive Strauss Zelnick has declined to offer advice to Microsoft’s newly appointed gaming leader Asha Sharma, expressing confidence that she will succeed without external guidance and highlighting her record as a seasoned executive.Zelnick’s remarks come as Sharma steps into a prominent leadership role within Microsoft’s gaming division, overseeing strategic direction for Xbox amid intensifying competition in the global video game industry. Addressing questions about her transition into gaming without prior sector experience, Zelnick pointed to his own

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 secured the Game of the Year title at the 26th annual Game Developers Choice Awards, marking one of the most significant recognitions yet for the role-playing game that has dominated industry accolades over the past year.The awards ceremony, held alongside the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, saw the title collect five trophies in total, reinforcing its reputation as one of the most influential releases in contemporary game development. Created by the French studio Sandfall Interactive

Nintendo’s newest Pokémon spin-off has delivered a powerful commercial debut, selling more than 2.2 million copies worldwide within its first four days and triggering a sharp rally in the company’s share price as investors respond to renewed momentum for the Switch 2 platform.The title, Pokémon Pokopia, launched globally on 5 March for Nintendo Switch 2 and rapidly climbed digital sales charts while physical editions sold out in several major retail markets. The company said the game crossed the 2.2-million mark

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has reaffirmed the company’s long-term commitment to video games, declaring that the technology giant will “always” invest in gaming as part of its broader strategy, even as the Xbox division undergoes a significant leadership transition and faces questions about its future direction.The assurance came during an internal discussion with the newly appointed head of Microsoft’s gaming business, Asha Sharma, as the company seeks to steady its gaming division after a major management reshuffle and speculation

Brendan Greene, the creator of the influential battle-royale game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, has issued a stark warning about the growing flood of artificial intelligence-generated material online, arguing that the internet risks becoming polluted by automated content that feeds on itself and erodes trust in digital information.Greene described the problem as a dangerous feedback loop in which large language models absorb machine-generated material and reproduce it as authoritative information. “LLMs are scanning this junk, and then that becomes truth,” he said during

Nintendo of America has taken legal action against the United States government, arguing that trade measures imposed under a sweeping tariff regime were unlawful and seeking reimbursement of duties paid on imported gaming hardware and accessories.Court documents filed at the United States Court of International Trade accuse federal agencies of improperly administering tariffs that the company says imposed significant financial burdens on its operations. The complaint seeks a full refund, with interest, for duties collected under executive orders issued in

 Roguelite strategy title The King is Watching has surpassed 500,000 copies sold worldwide, marking a notable commercial milestone for Serbian developer Hypnohead and publisher TinyBuild. The kingdom-building game, launched in July 2025 on the PC platform Steam, has gained steady traction among strategy enthusiasts and independent-game audiences, aided by platform policy changes, an expanding international player base and a focused push into the Chinese market.Sales data released by publisher TinyBuild indicate the half-million mark was reached within months of launch,

A dispute between the Pokémon franchise and political figures in the United States has intensified after the company behind the global entertainment brand criticised the use of its imagery in partisan online memes associated with the administration of President Donald Trump.The Pokémon Company International said it had not authorised the use of its intellectual property in social media posts that circulated widely online and incorporated imagery from the newly released game “Pokopia.” The posts, which included a stylised design echoing

Game Republic New Horizons has assembled a new international advisory board to guide the development of its 2026 conference, marking a strategic move by the long-running games industry network to strengthen its global reach and influence. Organisers say the board will help shape the programme, identify emerging opportunities across the games ecosystem, and ensure the event reflects the priorities of developers, investors and technology partners operating in a rapidly evolving sector.Game Republic, a Yorkshire-based organisation that connects game developers, publishers

Sales patterns for PlayStation titles released on PC show shrinking audience share, yet industry analysis suggests the trend reflects release timing rather than a collapse in demand for Sony’s games on the platform.Market data compiled by analytics firm Newzoo indicates that titles originally developed for PlayStation 5 continue to attract strong interest among PC players, though the share of PC audiences engaging with them has declined compared with earlier releases. Analysts say the change stems largely from the growing gap

