July 2023

Larry 'Major Nelson' Hryb has announced he is leaving his position as director of programming at Xbox Live.

Hryb joined Microsoft in 2001 and moved to the Xbox team in 2003. He spent two decades with the company and was known for his work within the Xbox Live community.

"After 20 incredible years, I have decided to take a step back and work on the next chapter of my career," he shared in an announcement posted to Twitter on July 14.

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UK supermarket chain Tesco will no-longer stock physical video games in its 2,800 stores, Gamesindustry.biz can reveal.

Once the current range of games have sold out, the firm will not be giving any more shelf space to games products. The one exception are digital points cards, which will remain available through its outlets.

The supermarket chain says it's due to the move from its customers "towards digital entertainment".

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TinyBuild does not use AI to spy on employees, CEO Alex Nichiporchik said in a statement.

Nichiporchik has responded to criticism of his presentation, 'AI in Gamedev: Is My Job Safe?' at Develop:Brighton last week.

WhyNowGaming suggested that the TinyBuild CEO recommended managers and HR should use AI to identify "problematic team members."

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Turkey is the latest market to give the thumbs up to Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Spokespeople from both companies announced last week that Turkish regulators have "unconditionally" approved the $68.7 billion deal.

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Original story, July 16, 2023: Another key concern around Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard appears to have been resolved as the former claims it has reached an agreement with rival Sony regarding Call of Duty.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer announced the arrangement via Twitter, writing today that the two platform holders have "signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty of PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard."

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The Federal Trade Commission's last-ditch effort to block Microsoft from acquiring Activision Blizzard before the $68.7 billion dollar deal's deadline has failed.

The FTC filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal after US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the regulator a preliminary injunction that would prevent Microsoft from completing the deal before the Commission's administrative hearing in August.

Judge Corley also denied the FTC an extension to the temporary restraining order that was put in place while the hearing for the injunction took place.

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A voice actor who worked on Genshin Impact alleges they have not been paid for months.

The accusations came from Brandon Winckler, whose professional credits include Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, Monster Hunter: Rise, and Honkai: Star Rail.

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The Sub-Saharan gaming sector hit $863 million in consumer revenue in 2022.

A new report from Newzoo and Carry1st says the figure is up 8.7% year-on-year.

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People Can Fly, the developer behind Outriders, has established a studio in Montreal.

As reported by VGC, the new office joins the company's locations throughout Poland, England, and the US.

The Montreal studio will develop a AAA project led by creative director Roland Lesterlin.

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We racked our collective GI brain for another topic for This Week In Business. We tried, we really did. But there's no escaping it. The thing that must be discussed (yet again) is Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Before you reach for that little 'x' that closes the tab, let's make this as painless as possible with the use of the time-honoured Q&A format and more than a smattering of analysts' insights.

On the off-chance you somehow missed the news this week (if so, have we ever told you we have a daily newsletter?), here's what happened:

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LightSpeed Studios has acquired Destruction AllStars developer Lucid Games.

The UK-based developer revealed the news on Twitter, sharing that it would "continue to enjoy full independence in the games that we create and the operation of the studio, while having the support from LightSpeed Studios' global network and technology capabilities."

Neither Tencent or Lucid Games have disclosed the amount linked to the acquisition.

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During the first six months in Japan, the Nintendo Switch moved 1.94 million consoles across its three model units.

Here's what you need to know for Japan's H1 2023:

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Content warning: Article contains references to racism and racial violence

A Destiny 2 player has been ordered to pay nearly $500,000 in damages to Bungie after racially harassing a community manager last year.

As reported by Game Developer, the unnamed employee featured artwork from a Black creator, Detrick 'Uhmaayyze' Houchens, as part of a spotlight on community members. In response, the player obtained the community manager's personal information and began a campaign of "racist, stochastic terrorism" towards them and their family, the court said.

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Xbox will be supporting a third-party cloud gaming service for the first time, with Anstream Arcade launching on July 21.

The retro streaming platform will provide players with over 1,300 games on the Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, including Space Invaders, Pac Man, and Mortal Kombat. Its catalogue includes titles from Atari, Commodore, Sega, Nintendo, and PlayStation consoles.

Players will be able to choose between an annual subscription to the platform for $29.99 or $79.99 for lifetime access. The service will be available in Europe, UK, USA, and Canada.

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Arm is reportedly in talks with Nvidia to bring the company in as an anchor investor ahead of its IPO.

This is according to the Financial Times, who talked to sources close to the matter. The publication reported that Arm has plans to float on a New York stock exchange as early as September.

The negotiations reportedly underway focus on Arm's valuation, with the SoftBank-owned chip manufacturer hoping to get an investment that'd value it around $80 billion, while Nvidia is aiming for a value between $35 billion to $40 billion.

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Media Molecule has updated Dreams' usage terms, allowing players to use some of their creations outside of the platform's ecosystem.

In a blog post published on Wednesday, the developer clarified that it won't apply to all creations, but personal and commercial use of music, animation, films, and art made in Dreams will be allowed outside the game.

Users will only be allowed to use creations they made themselves.

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The CMA will no longer make its final order on the Activision Blizzard merger next week, the regulator has announced.

