In July last year, we launched VGC on Patreon. In the year since, we’ve put out dozens of bonus videos, podcasts, and moreon our Patreon page, as well as adding extra features like the ability to browse the VGC website without ads. VGC on Patreonhas made a massive difference to how we run the site, and has supported us during a difficult time in media. If you’ve already joined as a Patron, we can’t thank you enough for your support over the past year, whether you’ve just signed up or been around since the day we launched....

Ubisoft executive Chris Early foresees a future where physical game sales may continue to decline, but he doesn’t think they’ll ever go away completely. TheAssassin’s Creedpublisherrecently agreed to acquire cloud gaming rightsoutside the European Economic Area for allActivision Blizzardgames released over the next 15 years. And while the company’s isbetting on streaming revolutionising the games industryin the same way it has transformed the TV and film businesses, Early, who was an influential figure in the negotiations for theActivisionrights, thinks physical sales will always have a place....

The first episode of VGC’s new weekly show, VGC: A Video Game Podcast, is now available on all major audio platforms. This week VGC’s Jordan Middler and Andy Robinson are joined by broadcaster Pete Donaldson to discuss what’s going on with E3 2023,Shinji Mikami’s departure fromTango Gameworks, and our experience so far withPlayStationVR2. In addition, GamesIndustry.biz’s Chris Dring reports from Brussels on the latest developments onMicrosoft’s proposedActivision Blizzardacquisition, following an EU hearing earlier this week....

The director of Visions of Mana has joined Square Enix, following the reported closure of the NetEase-owned studio that developed the game. As spotted byKnoebel, Ryosuke Yoshida posted a message on X announcing the news. Although the Mana series is owned bySquare Enixand it published Visions of Mana, it was developed by theNetEase-owned Ouka Studios. However, following the game’s release on August 29, it was reported thatNetEase had “cut all but a handful of jobs” at Oukaand planned to close the studio....

Xbox has come out in support of Epic in its request for a temporary restraining order against Apple. On Sunday Head ofXboxPhil Spencermade his Twitter followers aware of a statementMicrosofthad filed with the Northern District of California court, supporting Epic’s motion for a temporary restraining order against theiOSfirm. This monthEpic challenged Apple’s 30 percent cut of in-app purchasesby adding a direct payment option to theFortniteApp, in breach of App Store rules....

Microsoft is planning to launch a new, more expensive Xbox wireless headset this month. According to dataminer billbil-kun, who hasa long track recordof leaking new games and hardware prior to their official announcement, the “XboxWireless Headset Refresh” will hit Europe on October 22 and the US on November 5. Writing onDealabs, they claimed the new headset will be priced at $109.99 / £99.99 / €109.99. That would represent a $10 / £10 / €10 increase compared to the launch price of the existing Xbox wireless headset,which was released in 2021and is now widely out of stock....

Microsoft has reported a 7% revenue decline for its gaming division during its second fiscal quarter. The division generated $6.6 billion in revenue during the three months ended June 10, 2025, which was down $530 million year-over-year. The decline was attributed to a 29% drop inXboxhardware revenue, driven by a lower volume of consoles sold during the quarter. Xbox content and services revenue increased 2% year-over-year, fueled by growth in Game Pass....

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio could offer an early look at something it’s working on during a stream next week. As spotted byGematsu,Sega’sYakuzastudio has announced plans for a September 8 broadcast dubbed ‘Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio TV #12.5: Sneak Peek Trailer Brought to You by the Director!’. Featuring Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio director and executive producerMasayoshi Yokoyamaand product manager Masaya Santou, it will be viewable on YouTube from 4am PT / 7am ET / 12pm BST....

A DMCA takedown from Nintendo led to a prominent content creator having her Twitch account temporarily banned for streaming publicly available Zelda footage. Sony Santa Monicawriter and content creatorAlanah Pearce tweetedthat her Twitch account was suspended mid-stream because she was reacting to a Tears of the Kingdom preview video bySkillUp. While some players have been sharing footage of Tears of the Kingdom from a leaked version of the game, SkillUp’s footage was part of aNintendo-approved preview event in Australia where they were allowed to capture footage....

A dozen games will be removed from the PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue in June, Sony has confirmed. As confirmed on thePlayStationStore’s ‘Last chance to play’ page (viaPush Square), members have until June 18 to play the following titles. PS Plus Extra: PS Plus Premium: In comparison,Sonyremoved over 25 games from the Game Catalogue this month,including Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Editionandseven Final Fantasy titles. May’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalogue and Classics titleswere released on Tuesday....

By all accounts, Bungie isn’t having the greatest of time of times right now. The studio laid off around 100 staff in October(around 8% of its workforce), and as further details emerged – how staff werereportedly laid off on October 30 so their benefits would only last a day, how those who were promised shares for not leaving the company whenSonyacquired it would now not be getting them – left a bitter taste in the mouths of many....

BioShock, Mafia and Civilization publisher 2K has officially shut down its PC games launcher and removed the platform from all of its games. Announcedin a blog poston Tuesday,2Ksaid the launcher has now been removed from every game that used it onSteamandEpic Games Store. Additionally, the publisher has also removed the “2K Launcher Beta”, a completely separate launcher, fromSid Meier’s Civilization V. PClaunchers are used by some publishers as a means of booting their games....

A pre-release build of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has reportedly leaked online. According toRedditusers, the developer build was uploaded to a torrent site in late June. It appears to be fully playable from start to finish and can even be done so with friends. Update16th Jul 2024 / 7:12 pm Saber and Focus have said they’re“saddened” by the leak of an “old” Space Marine 2 build. Videos of the opening missions are being uploaded to aYouTubechannel and contain heavy story spoilers....