Battlefield 6 claimed the top honour at the UKIE Video Game Awards 2026, securing the title of UK Game of the Year and winning the award for best PC game at a ceremony that celebrated innovation and commercial success across the video game industry. The recognition places the long-running military shooter franchise at the centre of the United Kingdom’s annual celebration of interactive entertainment, highlighting its commercial reach and critical impact in a competitive year for major releases.Organised by UK

Sony Group Corp. has scaled back plans to bring flagship PlayStation titles to personal computers, signalling a renewed emphasis on console exclusivity after several years of experimenting with broader distribution. The shift marks a notable recalibration for the company’s gaming division, which had expanded its strategy to include PC launches for some of its most popular titles.Executives overseeing the PlayStation business have indicated that future first-party games designed primarily for the PlayStation 5 platform will not follow the same path

DataBank has appointed Rob Johnson, the former chief executive of Vertiv, and Daniel Sturman, previously chief technology officer at Roblox, to its board of directors, sharpening the edge data centre operator’s leadership bench as artificial intelligence workloads reshape infrastructure demand.The Dallas-based company confirmed the additions as it expands capacity across the United States to support enterprises deploying AI, cloud computing and latency-sensitive applications. The appointments bring together experience in power and cooling systems, hyperscale infrastructure, distributed computing and software architecture

Sony Santa Monica is developing a new project set within the universe of God of War, signalling an expansion of the long-running action-adventure franchise that has centred on the character Kratos for nearly two decades.Multiple industry reports indicate the studio, owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment, is working on a separate title distinct from the mainline series that concluded its Norse saga with God of War Ragnarök in 2022. While Sony has not formally detailed the project, recruitment activity and comments

British games developer Splash Damage has acquired Croatian studio Gamepires, the creator of survival title Scum, from Jagex in a deal backed by private equity firm Emona Capital, marking another shift in ownership within the mid-tier multiplayer gaming market.The acquisition transfers control of Gamepires from Jagex, best known for the long-running online role-playing game RuneScape, to Splash Damage, a London-headquartered developer with a track record in multiplayer shooters and co-development on major franchises. Financial terms of the transaction have not

New York’s attorney general has sued Valve Corporation, accusing the video game developer of running unlawful gambling schemes through loot boxes embedded in some of its most popular titles. The civil complaint alleges that digital items sold in Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2 function as games of chance and expose minors to gambling mechanics in breach of state law.Attorney General Letitia James contends that Valve’s system of selling virtual “cases” or loot boxes — which players open

Artificial intelligence is triggering frustration across the video game industry as developers deploy automated tools to reduce budgets, only to face backlash from players who say quality and creativity are suffering.Studios under financial strain are increasingly turning to generative AI to assist with coding, artwork, dialogue and quality assurance. While executives argue the technology speeds up production and lowers costs, gamers have highlighted glitches, awkward scripts and recycled designs that they attribute to overreliance on automated systems. The tension reflects

Amazon Games has confirmed that its online multiplayer title King of Meat, developed by UK-based Glowmade, will cease operations on 9 April 2026, less than six months after its launch as an ambitious co-op dungeon crawler and party platformer. The move follows sustained low player engagement, with the title removed from digital storefronts and refunds being offered to all purchasers, marking a swift reversal from its high-profile debut and promotional push.The closure announcement, issued jointly by Amazon Games and

Krafton has appointed a new chief artificial intelligence officer as the South Korean games publisher accelerates efforts to embed advanced AI systems across its development studios and flagship franchises, including PUBG.The company confirmed that it has brought in a senior AI specialist with experience spanning large language models, machine learning infrastructure and applied gaming technologies to lead what it described as the next phase of its AI research and development strategy. The move places AI leadership at the executive level

Sony Interactive Entertainment is closing Bluepoint Games, the Texas-based developer known for high-profile remakes and its work on God of War Ragnarök, resulting in the loss of around 70 jobs and marking another restructuring move within PlayStation Studios.The decision brings to an end a studio widely regarded for reviving classic titles for modern hardware. Bluepoint Games, founded in 2006 and based in Austin, built a reputation for technically ambitious remasters and full-scale remakes, including Demon’s Souls for PlayStation 5, Shadow