Top Stories

44% of games industry professionals have considered leaving the industry as a result of redundancies (3 min read)

Skillsearch's 2026 survey of 1,000 game professionals found 22% were laid off in the past year, and 44% have considered leaving the industry entirely. Art roles, senior positions, and UK-based workers were among the most impacted groups. (GamesIndustry.biz)

Roblox AI assistant gets agentic tools to plan, build, and self-test games - The Next Web (7 min read)

Roblox Assistant is gaining agentic capabilities: a planning mode that analyzes existing code before proposing action plans, procedural 3D model generation via prompts, and a self-correcting loop that tests and refines its own outputs. MCP client integration with Claude and Cursor is also included. (Game Developer AI Tools)

Panic won't release Playdate titles that use certain forms of generative AI (4 min read)

Panic will reject Playdate titles that incorporate certain forms of generative AI, making it one of the first hardware/platform holders to codify an AI content policy for submissions. Developers targeting the platform need to review their toolchain accordingly. (Game Developer)

Studios & People

Line Games Appoints Cho Dong-hyun and Bae Young-jin as Co-CEOs (5 min read) 라인게임즈 신임 대표에 조동현 · 배영진 '투톱 체제'

Line Games appointed current CEO Cho Dong-hyun and former CSO Bae Young-jin as co-CEOs following a board restructuring. The company plans to announce three new PC titles this year and accelerate global mobile expansion. (더게임스데일리 tgdaily)

Games & Releases

Netmarble's Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Launches Without Gacha, May 14 Release Date (4 min read) 넷마블 ‘왕좌의 게임: 킹스로드’ 뽑기 없이 간다, 5월 14일 출시

Netmarble's Game of Thrones: Kingsroad launches May 14 on PC (Steam/Epic), with mobile following May 21. The action RPG ditches gacha entirely, running on a subscription/battle pass model with core gear earned through gameplay. (게임뷰 GameVu)

KRAFTON PUBG BATTLEGROUNDS Adds Co-op Mode Xeno Point (5 min read)

PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS launched Xeno Point on April 10, a co-op roguelike PvE arcade mode featuring alien invasion gameplay with gear upgrades and a final boss. The update pushed average CCU from ~700K to ~900K, with a PAYDAY crossover mode announced next. (게임뷰 GameVu)

Netmarble's 'Monster Taming: Star Dive' Hits No. 1 on Japan App Store (1 min read) 넷마블, '몬길: 스타 다이브' 일본 앱스토어 인기 1위 질주

Netmarble's action RPG Monster Taming: Star Dive topped Japan's App Store and Korea's charts following its global launch on the 15th. The UE5-powered title also charted in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Thailand. (Game Donga)

Line Games Unveils New PC Game "Come to My Party" (1 min read) 라인게임즈, 신작 PC 게임 ‘컴 투 마이 파티’ 공개

Line Games announced "Come to My Party!," a black comedy visual novel set in a 1990s Korean elementary school, featuring multi-ending branching narrative. It's part of a broader PC lineup push that includes three or more additional titles coming soon. (Game Donga)

Goddess of Victory: Nikke Unveils Major Updates via 3.5-Year Anniversary Special Broadcast (1 min read) ‘승리의 여신: 니케’, 서비스 3.5주년 특별 방송 통해 대규모 업데이트 공개

Level Infinite will stream a 3.5-year anniversary broadcast for Goddess of Victory: Nikke on July 18, revealing a major content update roadmap and behind-the-scenes development stories alongside global popularity vote results. (Game Donga)

Policy & Labor

Alternative app store Aptoide files antitrust lawsuit against Google, alleges "anticompetitive chokehold" (2 min read)

Lisbon-based alternative app store Aptoide filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Google in San Francisco, alleging anticompetitive practices that block third-party stores. The suit follows Google's recent settlement with Epic, which resulted in reduced Play Store commission rates of 20%. (GamesIndustry.biz)

Culture & Community

Ludum Dare will officially end in October 2028 (5 min read)

Ludum Dare, one of the longest-running game jams in the industry, has announced it will officially shut down after its October 2028 event. The jam has been a key entry point for indie developers for over two decades. (Game Developer)

What Egosoft's three decades of making space sims tells us about serving 'niche' audiences (10 min read)

Egosoft has spent 30 years building space sims for a dedicated niche audience, offering lessons on long-term community loyalty over chasing mass-market trends. A useful read for developers targeting underserved genres. (Game Developer)

Games and movies are rushing to jump into bed while they're still getting to know each other | Opinion (6 min read)

London Games Festival's Screen Play event highlighted growing Hollywood demand for game IP — with claims that 25% of upcoming films are game-based — but exposed major gaps in deal-making norms, rights expectations, and mutual understanding between the two industries. (GamesIndustry.biz)

"You can't buy a BAFTA." Why commercial influence is a red line for the BAFTA Games Awards (9 min read)

BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip reaffirmed that commercial sponsorship will never influence award outcomes, as the 2026 BAFTA Games Awards debuts its first headline sponsor, Google Play. BAFTA is also targeting 50% women membership in games and exploring gender-parity interventions for future nomination long lists. (GamesIndustry.biz)

Regional: Asia

Netmarble's 'Mongil: Star Dive' Off to a Strong Start (4 min read) 넷마블 ‘몬길: 스타 다이브’ 초반 순항세 '뚜렷 '

Netmarble's 'Mongil: Star Dive' hit No. 1 on Google Play popularity rankings two days post-launch and No. 2 on Apple's revenue chart within a day. Analysts project the title will significantly boost Netmarble's Q2 operating profit by 26.5% YoY. (더게임스데일리 tgdaily)

[X-File] Is the Fallout from Ruler's Tax Evasion Scandal Widening? (6 min read) [X파일] 룰러 탈세 논란 파장 커지나?

Three Korean industry notes: pro gamer Ruler's tax evasion scandal is disrupting military social-service permits for other esports players; NCSoft is distributing ₩19.25B in stock to ~4,700 employees following heavy headcount cuts; and 2K's Civilization: League of Ages shuts down June 30 after failing to differentiate in Korea's mobile strategy market. (더게임스데일리 tgdaily)

gg! see you in game!

— james