GamesIndustry

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is the wildcard in Microsoft’s bid to acquire Activision Blizzard.

Whereas you can make educated guesses on what the US and EU regulators might do, the CMA has made some big and surprising decisions since the UK exited the European Union.

This is because the group now has more powers to look at a broader range of mergers and acquisitions, which would have previously only been seen by the European Commission. As a result, the CMA blocked three deals from taking place over the last year, the highest it’s ever prohibited. This included Facebook/Meta’s acquisition of Giphy. The CMA also blocked the high-profile merger of Sainsbury’s and Asda in 2019, which shows it’s unafraid to get in the way of some of the biggest deals.

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The PlayStation 5 has broken past two million sales in the UK.

It is the fourth fastest home console to reach the figure, matching the PS3 but behind the PS4 (No.3), the PS2 (No.2) and Nintendo Wii (No.1). All data is courtesy of GfK.

The console's performance has been held back due to stock shortages. Nevertheless, it is the most lucrative console to reach two million sales, having generated £919 million. By comparison, Wii had generated £358 million at two million sales, PS4 £700 million and Xbox One (the previous highest) £726 million.

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Mobile games publisher Homa Games announced that it has raised $100 million in a Series B funding round.

Last year the company amassed a total of $65 million in funding.

The company was founded by CEO Daniel Nathan and chief revenue officer Le Bas in 2018. It is based in Paris, Ile-de-France.

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Testronic announced that it has launched a new localization studio in Lisbon, Portugal.

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in London, the firm offers companies games services such as translation and live operation support.

Testronic also said that the Libson office will strengthen its functionality QA services and player support operations.

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Wizards of the Coast has announced that video game developer Tuque Games has been renamed Invoke Studios.

Established in 2012 and based in Montreal, the company developed the 2016 cooperative shooter Livelock.

During 2019, Invoke was acquired by Wizards of the Coast and it is currently developing a AAA game based on the Dungeons and Dragons IP.

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[Content warning: The following story contains details of sexual harassment and blackmail.]

Activision Blizzard is being sued by another former employee alleging sexual harassment, according to the Daily Mail.

The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by a woman identified as Jane Doe, who claims product manager Miguel Vega groped her, belittled her, and made frequent unwanted sexual advances toward her.

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A lawsuit filed against Funplus International and KingsGroup Holdings claims that the pair have been misleading consumers for years about sales in the mobile game State of Survival.

As reported by Top Class Actions, the complaint accuses the companies of advertising limited time sales next to supposedly normal prices, even though it never actually charged users the normal price. The suit was filed on September 2 in a California federal court.

The complaint alleges misleading practices which include users that they will receive a discounts of 99%. For example, players would pay $9.99 for a bundle the companies claimed was usually priced at $997.40.

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Steam Deck, Valve's portable games device, launched earlier this year and gives players a Switch-like experience for playing PC games.

After months of long wait times for anyone who ordered, Valve has announced the Steam Deck is now readily available for purchase – so what better time to ensure your PC titles are compatible with it?

At GI Live: London last month, Valve designer Alden Kroll and business development head Erik Peterson answered developer questions and gave advice on a range of subjects, including how to optimise your game for Steam Deck.

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Yesterday, we ran a story about a panel in which Haven Studios CEO Jade Raymond and chief technology officer Leon O'Reilly talked with PlayStation 4 and 5 hardware architect Mark Cerny about the studio's experiments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, and how such technologies might shape the industry in the future.

After the panel, we are given a chance to speak with O'Reilly and Raymond about the Montreal studio's hopes for the new tech. Both been around the games industry for a while, and they've seen a variety of heavily hyped new technologies come down the pipe – digital distribution, stereoscopic 3D, AR, VR, cloud streaming – and succeed or fail to widely varying degrees. Wtih that in mind, we ask if their attitude toward each "next big thing" has changed over the years.

"I'm still very optimistic," O'Reilly says. "We're very focused on game development for a lot of these technologies, and we're very clear on what problems we're trying to solve and how these will more efficiently solve them. When you have consumer-facing technologies, you don't always know whether there's going to be a market there for your technology or not, and that's often why they fail.

