Grasshopper Manufacture CEO Goichi Suda announced that the studio is splitting from NetEase Games and will move forward as an independent developer. Suda said the decision followed the completion of the action adventure game Romeo Is A Dead Man and thorough discussions with NetEase Games. The No More Heroes developer was acquired by NetEase Games in 2021 and had been part of the company for five years.
Dutch police arrested a 24-year-old Amsterdam man on September 28 in connection with an investigation into ShinyHunters, the hacking group the FBI says breached Rockstar earlier this year. After Rockstar refused to pay, the group published stolen data showing GTA Online generates more than $1m a day. Reuters named the suspect as Pepijn van der Stap, an offensive cybersecurity lead at Neo Security; the group denies the allegations and accuses Dutch police of incompetence.
Ubisoft has renamed its Creative House 2 business unit as Massive Entertainment, adopting the 29-year-old brand of the Swedish studio behind The Division. The unit covers Tom Clancy's The Division, Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell plus new original IP including March of Giants, with development teams in Montreal, Paris, Sweden and Toronto operating under the Massive Entertainment brand. Massive Entertainment is led by General Manager Christoph Hartmann, who joined in June from Amazon Game Studios.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told The New York Times that Xbox is not for sale and said the company will do whatever it takes to succeed, looking at the right partnerships and operating model. Xbox began a corporate reset this year that plans to cut 3,200 jobs before next summer, with Double Fine, Compulsion Games and Undead Labs going independent while Ninja Theory and Arkane remain uncertain. This month Xbox moved the entire Halo series to Activision, shifted Rare and World's Edge under the Call of Duty publisher, and placed Obsidian Entertainment within Bethesda.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told the New York Times that "Xbox is not for sale," denying reports that Microsoft was weighing a sale of its gaming business. The Information had reported that Microsoft had not ruled out turning the Xbox brand into a wholly-owned subsidiary, a joint venture, or even selling it. Nearly 2,000 Xbox staff have been cut with more to come this financial year, and Sharma said Xbox still has 500 million players a month while Microsoft targets 1 billion people a day.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told The New York Times that Xbox is not for sale, saying the company will look at the right partnerships and operating model to set itself up for success. Her comments follow analyst predictions that Microsoft could sell Xbox off entirely, with Xbox's profit margin at just 3%. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said Xbox must start pulling its weight under Sharma and praised her cuts as streamlining the division.
Ubisoft Montreal workers in the Ubisoft Workers of Montreal union have launched a petition to preserve hybrid work, gathering more than 300 signatures from Ubisoft employees as of Wednesday. Ubisoft announced in January that it was calling all employees back to the office five days per week alongside layoffs, delays, and studio closures, shortly after securing a $1.25 billion investment from Tencent. Paris-based employees went on strike in response, and Montreal team lead David Michaud-Cromp was put on unpaid leave and fired a week later after commenting publicly on the policy.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma pushed back on speculation that Microsoft could spin off its games division, telling the New York Times that Xbox is not for sale and that the company will look at the right partnerships and operating model. According to the NYT, Xbox now accounts for around 6% of Microsoft's total profits. Sharma took over Xbox in February with no prior video game industry experience; under her, Xbox cut a fifth of its staff this summer, shut down or sold five studios, proposed closing Ninja Theory and cut a further 268 roles last week, while Game Pass subscribers peaked at 34 million before starting to drop. Sharma says Xbox retains 500 million monthly players and wants to expand into Africa, Latin America and South Asia via cloud gaming.
A New York Times profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma reported that Microsoft's deal for Hideo Kojima's Physint was substantially below what Xbox would typically spend to develop a premium game, and included film and TV rights. Kojima pitched the project to Sharma after Sony canceled the previously PlayStation-exclusive game. Physint still has no release window and is expected after OD, Kojima's next game for Xbox.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told the New York Times that Xbox is not for sale, denying reports that Microsoft could spin out or restructure its gaming division. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella praised Sharma's streamlining of the Xbox business on the Sources Podcast and reiterated a focus on big games and new business models to return to growth. Microsoft's Xbox layoffs began this summer with 1,600 jobs affected and another 1,600 planned by the end of its business year, with the second wave about 75% complete this week.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma told The New York Times that "Xbox is not for sale," adding the company will do "whatever it takes" to set itself up for success through the right partnerships and operating model. Microsoft executives also told the paper that speculation about a potential Xbox sale has always existed but never materialized, and Sharma said there's a "long way to go with Microsoft" with a "long-term view."
