The ongoing feud between Epic Games and Apple over Fortnite’s return to the App Store shows no signs of ending. Last week, Apple reportedly delayed its usual app approval process, forcing Epic to cancel a Fortnite update across all platforms. Now, Apple has doubled down, stating it won’t act on any Fortnite app submissions globally until the Ninth Circuit Court [...] 3f1e1k
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It's no secret that NCSoft has been struggling over the last few years. Revenues peaked post-COVID in 2022 and have been in steep decline since. 2024 revenues are back below 2017 levels and the company's stock price has been diving, down 71% over the last 5 years. While the transition from primarily PC gaming to mobile games have led to [...]
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NetEase Inc., China’s second-largest gaming company, is undergoing a major restructuring under CEO William Ding, with hundreds of layoffs, studio closures, and a narrowed focus on high-revenue titles. The moves aim to bolster profitability amid slowing growth and fierce competition from Tencent and Mihoyo. Restructuring and Financial Context NetEase’s gaming division generated $11.6B in 2024 revenue, but growth has stagnated, [...]
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A South Korean court has ruled that Ironmace did not infringe on Nexon’s copyright when developing Dark and Darker, rejecting the publisher’s claims that the game was built using stolen data from Project P3. However, the court sided with Nexon on trade secret violations, ordering Ironmace to pay 8.5 billion won ($6 million) in damages. Key Ruling Details No Copyright [...]
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Nexon reported record annual revenue of ¥446.2 billion (~$3 billion) for 2024 thanks to the strong launch of Dungeon Fighter Online mobile (Dungeon&Fighter Mobile) in China. The global launch of The First Descendant was also cited as a driver of growth despite the game's average conccurrent playerbase dropping from ~200,000 at launch to around 9,000 today. Nexon Franchise lifetime sales [...]
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NCSOFT has released its Q4 2024 earnings report, revealing a 2% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) increase in revenue but an overall 6% year-over-year (YoY) decline in total sales. The company reported KRW 409.4 billion ($307 million) in revenue for the quarter, but an operating loss of KRW 129.5 billion ($97 million), driven by rising operational expenses. While NCSoft does not directly spell [...]
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Krafton, the South Korean studio behind PUBG: Battlegrounds, reported record-breaking 2024 earnings of 2.71 trillion KRW ($2.08 billion USD) and 1.18 trillion KRW ($908 million USD) in operating profit—a 42% and 54% year-over-year increase, respectively. The results, announced during a February 11 investor briefing, cap five years of 20% average annual growth, fueled by PUBG’s free-to-play transition and mobile dominance [...]
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Voldex, a startup specializing in -generated content (UGC) games, has acquired Brookhaven RP—the most-played title on Roblox with 120 million monthly active s—from its pseudonymous creator Wolfpaq. Financial were undisclosed, but the deal’s scale is implied by comparisons: Welcome to Bloxburg, a Roblox life sim with half Brookhaven’s base, sold for $100 million in 2022 to publicly traded [...]
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Hi-Rez Studios, the developer behind SMITE and Paladins, has initiated its second wave of layoffs in four months, impacting roles across game development, QA, and esports. The cuts follow October 2023’s “reorganization” to prioritize SMITE 2—currently in beta—over legacy titles. Key Details Scope: Over 20 employees confirmed laid off so far, per the SMITE subreddit, including programmers and QA staff. [...]
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Phoenix Labs, the Vancouver BC based studio behind Dauntless and Fae Farm, has laid off a majority of its workforce, casting uncertainty over the future of both games. The studio announced the cuts in a LinkedIn post earlier today, calling the move “tough but necessary,” though it did not specify how many employees were affected or what the restructuring means [...]
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