Blizzard has confirmed that World of Warcraft will get its first premium currency, which will be used to purchase housing cosmetics. Players have been vocal about the move — “You need to go back to the drawing board,” said one.

Protests were held outside of Take-Two and Rockstar Games offices this week, following the firing of over 30 employees and accusations of union busting. "It’s heartwarming to see so many of our colleagues supporting us and holding management to account," one of the affected workers told us.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty have been in the media recently, saying that the biggest competition for Xbox is TikTok. Nathan Brown of @hitpoints.bsky.social isn't quite sure they know what that means... thisweekinvideogames.com/feature/bonu... [PAYWALLED]

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty have been in the media recently, saying that the biggest competition for Xbox is TikTok. Nathan Brown of @hitpoints.bsky.social isn't quite sure they know what that means... thisweekinvideogames.com/feature/bonu... [PAYWALLED]

Meta's VR/AR Reality Labs division has once again posted a quarterly loss in the billions — US $4.4 billion in Q3 2025. The division drew in US $470 million in revenue during the same period, with Meta's CFO suggesting that the company is "really trying to shift momentum towards AI glasses.”

Take-Two's CEO has addressed investor queries regarding successes in using AI for “non-creative” parts of game development such as “quality control and artwork.” He noted efficiencies, but said: “We are not either using this as an excuse to, or frankly seeing the opportunity to, reduce headcount."

Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, the next game from Uncharted creator Amy Hennig, has been delayed "beyond early 2026." It's the second AAA game to receive a second delay today, having been originally slated for 2025. Little has been shown of the title outside its debut trailer in March 2024.

Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick: "It's always painful when we move a date. We have done so occasionally in the past, and we've never regretted it." "...we have certain competitors that in the event where more polish was required... they chose not to slip the date, and they did so at their peril."

Grand Theft Auto 6 has been delayed, for the second time, to 19 November 2026. Take Two's CEO remarked that the delay would help provide time for "a "high level of polish," and "we feel quite good about this date.” The delay comes amid the contentious firing of dozens of workers at Rockstar Games.

Rockstar Games has provided a statement to Bloomberg on the firing of over 30 developers. The studio says the workers were “distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum.” The IWGB says they were in a “private trade union group on Discord" discussing collective action.

Bad Brain Game Studios, founded by NetEase in 2023, has announced its closure. It was making a 1980s action-adventure game, which it had seemingly tried to find alternative funding for. It will close the same day as Fantastic Pixel Castle, another NetEase studio which announced a closure this week

Football Manager 26 has been met largely negative reviews following its release this week, with players taking issue with bugs and a revamped user interface. The popular annual series took a break last year, with FM25 delayed and then cancelled to allow devs more time to shift to a new game engine.

Nintendo says 84% of the 10.36 million Switch 2 owners out there transitioned from Switch 1.

Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has told investors that the company will shift its primary development focus to Switch 2 moving forward. He confirmed Switch 2 is the fastest-selling console in Nintendo history, and remarked that Switch 1 owners have also been “uniformly migrating to Switch 2."

The Nintendo Switch has now sold 154.01 million units as of 30 September 2025. It is in line with the Nintendo DS, which is the company's best-selling console of all time at 154.02 million units.

The Nintendo Switch has now sold 154.01 million units as of 30 September 2025. It is in line with the Nintendo DS, which is the company's best-selling console of all time at 154.02 million units.

Nintendo has sold 10.36 million Switch 2 consoles in four months. The company has raised its annual forecast as a result of the strong launch, now expecting to sell 19 million consoles within the year. Mario Kart World has now sold 9.57 million units, and Donkey Kong Bananza has sold 3.49 million

Fantastic Pixel Castle, the MMO developer led by World of Warcraft veteran Greg Street, has announced that it will shut down. Previously backed by NetEase, the Chinese company pulled its funding for the studio in early October, though Street was hopefully that the studio could find a new publisher.

The playerbase for Arc Raiders appears to be going from strength to strength after a strong opening weekend, surpassing the popularity of its free playtests. The extraction shooter from Embark is currently one of the most-played games on Steam after Battlefield 6, PUBG, Dota, and Counter-Strike 2.

In this month's edition of Parallax, @nomoredaniels.bsky.social reports back from Gamescom Asia 2025. Bigger, better, and more well-attended by game publishers, Daniel says it's a positive step up, especially at a time when people in the region can't (and won't) attend events in Europe and the US.

In this month's edition of Parallax, @nomoredaniels.bsky.social reports back from Gamescom Asia 2025. Bigger, better, and more well-attended by game publishers, Daniel says it's a positive step up, especially at a time when people in the region can't (and won't) attend events in Europe and the US.

Saudi-owned fighting game developer SNK has announced another US $4.1 million prize pool for its official 2026 tournament. It offered the same for the 2025 edition. The prize pool is more than twice that of Capcom's annual Street Fighter 6 tournament, which continues to sit at US $1.28 million.

Update: The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain says it will be "mounting a full and robust defense of its members who it believes have been targeted unfairly for exercising their legal rights." “The Rockstar Union remains undeterred," said the IWGB President. iwgb.org.uk/en/post/staf...

The studio behind Arc Raiders has weighed in on the recurring topic of novelty skins in grounded shooters. “We would never, say, make a Santa Claus outfit," said Design Director Virgil Watkins. "But we may make something that is of our own tone and our own aesthetic that evokes a Santa Claus.”

Epic Games has raised ire after announcing a new purchasable cosmetic type that has to be repurchased every time the user wants to customise its appearance. The new "Sidekicks" are pet animals, which include dogs, fish, and raptors.

