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March 2020 Archive

    1. QuakeCon cancels 2020 event
    2. Wasteland 3 delayed due to COVID-19
    3. Niantic acquires AR mapping company 6D.ai
    4. Pandemic has led to spikes in mobile gaming, says ironSource
    5. Arc System Works cancels entire Arc World Tour 2020
    6. Making Indigenous games won't limit their appeal
    7. Tinybuild's Hello Neighbour books have made $16m in revenue
    8. Gamescom to be held "at least in digital format" in August
    9. How to transition from working from home to being a remote studio
    10. Mobile developers in partnership to aid global charities
    11. Colopl acquires Steins;Gate developer Mages for $15 million
    12. Researchers turn to PC gamers for help with COVID-19
    13. Steam asks users to manage bandwidth during COVID-19 lockdown
    14. Kojima Productions staff working remotely after employee diagnosed with COVID-19
    15. Epic offers $1m reward for evidence of Houseparty smear campaign
    16. South Australia launches second round of Games Innovation Fund
    17. What is happening with video game sales during coronavirus
    1. Valve announces Artifact 2.0 Beta
    2. Record number of Steam users online during coronavirus outbreak
    3. Koch Media, Kalypso Media expand physical publishing partnership
    4. Pokémon Go revenue spikes as game continues to adjust for COVID-19
    5. HQ Trivia returns, reportedly acquired by private investor
    6. Early Access MMO Last Oasis offering full refunds due to server problems
    7. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: Live from Rezzed Digital
