#56 Weekly Gaming News Industry Trends Round Up

Off the Grid game studio launches GUNZ Foundation with Delphi, paving way for token. Shrapnel game studio names new CEO and reveals fundraising plans. Ethereum game Pixels spawns play-to-earn dungeon crawler on Ronin. Tomarket Telegram game dumps TON for Aptos ahead of token launch and airdrop. Sega unveils next Virtua Fighter, Sonic Racing and new project from Like a Dragon studio. Naughty Dog are making a sci-fi bounty hunter game called Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Ubisoft wants to change the 'Far Cry formula' with Far Cry 7 and Maverick. And Astro Bot takes home game of the year at The Game Awards 2024. Plus we have all the other winners and losers. All this and much more!

Also in our weekly round-up:

• Why Krafton made a sizeable bet on India and its gaming market

• How game studios can benefit from video game concerts today

• Xbox exclusives are gone for good, says Jez Corden

• Gotham Knights developer Warner Bros Games Montreal slashes 99 jobs

• Team Spirit beats FaZe Clan to win Shanghai Major and $500,000 prize

Gaming News 🕹️

• Astro Bot takes home game of the year at The Game Awards 2024 plus the winners list - who won what this year

• Harrison Ford showed up at The Game Awards and here’s everything else we saw at the event

• Balatro and AFK Journey among winners of 2024 App Store Award

• Sega unveils next Virtua Fighter, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, and new project from Like a Dragon studio

• Killzone looks set to return as a Helldivers 2 crossover

• Ubisoft wants to change the 'Far Cry formula' with Far Cry 7 and Maverick

• Split Fiction announced at The Game Awards, releases March 6 2025

• Mafia: The Old Country is a linear, narrative driven game powered by Unreal Engine 5

• Elden Ring Nightreign announced by FromSoftware for PC and consoles

• The Witcher IV gets first trailer showing off Cirilla, will be the franchise's most ambitious title

• Turok: Origins will revisit the dinosaur hunter in a third-person shooter with co-op

• We're getting Okami 2, with Hideki Kamiya at the reins

• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth PC technical specs revealed, PS5 console exclusive being "optimised" for Steam Deck

• Overwatch 2's 6v6 experiment is here with some major balance changes

• Borderlands 4 will dial down the toilet humour, says narrative director

• Elder Scrolls Online is ditching chapters in favor of more frequent "bite-sized" updates

• Naughty Dog are making a sci-fi bounty hunter game called Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet

Web3 Games 🎯

• Off the Grid game studio launches GUNZ Foundation with Delphi, paving way for token

• Shrapnel game studio names new CEO, reveals fundraising plans

• Apeiron goes live through app stores in southeast Asia

• Ethereum game Pixels spawns play-to-earn dungeon crawler on Ronin

• Tomarket Telegram game dumps TON for Aptos ahead of token launch and airdrop

• Xsolla teams up with iBLOXX to launch StrayShot

• XPLA reveals 9 game slate for 2025 with Mad World PvP out on 17th December

• Hytopia pivots away from Minecraft to become independent UGC platform

• Lisk partners with Creo Engine to onboard the first games to its L2

• Treasure’s gaming L2 is now live today

• Ubisoft’s Captain Laserhawk shooter goes live on 18th December

• Guild of Guardians adds new rewards and modes today

• Abu Dhabi-based Beam Ventures launches with $150 million fund

• Laguna Labs unveils new fully onchain game Neo Olympus

• CyberKongz discloses SEC Wells Notice over token and NFTs

Trends 📈

• More PlayStation exclusives are coming to Xbox next year, it's claimed

• Japanese crime syndicates reportedly launder money using Pokémon cards

• Why Krafton made a sizeable bet on India and its gaming market

• How game studios can benefit from video game concerts today

• Xbox exclusives are gone for good, says Jez Corden

• Epic Games secures deal to preinstall Fortnite onto Android phones in UK and Spain

• Capcom exploring further IP revivals following Okami and Onimusha reveals

• How newspaper games like Wordle became behemoths of engagement

Industry News 🛡️

• Epic Games announces deal with Telefónica to expand partnerships

• Microsoft is not ready to deprioritize Xbox consoles anytime soon

• What impact have layoffs had on the games industry over the past two years?

• Gotham Knights developer Warner Bros Games Montreal slashes 99 jobs

• 461 employees at ZeniMax Online Studios have unionized this year

• Dark Passenger raises $3 million to fund debut multiplayer game

• Aonic nets €152 million investment to support studios and fund future acquisitions

Level Up Your Hardware 🎧

• This mod turns the PSP into a tiny PS2 with Bluetooth controller support

• The Nintendo Switch 2, as described by Dbrand in their latest showcase

• Leak: Lenovo's larger Legion handheld adds OLED and keeps the detachable mouse

• Lenovo might soon announce a SteamOS handheld as rumors suggest

• Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs spotted on Zotac's website

• You can now buy this nostalgic Game Boy Advance clone

Esports Players & Teams News 🏆

• Highest-earning Call of Duty players of all time ranked

• ATL FaZe roster comes under fire following landmark CDL loss

• The Game Awards 2024 was the most-watched edition ever

• 'Forgive me': m0NESY to fans as G2 is eliminated from Shanghai Major

• Team Spirit beats FaZe Clan to win Shanghai Major and $500,000 prize

• Gaming World Media's top gaming events from 2024 ranked

• Team Spirit qualifies for the Shanghai Major grand final

• 'The perfect player for us': OpTic Kenny talks about Huke's sudden CDL pickup

• RUMOUR: Riot Games to allow gambling sponsors for League and VALORANT teams in 2025

• VALORANT star receives warning for gambling on Worlds final

• Guerrillas M8 is carrying the CDL's viewership this season so far

• TSM benches CS2 roster to evaluate options before 2025

Guides, Tips and Tricks 🗝️

• How to start strong in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and more tips

• How to turn off easy swing in Marvel Rivals

• All Earth Sprite locations in Fortnite and the best route

• All specialist locations in Fortnite Chapter 6 Season 1 mapped

• How to beat Viper Napuatzi in Path of Exile 2

• All Ghost Recon Breakpoint achievements and how to unlock them

• All Assassin's Creed Unity achievements and how to unlock them

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

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