Alex Hutchinson: "Humour Is so Unfortunately Rare in Games" Marcel Kleffmann February 14, 2025 – 2 min read Share this post Revenge of the Savage Planet / Alex Hutchinson, Creative Director and Co-Founder of Raccoon Logic © Raccoon Logic / Hutchinson Business The Safe-Bet Crisis: Why Live-Service ”Wrappers“ Are Imploding In this week’s “Update”, Zoran Roso asks whether the industry is still designing games for pure enjoyment, and he suggests that the industry may have fallen into a dangerous corporate trap of designing for operational efficiency instead of creative taste and is facing a brutal reality check. By Zoran Roso • 4 min read John Hight, President of Wizards of the Coast, has sent out letters to unionising workers at the company. (Hasbro) Business Wizards of the Coast Not Voluntarily Recognizing Union With letters urging workers to "consider" their decision, Wizards of the Coast's President John Hight has made clear that the company will not voluntarily recognise the unionisation efforts of the Magic: The Gathering Arena team. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read Spellcasters Chronicles is going to be shut down on 19 June (Quantic Dream) Business French Union STJV Reacts to Probable Layoffs at Quantic Dream After Quantic Dream and NetEase have shuttered Spellcasters Chronicles after only four months of live service, french game workers union STJV has published demands to halt layoffs and for management to take responsibility. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read People Jenni Wergin Joins House of Games Team as Developer Relations Manager With the opening of the House of Games fast approaching, operator Wista Management is also strengthening the project team and has brought Jenni Wergin, an experienced industry expert, on board as Development Relations Manager. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read Campus Game Studies Watchlist 2026 #20 The Game Studies Watchlist newsletter, curated by Prof Dr Rudolf Inderst, is published weekly on GamesMarket. This week's topics include Disco Elysium, Analog Game Studies and more. By Rudolf Inderst • 2 min read The Winners of the Finnish Game Awards 2026 © Finnish Game Developers' Association / Neogames Finland Association Awards The Winners of the Finnish Game Awards 2026 The Finnish Game Awards 2026 saw a variety of winners, including a robot adventure game, a distinctly Finnish winter driving game, an adrenaline-fuelled techno shooter game, and a number of outstanding Finnish game developers. By Marcel Kleffmann • 3 min read Italian Video Game Awards © IIDEA Awards Finalists for the 2026 Italian Video Game Awards IIDEA, the Italian video game industry association, has announced the nominees for the 14th Italian Video Game Awards. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read Business The Safe-Bet Crisis: Why Live-Service ”Wrappers“ Are Imploding In this week’s “Update”, Zoran Roso asks whether the industry is still designing games for pure enjoyment, and he suggests that the industry may have fallen into a dangerous corporate trap of designing for operational efficiency instead of creative taste and is facing a brutal reality check. By Zoran Roso • 4 min read John Hight, President of Wizards of the Coast, has sent out letters to unionising workers at the company. (Hasbro) Business Wizards of the Coast Not Voluntarily Recognizing Union With letters urging workers to "consider" their decision, Wizards of the Coast's President John Hight has made clear that the company will not voluntarily recognise the unionisation efforts of the Magic: The Gathering Arena team. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
Business The Safe-Bet Crisis: Why Live-Service ”Wrappers“ Are Imploding In this week’s “Update”, Zoran Roso asks whether the industry is still designing games for pure enjoyment, and he suggests that the industry may have fallen into a dangerous corporate trap of designing for operational efficiency instead of creative taste and is facing a brutal reality check. By Zoran Roso • 4 min read
John Hight, President of Wizards of the Coast, has sent out letters to unionising workers at the company. (Hasbro) Business Wizards of the Coast Not Voluntarily Recognizing Union With letters urging workers to "consider" their decision, Wizards of the Coast's President John Hight has made clear that the company will not voluntarily recognise the unionisation efforts of the Magic: The Gathering Arena team. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
Spellcasters Chronicles is going to be shut down on 19 June (Quantic Dream) Business French Union STJV Reacts to Probable Layoffs at Quantic Dream After Quantic Dream and NetEase have shuttered Spellcasters Chronicles after only four months of live service, french game workers union STJV has published demands to halt layoffs and for management to take responsibility. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
People Jenni Wergin Joins House of Games Team as Developer Relations Manager With the opening of the House of Games fast approaching, operator Wista Management is also strengthening the project team and has brought Jenni Wergin, an experienced industry expert, on board as Development Relations Manager. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Campus Game Studies Watchlist 2026 #20 The Game Studies Watchlist newsletter, curated by Prof Dr Rudolf Inderst, is published weekly on GamesMarket. This week's topics include Disco Elysium, Analog Game Studies and more. By Rudolf Inderst • 2 min read
The Winners of the Finnish Game Awards 2026 © Finnish Game Developers' Association / Neogames Finland Association Awards The Winners of the Finnish Game Awards 2026 The Finnish Game Awards 2026 saw a variety of winners, including a robot adventure game, a distinctly Finnish winter driving game, an adrenaline-fuelled techno shooter game, and a number of outstanding Finnish game developers. By Marcel Kleffmann • 3 min read
Italian Video Game Awards © IIDEA Awards Finalists for the 2026 Italian Video Game Awards IIDEA, the Italian video game industry association, has announced the nominees for the 14th Italian Video Game Awards. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
Business The Safe-Bet Crisis: Why Live-Service ”Wrappers“ Are Imploding In this week’s “Update”, Zoran Roso asks whether the industry is still designing games for pure enjoyment, and he suggests that the industry may have fallen into a dangerous corporate trap of designing for operational efficiency instead of creative taste and is facing a brutal reality check. By Zoran Roso • 4 min read
John Hight, President of Wizards of the Coast, has sent out letters to unionising workers at the company. (Hasbro) Business Wizards of the Coast Not Voluntarily Recognizing Union With letters urging workers to "consider" their decision, Wizards of the Coast's President John Hight has made clear that the company will not voluntarily recognise the unionisation efforts of the Magic: The Gathering Arena team. By Pascal Wagner • 2 min read