    8. Microsoft adjusts Xbox Live functionality due to pandemic
    9. Jobs roundup: Keith Warner appointed CEO of New World Interactive
    10. Anybrain receives €1m investment form Trust Esport
    11. What's the secret to great PR?
    12. Strong week for UK physical game sales despite lockdown
    13. Wargaming.net files lawsuit against group of former employees
    14. Official Xbox Magazine closed
    15. Hyper casual dominated new mobile downloads in 2019
    16. Cloud Imperium secures $17.25m in additional investment
    17. Final Fantasy VII Remake shipping early amid COVID-19 disruption
    1. Starbreeze appoints Mats Juhl as new CFO
    2. Warface reaches 1m players on Nintendo Switch
    3. Sony reduces PSN download speeds for the US
    4. European studio boss Michael Denny leaves Sony after 25 years
    5. Sony doesn't see pandemic affecting PS5 launch
    6. From character to creator: Why actor Abubakar Salim is trying his hand at development
    7. Assassin's Creed actor forms new studio Silver Rain Games
    8. Games London reveals 2020 Ensemble showcase members
    9. Unity offers free access to premium game dev courses
    10. Bungie: Google Stadia an "amazing solution" for playtesting during lockdown
    11. Pokémon Go temporarily changes mechanics to reduce spread of COVID-19
    12. All hail Nintendo's animal overlords | Opinion
    1. GameStop says no indication of PS5, Xbox Series X delays
    2. GameStop turns a Q4 profit despite 28% dip in sales
    3. Mobile esports team Tribe Gaming raises $1 million
    4. YouTube signs exclusivity deal with Typical Gamer
    5. League of Legends: The art of balance
    6. Epic launches publishing label with Remedy, Playdead and GenDesign onboard
    7. Develop:Brighton 2020 delayed until November
    8. Watch the GamesIndustry.biz sessions at EGX Rezzed Digital here
    9. Six ways to improve your world building
    10. Nintendo closes US repair centres "until further notice"
    1. Taipei Game Show 2020 cancelled
    2. Rezzed Digital online event starts tomorrow
    3. What does a chain of esports restaurant arcades do in a pandemic?
    4. COVID-19 "threatens the very existence" of National Videogame Museum
    5. MTG says COVID-19 could sink esports revenues by 45%
    6. Killing creative block with kindness
    7. Top three unchanged in App Annie's annual mobile publisher chart
    8. How Amazon Web Services is powering some of the world's biggest video games
    9. Gfinity's CEO and chairman step down ahead of 60% cost reduction plan
    10. Animal Crossing: New Horizons breaks Switch sales records in Japan
    11. Roblox awards draws 4m concurrent players
    12. Nintendo donates 9,500 face masks to US emergency services
    13. Koei Tecmo found global success by focusing on its Japanese identity
    1. Tips for developers making a cross-platform game
    2. Sony throttles back game downloads in Europe
    3. Xbox curates free educational marketplace in Minecraft
    4. CryEngine coming to Android
    5. Half-Life: Alyx -- Critical Consensus
    6. Big Run Studios raises $1.4m from Galaxy Interactive
    7. UK games retail shifts online as government orders closure of all non-essential stores
    8. Four steps to launching a VR game on Oculus
    9. Half-Life: Alyx reaches 43,000 concurrent users on launch day
    10. Ninja and wife donate $150,000 to Feeding America amid coronavirus pandemic
    11. Playtika delivers food packages to vulnerable people amid pandemic
    12. Nintendo presses Sony to remove Mario creations from Dreams
    1. Keywords Studios staff criticize pandemic response
    2. Superdata: February digital game spending up 4%
    3. Valve: "VR has been missing a big game that everyone can get excited about"
    4. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: Next-Gen Spec Wars
    5. Stadia launches Makers program to attract experienced indies
    6. Devolver on adapting to a world without events
    7. UK retailer GAME keeping its Belong arenas open for now
    8. Polish government running games development course for quarantined kids
    9. Blizzard and Paradox arrange care packages for remote-working staff during coronavirus lockdowns
    10. Call of Duty Warzone reaches 30m players
    11. Coming up with a Plan B for GDC
    1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons smashes sales records in the UK
