Microsoft has confirmed the next batch of titles headed to Xbox Game Pass for the latter half of August: Atlas Fallen, Core Keeper, and Star Trucker.

Then there's that little known game called Call of Duty Black Ops 6. You'll be able to participate in the early access open beta when it kicks off for Xbox Game Pass subscribers on 30th August, 2024, with pre-downloading available from 28th August.

"Sure, it takes itself way too seriously and the loot chase can get monotonous, but everything outside of the monster-slaying is just an excuse to get right back to the monster-slaying. Or make the monster-slaying cooler with upgrades," we said in our Atlas Fallen review.

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Hunt: Showdown 1896 - the huge new update that necessitated an engine upgrade and introduced all new UI - has just hit an all-new concurrent player peak of over 60,000.

Up until the 1896 update dropped on 15th August, the extraction shooter's simultaneous player record - set back in October 2023 - sat at a modest 42,000ish players.

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The creator of the now-defunct Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 mod, H2M, has opened up about what happened when Activision slapped the mod with a cease and desist, admitting, "the past couple of days have not gone to plan".

Although the mod - which upgraded Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer mode - was announced over a year ago, the cease and desist arrived the day before the mod was scheduled to be released last week, forcing the project to "shut down [...] immediately and permanently".

Shortly thereafter, unhappy Modern Warfare 2 fans jumped onto the Steam page to express their dismay.

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Yes, Nintendo is opening up its Japanese Nintendo Museum for a tour later today. No, it will not be taking questions about anything else at this time.

That's the official line from Nintendo, which announced on its official American X/Twitter account over the weekend that whilst it's happy to share a quick 10-minute tour of its Kyoto museum, "there will be no game announcements or mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during this presentation".

"Join us [later today], August 19 at 3pm PT, for a tour of the Nintendo Museum that’s scheduled to open during the fall of 2024 in Kyoto, Japan!" the account announced. "The Nintendo Museum Direct livestream will last roughly 10 minutes.

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Konami has dropped a brand new story trailer for its highly-anticipated Silent Hill 2 Remake.

The teaser essentially matches the original's acclaimed 2001 E3 trailer, and the script is almost identical, too, all set against a fabulous reimagining of (one of) Silent Hill 2's end themes, Promise.

The Remake trailer is below. For comparison, here's the 2001 E3 trailer for Silent Hill 2:

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A new "modern camera" mod is now available for Silent Hill 3 and Silent Hill 4: The Room on PC.

Modder ZealotTormunds has developed a mod that gives Silent Hill players both a first-person perspective and a more contemporary over-the-shoulder camera.

Both Silent Hill 3 and 4 typically use fixed camera angles. By freeing up these locked perspectives, Zealot provides players with the chance to get a closer look at the game's textures, enemies, and environments.

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Just a month after its last free event, Star Citizen is free-to-play again, from now until 22nd August, 2024.

That means everyone can jump in and give the space sim a chance, as well as try out all "top 16 ships", "granting both green and grizzled pilots the ability to try out eligible ships before choosing which one to vote for" at this year's Ship Showdown event.

For the last few weeks, the community has been voting for their favourite ships and ground vehicles with their own "original creations", including videos, songs, photos, paintings, and more.

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Sega's Eternal Champions is the next video game franchise to get a silver-screen adaptation.

Whilst it's hardly surprising that filmmakers are still rooting through video game catalogues for ideas, I can't say I had Sega's 1993 fighting game on my bingo card for the next series to be getting an adaptation.

However, according to Hollywood Reporter, that's exactly what's happening, with Jurassic World trilogy writer Derek Connolly set to write the live-action screenplay.

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15 minutes of Astro Bot has once again leaked online, giving us a premature peek at what to expect when the game releases on 6th September.

In news unlikely to surprise you, the video has already been removed from YouTube (although you can still find copies of it if you're prepared to go looking), but eagle-eyed fans nonetheless managed to get a peek at the main hub, as well as a sneaky glimpse at some of the bots we can expect.

If you'd prefer to keep everything a surprise, head back to the main page now. For those excited and happy for a little head's up, read on…

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Ubisoft has updated the PC requirements for its upcoming Star Wars adventure, Star Wars Outlaws, and released a new teaser showing off what kind of performance PC players can expect when the game releases on 30th August.

