January 2023

Virtual reality developer and publisher NDreams has made its first acquisition, picking up Brighton-based Near Light for an undisclosed sum.

The deal was in part enabled by the $35 million investment NDreams received back in March from the Aonic group.

NDreams already has an established history with Near Light, having published two of its titles: Shooty Fruity and Perfect. Near Light is already working on an unannounced VR titles, which will also be published by NDreams.

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A Microsoft survey about Xbox Game Pass suggests that an ad-supported subscription tier may be coming to the service.

As reported by Windows Central, the inquiry suggests that for $3 users could play new first-party Xbox titles six months after launch.

Additionally, multiplayer and EA Access games would be accessible via this newer proposed tier.

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League of Legends maker Riot Games has filed a motion to end its deal with cryptocurrency company FTX.

As reported by researcher Molly White, the company attributed the decision to FTX’s filing for bankruptcy.

"There is simply no way for FTX to cure the reputational harm already caused to Riot as a result of the highly public disrepute wrought by the debacle preceding FTX's bankruptcy filing. FTX cannot turn back the clock and undo the damage inflicted on Riot in the wake of its collapse," the gaming firm said.

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Epic Games will pay more than half a billion dollars to settle charges from the US Federal Trade Commission, the agency announced today.

According to the FTC, Epic will pay $275 million for violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and another $245 million for design relying on dark patterns "to dupe millions of players into making unintentional purchases."

The privacy violations included collecting personal information from children under 13 without parental consent or notification, as well as enabling voice and text chat for children and teens by default.

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Last week, a group of seven Democratic legislators in the US co-signed a letter sent to more than a dozen prominent publishers and developers asking them what they were doing about extremism in their games.

Motherboard reports that alongside that effort, New Hampshire Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan sent a letter specifically to Valve's Gabe Newell about "a significant presence of users displaying and espousing neo-Nazi, extremist, racial supremacist, misogynistic, and other hateful sentiments."

Hassan pointed to an assortment of terms and slogans readily found on Steam, from common dogwhistles like "1488" to overt declarations of "White Power" and the use of Nazi emblems and flags.

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It’s a double whammy for our latest episode of the Playable Futures Podcast, with gaming communities at the centre of the discussion.

For this episode, presenter Will Freeman chats to Mark Reed, Founder of Heaven Media to reflect on gaming’s relationship with marketing and the important role that communities play in shaping its landscape.

He then interviews Romain de Waubert de Genlis, Studio Head and Chief Creative Officer at Amplitude Studios who discusses how his platform Games2Gether aims to bring the gaming community into the dev process.

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GoldenEye 007 is an iconic game.

It was the N64's best-selling title outside of Japan and topped the Blockbuster rental charts for two years. But away from sales metrics, its influence on the industry was pronounced. The console shooters that followed – the good ones, anyway – lifted many of the game's innovations. And what's more, it inspired a generation of kids.

I was one of those kids. Christmas 1998 I received my N64 and GoldenEye. What followed was an obsession that saw me (and my friend Simon) set up fansites and fanzines, all devoted to the Nintendo 64. It was a moment I can legitimately point to as the reason I am here doing this today.

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John Carmack has resigned from his position as an executive consultant for virtual reality with Meta.

The veteran developer informed Meta employees via an internal message, which was later leaked to the press. Carmack has since posted the full message on his Facebook profile.

"This is the end of my decade in VR," he began. "I have mixed feelings."

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FIFA 23 was the best-selling game in the 2022 Christmas UK retail charts, according to GfK.

The game enjoyed a 67% surge in sales compare to last week, keeping Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at bay, with the shooter seeing a 13% boost in sales.

While it's possible, perhaps likely, FIFA will have been boosted by interest in this year's World Cup, which ended over the weekend, EA's football series is a regular Christmas chart topper at UK retail – as is Call of Duty.

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Original Story: Activision Blizzard is losing its president and chief operating officer next year.

A new 8K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission reveals Daniel Alegre will be leaving the company for "another opportunity" elsewhere.

He will finish his current term of employment, which ends on March 31, 2023. No replacement has been named at the time of writing.

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Chris Metzen has returned to Blizzard Entertainment to work on Warcraft.

Before his 2016 departure, he had a 22-year-old stint at the company and previously served as senior vice president of creative development.