    2. All US GameStop stores closed except for curbside pick-up
    1. Octopath Traveler sells over 2m copies
    2. Gabe Newell: "Competition in game stores is awesome...but ugly in the short term"
    3. GameStop reportedly shutting down all stores in California
    4. TIGA calls for increased game tax credits due to COVID-19
    5. Ukie launches industry-specific online wiki
    6. Tranzfuser expands to minimise coronavirus impact on games graduates
    7. Bungie has raised more than $1m towards Australian bushfire relief
    8. Eight principles for making a game influencer-friendly
    9. Bohemia Interactive grossed $68m last year
    10. How to pitch your indie game
    11. EGX Rezzed delayed until summer due to coronavirus pandemic
    12. Retailers break Doom Eternal street date over COVID-19 fears
    13. Gamescom prep continuing as planned despite Cologne event ban
    14. Square Enix and Ubisoft staff now working at home
    15. Sony and Microsoft are playing different card games | Opinion
    1. Minecraft, King's Quest, Guitar Hero among 12 Video Game Hall of Fame finalists
    2. GameStop keeping stores open as government orders lockdowns
    3. GDC replacement set for August 4 to 6
    4. Mainframe Industries raises €7.6m
    5. More than 20 games have earned $1m in revenue on Oculus Quest
    6. Robin Games raises $7m to create "lifestyle gaming"
    7. Razer donates 1m surgical masks to global health authorities
    8. London Games Festival moves remaining events online
    9. Scopely increases series D round to $400m
    10. GamesIndustry.biz is running a free online meeting event for indies next week
    11. Making games in lockdown: How Italy's developers are coping with COVID-19
    12. Marketing tips for indie developers who hate marketing
    13. Twitch hands indefinite ban to "Kaceytron" for COVID-19 comments
    14. Steam's Interactive Recommender is now available
    15. Untitled Goose Game, A Short Hike take home top prizes at GDC and IGF Awards
    1. Square Enix warns of Final Fantasy VII Remake shipping delays
    2. Tencent's international reach spurs continued growth in Q4
    3. Xbox announces, retracts Thanksgiving 2020 launch for Series X
    4. Sony lays out more PS5 details
    5. The developer of Journey bucks the trend of "predatory" monetisation
    6. Thatgamecompany expands with Bay Area office
    7. Doom Eternal: Critical Consensus
    8. Forza creative director on the hardest part of fostering inclusivity
    9. Pokémon Home grosses $2.6m in first month
    10. Why culturalisation matters as much as localisation
    11. Gaming and live streaming rise globally amid COVID-19 crisis
    12. COVID-19: New Zealand Game Festival postponed until 2021
    13. The four pillars of good representation
    1. GameStop cancels in-store events indefinitely in response to COVID-19
    2. Miniclip acquires Eight Pixels Square
    3. A short history of banned games in Germany
    4. Genvid Technologies secures $33m in Series B funding round
    5. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: The Year Without E3
    6. UKIE launches COVID-19 helpline in partnership with law firm Sheridans
    7. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne ships 5m units
    8. UKIE offices close during COVID-19 pandemic
    9. Samsung scraps PlayGalaxy Link streaming service
    10. Animal Crossing: New Horizons -- Critical Consensus
    1. Ittle Dew 2+ returns to Nintendo Switch
    2. How can machine learning be applied to game development?
    3. Call of Duty: Warzone reaches 15m players in first four days
    4. Manticore Games is building a "truly level playing field" for game development
    5. Assassin's Creed Unity was one of the best-selling games in the world last month
    6. Ex-Vainglory devs raise $2.5m for Bazooka Tango
    7. UK Charts: Nioh 2 takes No.1 as Mario Kart 8 races up the charts
    8. Xbox Series X specs revealed, aims for "a minimum doubling" over Xbox One X
    9. Media Molecule kicks off beta evaluation for commercial use of Dreams creations
    10. Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft board of directors
    11. Microsoft Build conference, DOTA and League of Legends esports among latest events to be cancelled
    12. EA, Rockstar, others shift to remote working amid pandemic
    1. Apple's WWDC to take place entirely online
    2. Reboot Develop Blue postponed to October
    3. Nintendo tells employees to self-quarantine
    4. Embracing the light in the music of Ori and the Will of the Wisps
    5. February US sales down 29%, says NPD
    6. Digital Dragons postponed to September amid coronavirus concerns
    7. Reporters Without Borders builds censorship-free zone in Minecraft
    8. Xbox plans digital event to replace E3 conference
    9. How to create a successful Patreon
    10. UK Monthly Report: GTA V reigns again as The Division 2 bounces back in February
    11. A year without E3 is a chance to take stock | Opinion
    1. Lince Works raises $3.4m for upcoming, unannounced title
    2. Call of Duty League cancels all scheduled live events due to COVID-19
    3. Xsolla announces virtual Game Developers Carnival
    4. London Games Festival prepares for virtual/digital activities if needed
    5. Pokimane, DrDisrespect sign multi-year Twitch exclusivity deals
    6. Epic acquires Cubic Motion
    7. BAFTA Games Awards go digital due to pandemic concerns
    8. An insider's perspective on China
    9. Games industry raised over $5.5m for Australian bushfire relief
    10. Back-end engine developer Pragma closes $4.2m seed round
    11. Lego Super Mario toys announced
    12. Making remote work work
    13. Pendula Swing dev "would not have survived" without episodic model
    14. Discord introduces platform changes to support remote workers amid COVID-19 pandemic
    15. Call of Duty: Warzone hits six million users in 24 hours
    16. Nintendo wins patent dispute against Gamevice
    17. Magic Leap looks for buyers
    1. Lost Boys Interactive opens Austin studio
    2. Google veteran Daniel Alegre named Activision Blizzard COO and president
    3. Overwatch League cancels all March and April live events in response to COVID-19
    4. Joy-Con drift lawsuit denied dismissal, but referred to arbitration
    5. E3 cancelled
    6. BitSummit shelved due to outbreak
    7. "Where should you put your time in marketing? Fun fact: emails"
    8. Epic Games Store adds wishlists
    9. Conducting the interactive opera of Evergreen Blues
    10. Game development agency Amber merges with Scorpius Games
    11. Pokémon Sword and Shield remain top-sellers in Japan months after release
    1. GDC offers talks for free following event cancellation
    2. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot sells over 2m copies
    3. Frontier Developments signs exclusive license for multiple F1 management games
    4. PUBG CEO reportedly will also lead parent group Krafton Game Union
    5. Game Informer non-editorial staff hit by layoffs
    6. Unity acquires Artomatix
    7. Mod.io raises $1m in seed funding
    8. Disruptor Beam lays off nine as it pivots away from game development
    9. Meet The Indies at Rezzed returns this month
    10. Horizon: Zero Dawn confirmed for PC
    11. Annapurna signs multi-year deal with Simogo
    12. That time Activision dishonorably discharged Call of Duty's star dev duo
    13. Building Ori and the Will of the Wisps with 80 people working from home
    14. 2K partners with the NFL to create multiple, non-simulation football titles
    15. Games Education Summit delayed until September
    16. Team17's full-year profits rise to £30m
    17. Bethesda's Todd Howard to keynote Develop:Brighton 2020
    18. Microsoft to host GDC sessions as planned
    19. HTC hosting conference in virtual reality to mitigate coronavirus risk
    20. How an unlikely Tencent project is helping China's indie scene
    21. DDM acquires data platform from Digi-Capital
    22. Bungie will no longer sell randomized loot boxes in Destiny 2
    1. Reggie Fils-Aimé appointed to GameStop board of directors
    2. Game Connection America 2020 postponed due to COVID-19 concerns
    3. Activision unveils standalone Call of Duty battle royale
    4. Yes, Your Grace earns $600k in opening weekend
    5. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: Could coronavirus change the way we work?
