#64 Weekly Gaming News Industry Trends Round Up

Yuga Labs' Otherside breaks world record with over 2,000 FPS players online. Dr Disrespect says he should've never been banned. Blockchain gaming market is a game of musical chairs according to Gunzilla exec. Illuvium CEO says firm has gone 'super lean' to speed up development. PS6 release window hinted at by former Sony executive comments. Xbox AI era starts with a model that can generate gameplay. Warner Bros. Games cancels Wonder Woman, shuts down multiple studios. Activision has been forced to admit it uses AI to generate assets in Call of Duty and Gamescom Asia and Thailand Game Show merge, and PEGI to revisit automatic 18+ ratings for simulated gambling games after Balatro's successful appeal. All this and much more!

Also in our weekly round-up:

• Amazon games boss explains why it couldn't compete with Valve's Steam

• Ubisoft releases statement on Assassin's Creed Shadows leaks

• Twitch is limiting streamers to 100 hours of highlights and uploads

• DC studios in talks with Rocksteady and NetherRealm for new DC video games

Web3 Games 🎯

• Dr Disrespect says he should've never been banned, Twitch should "do the right thing" and reinstate his account as he pleads for reinstatement 

• Yuga labs' Otherside breaks world record with 2,197 FPS players online

• Web3 gaming wallet in Web2 interface: real ownership without seed phrase complexity

• Illuvium CEO says firm has gone 'super lean' to speed up development as Overworld adopts MMO Lite model for better scalability

• Wildcard moving assets from Polygon to Ethereum for upcoming game development

• Inevitable games fund reports 2.8 multiple returns on liquid investments made

• The Mystery Society discontinues development of blockchain game after initial testing

• Nine chronicles looks to expand the NCG ecosystem with new games in 2025

• Blockchain gaming market is a 'game of musical chairs' — Gunzilla exec

• Web3 social game Nifty Island introduces AI agents to enhance gameplay

• Project dragon attempts Guinness World Record for largest FPS fight ever

• Telegram game 'Farm Frens' plots migration to Line after botched Base token airdrop

• Ethereum NFT game 'Fantasy Top' expands to Monad alongside testnet launch

• India's SuperGaming launching B3 Gamechain via Ethereum's Base Network for developers

The Blockchain Game Alliance Round-Up

• Web3 gaming experts are sharing success strategies in "The Web3 Gaming Growth Formula" talk available now on YouTube

• MBX/HACK the FUN acceleration program by Dracoon Ventures x MARBLEX is accepting applications until March 10, 2025, offering a $1M+ prize package

• A migration to TON blockchain is in progress, with implications for Web3 games explained in a recent Blockchain Game Alliance blog post

• Key user acquisition strategies for Web3 games include questing, identity solutions, seamless experiences, cross-pollination, and evolving player incentives

Gaming News 🕹️

• Silent Hill 2 remake dev working with Konami again on a mystery game

• Warner Bros. Games cancels Wonder Woman, shuts down multiple studios

• Monster Hunter Wilds review – untamed world, peak hunting experience delivers

• Ubisoft releases statement on Assassin's Creed Shadows leaks affecting launch plans as some fans are playing the game early

• The Talos Principle: Reawakened launches on April 10 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series & PC

• Delta force – Black Hawk Down launches to 'mostly negative' reviews because it's too difficult

• Anna williams announced for Tekken 8 as title sells 3 million copies

• ID@Xbox showcase February 2025 - every Game Pass game announced in one handy place

• Innersloth announce Among Us 3D by kicking Among Us VR into a crusher letting you deduce from a first-person perspective

• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 listed for 2025 release by rating agency surfacing in Singapore

Trends 📈

• Download this free guide on the state of live service gaming in 2025

• Split Fiction friend's pass will support crossplay on any platform available

• Xbox game pass was supposed to be the Netflix of gaming — what happened?

• Twitch is limiting streamers to 100 hours of highlights and uploads

• Microsoft's xbox AI era starts with a model that can generate gameplay as CEO says company will train new AI on a catalog of games

• PlayStation games on PC is like printing money, says former exec Shuhei Yoshida

• Former Amazon games boss explains why it couldn't compete with Valve's Steam

• Valve releases team Fortress 2 source code, opening door to completely new fan-made games

• Activision has been forced to admit it uses AI to generate assets in Call of Duty

• Steam players want to filter out games that use generative AI

• Xbox boss says bringing games to PS5 is "good for gamers"

• Another live-service game is shutting down, with Dauntless going offline soon

• Neverwinter Nights just got a new expansion 23 years after its release

Industry News 🛡️

• PEGI to revisit automatic 18+ ratings for "simulated gambling" games after Balatro's successful appeal

• $112m of Hasbro's $472m 2024 digital gaming revenue came from Monopoly Go alone

• Gamescom Asia and Thailand Game Show merge to form Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show

• US game spending fell 15% to $4.5bn in January 2025 | US Monthly Charts

• Nintendo discontinues gold points reward program for digital purchases program changes

