Virtua Fighter Crossroads 🥊 Canadian game dev scene 🍁
Ryu Ga Gotoku is developing Virtua Fighter Crossroads as a "cinematic narrative fighting game," aiming to blend RGG's storytelling with Virtua Fighter's combat. Set a decade after VF5, the story follows four new protagonists including MMA fighter Cielo and kickboxer Stella Bridge. Producer Riichiro Yamada said the team chose to adapt the franchise's existing lore rather than abandon it, creating something "new and unique" by combining narrative depth with fighting gameplay—an approach most fighting games treat as secondary. (Kotaku)
June 19, 2026 | Subscribe | Read On Web
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Ryu Ga Gotoku is developing Virtua Fighter Crossroads as a "cinematic narrative fighting game," aiming to blend RGG's storytelling with Virtua Fighter's combat. Set a decade after VF5, the story follows four new protagonists including MMA fighter Cielo and kickboxer Stella Bridge. Producer Riichiro Yamada said the team chose to adapt the franchise's existing lore rather than abandon it, creating something "new and unique" by combining narrative depth with fighting gameplay—an approach most fighting games treat as secondary. (Kotaku)
'A new industry with a new identity:' How Canadian devs are faring in 2026 (7 min read)
Game developers at Toronto's XP Game Summit reported cautious optimism despite recent industry turbulence in Canada. The Canadian games industry doubled in size between 2013 and 2022 but has suffered recent studio closures and layoffs, including Embracer shutting down Onoma and Ubisoft closing Halifax after unionization. XP Summit founder Jason Lepine said investor activity and contract signings are returning, but emphasized the shift represents "transformation" rather than "recovery"—a new industry identity rather than a return to the old model. (Game Developer)
Business & Finance
PlayStation CEO Hideaki Nishino indicated that Sony will keep first-party single-player games as PS5 exclusives while continuing to release live-service titles multiplatform. The statement, made in Famitsu magazine, suggests each release will be evaluated case-by-case but signals a shift away from PC ports for major single-player titles. (GamesRadar)
Roblox details how much creators will pay for brand integrations (2 min read)
Roblox announced CPM-based fees for creator brand integrations starting January 1, 2027, ranging from $0.05 to $1.50 per thousand visits depending on region. Creators can forecast costs 56 days before launch to lock in rates and pass fees to advertisers. (GamesIndustry.biz)
Games & Releases
Task Bar Hero, a free Steam game, reached 500k+ concurrent players (third most-played on Steam) in its first month. The idle RPG runs in the taskbar while users work, with loot sellable on the Steam marketplace. However, its aggressive anti-cheat has triggered false bans and account labels, and players report items randomly disappearing. (IGN)
Marathon players obtained a full season's worth of loot in just one week of season 2, due to a bloated economy and a bug spawning excess high-rarity items. Bungie released a June 16 patch with balance tweaks and acknowledged deeper progression issues, but players remain divided on whether the season can recover. (Kotaku)
Policy & Labor
The European Commission rejected a legal obligation to keep games playable after commercial discontinuation, citing intellectual property rights. It will instead facilitate an industry code of conduct on game end-of-life management and raise awareness of existing consumer protections under EU digital services law. (GamesIndustry.biz)
gg! see you in game!
— james