Top Stories

Nexon agrees to publish Overwatch in Korea (4 min read)

Nexon has agreed to publish Overwatch in South Korea, taking over regional distribution for Blizzard. The deal signals continued third-party publishing partnerships as a route for Western titles entering the Korean market. (Game Developer)

Reddit posts can be more important than data, and other lessons from maintaining Candy Crush as a forever game (7 min read)

King uses AI to validate and tune Candy Crush's 21,000+ levels before release, enabling output to jump from 45 to 60 levels per week. Live ops head Eva Ryott also notes Reddit community feedback now supplements data-driven decisions after a mechanic update caught them off guard. (Gamesindustry)

Eidos-Montréal's latest round of layoffs reportedly follows the cancellation of an "almost complete" open-world game (4 min read)

Eidos-Montréal's 124-person layoff was triggered by the cancellation of "Wildlands," a near-complete open-world game in development since 2019 that burned through four engines and a budget of several hundred million dollars. Studio head David Anfossi also departed. (Eurogamer)

Business & Finance

Krafton, Flyquest, Arbitrum invest $3.5M in Psychedelic Games' MOBA Golden Tides (4 min read)

Psychedelic Games secured $3.5M in funding for its blockchain-integrated MOBA Golden Tides, with backers including Krafton, esports org FlyQuest, and blockchain platform Arbitrum. The round signals continued investor interest in Web3 gaming despite the sector's mixed track record. (Game Developer)

Studios & People

Build a Rocket Boy CEO responds to end of publishing agreement with IOI Partners (3 min read)

Build a Rocket Boy CEO Mark Gerhard confirmed another round of layoffs is underway and that the studio will self-publish MindsEye after ending its deal with IOI Partners. Gerhard says a new in-game mission will present evidence of alleged "corporate sabotage" to players. (Gamesindustry)

"Fortnite's cultural moment is starting to fade," games analyst says amid mass layoffs, and its downturn is part of the "erosion of American leadership" in video games (6 min read)

Analyst Joost van Dreunen links Epic's 1,000+ layoffs to a broader "erosion of American leadership" in games, citing Fortnite's fading cultural relevance. Post-COVID demand drops and rising game prices are compounding pressure on US-based developers. (GamesRadar)

Brian Raffel, Co-Founder of Call of Duty Developer Raven Software, Retires After 36 Years at Studio (5 min read)

Brian Raffel, co-founder and co-studio head of Raven Software, is retiring after 36 years. He co-founded the Madison, Wisconsin studio in 1990, steering it from Heretic and Hexen through to Call of Duty. (IGN)

Blizzard is hiring for an 'open-world shooter' using Unreal Engine, which is more evidence that a new Starcraft game could be on its way (6 min read)

Blizzard is hiring a Lead Designer for an unannounced AAA open-world shooter built in Unreal Engine — a first for the studio, which has historically used proprietary engines. The listing requires StarCraft franchise experience, fueling speculation about a new entry in the IP. (PC Gamer)

Games & Releases

'We’re Not Going to do a Dead by Daylight 2' – Developer Kills Possibility of a Sequel (4 min read)

Behaviour Interactive confirmed Dead by Daylight will never get a sequel, with creative director Dave Richard citing player investment as the key reason. The studio is instead focused on evolving the 10-year-old live service game indefinitely rather than forcing a platform reset. (IGN)

"We know we had, without doubt, the worst launch in history" admits MindsEye boss as he says studio will share "evidence of sabotage" in-game (6 min read)

Build A Rocket Boy CEO Mark Gerhard called MindsEye's June 2024 launch "without doubt, the worst launch in history," while announcing a relaunch and a multiplayer update that will reportedly include "evidence of sabotage" he claims derailed the game. (Eurogamer)

It turns out Crimson Desert has even more mechanics under the hood—like this 'fully-designed food consequence system' that modders have unlocked (6 min read)

Modders have uncovered a fully built but disabled food consequence system in Crimson Desert, including 50 food skills across 15 categories. Pearl Abyss designed and shelved the system before launch — a rare cut from an otherwise feature-packed game. (PC Gamer)

AI/Tech & Tools

GTA 6 Took So Long That Former Dev Thinks Rockstar Entirely Rebuilt Rage Engine (3 min read)

Former GTA 5 audio engineer Rob Carr speculates Rockstar fully rebuilt its RAGE engine for GTA 6, citing the game's lengthy development cycle and major advances in hardware architecture since GTA 5 launched on PS3/360. (The Gamer)

Culture & Community

"There’s always work to be done": Limit Break's mentorship program for under-represented groups returns for 2026 (5 min read)

Limit Break's 2026 mentorship program is open for applications until April 20, launching April 27 for UK and Irish games industry professionals from underrepresented groups. Now in its eighth year, the program has supported over 5,000 participants across 400+ companies. (Gamesindustry)

GameStop Thought Buying Games Online Was A ‘Passing Phase,’ Says Former Business Developer (4 min read)

At GDC, former Stardock business developer Larry Kuperman revealed GameStop dismissed digital distribution as a "passing phase" after acquiring his Impulse storefront in 2011, shutting it down entirely by 2014. GameStop has since closed over 1,300 physical stores. (Kotaku)

gg! see you in game!

-james