#31 Weekly Gaming News Industry Trends Round Up

Ikea is hiring Roblox players to run its virtual store. Sony apologizes for fabricated interview. New COD won't be locked behind a new Game Pass tier. Star Citizen still has no release date but has raised over $700m. Spider Tanks dev Gamedia slams Gala Games. Animoca and EVG are boosting each other for mutual benefit. Web3 gaming platform Metacade expands to Base. Square Enix’s blockchain momentum grows as Symbiogenesis NFTs mint out. Take-Two is still hoping to bring its franchises to mobile platforms. Naughty Dog confirms it is making The Last of Us 3 and even more single-player games. Amazon publishing narrative-led racer from former Forza Horizon devs. Nvidia G-Assist does exist and it’s a peek at our PC gaming AI future. GTA 7 officially teased before Grand Theft Auto 6 release. All this plus much more!

Also in our weekly round-up:

• Sequence integrating with Arbitrum L3 Xai

• Discord’s turning the focus back to games

• CS2 scout quotes a $5 million price tag on superstar

• IFA president confirms they are making a new football game

• Fallout 76 has 20M players thanks to boost from Prime series

• PS Plus player count takes a hit

• YouTube playables are out now with over 75 games available

• Sony investing in a new platformer mascot with Astro Bot is a good sign

Gaming News 🕹️

• Star Citizen still doesn't have a release date, but has raised over $700m

• GTA 6 publisher addresses lack of PC news, stating Rockstar will make more announcements in due time

• Valve trademarks Deadlock, the hero shooter it still won't confirm exists

• Neil Druckmann confirms Naughty Dog is making The Last of Us 3, and even more single player games

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 won't be locked behind a new Xbox Game Pass tier

• Starfield has something big going on behind the scenes

• Former Activision studio Toys for Bob partners with Xbox to publish its first game as an indie

• Monolith's AAA Wonder Woman game experiencing development troubles

• God of War Ragnarök next Sony game coming to PC - and an account for PlayStation Network is required

• Sony investing in a new platformer mascot with Astro Bot is a good sign

• PlayStation reveals first look at Concord's 5v5 FPS gameplay, out this August on PS5 and PC

^{Continue catching up with gaming news right after our sections on Trends, Web3 Games, Industry News, Esports, Tournaments, and Events!}

Trends 📈

• Minecraft animated series announced for Netflix

• Just Cause movie is on the way

• Can FSR 3 frame generation deliver the 120fps dream on PS5 and Xbox?

• Ten Square Games' Q1 profits beat the whole of 2023 as it powers up with AI

• Esports tournament platform Gamerji launches operations in Southeast Asia

• ESL FACEIT Group opens broadcast hub in Saudi Arabia

• Take-Two is still hoping to bring its franchises to mobile platforms

• Ikea is hiring Roblox players to run its virtual store

• YouTube Playables are out now with over 75 games available

• Elder Scrolls 6 shouldn’t be held to console exclusivity

• Nvidia G-Assist does exist and it’s a peek at our PC gaming AI future

• Baldur's Gate 3 game's success is helping other RPGs, giving them a bit of leverage in the next business meeting

• Rockstar Games owner predicts AI won't steal any jobs - It's not going to make people irrelevant

• Exploring the intersection between A.I. and indie game development

• Fallout 76 has 20M players thanks to boost from Prime series

• Hyper casual games lead ad media buys at 34% share, with US at the forefront of ad spend

Web3 Games 🎯

• Top 50 blockchain game companies of 2024

• Spider Tanks dev Gamedia slams Gala Games: “opportunistic, greedy, and evil”

• Beam Trading volumes peak on Upbit, awaits Web3 game builders

• Taki Games is now Unite and is leading the charge in Web3 gaming infrastructure and $2 million in-game airdrop campaign

• Xai partners with Sequence on Web3 tools for game devs

• Readyverse Studios shows launcher for discovering metaverse games

• Pudgy Penguins teams up with Mythical Games for 2025 blockchain mobile game

• Arbitrum is about to unlock $250 million in funds for Ethereum games

• Com2uS brings 'Walking Dead' and 'Summoner's War' games to Oasys Network

• CFPB report targets games and virtual worlds - what blockchain game and metaverse companies need to know

• Sequence integrating with Arbitrum L3 Xai

• Web3 gaming platform Metacade expands to Base

• Ronin updates: Pixels’ chapter 2 plus Ragnarok and Wild Forest NFTs sell out

• Animoca and EVG announce deal to boost each other’s games

• Square Enix’s blockchain momentum grows as Symbiogenesis NFTs mint out

• Play AI raises $4.3 million at $70 million valuation

• Gamefam launches $5 million fund for UGC creators

Industry News 🛡️

• The Morning After: Sony apologizes for fabricated ‘interview’ with Last of Us studio head

• Bungie responds after Destiny 2 The Final Shape was "accidentally pushed live on PS5" early

• Todd Howard says Fallout renaissance is "beyond anything" he's seen in his career

• Everything announced at PlayStation's State of Play

• Valorant studio head tells toxic players to "play something else, we won't miss you"

• GAME shutting reward scheme next month - and you should use any remaining credit while you still can

• Apeks undergoes layoffs, shifts resources to VALORANT

• PlayStation 5 "most profitable generation to date", Sony says

• Avalanche Studios closes New York and Montreal locations, laying off nine percent of staff

