Microsoft had a monumental leak of some of its most sensitive plans this week, as reported by The Verge’s Tom Warren. It was all thanks to someone at Microsoft who didn’t properly upload redacted documents to the Federal Trade Commission. I’ve been thinking about what this means.
And now last night, the United Kingdom’s antitrust regulators gave preliminary approval for Microsoft’s $68.7…
U.K. regulators finally approve Microsoft’s $68.7B acquisition of Activision Blizzard
September 22, 2023
The United Kingdom’s antitrust agency has finally given preliminary approval to Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The Competition and Markets Authority issued a statement today saying it has give preliminary approval. The next step is for the…
Ubisoft is making The Division 3 with Massive Entertainment
September 22, 2023
Ubisoft revealed today that Tom Clancy’s The Division 3 is in the works. Massive Entertainment, the series’ longtime developer, is leading work on the new project while supporting The Division 2. Longtime creative head Julian Gerighty is also returning to the franchise…
Proof of Play raises $33M for Web3 RPG, ex-Twitch CEO joins board
September 21, 2023
Proof of Play announced $33 million in seed funding to fuel the growth of its invite-only, on-chain pirate RPG, Pirate Nation. Players build ships, recruit crew members and battle enemies to compete for glory on the leaderboard.
Since its beta release in December 2022, Pirate Nation has shipped weekly updates. These include card-based combat, island building and community-led world boss raids.
Spectarium raises $5.3M to develop cross-platform ARPG, Myths
September 20, 2023
Spectarium has raised roughly $5.3 million (€5 million) in seed funding to develop its first cross-platform action RPG, Myths. Finnish developer’s debut title will leverage AI to customize the dungeon-crawling gameplay and setting to each player’s tastes. While the…
Last Epoch is an action RPG being built by Redditors
September 20, 2023
Eleventh Hour Games is working on an ambitious action role-playing game called Last Epoch. The developers’ ambition is to create a title that can beat the best RPGs of all time.
There is nothing unusual about that, except that the founding team for the company is a group…
Xbox Game Pass gets Payday 3, Party Animals in late September
September 20, 2023
Xbox Game Pass is getting its second wave of titles in September, which features several day one launch titles. While it’s not as weighty an addition as the one earlier this month — which included Starfield and Lies of P — the new additions do include the upcoming co-op title Payday 3 and multiplayer game Party Animals.
The aforementioned Party Animals, a multiplayer brawler starring animal…
Nintendo’s winter, PlayStation’s fall, Xbox’s MasterCard | Kaser Focus
September 16, 2023
Nintendo and Sony both apparently conspired to have their big September shows on the same day — while I was out of the office, no less. I managed to watch the Direct in the morning (while at the DMV) and I was struck by just how much the company is leaning into Mario this…
NCSoft announces Battle Crush’s closed beta test at Nintendo Direct
September 14, 2023
NCSoft announced the closed beta test for its upcoming title, Battle Crush, at today’s Nintendo Direct. The CBT launches in 25 countries across North America, Europe and Southeast Asia and runs from October 23 through 30, and the game is playable on Nintendo Switch, Steam…
Nintendo reveals Paper Mario, F-Zero titles at September Direct
September 14, 2023
Nintendo today held its September Direct, in which it revealed several games that are coming to the Switch in the upcoming months, as well as a few titles from further along in the calendar. The major announcements include several remakes of older games, including Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, as well as new games in older series, including F-Zero and SaGa.
The major announcements are from…
