Publisher News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

GTA 6 sales likely won't be affected by the game's launch window, according to Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick.

The Dragon Ball Sparking Zero release date might very well have been leaked via Bandai Namco's own website.

Chinese developer Game Science has published a short but sweet new trailer for its debut action RPG title, Black Myth: Wukong.

It looks like Grand Theft Auto 6won't be releasing until late 2025, according to publisher Take-Two Interactive's latest financial report.

If you want to be really technical, basically every game is a survival game. After all, the point is to avoid dying, right?

According to a new report published by DualShockers, Creative Assembly is working on a Total War: Star Wars game. The sources actually mention this is one of three Total War projects and they do not know exactly when each game will be released.

Blizzard has published Cataclysm Classic launch notes, clarifying parts of the expansion launch which differ from original launch a decade ago. Of particular note is:

Games have steadily become larger and larger as the generations go on. Thanks to the most advanced console and PC technology, developers are able to craft massive worlds and stories that would have been impossible in the past. While many of us enjoy sinking our teeth into a meaty 100-hour-long game from time to time, eventually fatigue will set in. That’s where games on the other end of the spectrum come in. These games aren’t afraid to tell a tight, compact story, or to explore a single gameplay concept, and then call it a day without stretching things out. They are no less impactful or memorable than their massive counterparts, and may even be superior in some player’s eyes. Here are a few of the best games you can beat in a single day to cleanse your palate with some more experimental titles.

First published by Games Workshop in 1983, Talisman: The Magical Quest Game is remembered fondly by kids who grew up with board games in the 1980s and early 1990s. But the last version of the dungeon crawling board game, its fourth, was published way back in 2008, well before the modern board gaming Renaissance really began. Now Hasbro is bringing it back for a fifth edition. Pre-orders, priced at $59.99, are live now. The game returns to mass market retail on July 1.

It’s time to do a bit of casual Friday colonizing (virtually). Amplitude Studios, the Parisian game studio known for strategy games, is giving away its acclaimed game Endless Legend for free on Steam. Starting on Thursday and running until May 23, interested players can download the entire game for free on Steam.

Microsoft intends to put its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard to use by releasing the next Call of Duty game directly on its Game Pass subscription service, the Wall Street Journal reports. The WSJ says the plan will be announced at Xbox’s annual summer showcase on June 9.

This Week in Business is our weekly recap column, a collection of stats and quotes from recent stories presented with a dash of opinion (sometimes more than a dash) and intended to shed light on various trends. Check every Friday for a new entry.

Helldivers 2 was a massive hit right out of the gate for developer Arrowhead Game Studios, and the game’s popularity has only grown since its release in February of this year. Shedding the top-down perspective of the first Helldivers, this cooperative third-person shooter took the world by surprise by being equally hilarious, fun, and challenging. It demands everyone work together to overcome massive hordes of bugs while also dealing with the fact that one player’s slipup could derail the whole mission in the most humorous fashion. It’s a total riot, and it’s not hard to see why.

Recent reports suggested that Microsoft executives had been debating for some time whether to put new Call of Duty games onto Game Pass on day one (i.e. on their release day). That seems like something it should have figured out before spending $68.7 billion on CoD publisher Activision Blizzard, but it seems that Microsoft has finally reached a decision. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company will indeed bring the next Call of Duty title directly to Game Pass when it arrives later this year.

AMD's Strix Halo, the higher-end Ryzen APU, which will power enthusiast laptops with up to 16 Zen 5 cores & 40 RDNA 3+ GPU cores has been revealed in a render diagram published by @Olrak_29.

US publishing giant Take-Two made $5.35 billion in revenue for the year ending March 31st, 2024.

Tokyo-based publisher and developer Cygames has announced the establishment of a new overseas branch in Singapore called Cygames Singapore.

Ubisoft has canceled its free-to-play survival shooter Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland, three years after it's reveal.

Ubisoft has confirmed that Assassin's Creed Shadows won't require an online connection at all times.