• Google employee leaked private videos from Nintendo’s YouTube channel

• Geoff Keighley tries to “set expectations” for upcoming Summer Game Fest

• Nintendo gained employees over last fiscal year

• Stolen Playdates equaling $400,000 found outside restaurant

• PS Plus player count takes a hit

• Didimo unveils new character editor in Popul8 game dev tool

• Discord’s turning the focus back to games

• It’s another record-breaking year for Pokémon as revenue reaches $1.9 billion

Level Up Your Hardware 🎧

• The PC adapter for PlayStation VR2 arrives this August with some drawbacks

• Lego just announced the first-ever Zelda playset and it's glorious

• The Spacetop G1 is an AR laptop with no screen

• The ASUS ROG Ally X improves on the original in all the right ways

• Sonos Ace headphones review: an impressive but incomplete debut

• New Nvidia App update adds safe GPU overclocking and AV1 recording

• Rumor: The New Xbox could have built in AI

• MSI is already planning to release a new Claw gaming handheld

• This new Lian Li case could revolutionize gaming PC design

• Palmer Luckey unveils ModRetro Chromatic gaming handheld

• Top 50 blockchain game companies of 2024

Esports Players & Teams News 🏆

• The International 2024 overview: teams, schedule, location

• Gaming and esports campus in Croatia receives €26m in financing

• OpTic and Juventus launch apparel capsule

• Dubai investor acquires 8.28% of Guild Esports voting shares

• Team Liquid enters EA FC with Team Gullit

• Team Falcons secures multi-year Mobile Legends deal with Ap.Bren

• A huge ambition to expand: Team Vitality and its new signings ahead of the Esports World Cup

• Team Flash partners with Razer

• Honor of Kings Esports Partnership Program announced following $15 million investment

• CS2: IEM Dallas 2024 sees massive viewership increase over 2023 edition

• Thieves, Surge improve to 2-0 at CDL Stage 4 Major qualifying

• OWCS Dallas Major 2024: Team Falcons continue their dominance

• aNc Outplayed grab win in incredibly tight ALGS Pro League lobby

• Riot dishes out multiple permabans to VCS players after LoL competitive integrity investigation

• LCS officially brings back best-of-3 series, revamps LoL playoff format for 2024 Summer Split

• Destiny 2 servers go dark for The Final Shape

• CS2 scout quotes a $5 million price tag on superstar

• DRX promotes Flashback to its Valorant roster, replacing Stax

• G2 are the IEM Dallas champions

• Combo Breaker Tekken 8 sets new viewership record for the series

• Fnatic enters Tekken 8, signs Mangja to its roster

• Blacklist Rivalry sweeps Talon Esports to secure Riyadh Masters slot

• League of legend's Hall of Legends event details

• Complexity disqualified from HCS London due to equipment tampering

Tournament, League & Season News 🏅

• Teamfight Tactics unveils Inkborn Fables Tactician’s Crown format

• Inaugural FC Pro World Championship to take place in Germany

• RMR’s for Shanghai Major 2024 to take place offline in China

• Classic MMO is hosting a $25,000 PvP tournament anyone can enter

• Esports World Cup announces $1,250,000 Fortnite tournament

…Gaming News Continued 🕹️

• Amazon publishing narrative-led racer from former Forza Horizon devs, Skins co-creator

• Capcom reveals first Monster Hunter Wilds gameplay in new trailer

• Silent Hill 2 remake gets October launch date and new gameplay trailer

• Dynasty Warriors: origins coming in 2025

• Until Dawn arrives on PS5 and PC this fall

• Alien: Rogue incursion VR gameplay revealed in new trailer

• Path Of Exile 2 begins early access later this year and is coming to PS5

• Little Nightmares III moves into 2025

• The First Descendant: Nexon aims for the west with new RPG shooter

• Until Dawn is coming to PS5 and PC this fall

• The brilliant Marvel's Midnight Suns looks to be next Epic Games Store freebie

• Diablo 4 celebrates its first anniversary by giving you "a goblin's heap" of free gifts

• Baldur's Gate 3 patch 7 adds official modding toolkit this autumn

• Fabledom Review — a magical city-builder

• A former PlayStation console exclusive is headed to Xbox this summer

• Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater reportedly delayed to 2025

• FIFA president confirms they are making a new football game

• Destiny 2 DLC accidentally pushed live on PlayStation 5 early

• New open world MMO racing game takes 200 hours to unlock the best cars

• Super realistic Escape from Tarkov rival launches new Steam playtest

• After three years of hype, amazing new FPS game finally lands on Steam

• Overlooked Steam shooter inspired by Left 4 Dead has a huge new update

• GTA 7 already officially teased before Grand Theft Auto 6 release

• Bodycam release date, gameplay, and trailers

• Venom and Adam Warlock are coming to Marvel Rivals, closed beta in July

• Splatoon 4 is in the works at Nintendo, says new rumor

Events 🗓️

• Central Asia Game Show 2024 June 6 - June 8

• XP Game Summit 2024 June 13 - June 14

• DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 June 14 - June 15

• HIT Games Conference Barcelona 2024 June 20 - June 21

• Gamescom Latam 2024 June 26 - June 30

• TwitchCon Europe 2024 June 26 - June 30

• Games for Change Festival 2024 June 27 - June 28

• Develop:Brighton 2024 July 9 - July 11

Guides, Tips and Tricks 🗝️

• Helldivers 2 players think they've created a wormhole

• The Rogue Prince of Persia: 9 beginner tips

• Call of Duty Warzone: Where to get Tac-Sprint Boots | New bunkers update

• Where to find Diablo 4 Hanged Man's Hall and fight Andariel

• How to get Midair Kills in Modern Warfare 3 easily

Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest news and announcements!

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