#Industry

This year's update to my Capcom story includes an updated animation of Capcom's ever-evolving list of 10 best-selling games

As noted in the most recent edition of Game File, Ubisoft has trademarked its internal name for the group handling its previously announc...

Microsoft CEO says Xbox is simply 'streamlining' after cutting over 5,750 jobs in three years

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on the Sources Podcast that the layoffs at Xbox are simply a natural streamlining process and that he feels fantastic about the current IP. Since acquiring Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in October 2023, Xbox has carried out five rounds of mass layoffs totaling at least 5,750 workers, with the latest round confirmed in July 2026 set to cut 3,200 people from Xbox Game Studios by the end of the current fiscal year, including the divestment of Compulsion Games, Double Fine and Undead Labs. Nadella said new Xbox boss Asha Sharma told him Xbox will achieve growth and produce some great games in the next fiscal year.

Wardogs studio chief Brammer insists he isn't "pro crunch, I am pro hard work"

Bulkhead CEO Joe Brammer has clarified his remarks on crunch, saying he is not "pro crunch" but "pro hard work." This follows his earlier statement that the studio would not hire people who "constantly tweet anti-crunch messaging," after which he told Eurogamer that staff worked an extra two hours per week Monday-to-Thursday for four weeks while the studio operates a four-day week. Bulkhead was spun out of Tencent in December 2025, and its military shooter Wardogs has sold over three million copies in its first 18 days.

Paradox bans Discord profile pics of historical figures born after 1800 after Hearts of Iron 4 player backlash

Paradox Interactive has banned Discord profile pictures of historical figures born after 1st January 1800, allowing only official in-game portraits, with an exception for prominent Nazi German leaders. The move follows an uproar after a moderator banned a player for using a photo of Republic of Turkey founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and game director Laszlo "Batya" Pieper said Paradox never aims to review history or take positions on political figures. The new rule has yet to be formally rolled out, and members will have seven days to comply once it goes live.

Microsoft CEO Nadella says Xbox has to invent a sustainable business model

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on the Sources Podcast that Xbox needs to invent the right sustainable business model to deliver games to more people, and called the streamlining under new Xbox chief Asha Sharma great to see. He expects Xbox to return to growth in the next fiscal year, 2027/28. In July Xbox announced 3,200 layoffs and the divestment of five studios, with another 268 roles cut last week as Halo, Rare and Age of Empires moved under Activision; Matt Booty said two agreements for Ninja Theory fell through and consultation on a proposed closure will begin, while Arkane consultation continues through the end of the year.

Casual Mobile Game Data Report: New Games Make Up Only 2% of Top 300 as Older Titles Dominate

Azur Games' internal casual games report shows downloads fell across all categories in the first half of 2026, with casual, hypercasual and hybridcasual each dropping more than 10%, while hypercasual and hybridcasual revenue grew 64% and 24% respectively. More than half of the current download Top 300 titles launched before 2024, and new games fell from 8% of the list in mid-2023 to 2%. Block Puzzle rose sharply between January and summer 2026, establishing itself as a major subcategory.

miHoYo's Liu Wei at SJTU: AI model in China's top tier within 2-3 years, Varsapura testing by year end

At miHoYo's 2027 campus recruitment talk at Shanghai Jiao Tong University on September 23, 2026, co-founder Liu Wei said miHoYo would be a significant player among Chinese large-model teams within 2 to 3 years, reiterating a plan to invest up to 100 billion yuan in AI over three years. He said the flagship new title Varsapura will have a test by the end of this year, with Cai Haoyu as producer and Unreal Engine 5, and that its main story introduces the world while side stories carry the weight. On Genshin Impact he only said something big is coming, without details, and said older titles like Honkai Gakuen 2 and Honkai Impact 3rd will gradually be sidelined while Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail and Zenless Zone Zero can sustain ongoing operation.

Roblox launches Roblox Everywhere, letting developers ship platform games to Steam and mobile stores

At RDC 2026 Roblox announced Roblox Everywhere, a plan that lets developers package games made on the platform as standalone apps and publish them to Steam, the App Store, Google Play and even console stores, with Roblox still providing the underlying technology and operations. Roblox shares rose about 13% to close at $51.29 on the following trading day. A Roblox spokesperson told Game Developer that the first creators selected to publish games externally will benefit from the same revenue share economics as the Roblox app, including the higher DevEx rate for verified users aged 18 and over in the US.

