The Game Business

Can Meta wants on Roblox with AI? Meta VP Saxs Persson tells us why Horizon's new tools are a legitimate business opportunity for game makers, and not a threat to the traditional video game business www.thegamebusiness.com/p/can-you-bu...

We're running an awards to celebrate top video game marketing campaigns! More details through here. www.thegamebusiness.com/p/enter-the-...

$500 million Gears of War cannot happen again (Paid Subscribers) www.thegamebusiness.com/p/500-millio...

This week: Is there a future for Mass Effect and Dragon Age away from BioWare? Ken Kutaragi fears for consoles. We dive into the world of web-based games with Poki. And we try and get our heads around modern video game pricing. www.thegamebusiness.com/p/where-now-...

"We see a lot of complaints about the phone price. We found a way to drop it by $100, but $399 for a flip phone, although it’s not your granny’s flip phone, can seem expensive. That is purely because the RAM price went from $11 per unit to $86 per unit." www.thegamebusiness.com/p/how-one-st...

Today we're going retro with Commodore CEO Peri Fractic by discussing the surprising direction he's taking the classic gaming brand, including a 'digital detox' flip phone that taps into a growing desire to disconnect www.thegamebusiness.com/p/how-one-st...

In today's Here's The Dring, we revisit the Call of Duty vs Zelda vs GTA 6 conversation, plus what to make of all the AI noise. Reminder: Here's The Dring is our newsletter/podcast for paid subscribers. Our Tuesday and Thursday Shows remain free. www.thegamebusiness.com/p/ocarina-of...

Interview: Activision on Game Pass, Nintendo, Black Ops and rebuilding trust in Call of Duty www.thegamebusiness.com/p/fixing-cal...

In today's huge edition of The Game Business, we dive into the state of Call of Duty. Can Modern Warfare 4 stage a comeback for the franchise? We speak to Activision to find out. Plus, Lucasfilm Games and Fuse chat independent-made Star Wars games www.thegamebusiness.com/p/fixing-cal...

“North America is the most expensive place to make games in the world. So, there’s a lot of talk about, ‘Where can we go cheaper?' But if an outsource team is half as expensive as your internal team, but it takes over twice as long, it may cost more" www.thegamebusiness.com/p/star-fox-d...

In today's The Game Business, I've been chatting to Guha and Karthik Bala, the leaders of Velan Studios and former heads of Vicarious Visions. We talk about surviving in a hostile US game development scene... and how they won the backing of Nintendo www.thegamebusiness.com/p/star-fox-d...

Great chat with the Bala Bros of @velanstudios.com over at @thegamebusiness.com. They seem to have cracked the code of high quality mid-tier game dev. You just have to have done the work and built trust & relationships for 35 years! www.thegamebusiness.com/p/star-fox-d...

“The Nintendo partnership is a very special and unique one, and the bar is really high in terms of what we need to make.” www.thegamebusiness.com/p/star-fox-d...

This week's Here's The Dring (for our lovely paid subscribers), discusses the new AI, prompt-based UGC platforms offered by Google, Roblox and Meta. Plus, whether there is anything actually new to the Xbox XP division? www.thegamebusiness.com/p/is-prompt-...

How did PS5 boxed games sell in September? GTA 6 and Zelda reveals boost console sales in September. And the problem with industry consolidation... www.thegamebusiness.com/p/how-did-ps...

"We’ve had a small team on State of Decay 3 since maybe 2020. But development didn’t really pick up until 2022 or 2023.” www.thegamebusiness.com/p/how-undead...

Today, we speak to Undead Labs boss Philip Holt about the studio's shift from Xbox to independence, the layoffs, the impact on State of Decay 3, what 'employee ownership' means, why it didn't find a buyer, the importance of Game Pass and loads more! www.thegamebusiness.com/p/how-undead...

In today's Here's The Dring, I discuss the resurgence of the MMORPG, and whether it's all just nostalgia. Plus... are the SNL writers readers of TGB? www.thegamebusiness.com/p/is-there-m...

"We understand it’s a risky project, but it’s also a project that allows us to build a relationship with Nintendo and with Nintendo players.” www.thegamebusiness.com/p/games-medi...

A big edition this week. We discuss the cuts in the video game media, plus we interview Bloober Team about its hunt for video games' 'Backrooms', and building a relationship with Nintendo. Plus, New Your Games Week pop in to discuss the surprising event www.thegamebusiness.com/p/games-medi...

We chat to the various leaders at EA's Criterion studio to find out whether the famous UK developer can still be itself when part of a wider Battlefield 6 team www.thegamebusiness.com/p/as-a-battl...

We speak to Tencent about building hit studios in the model of Larian and FromSoftware, the advice it gives to its teams, and Hollywood. “We want to work with you if you believe you can be the category leader in this particular genre” www.thegamebusiness.com/p/tencents-b...

It’s Monday! So time for 'Here's The Dring' (paid subscribers only). This week, Chris reports back on his experience visiting the Nintendo Museum. And why it embodies Nintendo’s efforts to widen the audience for its games and franchises www.thegamebusiness.com/p/nintendo-i...