Square Enix announced earlier this week that it will aggressively pursue a more multiformat-focused strategy, after its big PS5 console exclusives failed to meet expectations. According to Bloomberg journalist Takashi Mochizuki, sales of Final Fantasy 16 did open in line with the company’s targets – but its momentum has since slowed and it’s failed to meet its subsequent goals. A PC port is imminent, and the publisher hopes that will get the title back on track.

Elden Ring players already know they're in for it when DLC Shadow of the Erdtree drops next month, on the 21st of June, on PS5 and PS4. Developer Fromsoftware has been cooking, going by what we've seen so far, and now the sadistic studio is teasing an enemy ripped straight from our most persistent Bloodborne nightmares.

The Monster Hunter franchise from Capcom continues to go from strength to strength as the publisher has announced the series has now sold over 100 million copies across its many entries. Fuelled by recent entries like World and Rise, it sits in prime position to capitalise on the series' growing popularity in the West with Monster Hunter Wilds launching in 2025.

It doesn't come as a huge surprise, but SEGA reportedly wants Atlus to pump out a new Persona release every year. This is according to well-known leaker Midori, who claims that the publisher now places the Persona series alongside Like a Dragon and Sonic as one of its big three.

The Finals, the fast-paced free-to-play shooter shadow dropped back in December, initially drew huge crowds, but retention has waned. Publisher Nexon just reported substantial revenues across the board, partially offset by the «lower-than-expected» performance of the live service punt.

We're getting closer and closer to gaming's annual announcement season. Every summer sees the industry turn out for a few weeks of pre-recorded presentations and live broadcasts, all showcasing what's coming up in the near future. With E3 now sadly a thing of the past, the biggest of these events is now Summer Game Fest, created and hosted by Geoff Keighley. Whatever games you enjoy, it sounds like this will be worth watching — a lot of game developers and publishers are taking part.

Take-Two, the publisher behind Grand Theft Auto and owner of other labels such as Private Division, has denied reports it recently shut down Rollerdrome, OlliOlli developer Roll7 and Kerbal Space Program 2 team Intercept Games. Having been questioned by IGN during a financial call today, CEO Strauss Zelnick responded: «We didn't shutter those studios.»

Publisher Secret Mode and developer Cosmonaut Studios has just announced the long-awaited console port of its intriguing puzzle adventure, Eternal Threads. Initially announced for PS4 back in 2022, the game is now finally coming — with a PS5 version too — on 23rd May, 2024.

This author’s got to put his hands up: there are Slack chat records of me saying Helldivers 2 would be a total and utter sales flop. As it happens, the release has now cemented itself as Sony’s fastest selling first-party title of all time, netting 12 million units in 12 weeks across PS5 and PC, accurate as of 5th May. That beats God of War Ragnarok’s record of 11 million units in 10 weeks.

The Assassin's Creed series is essentially a single player live-service offering at this point, and with the introduction of a franchise hub in Assassin's Creed Infinity, those efforts at Ubisoft are only being furthered. You can still keep your DLC consumption to a traditional standard in the newly unveiled Assassin's Creed Shadows, though, as its PS Store listings reveal a season pass promising two expansions post-launch.

Developer Player First Games has published a video that walks players through the new MultiVersus PvE Rift Mode ahead of its relaunch in a few weeks.

Take-Two‘s updated release slate of upcoming games, published on Thursday, includes 12 fewer games than the last time it was shown.

Grand Theft Auto 6 publisher Take-Two Interactive has narrowed down the title's release window, revealing in an earnings call that GTA 6 will launch at some point in Fall 2025.

The Division Heartland, the now-canceled free-to-play take on the looter shooter series, was originally set to be a battle royale mode.

Lies of P, the action Soulslike starring Pinocchio, is set to receive new DLC in the second half of this year. 

The card-hunting game developed and published by Pixel Spirits, Dragon Age: Pals Adventure, has launched officially on Android! Available now on Google Play, this game has dropped in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

Assassin's Creed Shadows players won't have access to all of the game's day-one missions due to Ubisoft locking one behind the Season Pass and another behind a preorder bonus.

