Top Stories

New matchmaking platform Sail.game launches to combat "discovery fatigue" between developers and publishers (4 min read)

Sail.game, a curated developer-publisher matchmaking platform, has launched publicly after several months in early access, logging 13,000+ interactions and onboarding 200+ publishers. Developers pay from €99 to list; publishers join free. (Gamesindustry)

Synth Riders Developer Confirms "Major Layoffs" In December And January (5 min read)

Synth Riders developer Kluge Interactive has cut its team from 100 to 50 employees across multiple layoff rounds in December and January, CEO Arturo Perez confirmed. The cuts are linked to Meta's decision to end VR support for Horizon Worlds, where Kluge had been funded to build games. (UploadVR)

Business & Finance

Evil Landfall is the latest publishing label from an indie developer (10 min read)

Landfall (Peak, Content Warning) has launched Evil Landfall, a formal publishing and investment label led by new CEO Kirsten-Lee Naidoo. The seven-person outfit offers project-based funding to external indie developers, with no IP grabs and no 100% recoup clauses. (Gamesindustry)

Studios & People

Battling Layoffs, GTA Comparisons, And The Industry's "Crap:" How Just Cause's Creator Is Risking It All (3 min read)

Just Cause creator Christofer Sundberg's studio Liquid Swords scaled back its upcoming open-world game Samson following 2025 layoffs, with Sundberg personally financially tied to its success. The AA title launches April 8 on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. (GameSpot)

Games & Releases

Netflix launches 'Playground' video game app for children (3 min read)

Netflix launched Playground, a standalone video game app targeting children, featuring titles like Sesame Street games. The new platform signals Netflix's continued push into gaming as a dedicated distribution channel for younger audiences. (Game Developer)

The multiplayer shooter with radioactive attack bears and moose-drawn artillery is closing after less than a year in early access (16 min read)

A multiplayer shooter featuring radioactive bears and moose-drawn artillery is shutting down after less than a year in early access. It's a cautionary signal for live-service titles struggling to build a player base post-launch. 🐻 (PC Gamer)

Crimson Desert has received FSR SDK 2.2 support, offering better upscaling and frame generation for AMD cards (4 min read)

Crimson Desert's patch 1.02.00 adds FSR SDK 2.2 support, improving upscaling and frame generation for AMD cards across PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. The update also resolves DLSS-related GPU memory spikes, foliage ray-tracing bugs, and several stability issues. (PC Gamer)

AI/Tech & Tools

Browsing the Steam Workshop's 50 million mods just got better thanks to a redesign that loads faster and works better on mobile and Steam Deck (6 min read)

Valve redesigned the Steam Workshop, improving load times and adding better mobile and Steam Deck support. The update follows last week's Steam storefront refresh and covers the platform's 50 million mods. (PC Gamer)

Policy & Labor

Nintendo Removing 'Thousands' of Super Mario Maker 2 Levels, Tells Fans They're 'Advertising' (3 min read)

Nintendo is mass-deleting Super Mario Maker 2 user levels that contain hashtags, classifying them as "advertising" under its Account User Agreement. Repeat violations can result in Nintendo Account restrictions — a cautionary signal for any developer building UGC platforms. (IGN)

gg! see you in game!

-james