Two Xbox Games Are Shutting Down Their Servers Across October and November 2026

Two Xbox games are set to shut down their servers across October and November 2026, according to a Pure Xbox roundup. Rocket Racing, playable inside Fortnite, goes offline on October 1, 2026 for all Xbox consoles, while Call of Duty: Warzone shuts down only on Xbox One and PS4 when Season 1 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 begins in late October or early November, with the date still to be determined. The piece also notes that Sociable Soccer 25 servers close on September 28 and the Xbox 360 version of Toy Story 3 is delisted on September 29.

The Sunday Papers: FF16's Middle Eastern Influences, Armored Core 6's Violence, and AI Research

Rock Paper Shotgun's The Sunday Papers rounds up the week's games writing, including a critique of Final Fantasy XVI's shallow handling of Middle Eastern and North African cultural influences and a piece on violence and empowerment in Armored Core 6. It also features AI researcher Michael Cook on how AI papers now just ask an LLM to do something, plus writing on Microsoft layoffs and Bobby Kotick.

Microsoft CEO calls Xbox's "streamlining" "great to see" despite cuts and layoffs

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on the Sources podcast that he feels "fantastic" about Xbox's IP and studios, and called the ongoing streamlining by the team and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma "great to see." His comments came days after another 268 layoffs at Xbox, the apparent impending closure of Ninja Theory, and organizational changes including Obsidian moving under Bethesda, Playground and Turn 10 merging, Undead Labs going independent, and Rare, World's Edge and Halo moving under Activision. In July, Asha Sharma announced 3,200 job cuts, 1,600 of them effective immediately, with Double Fine and Compulsion Games allowed to go independent again.

MobyGames Now Lets Developers Claim Their Game Credits

Video game database MobyGames now lets developers claim credits for games they worked on and build personal portfolio pages, but only through a new premium tier called MobyGames Professional. The service launched in beta in June with a full 1.0 version due this autumn, and costs $14.99 a month or $11.99 a month with an annual subscription, with a 45-day free trial currently available. Product manager Reece Denzel said thousands of developers have already claimed their pages, though the feature does not let them edit the structural information of their credits or add themselves back if they were removed entirely.

"There is a chasm between the LLM and your enterprise business and context"

Here is the full line-up for the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit 2026

The GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit 2026 will take place at The Royal Institution in London on October 1, with the full line-up now announced. Speakers include Sarah Venables of the HR Confidence Club, Jonny Hopper of Glowmade Studio, and Harvey Elliott and Carmen Martino of Playstack. The day-long event features over a dozen talks and sessions on topics including neurodiversity, AI in HR, workplace culture and unions, and concludes with the 2026 Best Places to Work Awards.

Meta unveils AI game creation tools Horizon Create and Horizon Studio, announces VR Glasses with Unity support

At Meta Connect, Meta announced two AI-powered game tools, Horizon Create for mobile and Horizon Studio for browsers, which let users build 2D and 3D games from text prompts and publish them to Facebook and Instagram. Meta also unveiled VR Glasses, five times lighter than Meta Quest 3 with a 5K infinite micro-OLED display, supported by Unity 6.6 through OpenXR, launching in Spring 2027 at $1,299.99.

The Xbox reset doesn't have an end date

Rob Fahey argues that Xbox's so-called hundred-day reset has stretched past its original window, with another 268 jobs cut this week on top of roughly 1,600 already gone, no buyer for Ninja Theory, and Arkane's fate still unclear. The piece also notes Obsidian moving under Bethesda and Halo coming under Activision, and says Microsoft has yet to outline a clear vision for what Xbox becomes after the reset.

Build a Rocket Boy has entered administration

Build a Rocket Boy entered administration on Wednesday and formally appointed administrators the same day, which is effectively similar to bankruptcy proceedings for non-UK readers. The existing management has been dismissed while a new team comes in to see whether the company can be sold as a whole, liquidated, or found to have nothing left to salvage. Previous reports had said the studio was shutting down.

GTA veteran's MindsEye studio Build a Rocket Boy enters administration

Build a Rocket Boy has filed for administration with the UK's Companies House and hired Opus Advisory Group as administrator. The move follows reports last week of further layoffs at the studio behind last June's poorly received MindsEye. For the 12 months ending 30th September, the company reported a £47.5m operating loss and a £36.2m net loss, owing creditors £61.8m.

Crowdfunded JRPG Armed Fantasia cancelled as 505 Games parent Digital Bros halts development

Digital Bros announced in a financial statement that Armed Fantasia, published by 505 Games, has had its development discontinued, along with a Battle Islands sequel and Directorate Novitiate. The game raised ¥379,328,385 in a 2022 Double Kickstarter with Penny Blood, missed its planned March 2025 launch and was later delayed indefinitely.