Activision is known as the Call of Duty publisher, but now it’s trying something different. The company announced Thursday that it’s formed a new internal studio called Elsewhere Entertainment that is dedicated to developing a “new narrative-based and genre-defining AAA franchise.”

We are thrilled to announce Polygon’s latest book: Year of the Ring, an in-depth exploration of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and the books that inspired them. Year of the Ring — authored by Susana Polo and a variety of Polygon contributors — will hit stores on Oct. 15, 2024, kicking off Polygon Pages, an ongoing publishing partnership with Insight Editions.

The Japan-set Assassin's Creed Shadows requires an internet connection to install but not to play after, Ubisoft has confirmed.

Medieval city builder Manor Lords is a smash hit, selling two million copies in just three weeks.

French publishing giant Ubisoft has reported €2.3 billion ($2.5 billion) in sales for the year ending March 31st, 2024.

Google's use of artificial intelligence to sum up answers to search queries has publishers wondering if traffic to their websites will wither.

Today, in the middle of its full-year financial report, Ubisoft announced that the free-to-play game Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland has been canceled. The publisher will reinvest in XDefiant and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six instead. Here's the full quote:

It looks like Toys for Bob is beginning its next chapter, and it’s starting with a mysterious purple tiki mask.

Ubisoft has ended development of The Division Heartland, the free-to-play game set in the universe of Tom Clancy’s The Division, the company announced Wednesday. The game was announced in 2021. The publisher said it will divert resources elsewhere, specifically to XDefiant and the Rainbow Six franchise.

Developer Crystal Dynamics has inked a deal with Amazon to bring a Tomb Raider TV show to Prime Video.

A new report claims that more major Xbox exclusives, such as or could be coming to PlayStation. Recently, Microsoft has experimented with bringing some of its exclusive titles to other consoles, with being so popular on PlayStation that it was one of the most pre-ordered titles on its store, and crashed its servers at launch due to such high demand.

Five years after Amazon.com Inc. raised wages to $15 an hour, half of warehouse workers surveyed by researchers say they struggle to afford enough food or a place to live.

A public campaign to prevent publishers from pulling online support from video games in a way that makes them unplayable has prompted a response from the UK government.

Sony expects PS5 sales to gradually decline as the console has entered the second half of its console cycle.

By Fanny Potkin and Eduardo Baptista

Assassins Creed Shadows fans are trying to figure out a cryptic marketing puzzle hidden by Ubisoft.

We review Medici, published by Steamforged Games. This is a reprint of Dr. Renier Knizia's classic auction game and updated with a modern look.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google on Tuesday rolled out a retooled search engine that will frequently favor responses crafted by artificial intelligence over website links, a shift promising to quicken the quest for information while also potentially disrupting the flow of money-making internet traffic.

Players can earn Hero-Track gear by defeating Yogg-Saron in Ulduar Timewalking during this week's event! Those looking to improve their characters' Season 4 gear are in for a treat this week. On top of the Champion-track gear offered by A Frozen Path Through Time, players can also complete Disturbance Detected: Ulduar to earn a Hero-track piece by defeating the Old God Yogg-Saron in the depths of Timewalking Ulduar. To accept this quest, head to Dalaran and speak with Vormu, right in the center of the city (/way 49.8 45.9).

Developer 1M Bits Horde and Meta Publishing (who also published Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous) are announcing Nested Lands, a new medieval-set, "brutally challenging" multiplayer survival RPG in which the world has been ravaged by a plague. Check out the first trailer above and the first screenshots in the gallery below.

In its latest financial report, Sony has revealed that Helldivers 2 — the scrappy co-op shooter turned online gaming sensation from Sweden’s Arrowhead Game Studios — is the fastest-selling game PlayStation has ever released.

Ubisoft has officially confirmed that Assassin's Creed Red is now Assassin's Creed Shadows, and it seems the publisher has also unofficially - but quite accidentally - confirmed the game's release date.

