#45 Weekly Gaming News Industry Trends Round Up

Gala Games’ lawsuit against Spider Tanks developer Gamedia is dismissed. Sky Mavis launches cross-game onboarding solution Ronin Waypoint. Doom Olympics’ game competition kicks off on Ethereum. Flappy Bird creator says he's not involved in the hit game's return amid references to NFTs and crypto. Unity runtime fee is scrapped reverting back to a subscription model. Nazara acquires 16% stake in web3 esports platform Stan. Italian police seize $52.8M in fake video game consoles from trafficking ring. IBM wins $44.9 million patent infringement suit against Zynga. Team Liquid secure victory at The International 13 Dota 2 Championship. Microsoft is banking on Call of Duty to increase Game Pass subscriptions. Next Battlefield game returns to modern setting and makes other key changes fans asked for. Plus the PS5 Pro has bigger problems than price but exec insists consoles will remain core to the business. All this and much more!

Also in our weekly round-up:

• Diablo 4 players have spent $150 million on skins and microtransactions

• Twitch will start banning 'waiting room' channels

• The ups and downs of growing an independent news site

• Too much attention' to Metacritic scores are forcing games into a formula

• Bungie to compensate artist after Destiny 2 Nerf blaster ripped off work

• McDonald's collab wants to give you in-game items instead of toys

• Are gaming DAOs reshaping the gaming industry as players become stakeholders

Gaming News 🕹️

• Next Battlefield game returns to modern setting and makes other key changes fans asked for

• A Black Myth: Wukong expansion could be coming early next year

• Helldivers 2 updated with new warbond, weapon buffs and enemy Nerfs

• Final Fantasy 16 producer asks fans not to make 'offensive or inappropriate' mods upon PC release

• Space Marine 2 creative director discusses new customization options and IP restrictions

• Pocketpair says Palworld won't go free-to-play, but admits it flirted with the idea

• Valve working on Deadlock anti-cheat measures but they're not in place yet

• Nintendo announces 2 new Mario Kart 8 Switch bundles out this fall

• Neon knight flier Hyperbeat looks like a stylish mash-up of Rez and Osu

• Lego Fortnite is getting its next expansion, the Lost Isles

• 9-minute Starfield deep dive gives a tour of the expansion's new 'handcrafted' planet

• Splatoon 3 updates coming to an end, seasonal events to continue

• 2D run-and-gun and gallery-shooter Neon Inferno announced for PC

• Raiden NOVA coming west on October 31 for PS5, PS4, Switch, and PC

• Five Nights at Freddy's: Into the Pit for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One

• Doom: The Dark Ages - release date, gameplay and everything we know

• The Lollipop Chainsaw remaster is a janky mess

• Harry Potter: Quidditch champions launches on Nintendo Switch

• Until Dawn remade for PC a chilling new experience

Web3 Games 🎯

• Flappy Bird creator says he's not involved in the hit game's return amid references to NFTs and crypto

• Zynga’s crypto gaming team just spun out and revealed a new game

• ‘Catizen’ players angry after surprise changes to Telegram game airdrop

• Telegram’s tap-to-earn gaming craze is falling short in keeping players

• ‘Doom Olympics’ game competition kicks off on Ethereum

• Immutable and SunSpear partner to enhance Immortal: Gates of Pyre

• RPG life sim Tatsumeeko is launching on Ronin in Q4 2024

• Mavens: What’s the future of NFTs in games

• Sky Mavis launches cross-game onboarding solution Ronin Waypoint

• Gameloft making mobile game based on Claynosaurz NFT collection

• CCP reveals blockchain-enabled EVE Frontier space MMORPG

• YGG partners with new web3 gaming network Keystone Protocol

• Gala Games’ lawsuit against Spider Tanks dev Gamedia dismissed

• Earn Alliance launching Telegram game Magic Muffins

• Ashes of Mankind announces upcoming Revenants NFT drop

• Nazara acquires 16% stake in web3 esports platform Stan

Trends 📈

• Diablo 4 players have spent $150 million on skins and microtransactions

• Exclusive: How sci-fi author Peter F. Hamilton is creating a new RPG universe with BioWare veterans

• Twitch will start banning 'waiting room' channels and it's been a year of hard lessons for Twitch and its CEO

• "Core team" of Immortals of Aveum developers joins Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser's Absurd Ventures

• The ups and downs of growing an independent news site (with 404 Media)

• More games should be coming of age stories

• Suda51 says everyone pays 'too much attention' to Metacritic scores and forces games into a formula

• Bungie will compensate an artist after its Destiny 2 Nerf blaster ripped off their work

• McDonald's Genshin Impact collab wants to give you in-game items instead of toys

• Are gaming DAOs reshaping the gaming industry as players become stakeholders

Industry News 🛡️

• Unity runtime fee is scrapped reverting back to a subscription model

• VR developer nDreams announces round of layoffs

• Sony exec says consoles will remain the "core" of its business

• Far Cry VR, Synapse studio nDreams confirms restructuring impacting up to 17.5% of jobs

• IBM wins $44.9 million patent infringement suit against Zynga

• Italian police seize $52.8M in fake video game consoles from trafficking ring

• Bungie's former General Counsel says Sony forced the studio "to fix the things that were wrong with their game"

• Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO interview with Jun Furutani – discussing the series return, game modes

• Microsoft is banking on Call of Duty to increase Game Pass subscriptions

• World of Warcraft union hits out at 'heartless' Microsoft Gaming layoffs

• First Ontario game dev labour union formed at Joydrop, majority of staff who voted reportedly fired

Level Up Your Hardware 🎧

• The best Steam Deck accessories

• PS5 Pro has bigger problems than price

• Intel Core Ultra 200K CPU final specs leak ahead of reveal

• The best gaming monitors in 2024

Events 🗓️

• BGA at Token2049 Singapore Sept 18 -Sept 19

• TwitchCon North America 2024 San Diego USA Sept 20 - Sept 22

• Nexus Dublin Games Conference 2024 Dublin Ireland Sept 25 - Sept 26

• Tokyo Game Show 2024 Sept 26 - Sept 29

• FormatGG Liverpool 2024 Liverpool Uk Sept 26 - Sept 27

• Games Connect Asia Pacific 2024 Melbourne Australia Oct 7 - Oct 9

Esports Players & Teams News 🏆

• BLAST Premier Fall Finals 2024: prize pool, schedule, format and more

• TenZ announces retirement from competitive Valorant

• Team Liquid move on to TI13 finals, as Tundra Esports move to next bracket

• PUBG Global Championship tournament guide

• Overwatch 2's World of Warcraft crossover will let players fight for the Horde or Alliance

• Red Bull's Tekken 8 tournament Golden Letters rewards style points in a Perfect way

• Team Liquid secure victory at The International 13 Dota 2 Championship

Guides, Tips and Tricks 🗝️

• Hitman World of Assassination: The Base Elusive Target Arcade Silent Assassin guide

• All Satisfactory server commands – full list of all server commands and what they do

• How to score free kicks in eFootball 2025

• Apex Legends ordnances explained

• Honor of Kings Championship tournament guide

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

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We are reloading our ammo with gaming, industry, esports, news and trends intel for the next newsletter..

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gmgames.