Outsourcing and development firm Winking Studios has announced the proposed acquisition of Shanghai-based studio Mineloader. The total consideration amounts to £16.3 million, comprising an upfront payment of £14.7 million and a deferred balance dependent on performance over the next five years. The proposal is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2025. “This … Read more
Hideaki Nishino has been appointed sole CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, effective April 1, 2025. Last May, Nishino and Hermen Hulst were named joint CEOs of SIE following the departure of Jim Ryan. Hulst led the studio business group, which oversees PlayStation’s first-party teams and the development of IPs into other mediums. He will continue … Read more
Update, January 20, 2025: Corinne Busche has confirmed her departure from BioWare, revealing that it was a “voluntary” decision after receiving an offer outside of the developer. “My departure was voluntary, as I have been presented with an opportunity I couldn’t turn down,” Busche told our sister site Eurogamer. “I don’t want to say much … Read more
Update, January 21, 2025: Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner announced the game was back online in the US following the ramifications of the TikTok ban. The studio shared on social media that it is planning to “bring more services in-house and partner with a new publisher” to avoid this situation from happening again. In response … Read more
Activision donates $1m to support fire relief in LA | News-in-brief
Genshin Impact distributor Cognosphere has agreed to pay $20 million to settle charges made by the US Federal Trade Commission. In a complaint filed on January 17, 2025, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, the FTC alleged that Cognosphere violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and deceived … Read more
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 developer Treyarch has tweaked its anti-cheat systems and banned another 136,000 players across Black Ops 6 and battle-royale spin-off, Warzone. In a detailed update to players on X, Treyarch and partner studios Raven Software, Beenox, and Demonware acknowledged that “instances of cheating in Call of Duty […] are frustrating … Read more
Fast Travel Games has cut 30 jobs, primarily in its publishing, marketing, and admin departments, although “the studio will also be impacted as [it] consolidates down to one development team.” In a statement posted to LinkedIn, the Stockholm studio attributed the cuts to “lower sales than expected”, calling the redundancies an “exceptionally difficult decision” that … Read more
Humble has launched a collection of new Humble Bundles to support those affected by the recent devastating fires that hit Los Angeles earlier this month. As well as the bundles, the company is also pledging $200,000 from its Humble Forward Fund – in partnership with Direct Relief – in order to support work to provide … Read more
Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida has issued a statement to players condemning the “Playerscope” mod accused of tracking players across characters without consent. In a statement, Yoshida confirmed the existence of “third-party tools that are being used to check [Final Fantasy] 14 character information that is not displayed during normal game play,” … Read more