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As international anti-trust regulators examine Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has come out in favor of the union.

In an interview with The Wrap, Zelnick stopped short of predicting what the regulators would decide, but said he would welcome the deal going ahead.

"We're certainly of the belief that it's a good thing for Microsoft and for the industry," Zelnick said. "We're in favor… It's a highly fragmented business and there's plenty of room for creativity to go around. Microsoft is an ally of ours, and if this makes their business more powerful, we think that's good for us."

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US publisher Whitethorn Games has shared its publishing agreement online, alongside a transparency report that gives insight into how much its staff are paid, the amount of funding its games get, and how much the firm recoups in return.

According to the report, Whitethorn takes an average of 28% of a title's net revenue, with the lowest and highest percentage ever requested being 8% and 35%, respectively.

It also states that the average amount of funding a title receives stands at $232,000, with the highest figure spent on one game alone hitting $340,000. The average marketing spend per title falls at approximately $56,000.

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Sony paid $3.5 million to secure Ark Survival Evolved as a PlayStation Plus title in March 2022.

The information was shared as part of an SEC filing from Studio Wildcard parent company Snail Games, VGC reported.

The report also included some information about Studio Wildcard's deal with Microsoft to have Ark titles on Game Pass. The initial agreement expired in 2021, but was then extended for Ark: Survival Evolved, while Ark 2 will be on Game Pass for three years.

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The Competition and Markets Authority has detailed its concerns over Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The UK regulator is seen as the key element as to whether this deal would be allowed to go ahead. The deal did not pass the initial phase of approval, and has been sent to a second phase.

Now the group has cited its concerns over the deal, and Microsoft has responded to them.

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Google has unveiled a range of Chromebooks "built for cloud gaming," despite only recently announcing the upcoming shutdown of its own cloud gaming service Stadia.

Eurogamer reports the firm released details of the Ideapad Gaming Chromebook, the Asus Chromebook Vibe CX55 Flip and the Acer Chromebook 516 GE, all of which have been built to specifications that enable games streaming.

All three will have 120Hz+ high resolution screens, and have been tested by GameBench to run titles at 120 frames per second with input latency of less than 85ms. Models will either have WiFi 6 or 6E connections, and some will feature RGB gaming keyboards.

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Meta announced during its Connect Keynote 2022 that it has acquired Camouflaj, Armature Studio, and Twisted Pixel.

The news of the three studios joining Oculus Studios took place as it also revealed the Meta Quest Pro.

Founded in 2011, Camouflaj developed the adventure title République for consoles and PC. It was revealed that the studio has partnered with Marvel Entertainment, Endeavor One, and Sony Interactive Entertainment to bring Marvel's Iron Man VR to the Meta Quest 2 on November 3.

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Original story, October 11, 2022: Meta unveiled the Meta Quest Pro during its Connect Keynote 2022 today.

The new VR headset will launch on October 25 at $1,499, with 256 GB in storage.

When compared to the Meta Quest 2, the Pro's optical lenses will be 40% lighter, Meta said. It will also feature higher-resolution screens.

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The finalists for the 2022 Best Places To Work Awards Canada have been revealed.

Electronic Arts and Relic Entertainment have been nominated in four categories, while Behaviour Interactive has picked up three nominations.

These are the finalists for our Special Awards only, which are for excellence in specific areas. The winners of these awards, plus the main Best Places badge winners, will be revealed on Tuesday, October 18th during a digital awards presentation (airs 2pm Montreal time).

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QA outsourcing firm Quantic Labs is facing more allegations of poor management and deceiving its clients, according to sources at the company.

Speaking to PC Gamer, two current and eight former employees at the Embracer-owned company, said it was allegedly accepting more projects than it had the capacity for on a consistent basis.

As a result, its staff were reportedly spread too thin, leading to projects without enough resources and poor quality work being delivered to clients on titles including Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, Divinity: Original Sin 2 and others.

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By now, Haven Studios should be comfortable working on the technological edge.

After all, much of the studio's founding team came from Google, where they were working to create first-party Stadia games that would showcase the power of cloud streaming technology.