Nintendo has won its lawsuit against streamer “EveryGameGuru," who broadcast various pirated and leaked Switch titles. The streamer also repeatedly taunted the company, saying, "You might run a corporation. I run the streets." Nintendo will receive US $17,500 in damages.

Grand Theft Auto 6 developer Rockstar Games has been accused of "blatant and ruthless" union busting after reportedly firing over 30 developers across the UK and Canada. All affected workers were supposedly involved in trade union activity. Take-Two states the firings were for "gross misconduct."

The Japanese Patent Office has denied one of Nintendo’s pending patent applications amid its legal dispute with PalWorld developer Pocketpair. The “monster capture” patent was reportedly denied after art from games predating the patent showed that the mechanic was not “inventive.”

A former Amazon Games developer has suggested that the team behind the Lord of the Rings MMO has been laid off, and the project cancelled. This was Amazon’s second attempt at a LotR MMO, after a previous attempt was cancelled in 2021.

Developers at Heart Machine have indicated that layoffs have taken place at the company -- the third round in 12 months. "By the time Possessor(s) comes out on Nov. 11, I don’t know if anyone who worked on the game will even be at the company anymore. That’s game dev!" said the studio's PR manager.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick made a number of comments regarding his stance on generative AI this week. "There is no creativity that can exist by definition in any AI model, because it is data-driven," he said. He also flagged concerns regarding the protection of intellectual property.

"For the moment, there’s nothing quite like Fellowship. It’s clear to me that Chief Rebel ‘get it’ -- they deeply understand what makes the MMO dungeons so compelling, and what needs to be trimmed..." - @austinup.bsky.social on @playfellowship.com

Several prominent Sims 4 content creators have announced their departures from the EA Creators Network program, following news of EA’s private acquisition. They have cited concerns about EA's Saudi Arabian ownership, budget cuts, and generative AI use.

Capcom has reported surging profits in its H1 FY2026 earnings, largely caused by "heightened anticipation" for Resident Evil Requiem driving strong back catalog sales. Devil May Cry 5 also sold 2.1 million copies during the six-month period. thisweekinvideogames.com/news/capcom-...

Microsoft also suggested it had hit two new records this quarter: 155 million monthly active users in Minecraft, which CEO Satya Nadella called an "all-time high." The company also "set new records for players on PC," presumably referring to its Xbox PC app and PC Game Pass.

Xbox hardware revenue has declined 29% for Microsoft this quarter, which the company expects to continue as it shifts its gaming strategy to "high-margin content and services." Though overall gaming revenue decreased 2%, its gross margins increased 11%. thisweekinvideogames.com/news/microso...

The Stop Killing Games movement says it has verified almost half the signatures on its EU petition, and is “confident" that it will be debated in the European Parliament. The UK petition is set for a parliamentary debate on 3 November 2025.

EA employees are reportedly being encouraged to use generative AI for “just about everything” by company leadership, according to Business Insider. On the creative side, sources suggest this includes generating concept art and code, and staff are expected to train AI on their own work.

In an interview with Eurogamer, RocketWerkz CEO and DayZ creator Dean Hall has remarked that Valve doesn’t get enough criticism for its gambling mechanics in games like Counter-Strike. "I’m honestly disgusted with gambling mechanics in video games at all. They have absolutely no place."

In an interview with Edge, Peter Molyneux says he no longer stands by his blockchain game, Legacy, while claiming that his next, Masters of Albion, will also be his last. "To a certain extent it’s about redemption,” said the 66-year-old. "I just haven’t got the life energy left to do this again.”

Don't Nod, the studio that created Life Is Strange, has announced a development agreement with Netflix. It will make "a new narrative videogame based on a major IP" at its Montreal studio for the streamer. The news comes days after Netflix closed an internal gamedev studio, Boss Fight.

Update: New World Aeternum has now been removed from sale on Steam. store.steampowered.com/app/1063730/...

Amazon has made "significant" cuts across its game studios in Irvine and San Diego, part of 14,000 layoffs across the broader company. Amazon's MMO New World will also cease development. "It is no longer sustainable to continue supporting the game with new content updates.”

Capcom has made a new statement regarding its decision to make the finals for two in-house Street Fighter 6 tournaments pay-per-view events. The company cited sustainability for its esports business as the reason, and promised reinvestment in players and teams, as well as "related business areas."

Netflix has closed another internal game studio, the US-based Boss Fight Entertainment, developers of Squid Game: Unleashed. Just days before news of the closure, Co-CEO Gregory Peters namechecked the title in an investor call when speaking about the company's successes in games so far.

RV There Yet? is Steam’s latest viral hit, selling over 1.28 million copies in under one week. The physics-based co-op game began life as a game jam project, and was developed in three months. The studio attributes its success to eager TikTok creators. thisweekinvideogames.com/news/rv-ther...

With several new games starring Japan's secret warriors, 2025 has become 'Year of the Ninja.' But what continues to make them so fascinating? We talk to ninjutsu practitioners, the devs of Ninja Gaiden 4, Ragebound, and AC: Shadows, and even the International Ninja Research Centre to find out.

With several new games starring Japan's secret warriors, 2025 has become 'Year of the Ninja.' But what continues to make them so fascinating? We talk to ninjutsu practitioners, the devs of Ninja Gaiden 4, Ragebound, and AC: Shadows, and even the International Ninja Research Centre to find out.

"It wasn’t the complete homerun I expected as someone with a real fondness for Telltale’s games...yet I find myself still very much looking forward to future episodes on account of its top-tier animation work and its brilliantly written and performed characters" - @austinup.bsky.social on Dispatch

Embark Studios Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal says the studio was worried it had "missed the boat" on extraction shooters. "At some point we stopped looking at the rest of the competition." Regarding Bungie's Marathon, he commented: “There is room for both of these games."