MindsEye developer Build A Rocket Boy has appointed administrators

MindsEye developer Build A Rocket Boy has appointed administrators following its latest wave of layoffs, with Opus Advisory Group confirmed as the administrator. A Companies House filing indicates the studio is insolvent, though the filing itself was not available at the time of writing. For the year ending September 30, 2025, the company posted a £47.5 million operating loss and a £36.2 million net loss, and owed creditors a total of £61.8 million.

King signs collective bargaining agreement with Swedish unions, averting strike

King signed a collective bargaining agreement with Swedish unions Engineers of Sweden and Unionen, cancelling a strike that was scheduled to begin on September 25, 2026. The two sides had been negotiating since May 2025 before talks over a collective agreement reached an impasse. Engineers of Sweden, which represents around 100 of King's roughly 500 employees in Malmo and Stockholm, said the deal gives workers more opportunities to influence their work situation and the right to organize and receive timely information about workplace changes such as reorganisations.

King signs collective agreement with Swedish trade unions after call to industrial action

King has signed a collective agreement with the Swedish trade unions Unionen and Sveriges Ingenjörer, following last week's call to industrial action. Unionen said the agreement, reached after over a year of negotiations, covers job security and greater influence over workplace terms and conditions. Unionen head of negotiations Martin Wästfelt called it a major victory for King's members and credited the union's long partnership with Engineers of Sweden.

NEW: Meta, like Roblox, going all-in on a mobile app used for AI-driven game dev

Two snapshots of some of the 277 jobs Microsoft cut in Washington State this week, as disclosed in a state filing

Former Avalanche Studios chief Natalie Francis joins Massive Entertainment as managing director

Natalie Francis, former head of studio operations and development at DICE and chief development officer at Avalanche Studios, is joining Massive Entertainment as managing director on October 1st. The Ubisoft subsidiary has worked on Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws, and is currently leading development on Tom Clancy's The Division 2 and the forthcoming Tom Clancy's The Division 3. Earlier this year, Ubisoft confirmed plans to make 55 people redundant at Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft Stockholm.

Xbox restructuring sparks confusion and frustration as communities react to Ninja Theory closure

Xbox carried out a second wave of layoffs this week and shifted studio management away from Xbox directly to Bethesda or Activision, with Obsidian moving to Bethesda and Rare, World's Edge and Halo moving to Activision. Ninja Theory faces closure, Halo Studios was nearly dismantled by layoffs and World's Edge was halved. Communities around Hellblade, Outer Worlds, Forza, Age of Empires and Sea of Thieves reacted with sadness and concern, while Ninja Theory, Obsidian and Rare have not commented publicly.

MobyGames Lets Developers Claim Games They Weren't Credited For

Atari-owned MobyGames has launched MobyGames Professional, a paid tier currently in beta with a 1.0 release planned for autumn, allowing developers to claim their game credit pages and build portfolio pages. Product manager Reece Denzel told GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom that thousands of developers have claimed their pages, with a human-driven verification process to confirm identities while the existing credit verification method remains unchanged. The service also includes a jobs database that matches industry openings to developers based on their work history, genres, and platforms.

Irish Game Fund expands with additional funding pathways

The Irish Games Fund has been expanded and relaunched by the Irish Game Makers Association and Screen Ireland Digital Games Portfolio for 2026, now comprising three strands: the Development Fund, Prototype Fund, and Release Fund. The Development Fund will offer €50,000 to four teams, and applicants must declare any use of machine learning or generative AI and explain how the funding will replace generative AI assets. Expressions of Interest are due by October 8, 2026, with applications due by October 22, 2026.

Is 2 Million Yuan Enough to Retire Early From the Game Industry?

Dex, a game industry veteran, retired early at 44 this Spring Festival after heart problems. R plans to save 2 million yuan and leave before turning 35, with progress at 68%. Both say the game industry's long hours and frequent project cancellations make real retirement rare.

Bethesda says Obsidian will keep its distinct creative identity despite no longer operating independently

Jill Braff, president of Bethesda and Microsoft's casual games division, said in a staff memo that Obsidian will no longer operate independently of fellow Xbox-owned studio Bethesda but will retain its distinct creative identity and strengths. She described the change as primarily a shift in reporting structure, with Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart and his leadership team continuing to run the studio and reporting to her. Bethesda Game Studios will continue to lead the Fallout franchise, and the teams will build on early work already underway on a new Fallout project.