Haven is with Sony these days – the PlayStation maker provided investment for the start-up and outright acquired it earlier this year – but the devs have still been relying on cloud tech to help with hybrid remote/local development, and are looking to push the envelope to see how other emerging technologies can change the way games are made.

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Dune: Spice Wars developer Shiro Games has a new investor, Cathay Capital.

The French studio didn't disclose the deal's figures but French newspaper Les Echos reported that the investment was just shy of €50 million.

The publication added that it's Cathay Capital's first investment in the games industry, with Shiro now valued at €150 million.

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Splatoon 3 was comfortably the biggest selling game at Japanese retail last month.

Nintendo's cartoony shooter shifted 2.7 million physical copies following its release on September 9, according to the latest charts from Famitsu.

The platform holder previously announced that Splatoon 3 sold 3.45 million physical and digital copies in Japan within three days, making it Switch's fastest-selling game in the company's home market. It also scored the franchise's first No.1 in the UK retail charts.

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Xbox Game Pass reportedly generated $2.9 billion on consoles during the calendar year 2021, according to documents from Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defence.

The figures were shared by TweakTown, based on documents released by CADE following its approval of the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard deal last week.

Revenue made from Game Pass on PC was not included, and there wasn't any further detail about the figure.

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Update, October 11, 2022: Playrix has confirmed it is pulling out of Russia and Belarus "due to the continued aggression against Ukraine and in order to maintain its operations."

The company clarified that it already ceased commercial activities in these two markets at the beginning of the war. It has since relocated hundreds of employees to offices across Europe, including new ones opened this year.

Now the company will close all offices in Russia and Belarus, shut down all operations of any development studios in the region, and relocate any remaining staff to other countries.

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If you're reading this article, it's highly likely you know what a soft launch is and why we need it. So instead of focusing on things you might already know, we'll concentrate on mistakes developers and publishers commonly make when they launch their mobile games.

We'll take Love & Flowers, one of the games from our portfolio that was eventually cancelled, as an example, going through its problems and some ways to solve them.

Soft launch is the release of a game to a restricted audience in advance of a worldwide launch in order to improve the product based on the received feedback.

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Dmitri Johnson, co-producer of the successful Sonic the Hedgehog movie series, has partnered up with John Wick writer Derek Kolstad to launch Story Kitchen, a new media firm.

Johnson is the founder of dj2 Entertainment, which is best known for bringing video game adaptations to the big screen and beyond. The studio's other upcoming projects include a Tomb Raider TV series, and an It Takes Two movie based on Hazelight's hit game.

Kolstad is best known for his work on the John Wick movie series, but is also currently working on a Splinter Cell anime with Netflix.

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Activision Blizzard has appointed Lulu Cheng Meservey as executive vice president for corporate affairs and chief communications officer.

In this newly created role, Meservey is due to "shape the company’s strategic direction" and "lead its communications efforts" as part of the leadership team, the announcement said.

Meservey had been serving on Activision Blizzard's board since April; she stepped down from the board to take on her new role. She also was part of the company's workplace responsibility committee that was created in 2021 after the lawsuit for harassment and discrimination against women filed against the company in July 2021.

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A new desktop app set to replace EA's Origin is now available to download.

Simply dubbed the EA app, the "new, enhanced PC platform" will see Origin, which launched in 2011, slowly phased out.

Access to games and content, plus progress, achievements, cloud saves and friends lists and other data pertaining to Origin accounts should transfer seamlessly over to the EA app.

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Five months after being acquired by Embracer, Square Enix Montreal has now been renamed Onoma.

In a post on its new website going into detail about the rebrand, the company explained that Onoma is Greek for "name," adding that a "Rebrand Squad" was created soon after the studio was acquired, in May 2022.

The post said that a total of 165 names were considered before settling on Onoma, with one of the main criteria being for it to "be easy to pronounce in both French and English."

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Advertising service provider Fourth Floor has acquired video production company Explosive Alan.

Founded in 2017, it has collaborated with gaming firms such as Ubisoft, Square Enix, and NetEase.

