Top News Items |
On the 17th March Microsoft released a 2-hour video for ID@Xbox, showcasing indie games.
21 games were highlighted including Shredders, Trek to Yomi, Chinatown Detective Agency and Lost Eidolons. All the games are slated for release sometime this year and almost all these games will be available on other platforms, especially the PC.
New sanctions have been applied on Russian games industry: Epic has suspended cash prizes for Russian winners in its Fortnite competitions. EA has removed Russia and Belarus players from its Esports competitions. Ukrainian Developer GSC Game World have renamed their new game STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl instead of the using the Russian grammar Chernobyl.
More companies have pledged donations for Ukraine : Playrix has donated $500,000. Embracer Group will donate an additional $4 million on top of the $1 million it has given. Indie publisher Wired Studios has donated $75,000. Itch.io 1000 game bundle sale for Ukraine is approaching $6 million.
The French National Trade Association (NTA) SELL released its latest report on the French games industry for 2021. Total spending in France, which includes mobile, increased by 1.6% to €5.6 billion. Console spending (hardware, software and accessories) represented just under half of total market spend and PC spending represented a quarter. 58% of full game spending was on the physical format, almost the same percentage amount that was in SELL’s 2020 report meaning France has not increased its digitalization of GSD (Games Sales Data) tracked console and PC full game unit sales last year.
Belgium Games, the NTA for Belgium, announced that the country’s game spending, including mobile, grew by +4% to €600 million in 2021. Physical full game unit sales representing 58% of the market.
US GameStop released its 2021 fiscal, ending January 2022. The company made just over $6 billion, an increase of +18%. All three of its categories saw growth. Hardware increased +25%, software (including used games) +2% and Collectables +42%. Net revenue continues to be an issue with the company posting a loss of $381 million, a decrease of another $166 million on top of the losses from its fiscal 2020.
Tencent has bought a majority stake in Rime developer Tequila Works. Tencent also invested in Framed developer Studio MayDay, which is now relaunching as Riffraff Games. The amount of the investments are not disclosed.
Google’s Stadia is offering people the ability play demos, purchase games and to enter free trails of games on its platform without the need to first own a Stadia account. The company will also facilitate the port of Unreal Engine and Unity games to Stadia more easily.
French medieval game A Plague’s Tale will be turned into a TV show.
New games |
Week commencing Monday 21 March 2022
| Date | Title | Platform(s) | Genre(s) | Developer(s) | Publisher(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 March | Rune Factory 5 | NS | Role-playing, simulation | Marvelous | Xseed Games |
| 24 March | The Ascent | PS4, PS5 | Action role-playing | Neon Giant | Curve Digital |
| Imp of the Sun | Win, NS, PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX | Action platform | Sunwolf Entertainment | Fireshine Games | |
| Relayer | PS4, PS5 | Tactical role-playing | Kadokawa Games | Kadokawa Games, Clouded Leopard Entertainment | |
| 25 March | Ghostwire: Tokyo | Win, PS5 | Action-adventure | Tango Gameworks | Bethesda Softworks |
| Kirby and the Forgotten Land | NS | Platform | HAL Laboratory | Nintendo | |
| Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | Win, PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX | Action role-playing, first-person shooter | Gearbox Software | 2K Games |