Taking up a modest 65GB, the settings shouldn't be too punishing for those looking only to meet the minimum standards – although you will need to have DLSS or FSR – but those pushing for the "ultra" experience will need a decent rig.

Check out the details below:

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Vampire Survivors' free Darkasso update is now available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox, and mobile devices.

"It's been a while since we added a new major feature, so we tried not to spoil the contents of this patch immediately," Poncle teased in the patch notes. "Hope it worked to keep the contents a bit of a surprise."

New additions include nine new extra achievements, a new challenge stage and relic, two new "special character skins", and five new Arcanas to spice up your experience.

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The Sunday Times has revealed the UK's top 30 wealthiest developers and gamers, including Rockstar's Sam and Dan Houser (#4), Frontiers' David Braben and Wendy Irvin-Braben (#10), and Rebellion's Chris and Jason Kingsley (#14), and Hello Games' Sean Murray (#17).

Other names on The Sunday Times Gaming Rich List include Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg (#25), Alastair "Ali-A" Aiken (#30), and KSI and The Sidemen (=#21).

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Video game actors are calling for better transparency around "disgusting" motion capture work that is not properly disclosed at the point of booking.

In an interview with the BBC, professional casting director Jessica Jefferies - who previously worked as a motion capture performer - recalled times she'd be called for a shoot with absolutely no information about what the work entailed, only to find out that it included "gratuitous" sex scenes.

"We'd get an email or a call from a studio saying we need you on these days for a shoot," she explained. "That was all the information we'd get.

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Nintendo is dropping a free three-part demo for its upcoming horror, Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club from next week.

From Tuesday 20th August, players will be able to grab the prologue and chapter one.

Chapter two will drop on the morning of the 23rd August, and the third and final freebie, chapter three, will be available on 28th August.

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Destiny developer Bungie says it has addressed an issue where players have had their usernames changed by its "name moderation tool".

After "actively investigating" the issue for 24 hours, Bungie advised that while it had "identified the issue that was forcing a high number of Bungie name changes", it was "continuing to investigate" what happened and how "to address player accounts that were impacted".

Although Bungie acknowledged that a "high number of account names have been changed", the studio stopped short of confirming exactly how many players were affected.

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The Elder Scrolls mobile game, The Elder Scrolls: Castles, is set to launch on 10th September.

The Elder Scrolls: Castles - which was quietly released into early access in September 2023 - is now open for pre-registration on both Apple and Android.

From the same "award-winning team" behind Fallout Shelter, The Elder Scrolls: Castles lets you reign supreme over your very own castle and dynasty within The Elder Scrolls universe.

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered mod, H2M, has been cancelled following a cease and desist demand from Activision.

Although the mod - which upgraded Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer mode - was announced over a year ago, the cease and desist arrived yesterday, a day before the mod was scheduled to be released later today.

"Today, our team members received a Cease & Desist order on behalf of Activision Publishing in relation to the H2M-Mod project," the team explained on Twitter/X.

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Genvid's experimental choose-the-outcome, episodic Silent Hill series, Ascension, has won an Emmy.

Genvid CEO Jacob Navok marked the award with a heartfelt post on Twitter/X, stating the Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Innovation in Emerging Media Programming for Silent Hill: Ascension was a "testament to the dedication" of the team.

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Publisher Headup has formed a new independent studio: Goon Squad.

Consisting of the publisher's own in-house development team, Headup says the formation of Goon Squad "marks a significant milestone in Headup's 15-year journey" and "is a testament to Headup’s commitment to nurturing creativity and innovation."

"Headup is empowering this creative hub to flourish independently, fostering a space where new gaming experiences can take root and grow while sharpening its own positioning with a clear publishing focus," the team explained.

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Virtuos has acquired British indie game developer, Third Kind Games.

Virtuos says the acquisition will enhance its "AAA co-development capabilities and establish a new foothold for Virtuos in the UK."

