#66 Weekly Gaming News Industry Trends Round Up

Axie Infinity teases new Web3 game as NFT outlook turns positive. Off The Grid has a thriving black market ahead of on-chain trading. Space Nation reports $2.5M game revenue in 154 days.Fortnite is set to return to Brazilian iPhones. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 rating spotted, suggesting release date isn't far off. PS5 rental programs roll out in Japan and United Kingdom. Xbox next generation plans include premium successor to the Series X due in 2027. Epic Games sued for "deceptive practices employed on a massive scale. Super Mario AI benchmark measures performance in gaming applications. Leaked internal Sony video uses Horizon's Aloy to show AI-powered PlayStation character prototype. And Split Fiction is a smash hit by every metric and a lesson to EA and others. All this and much more!

Also in our weekly round-up:

• Xbox handheld console: reports, rumors, and possible release timeline

• How Riot Games is preparing for the next generation of players

• Assassin's Creed Shadows details PS5 Pro enhancements, including "extended" raytracing

• Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann reveals a ton about his new game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet

Web3 Games 🎯

• Axie Infinity teases new Web3 game as NFT outlook turns positive

• Avalanche shooter 'Off the Grid' has a thriving black market ahead of on-chain trading

• Space Nation reports $2.5 million game revenue in 154 days

• Zed Champions Beta on the horizon as Virtually Human Studio moves on from Zed Run

• BC.GAME Esports expands its line-up as BC.GAME team competes for top-honours in CS2

• Creepz unveils second game, Creepz Party—a wild multiplayer experience

• Paradise Tycoon chooses Avalanche for $MOANI token launch

• Pirate Nation launches new creators program

• Despite industry headwinds, some top web3 games are growing

• Xsolla launches all-new direct-to-consimer publishing suite

• Cointelegraph launches Gaming.News: a fresh take on gaming media

• Inside an AI-powered Web3 game's race to 100 million users

• Unio aims bigger in Web3 gaming with new CEO Mark Long

• Peer raises $10.5M for metaverse engine, launches 3D personal planets

• Auto Legends adds $1M to its funding round in Coinbase Ventures deal

• Parallel unveils Sanctuary, formerly known as Project Tau Ceti

• Khuga unveils $KOIN tokenomics and ecosystem whitepaper 

• Evermoon unveils DeFAI launchpad: let AI trade, stake, and earn for you

• Nyan Heroes announces airdrop 4 with 6.7 million $NYAN tokens up for grabs

• WorldWide Agents launches AI-gaming platform for development

• Sky Mavis reveals combat-focused Axie Infinity Atia's Legacy MMO due in 2026

• Animoca ended 2024 with $4.3 billion in total assets

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

• The BGA March Mag is now live!

  Read the latest web3 gaming updates from members building the future of gaming. Explore challenges and opportunities, innovative use of blockchain technology and more!

Gaming News 🕹️

• Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann reveals a ton about his new game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet

• Blizzard admits Diablo 4 was too easy, plans to crank the difficulty up next season

• Nacon Connect 2025: everything announced for upcoming games and projects

• Assassin's Creed Shadows details PS5 Pro enhancements, including "extended" raytracing

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle PS5 rating spotted, suggesting release date isn't far off

• Fortnite is set to return to Brazilian iPhones

• Split Fiction is a smash hit by every metric and a lesson to EA and others

• Epic Games Store pulls free-to-play Dark and Darker as copyright dispute continues

• Oops, Battlefield 6 features revealed by leaked Battlefield Labs footage

• Call Of Duty: Warzone's original Verdansk map is coming back, but a bit later than expected

• Blades of Fire is a narrative-driven game where you decide how much you want to know

• Rocket League Season 18 introduces new mutators, voice reporting and new Rocket Pass

• Skyrim gets AMD FSR 3 Frame Generation with community shaders add-on

• Amazon Prime giving out 20 free games in March, including Saints Row The Third

• Disco Elysium Studio teases its next project, and it's not Disco Elysium 2

• RoboCop: Rogue City is getting a standalone expansion and you can play as Alex Murphy

• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 is switching up how THPS4 works

• Gray Zone Warfare is officially an extraction shooter and it's evolving in 2025

• Ubisoft's 'Project U' intro cinematic leaks online

Trends 📈

• Super Mario AI benchmark measures performance in gaming applications

• Former Xbox exec says Microsoft would be delighted to avoid making hardware and delivering games Netflix-style

• Adaptive frame generation is Lossless Scaling's latest feature

• Guy in charge of D&D says AI is 'supercharging fandom'

• NEARstudios' pivot to Kickstarter is a story of devs seeking hope in a trying time

• How Riot Games is preparing for the next generation of players

• Leaked internal Sony video uses Horizon's Aloy to show AI-powered PlayStation character prototype

• Yes, you'll need a Microsoft account to play Forza Horizon 5 on PS5

• 50% of all Steam users in February were Chinese-speaking

• Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 has turned Hans Capon into a superstar streamer in one month