Originally the CMA was expected to block the deal formally on July 18, but Microsoft has submitted a 'detailed and complex' proposal that says there has been changes in circumstances. Microsoft has suggested that the CMA should not adopt its plans to block the deal as a result.

The CMA says there is not enough time to consider Microsoft's submission thoroughly, and so has decided to extend the period in which to look at the proposal by six weeks. The revised period will now end August 29, although the CMA hopes to reach a conclusion before that time.

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Engine maker Unity has unveiled its new feature Safe Voice, technology that intends to detect toxic game behavior.

The tool analyzes tone, loudness, and pitch to provide insight to game studios to maintain more positive communities.

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The Polish games industry generated €1.3 billion throughout 2022, up 11% year-on-year.

A new report from the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, Creative Industries Development Center, and Game Industry Conference in Poland says digital distribution makes up 85% of game sales in the country.

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Naughty Dog's live-action adaptation of The Last of Us has been named in 24 Emmy categories.

The series trails behind another HBO drama, Succession, leading with 27 nominations.

The Television Academy has it up for drama series, Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series, and Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series categories.

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Today, in a keynote, EA provided details for EA Sports FC 24, its new rebranded football title.

The show kicked off with CEO Andrew Wilson sharing a story of his youth as a football fan, culminating in the executive sharing that the firm eventually aims to connect with one billion football fans.

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Cloud Imperium, the creator of Star Citizen, has acquired game developer Turbulent.

The addition of the studio comes after the two companies have worked together for more than ten years on developing Star Citizen.

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Google will now allow developers to include NFTs in their applications on the Google Play store.

Apps that don't adhere to Google Play's Real-Money Gambling, Games, and Contests policy will not be able to accept money for chances to win assets such as cryptocurrency.

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Three million digital and physical video games were sold in the UK last month.

The latest GSD data shows that game sales are up 7%, which is a modest result considering the number of big releases in June compared with the same period last year.

Diablo 4 obliterated all competition to be the clear No.1 best-selling game in June.

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Sony Group is significantly increasing its research and development investments into its games segment, with a particular focus on live service games and opportunities in extended reality.

Nikkei Asia reports the platform holder will dedicate ¥300 billion to games R&D for the current fiscal year, which ends on March 30, 2024 – now more than Sony's investment in electronics and semiconductors..

This is an 11% increase on the ¥271.1 billion ($2 billion) spent on this segment in the previous financial year, and more than double the ¥144.5 billion ($1 billion) invested in fiscal 2020.

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The Develop:Star Awards took place last night, recognising the exceptional work of the games industry over the past year.

God of War Ragnarök from Santa Monica Studio took home three awards, including Best Game, Best Narrative, and Best Audio.

Guerilla’s Horizon Call of the Mountain — co-developed by UK studio Firesprite — won Best Visual Art and Best Technical Innovation.

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The video games sector continues to be one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, with the market expected to reach $205 billion by 2025 according to Newzoo. It’s an exciting time. However, a significant challenge remains: the shortage of tech skills.

For small and large companies, sourcing and retaining talent has become increasingly challenging as the broader technology ecosystem is chasing employees with similar experience.

Unsurprisingly, the competition for strong candidates in the video games industry is high. The sector’s constant need for both B2B and B2C activity means there’s a wealth of opportunity for employees to carve out hugely successful careers. But when viewed in the context of competition from the many other tech sectors, recruitment becomes less of a healthy challenge and more of a critical business issue that studios need to address.

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[Correction: This article originally stated Activision Blizzard will be delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange. This is incorrect. Instead, it is being removed from the listed indexes due to the Microsoft acquisition being deemed "highly probable" and likely to have an adverse "effect on the integrity of the index," according to Nasdaq's methodology.

In preparation for its proposed acquisition by Microsoft, Activision Blizzard will be removed from four Nasdaq indexes.

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More than 50 classic games, like Turmac Roll and Snowmuncher, are playable for the first time in years

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The sequel series will center on a new member of the Belmont clan

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The Thanedd battle has been a long time coming and was ‘every designer’s dream’

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Horse Ranch? No, Horse Everywhere

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Big adventures, lots of dialogue, and spicy romance

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Our picks for the best anime new to streaming this year

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Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 will finally welcome Jimmy Neutron

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YouTube success stories Danny and Michael Philippou on their new A24 horror movie, and the likely responses

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Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages interact, so either can be the other’s sequel

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Fictional products like Duff beer in The Simpsons, or even fake movies like Stab in the Scream franchise have always been a huge part of entertainment. Even though real-life games have appeared in famous movies, like the time Thor played Fortnite in Avengers: Endgame, many video games have also been made up for the screen. From Disney animated movies to Black Mirror, many fictional games were invented either to make a good original story or just to poke fun at something that already exists. Some were more creative than others, and some just aimed to be hilarious. Some of the games on this list had actual titles released simultaneously with their original media. Still, just like the Wonka bars from Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory, it’s just not as magical in the real world. With that said, let’s check out the best games in TV shows and movies that we’d love to play — and we mean the exact version from the screen, not a cheap knockoff.

Nintendo has just announced the August Splatfest in Splatoon 3. This time, the theme involves a particular set of life priorities. The Splatoon team wants to know what is most important to you: money, fame, or love?

Splatoon 3 players will be able to vote for which of these three teams they prefer. Then, they will battle it out in Turf War matches to win the Splatfest.