TouchArcade is shutting down after more than 16 years. The publication was established in 2008 and sought to cover the (then) emerging mobile game market.In a lengthy post on the TouchArcade website, editor-in-chief Jared Nelson explained normal daily operations will cease ahead of a total shutdown."This is a post that I've known was coming for quite some time, but that doesn’t make it any easier to write. After more than 16 years TouchArcade will be closing its doors and shutting down operations," he wrote."There may be an additional post here or there in the coming weeks as we try to honor any previously agreed to obligations, and a proper farewell post is in the works too, but as of now our normal daily operations have ceased. The reason we're shutting down pr…
Timbre Games, the Canadian studio closed by Sumo Group earlier this year, will be returning as an indie.Studio founder and CEO Joe Nickolls shared the news on LinkedIn and explained Sumo has allowed leadership to obtain the Timbre Games name and brand."Some big news to share today. As many of you know, Timbre Games Studio had to close our doors a couple of months ago, but we weren’t quite ready to throw in the towel just yet," he wrote. "The great people at Sumo Digital Ltd have helped us transition into a fully independent studio."Nickolls said the new-look studio has tapped strategic advisor Studio Capital Management to oversee business development and has appointed a new leadership team. He intends to share more about the future of Timbre in the coming months.
Valve has added new discoverability features to Steam for studios. These changes, according to Valve, were made based on explicit feedback provided by developers, some during Gamescom earlier in August.Both changes give studios control of what related items appear on a title's store page. Now, they can choose what studio, franchise, or publisher gets highlighted underneath a written description.For example, PlayStation could opt to put Assassin's Creed Shadows in the "More Like This" tab under Ghost of Tsushima. Conversely, Ubisoft could do the same with God of War (2018) for Assassin's Creed Valhalla.This marks the newest (and final) series of tweaks to Steam for August. Over the past month, the storefront has seen changes to its store page descriptions and player…
Longtime Quantic Dream writer Adam Williams has departed the studio after almost a decade. He already has his next job lined up: he'll be starting his own independent, currently unrevealed studio."I’ve already been in touch with many of you guys at Quantic Dream and Lucasfilm, to thank you for everything on Detroit and Eclipse," he wrote. "It’s been a great adventure."Williams joined in 2015, and served as the lead writer on Detroit: Become Human and Star Wars Eclipse. Quantic Dream was the only developer he worked at up to this point, having previously worked as a writer on UK television.Regarding his new studio, Williams said it consists of "a group of very talented designers and developers. […] We're working on something very innovative, very spe…
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ended its investigation into Apple over the company's in-app payment system, as it "no longer constitutes an administrative priority."The UK regulator first began its examination of how apps were distributed on the UK iOS platform in 2021. At the time, it believed Apple was in potential violation of the Competition Act.In 2022, the CMA proposed and then launched a full investigation into Apple and Google over their alleged mobile market dominance. At the time, it claimed the two companies created a duopoly that limited choice for UK players.Despite this verdict, the CMA affirmed this is not case closed. In fact, it stressed that it would "continue to monitor Apple's conduct on the market," and may open another in…
Arkadium Games has done as other indie developers do and created its own publishing label. Its titular "Publishing Fund 1" will provide $1 million worth of financial support and resources to third-party studios of casual web games.The developer is so confident in what it can provide that it's also guaranteeing partners will have one million game starts in the first 90 days of their game's launch.Development director Dan Butchko noted how the fund builds on its 'Arkadium for Developers' program launched this past April. He added that AFP1 has "even more support for game developers to succeed on browser.""This is the next step in our continuing growth as the leader of the browser-based game sector as we build the world's best gaming platform …
Hybrid developer/publisher Reforged Studios has acquired UK studios Ground Shatter and Extra Mile (or EM Studios) for an undisclosed fee.Reforged, which started up in 2023, touts itself as a studio that acquires other teams to assist them with their games. Per the website, this "helps grow their success in a sustainable way that avoids the 'boom & bust' cycles devs often face on their own."Ground Shatter is best known for Fights in Tight Spaces, and Extra Mile as the co-developer on Revolution Software's Broken Sword series. Reforged called them its first two buys of 2024, and added more acquisitions would be revealed later in the year.
EA Sports College Football 25 isn't just a big hit for EA, it also marked the publisher's first public use of generative AI. And according to Andrew Wilson, the technology was the only way for EA Orlando to reach the full scope of the game.During last week's quarterly earnings call, the EA CEO was asked about genAI being used to bring real-world players (or "star heads") into the game. Previous sports games required 500-1,000 star heads, but College 25 had 11,000.Because of the deal struck for the game to even exist, getting all of the stars was a "top priority," stressed Wilson. "Our teams are incredible and built workflows to facilitate that, but they were amplified and accelerated through AI and machine learning."EA Orlando's workflows a…
EA Sports College Football 25 isn't just a big hit for EA, it also marked the publisher's first public use of generative AI. And according to Andrew Wilson, the technology was the only way for EA Orlando to reach the full scope of the game.During last week's quarterly earnings call, the EA CEO was asked about genAI being used to bring real-world players (or "star heads") into the game. Previous sports games required 500-1,000 star heads, but College 25 had 11,000.Because of the deal struck for the game to even exist, getting all of the stars was a "top priority," stressed Wilson. "Our teams are incredible and built workflows to facilitate that, but they were amplified and accelerated through AI and machine learning."EA Orlando's workflows a…
A new report from Windows Central (spotted by VGC) claims Microsoft is preparing to introduce even more wrinkles to Xbox Game Pass.Ahead of an additional plan and price hike for all tiers in September, it's now claimed a cloud-only subscription is being explored. It's expected to be cheaper and "more approachable" than Game Pass Ultimate, but a specific price range wasn't listed.This plan is allegedly aimed more toward non-Xbox owners, and potentially even players on other consoles. This one might also let players stream titles they already own via Xbox Cloud Gaming.Windows Central further stated the Game Pass Family plan may return. It was tested in various territories in 2022 before it was scrapped, and allowed five people to share a subscription for $25/month.Fi…
Fantasy roguelike Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn has surpassed 500,000 players, according to publisher Kepler Interactive. Developed by A44 Games, the game released on July 18 for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S (retail and Game Pass).Per Kepler, the game is also on the "Most Popular" lists for Xbox and PC Game Pass in "multiple regions." It's unclear how much its inclusion on the two services make up this milestone.Likewise, its actual commercial performance and Kepler's expectations for it remain in the dark. However, the publisher has previously highlighted player counts for Sifu and Scorn prior to revealing the sales numbers for those games.