Episode seven of the Playable Futures podcast turns its attention to the future of game consumption, and the shift in the dynamic between user, creator and platform. The result was a wide-ranging, insightful conversation between two brilliant guests – Stephanie King, Chief Administrative and Legal Officer and Playco, and Karol Severin, Senior analyst, VP of data, and Co-Founder at MIDiA Research. Both brought robust analysis and fascinating data – and a lot of vibrancy and infectious  Through their conversation, what becomes clear is that today's gamers are bombarded with more choices tha ..read more

The GamesIndustry.biz team gather around their mics to discuss the biggest stories of the past week. On this episode, we begin with the report that 2023's Call of Duty release will be a follow-up to 2022's Modern Warfare 2 that originally began an expansion. It will plug the previously reported gap that could have seen this year become the first since 2005 not to see a new entry in the series, with Treyarch's next game pushed to 2024. We ponder Call of Duty's reliance on an annual release, Activision Blizzard's reliance on Call of Duty, the wider impact the series has on the global market, and ..read more

Marcia Deakin, Co-Founder of Next Gen Skills Academy, Shahneila Saeed, Head of Education at UKIE and Director of Digital Schoolhouse and Keira McGarvey, Head of People at FuturLab join Will Freeman for the latest edition of our Playable Futures Series. Episode six of the Playable Futures podcast assembles a panel of experts to tackle the challenges and opportunities of the industry’s talent pipeline, and how the sector finds itself at a crossroads in terms of future proofing recruitment for the medium and long term success of the sector.  The Playable Futures Podcast accompanies Playable ..read more

The GamesIndustry.biz team gather around their mics to ponder the year ahead. Rather than offering predictions on what we think will happen in the business of video games this year, we share our hopes for what we want to see.  The discussion ranges from serious concerns such as the desire to see more unionisation among developers and fewer immoral monetisation practices, to more personal wishes such as more innovative AAA games, a fresh wave of quirky indie titles and, er, the return of companion apps. We also share our most anticipated games of the year. You can find more news ..read more

The latest of our Playable Futures series tackles the industry's foundational duo - Publisher and Developer - and looks at what the future holds for Publishing in a sector in which the rate of change is rapid and accelerating. It’s also one in which the balance between Community, Audience, Developer and Publisher has shifted irrevocably.  For Episode 5, presenter Will Freeman speaks to Jean-Paul Hardy, General Manager of Gearbox Amsterdam and Thomas Hegarty, Founder and Director of Roll7. Veterans of the publisher/developer relationship, the duo draw on their many years of experience in p ..read more

The GamesIndustry.biz team gathers around their mics and discusses their favourite games of the year. In addition, we discuss several of the honourable mentions, the titles we've delved deeply into throughout the course of 2022 but haven't quite established themselves as our favourites. You can read our full thoughts on each member of the team's on the site throughout this week ..read more

It’s a double whammy for our latest episode of the Playable Futures Podcast, with gaming communities at the centre of the discussion. For this episode, presenter Will Freeman chats to Mark Reed, Founder of Heaven Media to reflect on gaming’s relationship with marketing and the important role that communities play in shaping its landscape. He then interviews Romain de Waubert de Genlis, Studio Head and Chief Creative Officer at Amplitude Studios who discusses how his platform Games2Gether aims to bring the gaming community into the dev process. Both spokespeople take a long view on the importan ..read more

The GamesIndustry.biz team gathers around their mics to look back at some of the biggest stories and trends of the year. Using a recent edition of This Week In Business as a jumping off point, we discuss whether 2022 was a weak year for new video games (as some folks believe) and how well the line-up compares to previous years. We also discuss the biggest trends, such as the wave of potentially industry-changing M&A deals that rocked the business back in January. As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz ..read more

For the latest episode of the Playable Futures Podcast, games journalist Will Freeman is joined by representatives from three of the many independent and mid-size studios that are currently making waves in the games industry. Playtonic Games business development manager Stephanie Darrah, nDreams CEO Patrick O'Luanaigh, and Nosebleed Interactive managing director Andreas Firnigl discuss how much the game space has changed in the past decade and what it means to be an indie in a world where their titles are vying for audiences’ attention alongside AAA behemoths. With the landscape ever changing ..read more

The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast is back, as the team once again gathers around their mics to discuss the biggest stories of the week. We start with the highs and lows of the latest Pokémon launch. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are smashing series records in key territories and are the most ambitious entries to date – but it turns out that ambition comes at a price. With widespread complaints and viral examples of technical issues, we discuss the potential impact of Scarlet and Violet's woes on the franchise's reputation, and what Game Freak and The Pokémon Company need to do to avoid this in future ..read more