Grasshopper Manufacture has announced it has parted ways with parent company NetEase and is once again an independent developer. NetEase acquired the studio in 2021 but has since pulled back from investments, closing studios and withdrawing funding from major projects. CEO Goichi Suda said the decision followed thorough discussions with NetEase Games and with their cooperation, and that the studio continues to value the relationship.
Sony Group has announced it will not attend CES 2027, with a company spokesperson saying its business focus is shifting toward entertainment, IP and technology that supports creators. Sony has exhibited at CES since the first show in 1967 and used the event to reveal the PlayStation 5 name and the PlayStation Now streaming service. At this year's CES Sony had no standalone booth, while its joint venture with Honda showed the Afeela EV, a project the two companies said earlier this year they would reassess.
Gcores' weekly roundup covers the week's news: Bungie announced that all vaulted Destiny 2 content will return, and Microsoft's Xbox cut another 268 jobs, with Halo handed to Activision while Rare and World's Edge move under Activision and Obsidian under Bethesda, leaving Xbox Game Studios with only three direct studios. Gears of War: E-Day narrative director Juan Vaca was laid off two weeks before release, with the game's future tied to its commercial performance; Build A Rocket Boy, developer of MindsEye, entered bankruptcy proceedings; TGS 2026 cancelled its final public day due to a typhoon; and Pokemon Pokopia won the Japan Game Awards 2026 Grand Award, with Masahiro Sakurai announcing this year's Game Designers Award will be the last.
Grasshopper Manufacture, the studio behind No More Heroes and Killer7, has split from parent company NetEase and gone indie again, founder Goichi "Suda51" Suda announced. NetEase, which acquired the studio in 2021, has yet to comment on the deal. Suda said the decision followed thorough discussions with NetEase Games and reflects a desire to deliver titles in an even wider variety of styles.
Dutch national police confirmed on September 28 that they arrested a 24-year-old man from Amsterdam after investigating the hacking group ShinyHunters. Reuters reported the man is Pepijn van der Stap, offensive cybersecurity lead at Amsterdam-based Neo Security, and the FBI claims he has been one of ShinyHunters' leaders since 2025; the group is accused of breaching Rockstar Games in April and leaking data showing GTA Online makes over a million dollars a day. ShinyHunters denied Van der Stap was involved, while FBI Cyber Division assistant director Brett Leatherman urged the group's remaining members to surrender.
Amid concerns that Microsoft's layoffs and restructuring are a prelude to selling or spinning off Xbox, Xbox chief Asha Sharma told The New York Times that Xbox is not for sale. The Information previously reported internal Microsoft discussions about spinning Xbox off, whether through a sale, a standalone subsidiary or a joint venture. Sharma said Microsoft's gaming business has a long way to go and that the company will take a long-term view.
Grasshopper Manufacture announced it is separating from NetEase Games to become an independent studio again. CEO Goichi 'Suda51' Suda said the release of Romeo is a Dead Man earlier this year led the studio to consider its future direction and to want to deliver titles in a wider variety of styles, with the decision reached after discussions and cooperation with NetEase. NetEase acquired the studio from GungHo Online Entertainment in 2021 for an undisclosed sum; Grasshopper had been part of the GungHo Group since 2013 and was founded by Suda in 1998.
Grasshopper Manufacture announced it is splitting from NetEase and returning to independent status. CEO Goichi Suda, known as Suda51, said in a press release that the decision followed thorough discussions with NetEase and came with the company's generous cooperation. The studio was acquired by NetEase in 2021 and released only Romeo is a Dead Man under the publisher, after reports that NetEase planned to divest most of its overseas teams.
Zynga founder Mark Pincus said on the Deconstructor of Fun podcast that he and Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen agreed to an all-cash acquisition of Supercell for $400 million in 2012. The deal fell through after Zynga's board refused, saying it wanted him to prove he could manage what he already had, following the failure of the OMGPop acquisition. Pincus added that a year later Supercell made $500 million in net profit.
Grasshopper Manufacture has split from NetEase Games.
Grasshopper Manufacture, acquired by NetEase in 2021, is splitting from the Chinese company and returning to independent development. CEO Goichi Suda said on September 30 that the decision followed thorough discussions with NetEase Games and that the two companies still value their relationship. The split comes after the studio released Romeo Is a Dead Man this year, and as NetEase systematically pulls back from the games industry, including halting funding for Nagoshi Studio's Gang of Dragon.
Valve announced it will change how games get discovered on Steam during sales and promotions, moving from a manually curated calendar of fixed front-page slots to dynamic, personalized recommendations based on user preferences and purchase history. Valve said preliminary experiments produced up to 10 times as many games appearing per day in the Discounts & Events section, with measurable increases in store page visits and wishlist additions. Valve has paused curated placements in Weekend Deals, Midweek Deals and Daily Deals, and the change is set to roll out in early 2027.