John Hight, senior vice president and general manager of the Warcraft series, announced Metzen's comeback on Twitter.

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Activision Blizzard is collaborating with researchers to develop AI against online abuse.

The effort will be a two-year project which aims to detect harmful user behavior online.

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The headline image above is a screen capture of CNN's Fear & Greed Index from late September.

If you're unfamiliar with this amazing bit of world-building from a dystopian sci-fi novel, the Fear & Greed Index is CNN's ongoing analysis of investor sentiment, tracking the overall "mood" of the stock market on a spectrum that runs from Extreme Fear to Extreme Greed.

The idea is that greed and fear are the two emotions that run the stock market, which is pretty hard to dispute. And yes, I do find it deeply concerning that we have built such a lynchpin of society that shapes absolutely everything we do exclusively on two of the most negative and harmful emotions available to us as human beings, thanks for asking. But that's something we should probably save for a "This Millennium in Review" column.

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Vampire Survivors is already a hit on mobile, having been downloaded more than one million times within one week of release.

The iOS and Android port of the hugely popular indie game was a surprise announcement during The Game Awards last week, and offers the full experience to mobile users for free.

MobileGamer.biz cites Appmagic data, which shows the game has been racked up 562,000 installs on iOS and 585,000 via Google Play.

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The end of the year is a somewhat arbitrary line in the sand, but it's a good moment to take stock of where we stand – stepping back and taking a somewhat wider view than the usual day-to-day, week-to-week rush demands.

Most years, when the time comes to write one last column before the year's end, I look back at last year's final column. Sometimes, that becomes an exercise in seeing how rapidly things have changed; other times, what's striking is how little our discussions about various key issues have moved on. Given the tradition of making some predictions for the coming year, there's also often a side-serving of humble pie in this process.

Last year's final article predicted that unionisation would be one of the biggest stories of 2022 – and while I don't think that claim entirely stacks up, as the announcement of Microsoft's intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in January soon turned attention away from the unionisation efforts that had been ongoing in response to Activision's workplace problems, there's no doubt that unionisation overall remains a live issue in the industry.

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There has been significant changes at EA's Criterion studio following the departure of five of its longest-serving leaders.

Matt Webster, VP and GM of Criterion, has left the studio. Webster has been with Criterion for over 23 years, and has been working for EA since 1990. He was part of the initial team responsible for the first FIFA game.

Also departing is executive producer Pete Lake, who first joined Criterion back in 1996 as an artist. He leaves alongside senior technical director Andrei Shires, a 16-year Criterion veteran. Head of studio development Alan McDairmant is also moving on after 17 years with EA, while Steve Uphill, head of content, leaves following his latest 10-year stint with the developer. All five have left to "explore new opportunities outside of EA", and comes after the release of Need for Speed Unbound.

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USK, the video games rating board for Germany, has expanded its test criteria and will now take a range of "possible online risks" into account when classifying a game.

In a post on its website, the body said the new rules will come into effect on January 1, 2023 and apply to all submissions going forward.

USK will continue to rate games based on whether content is inappropriate for younger players, but now it will also consider the inclusion of purchasing options or online communications.

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Several members of Congress have penned a letter to ask top game companies how they are addressing extremism.

As reported by Axios, the inquiry will be sent to gaming firms such as Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Sony.

The legislators' letter has been attributed to the Anti-Defamation League's new Hate and Harassment in Online Gaming Report, which was released last week.

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Hideo Kojima's 2019 adventure title Death Stranding is receiving a film adaptation.

As reported by Deadline, Kojima Productions and Hammerstone Studios will develop and produce the movie.

It's currently unknown who will write or direct the feature film. Founded by Alex Lebovici, Hammerstone Studios will be financially backing the Death Stranding movie.

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Amazon Games has signed an agreement with Crystal Dynamics for its next Tomb Raider game.

The next adventure for Lara Croft will be a multi-format, single-player narrative game built using Unreal Engine 5. It is in early development. Amazon says it is working with the developer 'from the ground up to bring their vision to life – from development all the way through publishing'.

“Crystal Dynamics has an extraordinary opportunity following our acquisition by Embracer to redefine what a publishing relationship is for Tomb Raider,” said studio head Scot Amos.

