Game World Observer

Steam users have shown great interest in the new installment of the legendary strategy franchise Stronghold. They added Stronghold 4 to their wishlists a quarter of a million times within just two weeks of the game’s announcement. Stronghold 4 “We are truly grateful to all our fans, new and old, who cannot wait to build, battle and besiege later this year,” wrote Firefly Studios in the Stronghold 4 event feed on Steam.

The Chinese giant Tencent is preparing to divest some of its gaming assets in Japan, reports Bloomberg, citing sources. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma According to Bloomberg, Tencent is currently in talks to exit several studios. The full list is not disclosed, but it is assumed that Marvelous — the creator of the Rune Factory and Daemon x Machina series — is on it. The Chinese company acquired 20% of Marvelous in 2020 for $65 million.

Obsidian Entertainment has faced a lawsuit in the United States. The company was sued by former employees who claim it violated California labor laws. Avowed Officially, the lawsuit against Obsidian Entertainment was filed back in October 2025, but the media only recently took notice of it. According to the plaintiffs, Obsidian Entertainment engaged in unlawful practices regarding hourly employees.

Every June, Sony submits a comprehensive annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), detailing its business strategy among other things. As noted by Game File journalist Stephen Totilo, this time the company introduced several significant changes regarding its gaming division’s operations. Astro Bot One of the most noticeable changes is that Sony removed the mention of plans to continue releasing single-player games from its internal studios on PC.

The analytics company Newzoo has finally summed up the results for the global video game market in 2025—before this, they had released several forecasts. As it turns out, last year became the most profitable in monetary terms in the history of observations, despite numerous layoffs and studio closures. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Main Takeaways from the Report According to Newzoo, in 2025, the market revenue reached $201.6 billion for the first time in history. This is 9.1% more than in 2024.

The authors of the Stop Killing Games initiative, aimed at preventing the deactivation of games purchased by gamers, were unable to secure support from the European Commission. The agency officially stated that “at this stage,” it cannot intervene and amend EU legislation. As explained by the European Commission, to some extent, the Stop Killing Games initiative is hindered by copyright law.

Microsoft’s gaming division may undergo significant “downsizing.” As reported by Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, XBOX is preparing to part ways with at least three teams. Senua According to Schreier, the threat of closure looms over: Compulsion Games — creators of Contrast, We Happy Few, and South of Midnight; Double Fine Productions — creators of Psychonauts and many other games. Their latest project to date is Kiln; Ninja Theory — creators of Hellblade.

A Dutch NGO, The Consumer Competition Claims Foundation (CCCF), has taken a stand against the owner of Steam. CCCF is convinced that Valve engages in anti-competitive practices, forcing gamers in the Netherlands to consistently overpay for games. The organization has raised four main complaints against the company: 1. CCCF claims that Valve forbids developers from selling games in other stores at lower prices than on Steam; 2.

Kian Hozouri, COO and co-founder of ByteBrew, shared in his Game World Observer column how his startup helped The One Game Studio achieve impressive results in ROAS and Ad LTV growth. Kian Hozouri Every story has a beginning. Ours began when The One Game Studio became our client. The One Game Studio is a talented Hanoi-based mobile game publisher with a growing team of more than 60 employees and a portfolio of over 70 casual, music, and puzzle games that attract a global audience.

Restructuring is ongoing at Ubisoft. This has been reported by the media, referencing an internal company letter. Assassin’s Creed Mirage During this new round of business changes, Ubisoft has decided to close two studios: the Serbian Ubisoft Belgrade and the Canadian Ubisoft Winnipeg. Additionally, Ubisoft Barcelona will be reorganized to focus exclusively on the Rainbow Six franchise. Ubisoft San Francisco and Ubisoft Montréal studios will also be affected.