TinyBuild revenue rises 18% to $20m in H1 2026, with 85% from first and second-party owned IP

TinyBuild reported an 18% revenue increase to $20 million for the six months ending June 30, 2026, with 85% of gaming revenue coming from first and second-party owned IP. Back catalogue titles accounted for 68% of gaming revenue, supported by evergreen titles including Hello Neighbor and Graveyard Keeper. Gross profit fell from $10.4 million to $9.8 million and adjusted EBITDA dropped from $4.2 million to $3.2 million, while headcount remained broadly stable at nearly 200 employees.

Microsoft files patent for "ad-credit" system to show ads on PC and Xbox without disrupting gameplay

Microsoft has filed a patent for an "ad-credit" system that would display ads and announcements during PC and Xbox game sessions without disrupting gameplay. The system would identify natural pauses such as loading screens, menus, or the end of missions and rounds, then suspend gameplay and controls to show an ad. After viewing the content, players would receive a credit granting a period of ad-free play ranging from 15 minutes to an hour or more.

Xbox Layoffs and Restructuring: First-Party Studios Cut From 14 to 4, Halo Moves to Activision

In September 2026, Microsoft chief content officer Matt Booty announced in an internal letter the cutting of 268 positions, moving Rare and World's Edge to Activision, placing Obsidian under Bethesda, merging Turn 10 into Playground, and handing the next Halo to Activision. Over five years Microsoft's Xbox first-party studios shrank from a peak of 14 to 4, leaving The Coalition, inXile, Playground and XGS Publishing, while Ninja Theory faces consultation over a proposed closure after two deals fell through. A top community comment said it feels more like Activision acquired Xbox than the reverse.

Bethesda boss confirms Obsidian will remain a distinct team

Bethesda boss Jill Braff told staff that Grounded developer Obsidian Entertainment will remain a distinct team and keep its existing leadership structure. The note follows Xbox's September 22 reorganisation, which moved Obsidian under Bethesda, transferred Rare and ownership of the Halo franchise to Activision, proposed closing Ninja Theory, and confirmed 268 further job cuts. Braff described the move as primarily a change in reporting structure, with Feargus Urquhart and his leadership team continuing to lead Obsidian and reporting to her, while Bethesda Game Studios continues to lead the Fallout franchise.

As Halo moves to Activision, fans worry about a lore reboot, but Halo Fest goes on

Microsoft said this week it is cutting 268 roles across Halo Studios and other first-party teams, and confirmed Activision will develop the next Halo with a new team separate from Call of Duty. Fans are split over whether Activision should reboot the series' 25 years of lore. Halo Studios' esports lead confirmed December's Halo Fest keeps its dates and locations, with more details promised in the coming weeks.

Report: Bethesda president tells Obsidian staff it won't lose 'creative identity' after merge

Bethesda president Jill Braff reportedly told Obsidian Entertainment staff in an email that the studio's merger into Bethesda is "primarily a change in reporting structure," according to Aftermath. The email says CEO Feargus Urquhart and Obsidian leadership will keep running the studio and report to her, while Bethesda Game Studios continues to lead the Fallout franchise and both teams work on a new Fallout project. The merger follows this week's Xbox announcement, which also included divestments and another couple hundred layoffs; Obsidian laid off at least 52 workers in July.

Bethesda takes control of Obsidian Entertainment, promises studio's creative identity stays intact

As part of Xbox's ongoing restructuring, Obsidian Entertainment has been moved under Bethesda's umbrella. Bethesda president Jill Braff told staff that Obsidian's creative identity and strengths will remain at the core of the studio, with CEO Feargus Urquhart continuing to lead it and reporting to her. Braff said Bethesda Game Studios will keep leading the Fallout franchise, and the two teams will build on early work already underway on a new Fallout project.

People Playground shuts down its Steam Workshop again over a malicious mod

People Playground developer Mestiez said on September 22 that the Steam Workshop had been disabled hours earlier because of another malicious mod, calling this one especially bad. Players who used mods between 6PM and 8PM CEST on September 21 are urged to run antivirus scans, delete all mods and avoid launching the game until the developer says it is safe. According to Kotaku, this is the second malware attack via a Steam Workshop mod on the game in a year, after a similar incident in February.

Age of Empires developer World's Edge hit with layoffs after move to Activision

Age of Empires studio World's Edge has been hit with layoffs after its transition to Activision, with former creative director Adam Isgreen saying he and just under half the team were cut. Isgreen, a 16-year Microsoft veteran, said he was disappointed that his time with World's Edge and Age ends this way. World's Edge was among several studios affected by Xbox's restructuring, which moved it, Rare and Halo to Activision and eliminated 268 positions, while Ninja Theory is set to close and Undead Labs became independent.