    6. Creative Chronicles: A balancing post-mortem of Total War Three Kingdoms
    7. Creative Chronicles: tutorials and insights into game development
    8. Mojang and EA cancel live events in response to COVID-19
    9. Microsoft asks employees to work from home over coronavirus fears
    10. Nvidia's GeForce Now loses 2K games, gains Epic support
    11. Bethesda wants to bring humanity to Fallout 76 through NPCs
    1. UK Charts: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon debuts at No.1
    1. City of Austin cancels SXSW 2020, citing COVID-19 concerns
    2. PlatinumGames raises over $2.2m for The Wonderful 101: Remastered
    3. Five lessons for developers from the GamesIndustry.biz Investment Summit
    4. How to approach mental health issues in the workplace
    5. AltGDC drops in-person elements due to coronavirus
    6. TurboGrafx-16 Mini indefinitely delayed due to coronavirus
    7. Australian Parliamentary committee recommends loot box regulation
    8. Australian trade bodies merge under banner of IGEA
    9. Psyonix cancels Rocket League World Championship over coronavirus concerns
    10. COVID-19: Bungie activates remote work policy
    11. Learning the lessons of the PlayStation 2 | Opinion
    1. Iam8bit resigns as E3 2020 creative director
    2. Is the industry a better place for women now?
    3. Take-Two CEO says COVID-19 could spark long-term change in remote work
    4. The Last of Us is being adapted into an HBO series
    5. ESA's Game Generation leads us down a dark path of denial | Opinion
    6. Salvaging the opportunites lost by GDC's cancellation
    7. Esports Players League raises $1m in seed round
    8. Playrix acquires Armenian mobile studio Plexonic
    9. APA reaffirms stance on video games and violent behaviour
    10. Streamline: COVID-19 will delay games and not just consoles
    1. ESA moves ahead with E3 2020 despite coronavirus concerns
    2. Yumi Yang named new head of Sony Santa Monica Studio
    3. Stadia opens new studio in Playa Vista
    4. Improbable's losses rose 65% last year to £63.7 million
    5. The Great Divide: A look at Africa's very different dev scenes
    6. Tilting Point buys Star Trek Timelines from Disruptor Beam
    7. Phoenix Games makes Studio Firefly its third acquisition
    8. EGX Rezzed Industry Party tickets on sale now
    9. Epic cancels Unreal Fest Europe
    10. DuckTales: Remastered returns to digital stores
    11. Zynga faces class action lawsuit over data breach
    12. German €50 million games fund notified by the EU
    13. How every studio head can stop their business from failing
    1. GamesFirst London 2020 and Google I/O cancelled
    2. TinyBuild opening new Boise studio with Guts and Glory developer
    3. Erica developer Flavourworks completes £3.5 million Series A funding round
    4. New publisher Ziggurat Interactive to revive dormant IP for PC and console
    5. Next-gen will be "tectonic plates" shifting underneath marketers
    6. Games firms "have to be ready" to support employees with mental health issues
    7. Labworks secures £500,000 investment for voice game subscription service
    8. London Games Festival reveals "Games are Good for You" programme
    9. Control and Death Stranding nominated for 11 BAFTAs each
    10. Entries open for the Develop:Star Awards 2020
    11. Nvidia switches GTC 2020 to online conference amid coronavirus concerns
    12. Torque Esports to operate Overwatch Collegiate League
    13. Troy Baker, Brian Fargo and BioWare to speak at Reboot Develop Blue 2020
    14. Potato Play raises $500k from Play Ventures
    1. Zordix acquires Invictus Games
    2. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: The real impact of cancelling GDC
    3. Autistica Play launches inclusive game jam
    4. Nvidia didn't ask permission to host The Long Dark on GeForce Now, says dev
    5. Six ways video game composers are missing out on money
    6. PlatinumGames: The Wonderful 101 Kickstarter wasn't about the money
    1. UK Charts: Two Point Hospital debuts at No.2