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In November, Twitch reached a viewership of 1.6 billion hours, according to StreamElements and Rainmaker.gg's monthly State of the Stream report.

Since the streaming platform hit over two billion hours watched back in January it hasn't been able to reproduce the feat.

YouTube Gaming brought in 244 million hours watched in October, continuing declines the streaming platform has seen since it accumulated 305 million hours back in August.

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Last month, former Bungie veteran Jonty Barnes, alongside ex-Sports Interactive exec Neil Dejyothin and former English Football Association CEO Alex Horne, joined development start-up Formation Games.

While the studio was formed in 2021, it's been operating quietly for the last year building Club, a new football management mobile game slated to launch in 2023.

With Dejyothin and Horne's backgrounds in Football Manager and real-life Football Association respectively, it's clear how they ended up on the leadership team at Formation Games. For Barnes, a long-serving Bungie executive that worked as a producer on various Halo titles before moving on to Destiny, the transition, on paper, seems less obvious.

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Epic Games has announced that it will be shutting down online services and servers for a number of older games as it moves to solely support Epic Online Services.

It begun removing the titles from digital storefronts and disabled in-game DLC purchasing on December 14.

"Most titles will be playable offline, while some will no longer be playable. We apologize to the players affected by these changes," Epic said.

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The European Parliament's Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee this week called for a set of EU-wide rules to protect game playing consumers.

In a vote with wide-ranging support (35 votes for, none against and 3 abstentions), the committee approved a draft report calling for better consumer protections, most notably around loot boxes and children.

The committee called for information about games' content, in-game purchase policies and target age groups to be readily available much like PEGI ratings, and for parents to have effective controls over how much time and money their children spend on games.

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In September, member of the Finnish Parliament Sebastian Tynkkynen proposed a bill to regulate loot boxes as a form of gambling in Finland.

To understand what the bill could mean for the Finnish games industry, we speak to Dr Joseph Macey, an academic researching the relationship between consumption of digital games and participation in emergent gambling activities, Topias Mattinen, a PhD student whose research is focused on digital gambling, loot boxes and the gamblification of digital games, as well as Tynkkynen himself.

Sebastian Tynkkynen is a Finnish MP and member of the Perussuomalaiset Party or 'Finns Party'. He is a right-wing populist figure in Finnish politics who has been convicted and fined for "ethnic agitation" three times for comments about Muslims.

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My.Games has announced it is pulling out of Russia, the market it originally called home.

In an announcement issued by its Amsterdam headquarters, the publisher said all parts of the business that have been generating revenue in Russia will be spun off into a new independent entity. This entity will have no affiliation with My.Games.

Licenses for all Russia-related products will be transferred to independent Russian firm Astrum Entertainment, after which My.Games will no longer earn revenues from these titles in Russia.

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"It looks awful, I don’t understand what the big deal is."

These are words I said on a fateful day of June 2022 and would come to fiercely regret. Because when it came to choosing my game of the year, it slowly became obvious that there was no escaping that my 2022 was dominated by a £2.09 game that I had never intended to play.

The reality is I've played fewer games this year than I've had in any previous years since I started working in games. The ink on my Game of the Year 2021 for Unpacking was barely dry when I learned that I needed to move house again, for the third time in 18 months. So for most of 2022, I craved relaxation in the games I played, not interested in more complexity than I was already dealing with in real life.

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Jarvi Games announced that it has raised $3 million in a seed series funding round.

The investment round was led by Play Ventures with participation from Velo Partners and The Games Fund.

Jarvi Games was established in 2021 by Alexander Lysenko, Ihor Lysenko, Dmitry Burnos, and Serhii Hrynenko.

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Voodoo has announced a new casual and midcore publishing model for mobile and developers.

As reported by PocketGamer.biz, the model aims to focus on mobile titles that have long-term user engagement potential and profitability.

Game creators will be able to submit their titles through the firm's new publishing business page for consideration.

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Zynga unveiled Access All Areas, a virtual studio that offers educational resources for users to learn about various careers within the UK games industry.

Users will take a virtual tour which includes games industry professionals speaking about their positions and learning about game development from pre-production to launch.

The web-based platform inspired by Zynga subsidary NaturalMotion, is intended to help educators, parent, and children.

