Politics SELL and Internet Sans Crainte Launch Awareness Campaign Ahead Paris Games Week Under the name “Enter the game”, the French games industry association SELL and Internet Sans Crainte have launched an online campaign designed to support parents in protecting young people whilst gaming, providing information on topics such as parental control systems and PEGI. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Scott Van Vliet and Asha Sharma (Pictures by Xbox Wire) Development Xbox Labs Shall Turn Emerging Ideas Into Players and Dev Experiences Microsoft says it aims to be at the forefront of the future of gaming technologies. That is why Xbox head Asha Sharma has set up Xbox Labs, led by CTO Scott Van Vliet, a team tasked with exploring and developing technologies and possibilities. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
People Studio Fizbin Co-Founder Alexander Pieper Joins Aesir Interactive as CPO A good 18 months after announcing the planned closure of Studio Fizbin due to Thunderful’s cost-cutting measures, co-founder Alexander Pieper has found a new home as Chief Production Officer at Aesir in Munich. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Xsolla Connects Payment Providers With Game Devs as Advertising Partners With a new service called Co-Marketing Campaigns, Xsolla brings payment providers and games developers together as advertising partners. Xsolla is also working on further partnership offerings for financial institutions. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
(Photo: Archive image from Games Ground 2025) Events SGA Organises Impact Track at Games Ground Berlin With three panel discussions and a get-together, the Sustainable Games Alliance is bringing the topic of resource efficiency to Games Ground Berlin. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Esports Esports in Bavaria: Youth Culture and Grassroots Movement Esports belongs to gaming the way the Alps belong to Bavaria. And when it comes to esports, Bavaria is blazing its own trail – one that encompasses international highlight tournaments as well as community engagement and responsibility across the region. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
Publishing No Man’s Sky, Dome Keeper and Sifu Release on iOS During Apple’s App Store Indie Games Week With seven new, high-profile indie games, Apple is not only celebrating App Store Indie Games Week from today, but is also supporting business models other than the traditional free-to-play model. By Stephan Steininger • 2 min read
Events Womenize! Launches Its NRW Chapter Ahead of DEP in Cologne On the day before the Deutscher Entwicklerpreis (German Developer Award) ceremony in Cologne, Womenize! is launching a new series of events in North Rhine-Westphalia. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Products Record-Breaking Steam Event Builds Excitement For Finnish Games Week A week before several in-person events take place in Finland as part of Finnish Games Week, the official Steam event has begun. Over 360 games from Finland are taking part. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
According to Circana, the best-selling game in the US in August was: NBA 2K27 (Picture: Take-Two Interactive) Business US Video Games Market Remains Below Last Year’s Levels in August At US$4.26 billion, the US market saw a 9 per cent year-on-year decline in sales volume in August. This time, the drop in turnover is primarily attributable to software. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Business Paramount and Di Bonaventura Producing a Cyberpunk Movie Paramount Pictures is working with CD Projekt Red on a live-action adaptation of Cyberpunk 2077, according to the US magazine Deadline. Lorenzo di Bonaventura is on board as a producer. A report to this effect on Deadline was confirmed on X by CD Projekt co-CEO Michał Nowakowski. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Maria Angelidou-Smith, CEO of Mojang and Minecraft, and Kayleen Walters, President of Xbox XP (from Left) People Xbox: Kayleen Walters Become President of XP, Maria Angelidou-Smith CEO of Mojang and Minecraft Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is making further changes to the leadership team of Microsoft’s gaming division: Kayleen Walters heads the new XP business unit, which includes the licensing business. Maria Angelidou-Smith, a former manager at Meta and Personio, is taking charge of Mojang and Minecraft. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
