The painful restructuring at Microsoft continues, whilst Embracer is reaping the rewards of its cost-cutting measures and using a new loan on more favourable terms to pay off old loans. We also speak to Andrey Tsvetkov, Arhi Makkonen and the creators of Solarpunk.
The shake-up at Xbox continues, dear readers.
This time, however, the changes are more organisational in nature, to the extent that the Xbox Game Studios label is virtually rendered meaningless. Halo is moving to Activision (home of Call of Duty), as are World's Edge and Rare studios. Obsidian Entertainment is joining Bethesda, which seems like a good idea given their work on the Fallout RPGs. Playground and Turn 10 are set to merge. King will take over Microsoft Casual Games. But what will happen to The Coalition (Gears of War), who are set to release Gears of War: E-Day soon, and inXile (Clockwork Revolution)? It's not yet clear what will happen to them. The situation is similar for Ninja Theory, who have not yet found a buyer and now face the threat of closure. Consultations are also continuing at Arkane Studios. It seems the major Xbox reset isn't over yet; it's best not to think about what might happen if the next big AAA exclusive title, Gears of War: E-Day, fails to meet expectations ...
Here are the news of the day!
Your Marcel Kleffmann
The 'Xbox Reset' continues. In addition to 268 job cuts, it has been announced that Activision will take charge of Halo and Age of Empires in future. Obsidian Entertainment is moving to Bethesda. There is also an update on the studio divestitures.
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by Marcel Kleffmann
How do gaming executives rate Europe's position in the global market? And what key challenges and trends are currently affecting the industry? We spoke to Andrey Tsvetkov, Head of Publishing Owlcat Games (Cyprus), to find out.
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by Marcel Kleffmann
Control Resonant is not just a sequel to Remedy's Control, but an entirely new experiment. We spoke to Senior Level Designer Arhi Makkonen about making Manhattan weird(er), excluding parry systems from the game and taking inspiration from great games.
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by Pascal Wagner
With 250,000 copies sold in a rather crowded market, Solarpunk from the two-person Cyberwave studio and rokaplay has got off to a strong start. In a joint interview, the developers and the publisher celebrated the successful release of the game, discussing what had gone well and what hadn't.
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Until 30 September and 18 October respectively, the SGDA accepts submissions for games and content creators for the Swiss Game Awards 2026.
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Marcel Kleffmann
On 23 October 2026, the German Esports Summit in Cologne will bring together leading figures from the worlds of esports, business, politics, education and associations. New additions this year include the Diversity Brunch and the German Esports Awards.
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The Embracer Group has secured a new revolving credit facility of SEK 2 billion, which replaces various existing loans with different institutions. This will enable Embracer to secure more favourable terms for the transitional period leading up to the spin-off of Fellowship Entertainment.
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As a Leipzig event, Nexus was naturally filled with games from the region. Most developer booths were organised by Games & XR Mitteldeutschland under their Next Level: Saxony! label. Here are all the games that were there.
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Marcel Kleffmann
21.09. - 23.09.2026: D.I.C.E. Europe (Athens)
22.09. - 25.09.2026: Game Devs of Color Expo (online)
23.09.2026: Open Stage Games BW (Suttgart)
23.09. - 25.09.2026: Northern Games Summit (Kajaani)
26.09. - 27.09.2026: Zurich Pop Con Game & Show (Zurich)
29.09. - 30.09.2026: DevGamm x FTW! (Belgrade)
02.10. - 04.10.2026: Hero Fest (Bern)
03.10.2026: IAM Gaming Expo (Moray)
04.10. - 11.10.2026: New York Games Week (New York)
07.10. - 08.10.2026: Mobidictum (Istanbul)
08.10. - 09.10.2026: Gamespace Conference (Zürich)
09.10. - 11.10.2026: Polaris (Hamburg)
09.10. - 11.10.2026: SAGA Barcelona Game Fest (Barcelona)
09.10. - 11.10.2026: PAX Aus (Melbourne)
Find more events in our GamesMarket calendar.
