Top Stories

Inkle co-founder explains how TR-49 broke even in three hours (5 min) Inkle co-founder Jon Ingold broke down how TR-49 recouped its development costs within three hours of going on sale. The milestone highlights the commercial viability of small, focused narrative games from independent studios. Game Developer

After his city builder flopped in early access, Firewatch's Nels Anderson didn't give up: 'Smarter people than me … probably would've pulled the plug' (7 min) Firewatch and Mark of the Ninja designer Nels Anderson launched space ark city builder Generation Exile to 35,000 wishlists but fewer than 300 early access sales. After seven years of development, the game hits 1.0 this week. PC Gamer

Roblox unveils new subscription service Roblox Plus (4 min) Roblox launches Roblox Plus on April 30, a $5/month subscription replacing Roblox Premium. Creators keep full per-item earnings on discounted purchases, and can earn bonus Robux for private server engagement and in-game subscription sign-ups via a new API. GamesIndustry.biz

Business & Finance

UK government commits £28.5 million to supporting local game developers (3 min) The UK government is committing £28.5 million to support local game developers, signaling continued public investment in the British games industry. UK-based studios may want to explore eligibility for funding opportunities. Game Developer

TIGA: PC and console continue to drive UK games development (2 min) TIGA data shows 46% of UK studios list PC as their primary platform, while mobile's share of industry jobs fell from 19% to 17.9%. This comes amid the sector's worst-ever downturn, with a net loss of 1,537 development jobs since May 2024. GamesIndustry.biz

Studios & People

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers developer reportedly dissolves core team after director's exit (4 min) Leenzee's core team behind Wuchang: Fallen Feathers has reportedly dissolved after director Xia Siyuan's departure, with staff refusing reassignment to outsourcing roles. Siyuan has since founded a new studio. Eurogamer

Bloober Team expands leadership, as studio steps up to seven horror titles in active development (4 min) Bloober Team named three new executives — a head of studio, director of business development, and head of publishing — as it shifts to a multi-project structure with seven horror titles now in active development across its two internal teams and co-development label Broken Mirror Games. GamesIndustry.biz

Sara Veal's framework for a more sustainable and supportive games industry (7 min) GamesAid chair Sara Veal outlines a framework for sustainable studio culture, urging leaders to survey teams before launching wellbeing programs and to treat mental health support as a structural necessity, not a perk to cut during downturns. GamesIndustry.biz

Games & Releases

After Widespread Criticism for Being a Pokémon Clone, Pickmon Developer Announces Name Change 'To Better Align With Our Brand Identity and Lore' (8 min) PocketGame rebranded its Pokémon-like game from Pickmon to Pickmos — a one-letter change — after widespread criticism over copied creature designs. The art and fan-design plagiarism allegations remain unaddressed. IGN

Nintendo Considered Making Tomodachi Life's Mii Characters More Realistic-Looking (3 min) Nintendo's dev team revealed they prototyped more realistic Mii characters for Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream but scrapped the idea when results felt "off." The team instead refined the classic Mii look to hold up at modern resolutions without altering core identity. The Gamer

Face Model Seemingly Teases Marvel's Spider-Man 3 (1 min) Peter Parker face model Ben Jordan briefly posted a motion capture photo to Instagram with a spider emoji, fueling speculation that Insomniac is developing Marvel's Spider-Man 3 or a spinoff. No official confirmation yet. IGN

AI/Tech & Tools

Amazon Luna to phase out support for third-party subscriptions and game stores (2 min) Amazon Luna will drop support for third-party stores (EA, Ubisoft, GOG), external subscriptions, and à-la-carte purchases starting June 10, 2026. Developers distributing via Luna's partner channels should note the platform is consolidating to its own subscription model only. GamesIndustry.biz

A Valve developer has just made it easier to run games on Linux with 8 GB cards thanks to a simple fix (5 min) Valve Linux developer Natalie Vock published a kernel-level fix using cgroups to better prioritize GPU memory allocation on Linux, improving game performance on 8 GB VRAM cards. Currently available for Arch-based distros like CachyOS, with broader distro support expected over time. PC Gamer

GMOペパボのマルチプレイ専用サーバー「ロリポップ！ for Gamers」に「『マインクラフトJava版』MODかんたんインストール機能」が登場 (38 min) GMO Pepabo's "Lolipop! for Gamers" multiplayer server hosting service added a one-click MOD installer for Minecraft Java Edition. The feature handles dependency resolution automatically and pulls from Modrinth, supporting Forge, Fabric, and Paper server types. Game Watch Impress

Policy & Labor

Roblox launches new age-based accounts and expanded parental controls "to build age-appropriate experiences for all" (3 min) Roblox is launching age-tiered accounts (ages 5–8 and 9–15) and expanded parental controls in June, alongside a new content selection process for games available to under-16 users. Developers will face additional verification and content evaluation requirements to reach younger audiences. GamesIndustry.biz

Culture & Community

Follow a game's rules, not its story: Exit 8 director Genki Kawamura on the secret to a successful movie adaptation (7 min) Exit 8 director Genki Kawamura argues successful game adaptations should translate a game's rules and design logic — not its story — into film. His adaptation currently holds 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. GamesIndustry.biz

GGMods To Hold A Modathon To Celebrate Its Full Launch On April 13 (4 min) GGMods launched April 13 as a modding platform focused on transparent creator pay, offering a Founding Modders Program with cash advances for creators with 1M+ downloads. Its launch Modathon features $7,000 in cash prizes and $1,000 in gift cards. The Gamer

Bethesda's ex-marketing VP says Skyrim was its first game to make other studios scared of it: 'You have to be concerned about us if you think you're going to win game of the year' (6 min) Bethesda's former marketing VP Pete Hines recalls Skyrim as the first title that made competing studios genuinely worried about losing Game of the Year, marking a shift in how the industry perceived Bethesda's competitive weight. PC Gamer

gg! see you in game!

• james