The buyout will not affect the game's management, as Virtuos says Third Kind - which employs over 70 in Leamington Spa, UK, and has worked on games like Fable, Forza Horizon 4, and Sea of Thieves - will continue to be led by its nine co-founders, all of whom formerly worked at Activision.

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Space Ape has shut down Rival Kingdoms, saying it had been "a privilege" to have run the RTS game penned by Rhianna Pratchett for almost a decade.

The developer said it had no plans to sell or transfer the mobile game to another company, revive it, develop a sequel, or permit players to play the game on private servers.

Whilst the developer stopped short of revealing why it had decided to shutter the game, a statement posted on its website said, "all games have a life cycle, and Rival Kingdoms is no exception."

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Tencent has secured Gamescom's 2024 sustainability award.

Tencent Americas president Brent Irvin accepted the award from Playing for the Planet at Gamescom's Opening Night Live.

The award celebrates organisations that demonstrate public commitments to sustainable values, as well as share their approaches to carbon accounting and emissions reductions.

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Atsuko Tanaka – the Japanese voice behind iconic characters like Street Fighter's Chun-Li, Lara Croft, Bayonetta, and Tess in the Japanese version of The Last of Us – has died at the age of 61.

As well as extensive video game credits, which include Nier Replicant's Kaine, Tanaka also had notable roles in anime and other shows, including Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost of the Shell and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

Tanaka's death was revealed by her son, voice actor Hikaru Tanaka, who confirmed she died of an undisclosed illness earlier today (August 20).

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Gamescom has scrapped its Best Nintendo Game Award due to a lack of nominees.

Gamescom's award committee confirmed it had received "too few submissions" for the award category to go ahead this year.

This is the first time since the Gamescom awards were split into platform-specific categories back in 2011 that there will be no award for Best Nintendo Switch game.

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Epic Games' Tim Sweeney has admitted that whilst its free game giveaways have been good for business, many of its exclusivity deals were "not good investments."

In a recent press call, Epic CEO Sweeney talked candidly about Epic Games Store's user acquisition methods, but acknowledged that whilst "a few of [its EGS exclusives] worked extremely well", "a lot of them were not good investments."

Conversely, Sweeney said its free games program has been "just magical" and "very economical," even though the idea of giving away its games may seem "counterintuitive" at first.

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Kwalee has launched an Arabic-language edition of its mobile game platform, Hitseeker.

The UK publisher says it will support Arabic-speaking developers "with tools, resources, and expert support to succeed on a global stage," as well as expert advice and "a collaborative environment tailored specifically to the needs of developers from MENA."

It says that it is "welcoming new partnerships with ambitious game studios in the region who could benefit from support in game design, marketing, and developing their business" by pitching directly via Hitseeker, which can then also be used to "manage the full publishing process."

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Developer Game Science has been asked to justify a document circulated to influencers and content creators that demanded coverage of Black Myth: Wukong did not include covid-19 references, "politics", or "feminist propaganda."

When the document first leaked online over the weekend, journalists were quick to point out that it did not match paperwork given to critics reviewing the game, leading some to assume it was fake.

However, further investigation by VideoGames.si and Forbes reporter Paul Tassi confirmed the document – circulated on behalf of Game Science by marketers Hero Games – was authentic.

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Perforce's latest annual State of Game Technology report claims the top three issues game developers currently face are funding, collaboration, and time for innovation.

Over a third of the 576 respondents - who categorise themselves as practitioners, senior management, and executives working in gaming, media/entertainment, automotive, and manufacturing - said that collaboration was difficult, claiming that "moving large files" was more of a hindrance to collaboration than remote working.

90% thought that the availability and access to senior leadership was more important than "the ability to work remotely" (81%).

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Blacknut Cloud Gaming has announced a new distribution agreement with Ubisoft.

Starting from this month, "a series of Ubisoft offerings" will join Blacknut's platform, which "allows players to access over 500+ premium games via streaming under a single subscription with no lock-in contract."

Ubisoft – which owns cloud rights to current and new Activision games over the next 15 years – confirms that franchises coming to Blacknut include Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Anno, and Rayman.

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The games industry is "showing signs of a recovery" from "record-breaking layoffs, closures, and business turmoil."