Square Enix has announced a major shakeup dubbed ‘Square Enix Reboots and Awakens’ that will see them embrace full multi-platform game development, after PlayStation 5 exclusives Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Foamstars all failed to meet internal expectations. Additionally, they are making layoffs affecting US and European staff, including the Square Enix Collective indie label – per VGC.

One need only take to their social media platform of choice to gauge the popularity of publishers among modern gamers. Some are bemoaned for crippling previously successful studios with the imposition of unwanted live service models, while others are lamented for implementing unpopular matchmaking algorithms that prioritise retention over connection quality or fair team composition. Certainly, while most big studios can boast of healthy fan support (look at the devotion enjoyed by From Software or Larian Studios, for instance), you don’t come across many vocal EA or Ubisoft fanboys.

Square Enix is reportedly preparing to lay off an unconfirmed number of workers as part of restructuring efforts.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SEI) has announced a new leadership structure that puts two people in charge of different parts of its business. Hideaki Nishino, who is currently serving as the SVP for the Platform Experience Group, will become the CEO of SIE's Platform Business Group starting on June 1. On the same day, Hermen Hulst will take on the role of CEO for SIE's Studio Business Group after serving as SVP and Head of PlayStation Studios.

PS5 sales have surpassed 59.2 million units worldwide, Sony has revealed.

Blizzard has published their official video preview for Remix: Mists of Pandaria. Remix OverviewRemix Rewards

Free Fire is getting its own anime adaptation! Yes, Garena has just signed a deal with Japanese entertainment company Kadokawa to bring the game to life in a new format. The Free Fire anime project will be guided by Kadokawa Qingyu.

Warner Bros has U-turned on a decision to delist indie games previously published by Adult Swim.

Square Enix, the Japanese developer and publisher behind recent PlayStation 5 exclusives like Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, plans to release more multiplatform titles in the future.

Square Enix has revealed a new business plan — titled “Square Enix Reboots, and Awakens” — that will see the publisher “aggressively pursue” a multiplatform strategy for its biggest games across Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation, and Windows PC.

US publishing giant Electronic Arts is looking to introduce in-game advertising into its products.

Square Enix has confirmed that it has cancelled a number of unannounced game projects because they don’t fit with its new strategy.

Ever since Sony’s PC and PlayStation 5 co-op shooter Helldivers 2 came out earlier this year, fans have suggested it would be perfect for a Star Wars crossover. Now, one mod team has gone ahead and built just that.

Today, Square Enix reported financial results for the fiscal year that ended on March 31. The results weren't great, as the Japanese publisher narrowly missed the revenue target and majorly missed the operating income target, with the latter also down 26.6% compared to last year.

Japanese publishing giant Square Enix is shifting its focus to "aggressively" pursue a multiplatform strategy in the future.

This summer, we’re living in a brave new world. E3 is officially dead — for real this time. That means there’s a vacuum to be filled as publishers still look to showcase their games during high-profile events. There’s both good news and bad news for anyone who looks forward to E3 season. The good news? Summer Game Fest is filling that gap, alongside several streams that’ll orbit around it. The bad news? Keeping track of it all is a huge pain.

It appears that Steam users in Vietnam are unable to access the platform.

Content creators who were offered access to Marvel Rivals were reportedly made to sign a contract forbidding them from making "subjective negative reviews of the game". The contract also says that the creator cannot "engage in discussions that are detrimental to the reputation of the game", or compare it to its competitors.

Helldivers 2 is still being removed from sale on Steam in more countries, even after publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) scrapped its hugely controversial PSN mandate. 

Blizzard has published their hotfixes for May 10th, which include the removal from Inferno scaling beyond 5 targets, Taivan will once again awoos when summoned, and double Blue Silken Lining will once again work.

Microsoft has signed a deal with publisher CI Games to bring Lords of the Fallen and Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2 to Xbox Game Pass.

Lords of the Fallen publisher CI Games has announced that it has laid off 30 employees, months after cutting 10% of its workforce.