Ubisoft is reportedly using "Motherbrain" as a trademark and internal term for its AI projects, with one filing covering downloadable software using AI to create video games and interactive content. The term is currently only used internally at Ubisoft, with no public notice. Ubisoft previously announced an AI tool in 2023 to help developers write dialogue and its generative AI prototype "NEO NPC" in 2024.
Karolina Stachyra, the writer behind The Witcher 3's Bloody Baron questline, has returned to CD Projekt Red as a full-time writer after joining as a consultant in February. She previously spent nearly a decade as a narrative lead at Techland and GSC Gameworld. Her return is assumed to be tied to The Witcher 4, which is set to release in 2028.
Xbox has teamed up with Prince St. Pizza to offer a limited edition "Emergence Pie" in the U.S. and Toronto, starting November 1st, which comes with a unique code to unlock a Gears of War: E-Day in-game pizza emblem. A Gears-shaped pizza cutter is also available on the Prince St. Pizza website for $60 USD, but it appears to have already sold out.
SEGA has officially begun rolling out its games onto Xbox's Disc to Digital program, though it currently appears limited to Xbox Insider testing. Reported successes include Persona, Like A Dragon, Yakuza, and Unicorn Overlord, while titles such as Alien Isolation are not yet included. It remains to be seen whether other major publishers like Square Enix or Bandai Namco will join.
Super Evil Megacorp has announced that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate has surpassed 1.5 million base game sales across all platforms, with total copies reaching over 2.6 million when DLC sales are included. In the two years since launch, Leonardo has been the most-played Turtle and Casey Jones the most-played DLC character, while Flame was the most-used power-up and the Manhole Cover Artefact the most-used artefact. The developer also shared the second part of its behind-the-scenes look at the King's Gambit DLC and teased more news to come.
Konami has announced Castlevania 40th Anniversary: An Orchestral Concert, a tour with three dates so far in Tokyo, London and Los Angeles in March 2027. The shows will be performed by a 25-piece rock orchestra with gameplay footage on screen, covering music from the series' 40-year history. Tickets for all three shows go on sale on 1st October.
8BitDo has revealed officially licensed Xbox PC peripherals in collaboration with Gears of War: E-Day, including the Retro 87 keyboard and Retro R8 mouse. Pre-orders are live now ahead of an October 30th release, priced at $119.99 for the keyboard and $59.99 for the mouse. Both support Bluetooth LE 5.3, 2.4G wireless, and wired USB connectivity.
A number of Nintendo-themed LEGO sets are being retired this year, including Animal Crossing and Mario Kart collections, with several interactive sets among them. The soon-to-be-retired sets are listed on the LEGO website, while Brick Fanatics' updated retirement list adds sets currently sold out on LEGO's site that are unlikely to be restocked before their shelf life ends. Mario Minifig sets and the Link & Epona set revealed in the recent Zelda Direct are coming next year.
Grasshopper Manufacture announced it has split from former parent company NetEase Games and is once again an independent developer. NetEase Games had acquired the studio from GungHo Online Entertainment in 2021. Representative director and CEO Goichi Suda said the decision followed thorough discussions with NetEase Games and their cooperation, after the studio released ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN this past February.
Grasshopper Manufacture, the Japanese developer behind No More Heroes, Shadows of the Damned and Lollipop Chainsaw, confirmed it is no longer owned by NetEase Games and has returned to being an indie studio. The two sides held talks and decided to part ways, with Grasshopper saying it has improved its self-publishing know-how and wants to deliver titles in a wider variety of styles. NetEase acquired the studio in 2021 and let it go five years later, ahead of Grasshopper's 30th anniversary.
Grasshopper Manufacture, the studio led by Goichi Suda, has announced it is officially independent of former parent company NetEase Games. The studio was acquired by NetEase in 2021 and released its latest title, Romeo Is A Dead Man, this February, marking its 28th anniversary in March. The statement said the decision followed thorough discussions with NetEase and their cooperation, and that the two companies will keep collaborating. NetEase has sharply scaled back its overseas investments, closing studios including T-Minus, FPC, Bad Brain and Ouka Studio, and splitting from Worlds Untold and Jar of Sparks.
The D.I.C.E. Summit (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) is an annual video game networking conference and executive retreat. Game Developer has continued coverage of the summit over the years, with business articles published on September 16, 2026 and March 4, 2026.
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