Gaming, in brief

Staff at Build a Rocket Boy, the Edinburgh studio that made the action game MindsEye, said on 16 September that everyone left is being made redundant. [5][6]

Kotaku says sources confirmed the studio is closing for good. [1] One source told IGN the company might not be formally dissolved even once every worker has gone. [2]

The studio was founded by Leslie Benzies, one of the main designers of Grand Theft Auto, who left Rockstar in 2016 after a fight over unpaid royalties. [2]

With that record behind it, the studio raised more than 233 million pounds, about $313 million, from investors by 2024. [2]

Its recruitment lead Dan Hawkins says it grew from 200 to 550 staff in a short time. [3]

MindsEye came out in June 2025, and players called it broken and buggy. [2][3] Benzies told staff that saboteurs, inside and outside the studio, were to blame. [2]

In the year to 30 September 2025 the studio took in 4.6 million pounds and spent 52.1 million, a loss of 36.2 million. [2]

About 300 UK staff were told in July 2025 that their jobs were at risk, and more rounds of cuts followed. [2][3]

Almost 100 developers signed an open letter about mismanagement. [4] The IWGB, a union for games workers, took legal action over surveillance software put on work computers. [4]

IO Interactive, the Danish studio that makes Hitman, ended its deal to publish MindsEye in March. [3][5]

A relaunch update and a half-price sale on Steam did not bring players back. [2] The most people playing MindsEye at once on Steam over one recent day was 16. [2]

Why it matters. The next thing to watch is whether Build a Rocket Boy is formally closed or kept alive as a company with no staff, which one source told IGN is possible. [1][2]

Heart Machine, the studio behind the pixel-art hit Hyper Light Drifter, laid off nearly all its staff on 16 September. [7][9] Founder Alx Preston said a publisher had been paying for its next game, which was never announced, and pulled out that week. [7] With no other income, he said, he is not sure the studio survives. [9] Its recent games did less well: Hyper Light Breaker was stopped before it was finished, and Possessor(s) came out in November 2025. [7][8][9]

Why it matters. A studio paid by one publisher has no income of its own, so one decision by that publisher ended almost every job there. [7] Preston is asking studios that are hiring to take his staff. [7]

The European Union is due to present a plan today, 17 September, to limit children's use of online games, social media and AI chatbots. [12] A draft seen by Reuters lets people aged 15 and over open accounts freely. [11] Children of 13 and 14 would need a parent to set up a limited account with time limits. [11] Children from 3 to 12 would only get accounts their parents control. [11] Services would have to check a new user's age, including online games judged risky to children. [12]

Why it matters. Epic Games, which makes Fortnite, would lose easy access to younger players, and its boss Tim Sweeney called the plan terrible for the next generation. [11] EU member countries must still agree, and the details may change. [11]

Wardogs, a tactical shooter from the small studio Bulkhead, went on sale in early access on 10 September. [10] Early access means players pay for a game that is still being made. [10] Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics, a firm that estimates sales from outside, puts it at 2.2 million copies and about $70 million on Steam. [10] He says that is more than Bungie's Marathon has made on PC and consoles together. [10]

Why it matters. Bulkhead was paid by players while it was still building the game, at $40 a copy. [10] These are outside estimates; Bulkhead's own last count was 2 million copies after five days. [10]

A court in The Hague, in the Netherlands, ruled that selling the MIG Switch and similar devices in Europe is unlawful, IGN reported on 11 September. [13] These cartridges let a Switch play copies of games downloaded from the internet. [13] The ruling names websites that sold them, and those sites must stop. [13] Nintendo had already cut off online play on consoles caught using the devices. [13]

Why it matters. Nintendo said it acted for every developer who depends on legitimate sales of Switch games. [13] The fight has moved from punishing players to closing the shops that sell to them. [13]

Game Pass, Microsoft's subscription that gives access to a library of games for a monthly fee, loses eight more games on 30 September. [16] They include Atomfall, Sifu and Little Nightmares 2, taking this month's removals to 18. [16] Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, from 2024, joins the Premium tier on 25 September. [16][17] The survival game Dune: Awakening arrives on 22 September. [17]

Why it matters. A game in a subscription library is borrowed, so a subscriber halfway through Atomfall loses access on 30 September unless they buy it. [16]

Focus Entertainment, the publisher of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and A Plague Tale, posted a warning to its players on 15 September. [14] It said staff had received toxic messages for years. [14] A recent rise in threats led it to file formal legal complaints against players who directly threatened team members. [14] It did not say what set off the latest wave. [14]

Why it matters. The people who run a game's online spaces and answer players carry this abuse. [14] A legal complaint goes further than banning an account, and Sony recently added protections for its own support staff after threats. [14]

