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 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 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV © Deep Silver and King Art Games Products Dawn of War IV Is Coming Out In September 2026 During the Warhammer Skulls Showcase, Deep Silver and King Art Games announced that Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV is set to launch on 17 September 2026. The Crusade mode returns, and a year of free content updates and paid DLC will expand the battlefield. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read gamescom Gamescom Dev Talk Review: Don’t Ship the Wrong Game From René Habermann Not sure what sort of talks to expect at gamescom dev? Together with gamescom dev, we’re taking a look back at selected talks from 2025, which you can also rewatch on YouTube. This Time: Don’t Ship the Wrong Game: A Framework for Choosing What to Finish by René Habermann from Bippinbits. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read Paul Redetzky's Emergo Entertainment is making Promptables for ARD/SWR. (ARD/Emergo) Products Bavarian-Made LLM-Battler Promptables for SWR X Lab Is Out Emergo Entertainment, Ivy Juice Games and Neuroforge have made an LLM-driven creature battler in which you prompt your creature's attacks for the ARD AI podcast. The game is out today. By Pascal Wagner • 1 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
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
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV © Deep Silver and King Art Games Products Dawn of War IV Is Coming Out In September 2026 During the Warhammer Skulls Showcase, Deep Silver and King Art Games announced that Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV is set to launch on 17 September 2026. The Crusade mode returns, and a year of free content updates and paid DLC will expand the battlefield. By Marcel Kleffmann • 2 min read
gamescom Gamescom Dev Talk Review: Don’t Ship the Wrong Game From René Habermann Not sure what sort of talks to expect at gamescom dev? Together with gamescom dev, we’re taking a look back at selected talks from 2025, which you can also rewatch on YouTube. This Time: Don’t Ship the Wrong Game: A Framework for Choosing What to Finish by René Habermann from Bippinbits. By Stephan Steininger • 1 min read
Paul Redetzky's Emergo Entertainment is making Promptables for ARD/SWR. (ARD/Emergo) Products Bavarian-Made LLM-Battler Promptables for SWR X Lab Is Out Emergo Entertainment, Ivy Juice Games and Neuroforge have made an LLM-driven creature battler in which you prompt your creature's attacks for the ARD AI podcast. The game is out today. By Pascal Wagner • 1 min read