• Female founders in game companies got 12.1% of game VC deals in 2024

• Infinite Realms turns fantasy books into living, breathing game worlds with help of AI

• Amazon GameLift Streams lets game devs deliver high-fidelity, low-latency games to players

• Nanoscale video game moves real objects through advanced technology

Industry News 🛡️

• AI firm Uthana secures $4.3m to "revolutionize" 3D character animation with generative AI

• US tariffs will be bad for gamers, but publishers would welcome the death of retail, says analyst

• AI-powered UGC gaming startup Liminal Experiences raises $5.8M in seed funding

• Blizzard will revive its BlizzCon convention in 2026 totally skipping it in 2025

• Tilting Point launches $150 million UA fund to help developers 'maximize growth without sacrificing equity'

• Indie dev Welevel raises $5.7M in seed funding round

• Fortnite maker Epic Games sued for "deceptive practices employed on a massive scale"

Level Up Your Hardware 🎧

• PS5 rental programs roll out in Japan and United Kingdom

• Xbox next generation plans include premium successor to the Xbox Series X due in 2027

• Xbox handheld console: reports, rumors, and possible release timeline

• Gamer tries to sell PS4 Pro to GameStop, ends up being asked to pay the store

• Former Xbox exec believes Microsoft wouldn't make consoles if they had a choice

• Xbox update is resetting consoles to factory default settings

• Sony will give the PS5 Pro crisper graphics — by backporting FSR 4

• AMD FSR 4 will be used in PS5 Pro games next year, reveals Sony's Mark Cerny

• The MagicX Zero 40 has a vertical display to properly handle DS games

• Nintendo Switch 2 new patent suggests voice chat OS integration, proximity chat support in first-party titles

• This Lux gaming keyboard reacts 1,000 times faster than humans and it feels great

• Nvidia slammed for 'lying' about budget graphics card but they're selling out anyway

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

• The Nintendo Switch 2 will have NFC and Wi-Fi 6, FCC filings show

Esports Players & Teams News 🏆

• The Finals current player count—how many people are playing The Finals in 2025?

• A tier two CS2 team has already played 100+ maps in 2025

• OpTic Texas has now lost 15 maps back to back, prompting major concerns from fans

• Rainbow Six Siege X will feature a 6v6 mode, it's claimed

• First Stand 2025 kicks off with LCK stomp, NA triumphing over EU

• Los Ratones and GIANTX's streamed match postponed over LEC rule

• IiTzTimmy, Verhulst, and more Apex stars land with new teams as ALGS offseason heats up

Gaming On Screen 🎬

• New Last Of Us season 2 trailer shows some of Part II's most iconic moments

• Silent Hill livestream announced, and its stomach-churning focus has been detailed

• Resident Evil movie reboot snapped up by Sony, and it already has a release date

• Netflix's Witcher casts first game-exclusive character for upcoming season

• The Future Of Call of Duty—Insider Gaming Weekly

• The Pocket Gamer Podcast Episode 23 - A new age (Rating), Reverse Rage Gaming and Rebranding By Dann Sullivan

• Game Scoop! 801: No genre is safe from Split Fiction

• Insider Gaming Weekly The Future of Call of Duty

• Blockchain gaming weekly roundup: 7th March featuring latest news

• Tripledot's surprise acquisition of AppLovin's games business | Week in Mobile Games podcast

…Gaming News Continued 🕹️

• Insomniac's delisted VR games return to the Meta Store

• Monster Hunter Wilds joins GeForce Now, providing a sneaky Steam Deck performance workaround

• CCP Games appoints Head of Economy for Eve Frontier

• The 12 finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame

• Donkey Kong '94, the all-time great puzzle platformer, is at last on Nintendo Switch Online

• Dead by Daylight Tokyo Ghoul crossover coming in April

• JDM: Japanese Drift Master delayed to May

• Skydiving first-person shooter Aerial_Knight's Dropshot announced for PC

• Monopoly App Banking ditches play money for digital play banking

• Hitman World of Assassination PSVR 2 release set for 27th March

• Moon Studios is now self-publishing No Rest for the Wicked after split with Take-Two

• Mech battler Steel Hunters stomps into early access in April

• The Gears of War Collection does not include multiplayer

• Tokyo Ghoul's Ken Kaneki is the next killer in Dead by Daylight

• Hitman: World of Assassination gameplay leads flurry of VR reveals

• Square Enix celebrating Chrono Trigger anniversary with new projects, sparking re-release hopes

• Marvel Rivals players blast NetEase for poor moderation of racist and sexist slurs

• Killing Floor 3 delayed to later this year

• Space Invaders Infinity Gene Evolve announced for Apple Arcade

• Triple-i Initiative returns for 2025 with 'no ads, no hosts, just games'

• Don't worry about GTA 6 costing $100—you might be paying $112 instead

Guides, Tips and Tricks 🗝️

• How to make sense of your skills in Monster Hunter Wilds

• Where to find Avowed's best sets of armor for every class

• Ultimate Fallout 76 daily challenges location guide – find creatures and items for tasks

• How to mine gold veins in Fortnite for resources

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

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