Hookshot Media, which runs Nintendo Life and Push Square, launched a fifth website, Steam Hype, on 16 September. [15] It covers games on Steam, Valve's PC store, and leans towards small and new games. [15] Chief executive Anthony Dickens said being mostly independent means no shareholders demanding growth every year. [15] It opens as Paste Games has closed and Restart has laid off its whole editorial team. [15]

Why it matters. Steam releases a flood of games every day, and sites like this help decide which small ones players hear about. [15] It is paid for by adverts and by readers who pay to remove them. [15]

Most of World of Warcraft: Forever, Blizzard's new version of its long-running online game, comes with the normal monthly subscription. [18] But the new Skyborne elf race and its starting area need a separate $29.99 Skyborne Hero Pack. [18] The pack also includes a mount and housing decorations. [18] Blizzard's latest full expansion for the game sold for $50. [18]

Why it matters. Players already paying every month are asked to pay again for one part of the game. [18] PC Gamer expects new character classes in Forever to be sold the same way. [18]

Julia Nardin, creative director of Bungie's shooter Marathon, said on 16 September that a leak about merging Marathon and Destiny is fake. [24] The claim came from a long anonymous post on 4chan, later copied to the Marathon forum on Reddit. [24] Nardin worked on Destiny 2 expansions before leading Marathon. [24] Bungie's communications lead reposted her denial. [24]

Why it matters. It came the same week an outside estimate put Wardogs' Steam takings above everything Marathon has made on PC and consoles. [10]

Game Freak, the Japanese studio behind the main Pokemon games, announced a mobile game called Ame no Chi Hare Onna for Japan in December. [20] It is made with the studio Chronogate and directed by Shigeru Ohmori, who has directed the main Pokemon games for years. [20] Real weather forecasts will change parts of the game from day to day. [20] There is no word on an English version. [20]

Why it matters. It is Game Freak's second game outside Pokemon this year, after the action game Beast of Reincarnation in August. [20] The next main Pokemon games, Winds and Waves, are due next year on Switch 2. [20]

Ikumi Nakamura left the Japanese studio Tango Gameworks in 2019 and founded her own studio, Unseen, in Tokyo in 2021. [21] On 13 September she publicly invited Elon Musk to a small closed event for its first game, Kemuri, during Tokyo Game Show. [21] She also said she had something to discuss with him about Unseen. [21] Commenters objected to the invitation because of Musk's public conduct. [21]

Why it matters. Nakamura has not said what she wants to discuss. [21] Kotaku argued the invitation could hurt how players receive Kemuri, a demon-hunting action game first shown in 2023. [21]

The PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, a 90-minute video showcase filmed at Tokyo Game Show, airs on 20 September. [22] PC Gamer, which makes it, promises more than 30 games and over 10 world premieres. [22] Publishers taking part include Devolver Digital, Firefly Studios and Fireshine Games. [22] It streams on YouTube, Twitch and Steam, and on Bilibili and Kuaishou, two Chinese video sites. [22]

Why it matters. The show is made by PC Gamer, a magazine, so a news outlet is also acting as a stage for games it covers. [22]

Good Gamer Group, a company that runs private game tests for publishers, posted and then deleted a call for testers to try an unreleased big-budget 2D fighting game in Culver City, California. [23] Warner Bros. Games, which owns NetherRealm Studios, is based in the same city. [23] NetherRealm makes Mortal Kombat and the Injustice games, so many expect this is Injustice 3. [23] Nothing has been announced. [23]

Why it matters. Good Gamer Group's tests are covered by agreements to keep quiet, so the deleted post is the only public trace of this game so far. [23]

LocalThunk, the solo developer of the hit card game Balatro, posted in its Discord on 15 September about its big 1.1 update. [19] A year earlier he delayed the update into 2026, saying he was burned out. [19] He said it still has no release date and he will not rush it. [19] He called this past year of work the most fulfilling he has done. [19]

Why it matters. He says he now works more like a hobby developer, avoiding deadlines. [19] Players waiting for the update are waiting on one person's pace. [19]

Sora, the hero of Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series, joins Fortnite this week, Epic announced on 13 September, as part of its Gaming Legends season. [25] More Kingdom Hearts characters are due later in the week. [25] Kotaku noticed Sora's key-shaped weapon appears without the Mickey Mouse charm it carries in Kingdom Hearts. [25]

Why it matters. Kingdom Hearts mixes Disney and Final Fantasy characters, so an outfit like this needs more than one company's approval. [25] Kotaku reads the missing charm as a sign Disney did not sign off on it. [25]

Google released a complete map of a male fruit fly's brain, every nerve cell and connection, for anyone to download. [26] Within days an engineer, Alex Wormuth, was training a computer model of that brain to play the 1993 shooter Doom. [26] It played thousands of times and still did badly. [26] Another hobbyist got the model to play the rhythm game Beat Saber. [26]

Why it matters. Games gave hobbyists a quick, public way to test a new science tool within days of its release. [26] Google says the map will be a resource for brain research for years. [26]