Valve lawsuit 💸 Xbox shakeup 🎮 Another Tencent closure 💀
February 23, 2026 | Subscribe | Read On Web
Share on X/Twitter | Reddit
Top Stories
Valve faces a UK class action lawsuit alleging its 30% revenue share and price parity requirement violate competition law. Led by digital safety advocate Vicki Shotbolt, the case seeks £656 million in damages, claiming Valve exploits market dominance and harms both consumers and developers. A court ruled the case must proceed to trial despite Valve's objections. (Gamesindustry)
Phil Spencer is retiring as Xbox boss and Sarah Bond resigned, with AI executive Asha Sharma taking over as CEO and Matt Booty moving to chief content officer. Booty stated no immediate organizational changes or layoffs are planned for studios, though he acknowledged new leadership often brings shifting priorities that could trigger cuts downstream. (PC Gamer)
Tencent shut down TiMi Montreal, the studio led by former Assassin's Creed creative director Ashraf Ismail, without releasing a single game. The studio had spent five years developing an original AAA open-world, service-focused IP for multiple platforms. Ismail joined TiMi Montreal in 2022 after leaving Ubisoft in 2020 following misconduct allegations. (GamesRadar)
Business & Finance
Meta "shifts focus" of Horizon Worlds platform from Quest VR to mobile (2 min read)
Meta is shifting Horizon Worlds from a VR-exclusive platform to "almost exclusively mobile" to access a larger market. Reality Labs VP Samantha Ryan said the firm will separate Quest VR from Worlds, doubling down on third-party VR developer support while redirecting Worlds to mobile. Reality Labs posted a $19.2 billion loss in 2025 despite $2.2 billion in revenue. (Gamesindustry)
Original Saints Row Designer Believes The Series Is Dead After Publisher Ghosts Him (3 min read)
Saints Row's original design director Chris Stockman says Embracer Group is "ghosting" him after rejecting a 1970s prequel pitch he developed for the franchise. Volition, the series developer, was shuttered by Embracer in 2023 following the 2022 reboot's commercial underperformance. Stockman believes the franchise is now dead, part of a broader pattern where Embracer has abandoned revivals for Perfect Dark and Deus Ex after acquiring their studios. (Kotaku)
Fate of console pricing uncertain after Supreme Court strikes down Trump tariffs (4 min read)
The Supreme Court struck down Trump's 2025 tariffs as unconstitutional, but console pricing relief may be short-lived. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo raised hardware prices in 2025 citing tariff-driven economic conditions. Trump immediately announced a new 10% tariff under the Trade Act of 1974. Meanwhile, AI data center demand has created severe RAM shortages—OpenAI's deal for 40% of global DRAM output drove consumer RAM prices up 171% and is delaying Valve's new hardware and straining Nintendo's profitability. (Game Developer)
US video game spending rose 3% year-on-year to $4.3 billion in January 2026, driven primarily by a 23% jump in subscription service revenue ($596M). Hardware spend climbed 16% despite individual platform declines, buoyed by Nintendo Switch 2's strong launch. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 topped charts despite initial underperformance. (Eurogamer)
Games & Releases
Total Chaos is getting a New Game+ mode launching March 2 that introduces the Hunter, a persistent adaptive enemy inspired by Alien: Isolation that doesn't patrol, follow rules, or respect safe zones. The first seven chapters have been redesigned with scarcer resources, more aggressive enemies, and less predictable routes to intensify the horror experience. (PC Gamer)
Cities: Skylines 2 received a patch from its new developer addressing citizen mortality. Previously, about 80% of citizens never died of old age in easy mode due to immortality mechanics. The update removes immortality in easy mode and increases natural death rates across difficulty levels. (PC Gamer)
Policy & Labor
Tiktok refuses to axe racist AI-generated ads for Finji games (4 min read)
TikTok's AI ad tool generated racist and sexist advertisements for Finji games without the publisher's consent or knowledge, despite Finji disabling the feature. TikTok support acknowledged the inappropriate ads, then denied them, then refused removal, claiming the matter was closed. Finji has since pulled all TikTok advertising. 🚨 (Game Developer)
LA County filed a lawsuit against Roblox, alleging the platform's business practices endanger and exploit children. The suit represents a significant regulatory challenge to the user-generated content platform and could influence how similar platforms are regulated going forward. (Game Developer)
Culture & Community
The Video Game Industry Is Not Equipped to Handle What Comes Next (6 min read)
The gaming industry faces a demographic crisis: despite record player numbers, fewer games are being purchased as audiences fragment by age and preference. Players aged 8-80 gravitate toward different experiences—youth on Roblox, older audiences awaiting single-player blockbusters, middle-income players exploring other entertainment—while major publishers chase the next Fortnite. Unlike film and TV, gaming lacks an ecosystem serving all demographics. Success came when the industry broadened beyond its core (Minecraft, Pokémon Go, PS2), but current AAA focus on narrow genres alienates potential players. The industry needs inclusive discovery platforms and diverse genres, not singular mega-hits. (Kotaku)
On Balatro's two-year anniversary, creator LocalThunk published a reflective blog post about dropping out of an engineering program to pursue programming and game development. He described his early passion for coding despite being a poor student, and noted that even now he couldn't have prepared himself for the game's massive success. (PC Gamer)
The Legend Of Zelda Keeps Flirting With Dumping Fantasy For Sci-Fi (5 min read)
On Zelda's 40th anniversary, a look back at Nintendo's nearly-explored sci-fi directions for the series. Breath of the Wild director Satoru Takizawa revealed a scrapped "INVASION" pitch featuring UFOs, aliens, and a modernized Link in baggy jeans. Shigeru Miyamoto originally conceived Zelda with time-travel mechanics and cyberpunk aesthetics. The series' Sheikah technology and ancient ruins echo these abandoned sci-fi concepts. (Kotaku)
gg! see you in game!