#65 Weekly Gaming News Industry Trends Round Up

Trump Company files trademark for Metaverse & NFT marketplace. Web3 space shooter Haunted Space is coming to PlayStation & Xbox. My Neighbor Alice unveils 2025 roadmap. WolvesDAO introduces WOOF to help gamers track crypto trends. Valeria Games suspends development. Tokyo Beast joins Immutable bringing Web3 gaming to Japan's market. Call of Duty 2026 is being developed for the next generation Xbox. Ubisoft's Far Cry extraction-based multiplayer shooter has been rebooted. Acclaim is reborn as indie game publisher. Insomniac's VR titles delisted, casting a shadow over VR tech. Borderlands 4 boss hits back at fan negativity. Mario + Rabbids creator says players want games that tell different stories. Activision is under fire again over AI use, and Epic Games sues player for stealing and selling Fortnite accounts. All this and much more!

Also in our weekly round-up:

• Sony cutting jobs at Visual Arts and Malaysia support studios

• Xbox Cloud Gaming will let you invite friends with just a link

• Russo Brothers are open to developing games tied to their Avengers movies

• Analysts predict US tariffs' impact on consoles and physical games, suggesting it may to lead publishers to abandon physical games

Web3 Games 🎯

• Animoca Brands reports a sharp 167% rise in revenue in Q4 to $108M whilst also using AI to cut costs by 12%

• Trump Company files trademark for Metaverse & NFT marketplace

• Web3 space shooter 'Haunted Space' is coming to PlayStation & Xbox

• My Neighbor Alice unveils 2025 roadmap

• Virtually Human Studio launches beta for Web3 Zed Champions game

• WolvesDAO introduces WOOF to help gamers track crypto trends

• WARP Chain goes live on Avalanche: a game-first Layer 1 for Web3 studios

• QUDO is expanding from Telos Zero to multiple blockchains for greater scalability, with specific chain announcements coming soon

• Legends of Elumia launches the Ronin Game Pass with a $100k laddered raffle

• Valeria Games suspends development, citing lack of funds

• Tokyo Beast joins Immutable to bring Web3 gaming to Japan's $27.4B market

• Playable Worlds' Stars Reach could be the next big sandbox sci-fi MMORPG

• MARBLEX expands Web3 gaming in 2025 with new games and $20M investment

• WorldShards generates $6.2M as part of Open Loot partnership

• Creepz touts Web3 brand with $400M in NFT backing and two upcoming games

• Social casino game Pebble City launches on Sui blockchain

• Infinity Ground secures $2M in seed funding to fuel AI-powered Web3 development

• Worldshards generated $1.1 million in 2024, plus $5 million in NFT trading volume

• Parallel tournament winner bags $100,000 as dev drops first trailer for shooter Sanctuary

• Metacade launching L3 Base Appchain for skill-based tournament platform

• RavenQuest launching on Immutable, 14th March

• NHN launches mobile Web3 casino game Pebble City on Sui

• Double jump.tokyo partners with iAgent to integrate AI agents

• Farcade appoints Sam Steffanina as new CMO

• Wemix partners with esports team DRX

The Blockchain Game Alliance Round-Up

• Onboarding Web3 gamers starts with giving players seamless access to games, Find out how

• Enhancing Security in Web3 Gaming and Blockchain - How ARGOS Identity is tackling the challenges in the web3 gaming ecosystem

• Moving to a World of Less Trust, More Truth in games with Dot.Play

• The Web3 Gaming Growth Formula: Wins, Missteps, and the Future of User Acquisition: Watch the replay

Gaming News 🕹️

• PlayStation wants help testing games and features using new Beta Program initiative and sign-ups are now open

• Steam breaks 40 million online users milestone

• Full BAFTA Games nominations list revealed; Astro Bot nominated in 8 categories

• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 is out on July 11, developed by Iron Galaxy

• Monster Hunter Wilds breaks 8m sales in just three days and new mods address some of the game's biggest issues

• Humble Games Showcase announced for next week, new game reveals confirmed

• Call of Duty 2026 is being developed for the next generation Xbox, it's claimed

• Ubisoft's Far Cry extraction-based multiplayer shooter has been rebooted

• Free-to-play browser game Urban Dead taken offline by UK's online safety law

• Roguelikes flood Xbox Game Pass in March but Game Pass will lose at least eight games

• Cities: Skylines 2's troubled console release sounds like it's still some way off and not coming before summer

• Steam's Next Fest is full of weird-ass, cool-ass games

• Naughty Dog boss says "don't bet" on there being a The Last of Us Part 3

• 110 former Metro developers are making a sci-fi shooter set in Latin America, with Drive director onboard

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 3 will arrive later than expected in early April

Trends 📈

• StreamElements brings performance-based sponsorships directly to Twitch dashboards

• Epic Games sues player for stealing and selling Fortnite accounts

• Why the touchscreen backlash was different for video games

• Xbox Cloud Gaming will let you invite friends with just a link

• 'We're innovating on gameplay, not monetisation,' Splitgate 2 CEO says

• What Grand Theft Auto V's PC update says about furnishing older games with current tech

• Acclaim Entertainment reborn as indie game publisher focused on original IP

• Insomniac's VR titles delisted, casting a shadow over the technology

• Xbox co-creator says VR still doesn't have a killer app

• Twitch CEO reveals 2025 plans: collaboration, mobile, and more monetisation

• Twitch is going to allow every streamer to make money, even new users

• Nintendo wins another lawsuit, this time against counterfeit amiibo sellers on Amazon this win against piracy significant" for "the entire games industry

• Borderlands 4 boss hits back at fan negativity, saying "if you take developer's passion for granted, we'll all pay the price"

• Mario + Rabbids creator says players want unique independent games "willing to tell different stories"

• Avowed has an official mushroom kit, so you can grow delicious face mushrooms then eat them

• Reinvention is key to God of Wars' continued success

• Activision once again under fire over alleged generative AI use, now for... a fake Guitar Hero game?