That's according to DDM's Games Investment Review, which reports "a sizeable uptick" in investments, recovering ground lost in 2023.

Whilst mergers and acquisitions (M&A) remain "low" – even taking out last year's anomalous $68.7bn generated by Microsoft's acquisition of Activision – and not a single quarter in 2023 surpassed $1.3 billion, both Q1 and Q2 in 2024 have "each reached over $2.2bn."

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Amazon Video is reportedly developing a new adult-animated anthology series based on video games called Secret Level.

According to Deadline's sources, the same team behind Amazon's Love, Death & Robots series has also signed up to create original short stories "set within the worlds of beloved video games, such as Amazon Games' New World, Spelunky, and unspecified "PlayStation titles."

The show will be produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Tim Miller's Blur studio. Dave Wilson has apparently signed on to serve as supervising director and executive producer.

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The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is set to hold its second picket tomorrow.

The picket will take place from 9am until noon on Thursday August 15 at Disney Character Voices in Burbank, California, USA.

SAG-AFTRA will be represented by members of the Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating (IMA) Committee alongside other SAG-AFTRA members, labour allies, and video game fans."

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Scottish Games Week has hit "pause" for 2024.

Scotland's biggest B2B games event says it has cancelled this year's show due to "disruption across the video game ecosystem and political landscape in 2024."

However, the event will return in October 2025 "with a larger, more diverse programme of events supporting the whole video games ecosystem."

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Games industry veterans have formed the Sustainable Games Alliance, a non-profit organisation dedicated to "helping the games industry become sustainable."

Backed by noted industry professionals such as Unity Technologies founder David Helgason and Remedy co-founder Petri Järvilehto, Sustainable Games Alliance – which is overseen by managing director and co-founder Maria Wagner – is working to make games "the most sustainable form of entertainment on the planet" by creating actionable ways to help the industry measure, understand, and reduce its footprint.

To achieve this, the Alliance is developing a free, open, and global industry standard for sustainability reporting. It hopes to simplify compliance with key regulations such as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

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VR studio Archiact is closing down.

In a statement posted to LinkedIn, the Canadian studio said it informed all staff yesterday, August 12, that it will "close in two weeks."

Archiact was formed in 2013 and positioned itself as a "pioneer in VR", "dedicated to the development of immersive reality games," including Doom 3: VR Edition, Journey to Foundation, Marvel Dimension of Heroes, and Evasion.

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Supercell has appointed Gerard Griffin as its new CFO.

Griffin has over 25 years of experience in finance and business leadership roles, having previously assumed senior positions at firms like EA, Zynga, NBC, and Sportradar.

Looking ahead, Griffin says he will be "working with [...] the leadership team in creatively growing our games and business."

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Owlcat Games has signed two RPGs by Emotion Spark Studio and Another Angle Games to its new publishing division.

In a statement, Owlcat said that as well as its own "development efforts", it was now also committed to "helping independent teams across the globe introduce their own RPGs and narrative-driven games."

As part of its new service, Owlcat will be providing new partners developing RPG games "all the services, funding, and expert advice they need."

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FRVR has closed a $12.7 million funding round, led by Iberis Capital, in partnership with Indico Capital Partners and Lince Capital.

The company said the "significant investment is a testament to the confidence that FRVR's new and existing investors have in the company's vision and execution."

The funding will enable the company to "further develop its AI-powered game creation platform" which the firm says "has the potential to disrupt the status quo and provide a new level of speed creation and distribution for developers and non-developers."

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Rachael Lillis – perhaps best known for her talents in bringing Jessie, Misty, and Jigglypuff to life in Pokémon – has died aged 55.

Lillis' sister, Laurie Orr, confirmed the news today, updating a GoFundMe page that had been set up to help Rachael with her medical bills and memorial service. Orr confirmed that any further donations will go to "causes in her name – specifically toward efforts to combat cancer."

Lillis – whose death was marked by her co-star and the voice of Ash, Veronica Taylor – was described as "an extraordinary talent, a bright light that shone through her voice whether speaking or singing."

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Boss Team Games - the publisher behind 2022's Evil Dead: The Game - has teamed up with John Carpenter to make two new horror games based on Carpenter's horror series, Halloween.

