US games industry reacts to ESA endorsement of Tax Reform
The move is supposed to encourage growth in the US tech industry but has been met with criticism over other issues within the reform around low income
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Net Neutrality is to be abandoned by the FCC
The new chairman of the FCC under the Trump administration is set to unveil a new approach that could lead to higher costs
Gfinity esports acquire US-based CEVO for $2.7 million
The UK end to end esports solutions company expands to North America with the move
Audio specialist Side to open LA studio
2017’s move into US follows expansion into Shanghai earlier this year
UK mobile games have the best ARPU in Europe (but they're still behind the US and Japan)
App Annie report finds that US devs are more than twice as successful at monetising mobile games than British creators, with Japanese makers achieving returns six times higher
Minecraft is the only premium app in the US 50 top-grossing
$6.99 Pocket Edition comes in at number 31 behind Clash of Clans, Pokémon Go, Hearthstone and more
Valve to double office space in upcoming studio move
Dota 2 dev and Steam owner will occupy nine floors of Lincoln Square tower, to a total of 225,000 square feet
Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America to open applications to games writers
But salaried writers remain out in the cold for now
Submissions open for Google's inaugural Indie Games Festival
US and Canadian studios with fewer than 16 members and a 2016 release under their belts invited to take part
NPD adds data for digital games to its sales figures
Major publishers including EA, Activision and Ubisoft sign up to service, but platform holders Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo remain untracked for now
Blizzard sues Bossland (again) over Overwatch cheat tool
Watchover Tyrant adds features such as a powerful radar, visible enemy health and further otherwise inaccessible information
Sega buys Endless Space creator Amplitude
Publisher says French studio will bolster its PC development output in the West
Doctor Who: Legacy studio Tiny Rebel Games relocates to UK
Former LA-based dev joins sibling brewery company in Wales
Daybreak opens submissions for $10,000 Gamers In Real Life scholarship
Prize open to any undergraduate student studying games, with an eight-week internship at the H1Z1 studio included
Activision joins US military veteran employment initiative
Participation in Joining Forces programme will see former military staff comprise three per cent of new hires over the next five years at Call of Duty studio
Persona developer Atlus splits with Western publisher NIS America
‘It was very difficult for NIS America to establish an equal-partnership with Atlus’ following Sega buyout of studio, CEO and president reveals
NYU Game Center Incubator expands eligibility to every dev
Recent $450,000 investment from Empire State Development sees advocate for experimental games move beyond graduate-only applications
Sonic Team head returns to US to establish development 'hub' for franchise
Producer Takashi Iizuka originally helped found Sega Studio USA in 1999
Sega finalises purchase of Persona developer Atlus
Publisher to bring all of Japanese studio’s games to US from now on, but the two companies will remain separate entities
Nintendo and library unite to teach game design to kids using Super Mario Maker
‘We want them to learn the basics of level design, and start to think about the strategy and creativity that goes into creating games’
Carbine lays off staff as WildStar performance flags
Chinese launch of MMO cancelled as studio moves to focus on supporting ‘live game’ in US and Europe
Amazon GameLift comes to US, Europe and Asia, adds autoscaling
Devs can choose to automatically adjust server use according to player and game session count, plus other metrics
38 Studios investors accused of fraud by US government
Wells Fargo Securities and the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation allegedly didn’t tell lenders of the risks of backing Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning developer ahead of collapse in 2012
Chinese ad giant Mobvista pays $25m for US mobile firm NativeX
Monetisation specialist counts Square Enix, Disney, King, Rovio and Machine Zone among its partners
Zynga to sell San Francisco HQ
Mobile studio acquired location in 2012 for $228 million, which could now be worth more than half a billion dollars
Having hired 38 ex-Zynga devs in 2015, FanDuel will now lay off 55 staff
Orlando office of US fantasy sports leagues studio to be home to just 19 customer support and talent team employees following cuts
Psychonauts 2 crowdfunding cash held up by approval checks
Equity investment share of money raised through Fig must undergo additional clarification by US SEC
Chinese dev Linekong invests $20m in US studio
'A lot of Chinese companies will come to the West and take the business more seriously,' says US GM Roy Liu
Windows Store adopts 'streamlined' IARC rating system
PC and mobile titles to use free global classification process