#54 Weekly Gaming News Industry Trends Round Up

Animoca reports 34 million active wallets on TON. Illuvium announced that G-Shock NFTs are set to launch as part of its Beyond collectors game. Off The Grid joins Xbox Preview. Nifty Island is set to launch its token. Portal launches cross-chain crypto gaming hub and wallet platform for players. Helldivers 2 wins Game of the Year at the 2024 TIGA Awards. Palworld is expanding to a huge new island in December. Fortnite's latest event breaks its record, with more than 14 million players. Amazon Prime members get 18 free games in December. CoD: Black Ops 6 Zombies new map details and major gameplay improvements revealed. Lies of P developer's next project will be a sci-fi survival horror and Roblox wants to reward you for evading app store fees. All this plus much more!

Also in our weekly round-up:

• Handheld consoles are the industry's next battleground in gaming

• Star Citizen funding passes $750m

• Xbox's plan to see games via Android app delayed by court order

• Samsung patents tablet with stylus and extendable display

• Cameram4n no longer part of M80, currently listening to coaching opportunities

Gaming News 🕹️

• Helldivers 2 wins Game of the Year at the 2024 TIGA Awards

• Palworld is expanding to a huge new island in December

• Fortnite's latest event breaks its record, with more than 14 million players

• Lies of P developer's next project will be a sci-fi survival horror

• Amazon Prime members get these 18 free games in December

• CoD: Black Ops 6 Zombies new map details and major gameplay improvements revealed

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle install size is 131GB, view the full PC specs, and the new launch trailer

• PlayStation 5 Pro Gran Turismo 7 PSSR implementation is among the best to date, despite some issues; handles 8K upscaling well

• All NASCAR games will be delisted December 31st, confirms Motorsport Games

• A difficult game about driving is a difficult game about driving

• Stop talking s** about us - Half-Life 2 mod blacklists a handful of YouTubers as 'anticitizens' and blocks them from playing

• Hyperdrive Inn is a Lucasarts-style adventure game made entirely from scanned fabric samples

• Phasmophobia sales top one million on consoles, total sales approach 22 million

• Commandos: Origins release has been pushed to March 2025

• Ubisoft shutting down XDefiant in 2025, laying off half of its team

• EVO Japan 2025 title lineup announced

• Forza Horizon 4 and 12 other games are leaving Xbox Game Pass in December but a batch of new games are coming

• Stardew Valley is officially the best game for reducing stress, study finds

• PlayStation reveals huge 500-game sale in celebration of 30th anniversary

• The Game Awards Players Voice Award nominees revealed: the 30 games that can be voted on by fans

• The Hidden Ones, the martial arts action title announces pre-alpha test for Android and PC in select regions

Web3 Games 🎯

• Animoca reports 34 million active wallets on TON

• MetaGravity partners with ChronoForge to unlock multiplayer features

• Wild Forest’s WF token sale on Ronin starts 5th December

• Blocklords’ Lordchain launches master validator on its blockchain platform

• Off The Grid joins Xbox Preview with more expansions in the coming months

• Animoca Brands invests into Pudgy Penguins’ headco Igloo Inc

• Mantle L2 onboards 17 games to expand blockchain gaming projects

• Illuvium announced that G-Shock NFTs are set to launch as part of its Beyond collectors game

• Nifty Island is set to launch its token this month right as other crypto gaming tokens surge

• The Sandbox, Decentraland, and Gala gaming tokens pump after long lull

• Fortnite-like game 'OpenSeason' is burning 82% of its token supply

• Portal launches cross-chain crypto gaming hub and wallet platform for players

• Telegram Tap-to-Earn game ‘Captain Tsubasa: Rivals’ reveals token plans

• Telegram game 'Major' opens token claims ahead of its airdrop

• Telegram game 'W-Coin' will start burning players' airdrop allotments due to inactivity

• Attack on Titan survival game launches in The Sandbox platform

• Moonray gives away 220K NFTs in OpenSea’s largest gaming mint

Trends 📈

• Handheld consoles are the industry's next battleground in gaming

• Nintendo Switch ending online support exposes fragility of gaming partnerships in China

• Riot Games will now ban creators for bad conduct even if it's not said in-game

• New report claims gamers spend more time watching videos about gaming than playing games

• The art of balance in community management

• PlayStation CEO says 'preserving the human touch' is vital as AI proliferates

• Roblox wants to reward you for evading app store fees

• Sony brings back original PlayStation boot screen with PS5 anniversary update

• Russian propaganda claims Stalker 2 is drafting players into the Ukrainian military

• Roblox just launched its own Discord competitor for chat and gaming

Industry News 🛡️

• Majority of popular mobile games don't comply with UK loot box ad rules

• Xbox's plan to see games via Android app delayed by court order

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth interview with Aerith's Briana White about her role

• That lawsuit against Steam's 30% cut of game sales is now a class action

• Game Developer publisher Informa merges with TechTarget to expand its services

• Ryosuke Yoshida leaves Ouka Studios to join Square Enix team

• My.Games sells off hypercasual games publisher Mamboo as part of restructuring

• Visions of Mana director leaves NetEase for Square Enix role

• IEM Dallas 2025 will run alongside DreamHack once again this year

• Star Citizen funding passes $750m in a milestone for development

Level Up Your Hardware 🎧

• Lenovo Legion Go S leak shows renders of the cheaper handheld gaming PC

• Intel announces $249 Arc B580 and $219 Arc B570 'Battlemage' graphics cards

• Researchers 3D-print EEG tattoos on heads for mind control of VR simulations

• Pilet handheld computer has a new name, runs on a Raspberry Pi 5 and comes with either a keyboard or gamepad

• Video of alleged Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons leaks with 3 key changes

• MSI 322URX: New gaming OLED monitor offers 240 Hz and DisplayPort with 80 GBit/s

• Samsung patents tablet with stylus and extendable display

Esports Players & Teams News 🏆

• Best Mid Laners for beginners in League of Legends guide available

• Best Top Laners for beginners in League of Legends comprehensive breakdown

• PlayStation is hosting more esports tournaments this month featuring a celebration

• League of Legends esports salary cap full explanation details provided

• UK's largest ever prize pool up for grabs at PUBG MOBILE Global Championship 2024

• Red Bull to premiere 'Memories of CS:GO – The Final Years' documentary

• Asian Esports Games 2024 events total over 500,000 peak viewers

• ONE Esports CEO joins GAMURS Group as President of esports operations

• Cameram4n no longer part of M80, currently listening to coaching opportunities

• Best Counter-Strike 2 tournaments in 2025 will feature exciting matchups

• Toronto Defiant releases Overwatch 2 roster following OWCS World Finals 2024

• Dota 2 Blast Slam 1 UPDATE: OG vs Falcons match disturbed by server crash

Guides, Tips and Tricks 🗝️

• How to play split screen in Black Ops 6 with these steps

• Where to find oni masks in Fortnite and their exact locations

• Where is Godzilla in Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 1 battles

• Best Counter-Strike 2 maps for competitive and casual play styles

• Best marksman rifle in Warzone Season 1 based on current updates

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..

See you same time next week!
gmgames.