The company said that with the acquisition it aims to grow its audience via marketing, animation and social media sales.

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In-game advertising and video game monetization platform Bidstack announced that it's acquired $11 million in a new funding round.

Founded in 2015, the company has gone on to work with game publishers such as Codemasters and Take-Two.

The latest funding round included a $6 million investment from software giant and Denuvo owner Irdeto.

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Valve has announced that the Steam Deck is now readily available for purchase, this news comes a year after the handheld system was announced back in July 2021.

Months prior the platform holder said that pre-order wait times became shorter.

Last year, parts shortages and COVID-related factory closures prompted delays both to the system itself and accessories like the docking station.

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Games publisher Gamuzumi said its upcoming titles Hot Tentacles Shoot and Elves Christmas Hentai Puzzle were rejected by Nintendo for featuring nudity.

The company said on Twitter that Nintendo was concerned that obscene content could damage its brand.

Previous Gamuzumi releases with ESRB descriptors for nudity included Elves Fantasy Hentai Puzzle and Inside Her (Bedroom), which remain available as of this writing.

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CD Projekt announced a lot of games this week. Perhaps too many.

The company released its group strategy update on Tuesday, a presentation primarily for investors but shared publicly where the studio's ravenous fans could start lapping up what few details were given.

The long and the short of it was, in addition to the bits and pieces the company's development teams are already working on (such as the Phantom Liberty DLC for Cyberpunk 2077 and the next-gen update for The Witcher 3 they're supposed to be working on), the company now has seven new projects in the works:

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Media firm Vice has let go of several employees this week, across its games vertical Waypoint and technology arm Motherboard.

Among the staff let go are former Motherboard staff writers Gita Jackson and Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, and former audience development manager Rachel Pick.

Both Franceschi-Bicchierai and Pick had been working across Waypoint and Motherboard for seven years, while Jackson joined Motherboard in 2020.

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Preparing any sort of pitch can be nerve-wracking enough, whether it's for funding or a publishing deal. That's why the GamesIndustry.biz Academy has an entire family of guides dedicated to pitching.

But when you're pitching for the chance to develop a game around an established intellectual property – especially one that's already popular around the world – there can be an added level of intensity.

Fortunately, one studio that has been through this process multiple times has shared its secrets.

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After being predicted so widely and for so long, the end, when it finally came, was anti-climactic. Google lost patience with Stadia, just as most people had expected it to from the outset.

Establishing a foothold in the games business takes far more money, perseverance, and time than anyone ever expects – just ask Microsoft – and Google may have plenty of the former, but it’s rarely credited with being good at maintaining focus long-term in the face of adversity.

Stadia wasn’t an instant hit; Google’s attention drifted, and eventually, with one swift pivot, Stadia just wasn’t on the roadmap any more at all.

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The European Union's antitrust regulators are preparing for their investigation into Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, including issuing surveys to developers to gauge their concerns over the deal.

Reuters reports the EU is due to make a preliminary decision on whether to approve the acquisition by November 8. Survey respondents have until October 10 to reply.

It's expected that the European Commission will begin a four-month long investigation into the deal, in line with reports from last month.

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Ubisoft has created a new global creative office, which it says will elevate creativity and ensure that it delivers high quality games.

The organization will be made of poles, which Ubisoft said "will leverage [their] expertise to dive into the specificities of [their] audiences, game design and tech."

The company added that moving anyway from being a centralized firm can better support the key segments of the company.

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Sensor Tower reports that to date, consumers worldwide have spent $1 billion on Harry Potter mobile games.

When the global revenue was broken down by digital storefronts, the App Store made up the majority at 66% of player earnings, having generated $683 million.

The Google Play marketplace pulled in 33% of earnings at $342.5 million.

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Newzoo released a new report which says that the cloud gaming market is set to generate $2.4 billion this year.

The 2022 Global Cloud Gaming Report's forecasted figure represents an increase of 74% year-over-year.

In terms of cloud gaming consumer spending by region, Asia-Pacific was number one, making up 36.5% of revenue. Europe followed having generated 30% of the earnings and North America was third at 27%.

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