• Analysts predict new US tariffs' impact on consoles and physical games, suggesting it may to lead publishers to abandon physical games

• A new version of Monopoly replaces cash and math with a mobile app

Industry News 🛡️

• 4A Games Ukraine rebrands to Reburn, announces new IP

• Warner Bros games revenue dropped 29% during Q4 2024

• India's first dedicated PC and console game publishing house closes pre-seed founding round

• Turkish Mobile dev Surpass Game secures $1.5m in pre-seed funding round

• Report: 30% of game devs believe AI will play an extremely important role in QA testing

• Sony cutting jobs at Visual Arts and Malaysia support studios

• Jam City sells Canadian studio Ludia after receiving 'unsolicited offer'

• Rockstar acquires Aussie studio Video Games Deluxe studio founded by L.A. Noire director

• Until Dawn Remake developer Ballistic Moon "effectively closed"

• Visions of Mana director reveals new studio Sasanqua

• IGN Live returns for second year, as part of June announcement season

• All the news about Netflix's gaming efforts

• FEAR Platinum joins GOG Preservation Program to "properly recognise Monolith's contributions to gaming"

• Tencent secures more shares in FromSoftware parent company

• Sega to heavily invest in Persona, Sonic, and Like a Dragon studios

Level Up Your Hardware 🎧

• Samsung has an interesting foldable concept to make gaming more travel-friendly

• Framework Desktop hands-on: a possible new direction for gaming desktops

• PSVR 2 gets a big permanent price cut

• Switch 2 may look conservative, but Nintendo still has space to get wildly creative

• AMD Radeon RX 9070 / 9070 XT review: Nvidia gets some big next-gen competition

• Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition cards won't launch until later this month

• Nintendo announces a new Switch OLED bundle ahead of the Switch 2

• Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 review: definitely not a $549 RTX 4090

• Sony's PS3 gets new system software update, 19 years after release

• Razer's new Blade 18 offers Nvidia RTX 50-series GPUs and a dual mode display

• Samsung unveils 'folding handheld' concept called Flex Gaming

• The PS5 is getting an officially licensed wireless fightpad next month

Esports Players & Teams News 🏆

• What is reaction time and does it make you better at CS2 or VALORANT?

• VALORANT Patch 10.04 notes – new duelist Waylay, balance changes, map pool rotation

• LA Thieves beat a dominant Surge to win CDL Minor II

• Team Vitality benches Hylissang, but his replacement is a mid laner

• LoL players call for Prestige skin rework after latest batch of cosmetics

• Sentinels' Marvel Rivals star Aramori wants more women to compete with and against

• Luminosity sees Marvel Rivals as 'one of the top esports titles for years to come' as org signs 2 teams

Gaming On Screen 🎬

• The Assassin's Creed movie was more faithful to the series than its recent games have been

• Digic Pictures releases documentaries behind Amazon and Blur's Secret Level game-based film anthology

• The Last of Us season two cast additions reveal how show is expanding upon the game

• A Minecraft Movie gets final pre-release trailer

• Russo Brothers say they are open to developing games ties to their Avengers movies

• Fallout 76 Season 20 coming March 18 – everything you need to know about Glow of the Ghoul

• Game Scoop! 800: Amazonian Adventure Axed

• Wonder Woman canceled and is it the games media's fault?

• Blockchain gaming weekly roundup: 28th February market trends and news update

• The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 22 - Crossovers, Railroading and, No news (only olds)

• AppLovin vs. short-sellers | Week in Mobile Games podcast

…Gaming News Continued 🕹️

• Fans port Sonic Unleashed to PC, potentially opening the floodgates to Xbox 360 recompilation

• Civilization 7 patch 1.1.0 released for all platforms – UI and AI improvements, and a new Natural Wonder

• A canceled video game sequel to George Orwell's 1984 surfaces online

• The team behind Shredder's Revenge and Streets of Rage 4 is making a fantasy beat 'em up

• Terminator 2D: No Fate is a gritty sidescroller coming in September

• Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii review

• Split Fiction doesn't need to be original when the co-op play is this good

• FragPunk console launch delayed as NetEase's shooter hits PC this week

• Diablo 4 Season 8 pushed back a couple of weeks

• Marvel Rivals Clone Rumble LTM arrives this week

• Battlefield Labs First playtest starts this week

• Escape from Tarkov Arena is coming to the Epic Games Store

• Humble Games Showcase 2025 set for March 12

• Turok remaster now available for PS5, Xbox Series; all versions updated with new features and improvements

• SAND launches in Early Access on April 3

• Bandai Namco trademarks Once Upon a KATAMARI, Gekishin Squadra

• Square Enix removes Denuvo from Final Fantasy 16

• WWE 2K25 DLC roster revealed

Guides, Tips and Tricks 🗝️

• Where to find guardian seikret feathers in Monster Hunter Wilds

• Where to find giant vigorwasps in Monster Hunter Wilds

• How to get a Flame Sac and Inferno Sac in Monster Hunter Wilds

• PSA: You can change your Monster Hunter Wilds character once for free before Capcom makes you pay up

• Monster Hunter Wilds Event Quests Schedule for March 2025 revealed

• How to claim Assassin's Creed Shadows Pre-Order Bonuses Guide

• How to play as Shooter MacGavin in PGA Tour 2K25

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

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