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These are busy days at Private Division. The company unveiled Piccolo Games' After Us at The Game Awards last week and followed that up today by announcing a new survival horror IP with Bloober Team and the Private Division Development Fund, an ongoing funding, and mentorship program aimed at smaller indie developers.

And in the middle of making all those plans, it's also taking time to look back and celebrate its fifth anniversary.

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Take-Two publishing label Private Division has launched the Private Division Development Fund.

The initiative aims to support smaller studios with mentorship and financing.

While Private Division will be assisting independent developers with the fund, their games will be self-published.

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Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activison Blizzard is facing its biggest regulatory hurdle so far: a legal complaint issued by the US' Federal Trade Commission.

While the FTC does not have the authority to approve or disapprove any given merger, the legal proceedings kicked off by this complaint could ultimately lead to the deal being blocked by US courts.

The FTC has cited concerns over the potential for Microsoft to make the best-selling Call of Duty franchise exclusive to its own ecosystem – pointing to the company's decision to do the same with upcoming Bethesda titles such as Starfield – among other things. But the move is also part of a broader clampdown on massive tech mergers.

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Apple is reportedly planning to allow third-party app stores on iOS in its next major software update.

According to Bloomberg, the move is being encouraged by the EU's new Digital Markets Act, which seeks to ban large platform holders from "gatekeeping" software on their devices.

The new rule says that users must be allowed to install and use third-party apps, as well as be able to sideload software by downloading directly – something Apple has historically not permitted on its hardware.

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The Entertainment Software Association and Gay Gaming Professionals have released a joint statement celebrating the adoption of the Respect for Marriage Act.

The RFMA was signed into law by US President Joe Biden on Tuesday and provides protection to sam-sex and interracial marriages by requiring US federal and state governments to recognize their validity.

The joint statement from the ESA and GGP said: "We celebrate the Respect for Marriage Act, an important piece of bipartisan legislation that safeguards the rights and protections to which same-sex and interracial couples and their families are entitled.

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RuneScape maker Jagex has acquired Gamepires, the Croatian studio best known for open world survival game Scum.

Jagex aims to enable Gamepire's team of over 50 developers to prepare Scum, which has been in early access since August 2018, for a full 1.0 launch.

"Building game communities is the lifeblood of what we do at Jagex, and this shared passion is why we're delighted to welcome Gamepires into the fold," said Jagex CEO Phil Mansell.

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Loot boxes and other in-game microtransactions involving randomisation have been controversial for at least the past five years.

The latest research has presented conflicting evidence as to whether loot box purchasing is practically harmful to players' wellbeing. Some have called these products gambling-like due to conceptual similarities. Indeed, regulators in many countries tried to see whether existing gambling law can be applied to regulate loot boxes. However, after a slew of legal interpretations were published between 2017 and 2018 by the UK, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands, etc., not many substantial developments have occurred with loot box regulation.

This changed in 2022. In the past year, we saw both pre-existing regulatory positions being overturned or proven to be ineffective and new regulatory positions being adopted or proposed in many countries.

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Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard has the potential to rejuvenate games subscriptions, says a leading industry analyst.

It's been a tough year for the subscriptions business model. Microsoft says that it has around 25 million subscribers to Game Pass, which is ten million fewer than it had forecast for the financial year ending March 2022.

PlayStation has simplified and combined its PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now offerings, but a drop of engagement over the summer saw its subscribers drop by 4% (roughly two million people).

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Microsoft has offered Sony the right to include Call of Duty within its PS Plus subscription service, Bloomberg reports.

This is in addition to the deal that would guarantee Call of Duty comes to PlayStation, Nintendo and Steam platforms for at least the next ten years.

One of the concerns from regulators around this deal is the impact subscriptions and streaming may have on the future of gaming, and whether Call of Duty (in particular) would give Microsoft an unassailable advantage over its competitors in these areas.

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Keywords has announced the acquisition of Milan-based PR and communications agency LabCom.

The terms of the acquisition included an initial cash consideration of €1 million, with Keywords issuing "up to 12,412 new ordinary shares as consideration three years following the acquisition date provided certain conditions are met."

LabCom tackles video games PR in Italy, for the likes of Riot Games, Konami and Bethesda, among others. It was founded in 2005 by Marco Giannatiempo, who is still heading the company and its 16 staff.

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