Top Stories

Stellar Blade Developer Shift Up Buys Resident Evil Creator Shinji Mikami's New Studio: 'For the First Time in a While, I'll Be Fully Involved On-Site to Work on a Fairly Large Game' (3 min read)

Stellar Blade developer Shift Up has acquired Shinji Mikami's independent studio Unbound, founded in 2022, and will publish its upcoming PC/console titles. Mikami confirmed he'll be "fully involved on-site" on a "fairly large game." (IGN)

USPTO Rejects Nintendo's Controversial 'Summon Character and Let It Fight' Pokémon Patent in Non-Final Ruling, as Palworld Legal Battle Rumbles On (3 min read)

The USPTO rejected all claims of Nintendo's "summon character and let it fight" Pokémon patent as obvious, citing prior art from Nintendo, Konami, and Bandai Namco filings. The non-final ruling could impact Nintendo's ongoing patent lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair in Japan. (IGN)

Business & Finance

Crimson Desert Sells 4 Million Copies in 2 Weeks as Pearl Abyss' Open World Action Adventure Continues Its Hot Streak (2 min read)

Crimson Desert hit 4 million copies sold two weeks post-launch, up from 2 million on day one. Pearl Abyss' rapid post-launch patching helped lift Steam reviews from "mixed" to "very positive," with peak concurrent players still climbing. 📈 (IGN)

Studios & People

ProbablyMonsters is betting on an Xbox 360-esque bonanza of single-player AA kookiness (9 min read)

ProbablyMonsters, founded by ex-Bungie chief Harold Ryan, has pivoted from AAA to AA development, revealing four titles in recent months. CMO David Reid says flexible marketing spend — not scattershot releases — is the key to making the mid-tier space viable again. (Gamesindustry)

Games & Releases

"We aren't just still going, we are growing." How The Division 2 has attracted more players than ever seven years on from release (3 min read)

The Division 2 is seeing its highest player numbers yet, seven years after launch. A strong case study for live-service developers on sustaining and growing an audience well beyond a game's initial release window. (Gamesindustry)

Following rumours of Warhorse Studios visiting Middle-earth, Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics is now said to be working on a Lord of the Rings game too (4 min read)

Insider Gaming reports Crystal Dynamics is developing at least one Lord of the Rings game for Embracer Group, alongside Warhorse Studios' rumored LOTR project. Both studios declined to comment; Crystal Dynamics is also juggling two Tomb Raider titles. (Eurogamer)

AI/Tech & Tools

Geekbench says enabling Intel BOT paints an 'unrealistic picture' of CPU performance and makes Intel chips seem faster versus the AMD competition 'than they would be in typical, real-world usage' (5 min read)

Geekbench's Primate Labs says Intel's BOT tool does more than Intel claims — including code vectorization — making Intel CPUs appear faster against AMD than real-world usage would reflect. Geekbench is flagging BOT-enabled results in its database. (PC Gamer)

Culture & Community

An Emmy-winning animation studio just bought the rights to multiple Roblox titles (3 min read)

Emmy-winning animation studio Baobab acquired rights to multiple Roblox titles, including Deepwoken, to develop them into animated content. The deal signals growing interest in adapting user-created Roblox experiences into traditional media. (Game Developer)

Ed Sheeran Turned Down Fortnite Concert, Collaborated With Pokémon Instead (2 min read)

Ed Sheeran declined a Fortnite concert deal because he doesn't play the game, opting instead for a 2022 Pokémon collaboration he felt was authentic. His music still appears in Fortnite as a purchasable in-game track and emote. (IGN)

gg! see you in game!

-james