Today, we dive into the "sensible" and "necessary" changes being made at Xbox. Plus, we look at the state of video game localization, and the role AI is playing there. www.thegamebusiness.com/p/is-xbox-ma...

Xbox is merging studios underneath Activision and Bethesda. Halo is now at Activision, alongside Rare and World’s Edge. 268 job cuts across Halo Studios, other first-party teams and Xbox Game Studios management. Ninja Theory faces closure. More here: www.thegamebusiness.com/p/halo-to-ac...

In today's (slightly early) edition, we speak to Rainbow Six: Siege Joshua Mills about the challenges that followed last year's major X update, the hack that took out the game over Christmas, life under Tencent, the GTA 6 launch and, erm, Moana. www.thegamebusiness.com/p/weve-been-...

We review Tokyo Game Show 2026. Can Kojima boost Xbox in Japan? What should we make of all the remakes and returning franchises? Where was Nintendo? And China for that matter? Did I get that Game Freak magazine? All will be revealed (paid subscribers) www.thegamebusiness.com/p/tokyo-game...

This week! Valor Mortis will cost $40 as the new IP attempts to stand-out in the face of GTA 6 and 'the craziest fall in games history' Plus, we dive into the Japanese games market with @serkantoto And Nex Playground secures a massive funding boost www.thegamebusiness.com/p/five-thing...

In this bonus edition of The Game Business Show, we chat to Balatro publisher PlayStack on the impact of the hit poker game, the role of indies in the modern video game industry, and what they expect from their new owners www.thegamebusiness.com/p/beyond-bal...

“For the last six years, we have made redundancies every single year, about 20% of the company. This will be the first year we haven’t done it.” www.thegamebusiness.com/p/the-shoote...

Wardogs has now sold 2m copies worldwide in one weekend. So, we caught up with Joe Brammer, CEO of developer Bulkhead, to learn more about the team behind it, and how they're dealing with the sudden, unexpected success of a shooter Tencent abandoned www.thegamebusiness.com/p/the-shoote...

"The Xbox cuts aren't purely to save money. It's about focus. It wants to invest in bigger bets. It’s not against new IP, but the new IP it wants isn’t indie-like experimental games. It wants ambitious projects. That’s what Kojima brings" www.thegamebusiness.com/p/can-hideo-...

The Zelda Nintendo Direct attracted 2.1 million peak viewers. That's bigger than Gamescom Opening Night Live, and more than double the PlayStation State of Play. It's comfortably the second most talked about game of the year www.thegamebusiness.com/p/the-legend...

“We’re not so silly as to claim that we’re going to kill Forza Horizon” www.thegamebusiness.com/p/some-of-th...

This week, we speak to Maverick Games on its divorce from Amazon, offensive offers from other publishers, why it's not trying to 'kill' Forza and more! www.thegamebusiness.com/p/some-of-th...

In today's paid-subscriber Podcast and Newsletter, @Chris_Dring takes on industry trends, and why sometimes it's best to ignore them www.thegamebusiness.com/p/southeast-...

GTA 6 reveal causes Xbox and PlayStation sales to jump by a third www.thegamebusiness.com/p/gta-6-reve...

Why The Witcher 3 is coming back. Interview with CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michał Nowakowski. www.thegamebusiness.com/p/cd-projekt...

Today, we speak to CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michal Nowakowski. We discuss the state of consoles, returning to The Witcher 3, the risk of making multiple games at the same time, Switch 2, not rushing games, TV shows, and lots, lots more www.thegamebusiness.com/p/cd-projekt...

"We will get more hit console entertainment. Costs will come down. And the industry will make games that will attract younger consumers over time.” www.thegamebusiness.com/p/unity-ceo-...

The cost of making video games is going down 'markedly', says the boss of Unity, one of the industry's biggest tech companies. Watch, listen or read the full interview here. It's a nice positive one www.thegamebusiness.com/p/unity-ceo-...

On today's 'Here's The Dring', Chris explains why he thinks video game consoles will bounce back. We also reveal why Maverick Games chose Focus Entertainment as its publisher for Clutch This one is for paid subscribers, and there's 25% off right now! www.thegamebusiness.com/p/video-game...

In today's Show & Newsletter, we reveal the games and publishers that will be most impacted by PlayStation's decision to halt disc production in 2028, and how they can manage the transition. We also chat $1,000 games consoles and interview Gamescom! www.thegamebusiness.com/p/the-video-...

Arkane Studios veterans Harvey Smith, Ricardo Bare and Ben Horne reunite at a new immersive sim studio called Black Pony. It's making a single-player game. No live-service. We chat the state of the industry, Redfall, and why immersive sims aren't 'dead' www.thegamebusiness.com/p/arkane-vet...

We have 25% off paid The Game Business subscription until August 31. Paid subscribers get: - An extra weekly newsletter and podcast called 'Here's The Dring' - Our monthly market report - The chance to The Game Business Live in LA at no extra cost www.thegamebusiness.com/p/summer-sal...

Where is today's episode of The Game Business Show? It's coming tomorrow because it ties with a news story, and features two legendary game makers. It's just a one-off. Back to Tuesdays from next week.