[Last week in games] Apex Legends Getting Review Bombed Over Battle Pass Controversy, On enterprise AI startup: CEO resigns, staff laid off after $11M in cash goes missing, and more!

Jul 20, 2024

INDUSTRY NEWS

India's antitrust investigation hits Apple for market abuse (pocketgamer.biz)
Gamescom Latam's plan to double in size for year two (gamesindustry.biz)
Game Analysis: What does Project R.I.S.E mean for Supercell’s action RPG strategy? (pocketgamer.biz)
Apple approves the first PC emulator on iOS (pocketgamer.biz)
"A mixed bag": first impressions of Project Rise, Supercell's co-op roguelite extraction game (mobilegamer.biz)
Transmedia adaptations at the Emmys: Fallout earns 17 noms (venturebeat.com)
Monopoly Go transforms back into a board game (venturebeat.com)
Google Play adds Cash App Pay to woo Gen Z gamers (venturebeat.com)

Former Zen Match devs raise $3m in pre-seed funding round for new studio Grand Games (pocketgamer.biz)
Grand Games raises $3M for multiple mobile game launches (venturebeat.com)
Square Enix leads $3.1 million investment round in Soccerverse (pocketgamer.biz)
Echo Chunk raises $1.4M to make AI-based puzzle games (venturebeat.com)
Dusk secures $8 million to "reimagine" social multiplayer games (pocketgamer.biz)
Blue Scarab Entertainment launches with $7M investment; MMORPG in the works (venturebeat.com)
Artificial Agency raises $16M to bring AI-powered behavior to games (venturebeat.com)
Xsolla acquires LFG to build gaming connectivity and commerce (venturebeat.com)

Terraria has sold over 58m copies to date (gamesindustry.biz)
Under 2,000 people have paid to play Resident Evil 7 on iOS, estimates say (mobilegamer.biz)
Lawsuit paperwork reveals Valve employs around 350 people – and less than 100 work for Steam (gamesindustry.biz)
Data digest: Hypercasual dips, Honor of Kings and Star Wars: Hunters disappoint but Wuthering Waves hits $100m (mobilegamer.biz)
40% of U.S. gamers play PC, console and mobile games (venturebeat.com)
UK video game sales fall almost 30% in the first half of 2024 (gamesindustry.biz)
Nintendo Switch moves 1m units during H1 2024 (gamesindustry.biz)
Wuthering Waves sails past $100 million in under two months (pocketgamer.biz)
EA College Football 25 Just Launched And Is Already One Of 2024's Biggest Games (kotaku.com)
European game sales down just 1.6% during the first half of 2024 (gamesindustry.biz)
Report: 82% of US gamers made an in-game purchase in freemium titles in 2023 (gamesindustry.biz)
Pacific Drives tops 600,000 sales globally (gamesindustry.biz)
Ubisoft outperform targets as back-catalogue, digital, and bookings all increase in Q1 24-25 (gamesindustry.biz)
Gen Z players are highly engaged and looking for new games (venturebeat.com)
Japan's mobile game installs and spending rose in Q1 2024 (gamesindustry.biz)

TMNT: Mutant Mayhem Gets First Trailer And October Launch Date (gameinformer.com)
Auto Pirates is a PvP deckbuilding auto-battler with fantasy pirates, coming soon to iOS and Android (pocketgamer.com)
Eden Games launches Cosmic Royale kart racing game in Animoca Brand's Web3 Motorverse (venturebeat.com)
Bleach Soul Puzzle launches worldwide as first puzzle game based on the hit series (pocketgamer.com)
Ghost Invasion: Idle Hunter, a new haunting idle game, hits soft launch (pocketgamer.com)
ARK: Survival Evolved is going primeval with ARK: Ultimate Survivor Edition for mobile (pocketgamer.com)
Co-op life sim Spirit of the Island launches today for iOS and Android (pocketgamer.com)
Neverness to Everness is Hotta Studio's upcoming open world RPG (pocketgamer.com)
Homerun Clash 2: Legends Derby opens pre-registration sign-ups with bountiful rewards up for grabs (pocketgamer.com)
Arkadium launches Multiplayer Chess Online on July 20 (venturebeat.com)
New games now: Rainbow 6 and The Division delayed, Squid Game: The Game, Asphalt's reboot, a flurry of Miniclip games and more (mobilegamer.biz)

Scotland's largest VFX company, Axis, shuts down (gamesindustry.biz)
On enterprise AI startup: CEO resigns, staff laid off after $11M in cash goes missing (venturebeat.com)
Microsoft reportedly shuts down one of its DEI teams (gamesindustry.biz)
AdInMo updates InGamePlay for non-interruptive in-game ads (venturebeat.com)
Apex Legends Getting Review Bombed Over Battle Pass Controversy (kotaku.com)
Gfinity Digital Media affected by layoffs (gamesindustry.biz)
Report: Mortal Kombat studio NetherRealm lays off mobile team (pocketgamer.biz)
Bethesda Game Studios workers unionize under Communications Workers of America (venturebeat.com)