The Industry Checkpoint - Issue #9

News of the Week

• QA workers at Microsoft’s Raven Software have secured their first union contract after nearly three years of bargaining. The ratified contract will guarantee a 10% wage increase over two years with additional raises through merit and promotions, eliminates crunch and the need for seven days’ notice for mandatory overtime, and expands disability accommodations and layoff protections. Game Developer

• In a Q&A session, Sony CFO Lin Tao said that Marathon is planned to release within the current fiscal year, which ends on March 31. Tao also reiterated Sony’s latest decision to take more control over the studio’s management, which will eventually have the studio integrated into PlayStation Studios. Video Games Chronicle

• Tech and gaming YouTube channel Digital Foundry is now fully independent. Founder Richard Leadbetter has announced that he has “amicably” bought out Ziff Davis with the assistance of former Gamer Network founder Rupert Loman-West. Nintendo Life

Studio News

• Indie games publisher Firestoke is shutting down. CEO Paul Farley announced via a LinkedIn post this week that despite the company “being on the path towards profitability”, the company has run out of money and were unable to secure additional funding. GamesIndustry.biz

• Developers Aggro Crab react to a “microtransaction-riddled” rip-off of their climbing game Peak that has appeared on Roblox. The rip-off game, developed by PewStudios, utilizes an identical art style for its 3d and 2d assets and features similar gameplay it what appears to be a direct imitation (and likely could have legal action taken against it). The development team would rather players “pirate [their] game” than play the rip-off. Eurogamer

• Ziff Davis has laid off employees at IGN Entertainment, including eight members of the IGN Creators Guild. The layoff comes after IGN had a successful year with IGN Live and SDCC. The Verge Games

• Former Dragon Age producer March Darrah has posted the first piece of a two-parter video series about the development of mech co-op shooter Anthem. The first video covers EA’s drive to build live service gaming, a vague initial pitch creating problems with product positioning and vision, staffing allocation disagreements, and negative feedback from other divisions within EA after playtesting. Rock Paper Shotgun

• Demiurge Studios, which has provided co-dev support for 2XKO and Hearthstone, is reportedly laying off staff. Six developers have posted on LinkedIn; the total amount of reduced headcount is unknown. The studio had recently started working on a “AAA action game, based on a beloved IP” and had been hiring staff as recently as last week. Game Developer

• Avalanche Studios has confirmed that Microsoft has stopped development on Contraband, a 1970s era co-op open world game that the team had been working on for five years. Video Games Chronicle

• Skybound Entertainment has hired Kristina Cole (Jam City) as senior vice president of global communications and corporate brand. GamesBeat

• After five years, Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson has departed from Blizzard. Rod previously worked on the Gears of War franchise at both Microsoft and Epic Games. IGN

Business News

• Celebrity-driven Global Gaming League signs six AAA game publishers: Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Tetris, Ubisoft, and EA. The first season of the league will launch on August 23, 2025. GamesIndustry.biz

• A woman from Arizona has been imprisoned for her part in facilitating a remote work scam, using stolen identities, that generated more than $17M. Christina Chapman reportedly assisted North Koreans in posing as US citizens in order to net high-paying, remote IT jobs at 309 US companies. PC Gamer

• Valve has shifted blame to Mastercard restrictions for its recent removal of adult/NSFW games on Steam. Payment processors appear to have objected to the availability of law-abiding adult games by citing one of Mastercard’s specific rules, which gives leeway in allowing in the processor on Mastercard’s behalf to push for removals. Rock Paper Shotgun

Startups and Shutdowns

• 15 years after being shuttered by Activision, RedOctane has been relaunched as RedOctane Games and is now a part of Embracer Group. The studio is founded by ex-Guitar Hero and DJ Hero developers and is focused on advancing the rhythm game genre, with its first title to be announced later this year. GamesIndustry.biz

• Day Off Interactive has been launched in Dublin, Ireland. The studio is “focused on strategy and simulation” games and will be formally announcing its first game next month. GamesIndustry.biz

• Independent production company Lyrical Media has launched a new indie games publisher, Lyrical Games, helmed by Blake Rochkind (Private Division). The new publisher is focused on supporting “imaginative and high-caliber games that live between the extremes of smaller indies and massive AAA productions.” GamesIndustry.biz

• Industry veterans Mike Vorhaus and Michael Pachter have teamed up to provide consulting for games companies. GamesBeat

M&A

• Duolingo has acquired UK startup NextBeat (BeatStar), to make education “more engaging”. The deal establishes Duolingo’s first official presence in the UK. Game Developer

Investments and Partnerships

• The Tekken board game has reached its crowdfunding goal in the first 35 minutes of its campaign launch on Gamefound. PC Gamer

• Smilegate has signed a deal with Absurd Ventures to publish its upcoming game, which is set in the A Better Paradise universe. GamesBeat

• Blue Ocean Games has announced Rising Tide #2, a second round of its funding competition for new game creators. The top 10 winners of the next public vote will receive cash prizes and be invited to pitch to Blue Ocean for up to $300,000 in funding. GamesBeat

• Konami and Arsenal have extended their long-standing partnership, keeping the Gunners a key part of eFootball. Pocket Gamer

Market Insights

• The PlayStation 5 has topped 80 million lifetime sales and is poised to overtake the PlayStation 3, which amassed 87.4 million lifetime sales. Game Developer

• Titan Quest II has sold over 300k copies after its Early Access drop on August 1. MMORPG.com

• Resident Evil Survival Unit has garnered over million sign-ups ahead of its launch later this year. Pocket Gamer

Spotlight: Quarterly Recaps

• Square Enix is down ¥11 billion ($74M USD) in game sales but is optimistic with its remaining 2025 release lineup. Its HD games sector generated more profit this quarter, despite lower sales, due to decreased advertising expenses and “lower development cost amortization”. GamesRadar

• Take-Two reports net bookings for the first-fiscal quarter ended June 30 were up 17% from the same quarter a year ago. The company is raising its fiscal year 2026 net bookings forecast from $6.05B to $6.15B as a result of the strong start to the year. GamesBeat

• Sony raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 4%, as it saw strong growth in games and a smaller impact than expected from tariffs due to Trump’s global trade war. GamesBeat

• Unity has beat its expectations for their second quarter of 2025, which dropped 2% year-on-year. The company expects that their new AI platform, Unity Vector, will improve growth prospects for the company after exceeding expectations this quarter. GamesBeat

Tech Innovations

• Razer is committing to AI and launching the first of three AI hubs that will be based around the world. Razer’s Singapore-based AI hub launched on August 4 and is set to hire approximately 150 AI engineers. PC Gamer

• Microsoft is bringing the Xbox Copilot chatbot to the Windows Game Bar for Windows 11. The Verge Games

• Adventr is launching the Adventur.tv platform. The platform offers tools that allow developers to create their own bespoke voice-controlled titles with multiplayer capabilities and personalization features, to bring them over to Adventr.tv. GamesBeat

In Memoriam: Patrick ‘Thor’ Gass, a US Marines veteran and accessibility engineer for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has passed away. Gass previously worked at Raven Software. Game Developer

See you next week industry watchers,

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