Remedy’s year opens with revenue boost, focus on non-Alan Wake projects

For Remedy, the first half of 2024 has been quite fruitful.In the six-month period for January-June 2024, the Alan Wake developer saw a revenue growth of 33.7 percent from last year's period to €21.1 million (or $23 million). For the period's operating profit, Remedy reported a loss of €5.3 million, down year-over-year from €10.4 million.The three-month second quarter (between April 1 and June 30, 2024) saw revenue of €10.3 million, up 16.2 percent from last year's €8.9 million. It also had its own operational loss of €3.2 million, down compared to €4.8 million in the same period last year.Still, there's been "improved profitability" overall compared to last year's fiscal period.And while Alan Wake II still hasn't become fully profitabl…

Valve launches new Steam chart for top-played Steam Deck games

Valve is expanding its Steam charts, with a brand new one focused on the most-played games on its Steam Deck handheld.The list will updated on a daily basis, and cover additional metrics such as weekly, monthly, and yearly numbers. However, it doesn't feature specific numbers, so you'll still have to go to SteamDB for that information.Before this, Valve would reveal the top-played Steam Deck games on a monthly basis. The new list builds upon that, and expands on it by revealing the top 100 games rather than the top 20.

Who's on Steam's new charts, and what does that mean?

At time of writing, Elden Ring i…

GTA Trilogy surpasses a reported 30M downloads on Netflix

Downloads for the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy on Netflix have reached 30.3 million, per a new report from MobileGamer using data from AppMagic.The remastered collection of classic GTA games launched on Netflix's mobile game platform in late 2023. Back in January, the streamer called the trilogy its biggest game launch to date, with MobileGamer then alleging 18 million downloads.As is the case with January, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the most downloaded of the three at a reported 20.5 million downloads. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto 3 trail behind at 6.5 million and 3.3 million respectively.Platform-wise, iOS was the dominant between it and Android. San Andreas was again the most downloaded at 18.5 million vs. Android's 4.7 million. A wide gulf between iOS an…

VR dev Sinn Studio raises $2.5M to fund next project

Sinn Studio has raised $2.5 million in funding, all of which is going to put be toward its next project.Per GamesIndustry, most of the money came from investment firm Hartmann Capital. CEO Alek Sinn called it and other contributors like Boost VC and Republic "the right partners" to help "redefine the future of combat in this exciting new era of spatial computing.""We spent seven years surviving the ups and downs of VR as a bootstrapped company, waiting for that industry-defining moment," he wrote. "We're incredibly grateful to Hartmann Capital and everyone else who joined our seed round."

Sinn's VR history

Sinn Stu…

Pokémon Go co-dev Very Very Spaceship lays off staff

Various staff members were laid off at Very Very Spaceship, the Seattle-based studio that handles "tentpole features" for Pokémon Go.While specific numbers haven't been revealed, those affected include producers, recruiters, and artists, who have reportedly been at VVS for three-to-five years.Very Very Spaceship's most recent claim to Pokémon Go fame is the game's updated character creator. Senior character artist Kelsey Martin expressed pride in it, noting the changes "made it more inclusive and expressive for players."Similarly, HR manager Sara Carmen said that despite her sadness, she won't allow it to "take away from all the amazing work I did, or the team I built."At time of writing, it's unknown what prompted Very Very Spaceshi…

Sea of Thieves sails to 40 million players ahead of PS5 launch

Rare's Sea of Thieves comes to PlayStation 5 at the end of the month, having amassed 40 million players in its lifetime.Per executive producer Joe Neate, the game's "amazing" milestone covers all three versions on Xbox (One and Series X|S), Windows, and Steam. It's unclear how that translates into sales, given its prominence on Xbox Game Pass.In 2020, Microsoft reported that Sea of Thieves had 10 million players and dubbed it the studio's most successful new IP. 40 million is fairly high for a six-year-old game and supports Microsoft's reasoning for taking it to PS5.When Microsoft first unveiled its multiplatform plans in February, Sea of Thieves was described as a "community-driven" title. PlayStation's community can boast some pretty high…

Atari relaunches Infogrames, immediately buys Totally Reliable Delivery Service

Atari has revived the Infogrames publishing label and intends to expand its portfolio "primarily through acquisition."The company has already made good on that pledge after purchasing Totally Reliable Delivery Service from Tinybuild. Infogrames has acquired the game, trademarks, and underlying property from Tinybuild (which previously published the title) for an undisclosed fee.In its heyday, Infogrames was known for developing and distributing titles like Alone in the Dark, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Driver, and Oddworld: Abe's Odysee through its various subsidiaries.The company had a huge influence on the game industry throughout the 80s, 90s, and 00s, making a number of significant acquisitions–including the purchase of Shiny Entertainment, GT Interactive, Hasbro Interactive…

Microsoft renews Blizzard and NetEase partnership to bring key titles back to China

Blizzard's new parent company Microsoft has convinced the World of Warcraft maker and NetEase to bury the hatchet so it can bring some of its most popular video games to China.Earlier today, Microsoft announced that Blizzard and NetEase have renewed an agreement to bring "beloved titles" to China, including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and other games in the Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft universes.Notably, Microsoft has also entered into a "broader collaboration" with NetEase based on a "shared desire to bring new gaming experiences to players across platforms and markets."The news means a litany of Blizzard titles will be returning to the market in mainland China starting this summer. Microsoft explained the renewed publishing deal was th…

Koei Tecmo sues mobile dev Youzoo for repeated copyright infringement

Koei Tecmo recently filed a lawsuit against Singaporean developer Youzoo, according to Automaton Media, for consistent and "extremely malicious" copyright infringement.The Japanese publisher claims Youzoo used music and in-game assets from the former's Nobunaga’s Ambition and Taiko Risshiden series in online ads for its own mobile games. Despite multiple notices sent, this has allegedly gone on for years.It's further claimed these ads refer to Koei Tecmo by name, even though the two companies aren't involved with each other."We have determined that the defendant’s conduct is not only detrimental to users and [our] partner companies," wrote Koei Tecmo, "but also undermines the efforts of all parties who were involved in the development of our game…