Carpenter - who says he is a "huge gamer" himself - is said to be "intimately involved" with productions.

In partnership with Compass International Pictures and Future Front, both games will be based on the 1978 original movie, and at least one is being built in Unreal Engine 5.

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VR developer and publisher Thirdverse has appointed Masaru Ohnogi as its new CEO.

Thirdverse said the appointment will "realise its mission of creating a new virtual world for one billion people", and "strengthen its overseas growth strategy," with Ohnogi continuing to oversee the US studio.

Ohnogi joined Thirdverse in October 2020, where he has served as director and CBO. Before then, he worked at WebMoney, Lupicia, Gcrest America, TinierMe, and gumi.

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Redemption Road's Kingmakers has secured a movie adaptation ahead of its release.

The upcoming time-travelling shooter – which also features tower defense and strategy elements – announced today that it was "making its way to the big screen."

Publisher tinyBuild says it's partnered with Story Kitchen to "tell a unique story and establish the IP."

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Oxide Games has appointed former Nickelodeon and Paramount VP Adrian Wright as general manager.

Oxide says Wright's appointment to the Maryland-based studio will direct Oxide's "studio strategy and oversee operations" and "focus on bringing together talented developers who actively pursue the creation of innovative games in the strategy genre."

In his prior roles, Wright licensed games to development studios, including Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles and Spongebob titles, as well Paramount's upcoming A Quiet Place adaptation.

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Tollan Universe developer Foretold Studios is reportedly struggling to pay its staff.

According to a report by Game Developer, the problems date back to at least last September, with current and former staff accusing CEO Michael Kuvshynov of failing to communicate transparently with staff about alleged cashflow issues, and actively recruiting new hires whilst owing outstanding wages to current and former employees.

Staff who worked at Foretold state they're still owed several months' pay, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars. One said that they had to "beg" for $200 to cover basic needs, and whilst Foretold did eventually acquiesce, initially the CEO wanted to pay them in cryptocurrency.

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Remedy has appointed a new CFO: Santtu Kallionpää.

Kallionpää will join Remedy's core management team in October, relinquishing his role as VP finance and business at Finnish confectionery company, Fazer.

Kallionpää replaces Remedy’s previous CFO, Terhi Kauppi, who left the company in June 2024.

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Former Raid: Shadow Legends and Hitman developers have banded together to form Chamo Games.

Chamo was founded in September 2023 by former IO Interactive COO Zoher Toutanji and Plarium's ex-creative director, Roberto Schiavulli.

Though based in Malmö, Sweden, the team – which already employs 25 developers – works remotely and includes talent from Riot Games, CD Projekt Red, and Ubisoft. It is currently working on a "non-lethal FPS" for which it intends to hold monthly playtests.

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The studio behind Humble Games' latest game, Bõ: Path of the Teal Lotus, says it "lost access to the pipeline of critical systems without warning" when Humble Games "made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure operations" two weeks ago.

Humble Games is owned by Ziff Davis, which also owns GamesIndustry.biz parent Gamer Network.

In a statement posted to X/Twitter, Squid Shock admitted it had been "a hectic two weeks since [it had] launched [its] first game Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus", and announced it had turned to Patreon to help finance the game after "exploring every possible option to deliver the future content we had planned."

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Armor Games has laid off an unknown number of staff from its publishing team, Armor Games Studio.

Whilst the company has yet to announce the cuts publicly, several colleagues have confirmed the layoffs via their social media and LinkedIn pages.

"Today is my last day at Armor Games Studios," former marketing manager Ariana Perry wrote on X.

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Roblox CFO Michael Guthrie is stepping down.

Guthrie – who has worked at Roblox since 2018 and played a key role in the company's stock market listing in 2021 – will stay on until a replacement is selected, after which he'll depart to spend more time on his personal interests.

For the three months ended June 30, 2024:

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Developers who have created games for Apple Arcade are "unhappy", according to a new report.

Mobilegamer.biz asserts that studios have reported issues with getting timely responses from the Apple Arcade team, poor tech support, and problems with discoverability.

One indie developer alleged that they had to wait up to six months to get paid, "which almost put them out of business".

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