• Bossa games reduces team, focusing on Lost Skies development exclusively

• These are the text messages that allegedly got a former Bungie executive fired, according to a court document written by Sony

• Marvel Rivals topped 40 million players before U.S. developers were laid off and was almost cancelled at one point, because NetEase objected to paying Disney

• Dutch consumer foundation sues Sony for overpricing digital PlayStation games sales

• Pokémon wins "substantial" damages and public apology in long-running battle against Chinese clone game

• Flexion and EA to partner up and bring the publisher's hit mobile catalogue to alternative app stores

Level Up Your Hardware 🎧

• PlayStation 6 release window hinted at by former Sony executive comments

• Nintendo Switch 2 June release to be announced during April's Direct – Rumor, former Nintendo employee predicts $400 price tag

• PlayStation 5 new system software beta update introduces activities improvements and more; major improvements outlined

• Lenovo legion go S review: feels good, plays bad for gamers

• Nvidia is launching 'priority access' to help fans buy RTX 5080 and 5090 FE GPUs

• PS5 pro sales "fall behind" PS4 Pro's "pace" in the US

• 8BitDo's new ultimate 2 controller sounds very impressive, and it's available now

• Asus announces fragrance mouse that probably smells better than your sweat-soaked one

• Some games run better on older GPUs than on Nvidia's new 50-series cards

• Tetris forever collector's edition to ship with exclusive Tetris-only gaming handheld

• Asus announces ROG Strix Scar 16 and 18 (2025) pricing and availability

Esports Players & Teams News 🏆

• VALORANT pros say the next duelist will be an even more annoying Jett

• OpTic Texas plummets after not winning a map in a month

• Verdansk will return to Warzone as 'pretty much the OG March 2020 version', it's claimed

• League Of Legends spin-off 2XKO won't get a big playtest in March after all as LoL players rally for Riot CEO's removal

• 2025 LEC Winter Split: schedule, results, standings, and more for competition

• LTA finals viewership could be a worrying sign for future of Americas league

• Mobile legends: Bang Bang's first female-focused qualifier in Philippines arrives with Athena League

Gaming On Screen 🎬

• DC studios in talks with Rocksteady and NetherRealm for new DC video games

• The Last Of Us All the news about the video game franchise turned TV series as season two now has a release date in the US and UK

• Netflix joins sifu film project as development continues on Sloclap adaptation

• Game of Thrones creator says there's "some talk" about Elden Ring film, but his involvement could be limited

• Street Fighter film gets new director, still set for 2026 release

• Do people care too much about graphics? — Insider Gaming Weekly

• IGN UK podcast 788: singing in the Nightreign game showcase review

• Blockchain gaming weekly roundup: 20th February market trends and news update

• Game Scoop! 799: The first games we ever played

• The pocket gamer podcast episode 21 - two-player special, Serial Cleaner, Static Simulators and Goths

• Week in mobile games E43 - NetEase scales back, Jam City's Ludia sale, & why Savvy wants Pokémon Go

…Gaming News Continued 🕹️

• Dune: Awakening launches in May for PC – create your character & benchmark now

• Mecha BREAK open beta hits 317,000 concurrent players on its first day

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was January 2025's best-selling game

• Saber interactive developing AAA game based on "tentpole" Hasbro IP announcement

• After 'failing to meet expectations' at launch, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth shoots to No.3 in U.S. charts with Steam debut

• After becoming the worst user-reviewed game ever on Steam, Overwatch 2's recent reviews jump to 'Mixed'

• Indiana jones and the Great Circle update 3 adds better path tracing on PC

• Like a dragon: Pirate Yakuza lands series' second-biggest start on Steam

• Avowed director hints at a future for the franchise beyond launch

• Mortal kombat 1 T-1000 DLC release date revealed for next month

• GTA V on PC gets the PS5 & XSX|S upgrade for free in March

• Hades II gets a big update with a final boss and more story

• Fable delayed into 2026 by Xbox for additional development time needed but brand new pre-alpha gameplay footage revealed

• Oceanic survival first-person shooter The Last Caretaker announced for consoles, PC

• Open-world survival shooter Deadside now available for PS5, Xbox Series consoles

• Lies of P DLC expansion 'Overture' – 'Story' trailer released today

• Descenders next for Xbox Series, Xbox One, and PC launches April 9

• Civilization 7 can't outperform Civ 6 at launch, and bad reviews aren't the only reason

• CoD: warzone leak suggests controversial POI could return with Verdansk map

• A pair of great Star Wars RPGs are free for Android owners right now

Guides, Tips and Tricks 🗝️

• How to check CS2 inventory value for collector items and trading

• Monster hunter wilds trophy list – all achievements and trophies to unlock

• How to earn Mecha Break Twitch drops—all rewards & how to get

• How to get Assassin's Creed Shadows free download bonus weapon now

• All Fortnite Chapter 6, season 2 weekly quests and how to complete them

• Avowed - full Shatterscarp map and points of interest for exploration

• How to open Fortnite vaults in Chapter 6 Season 2 - all vault locations

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