Gaming, in brief

Rockstar Games' staff in the UK will vote from 12 to 26 November on whether to recognise a union, the IWGB Rockstar Game Workers Union. [1][3]

The IWGB is the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain, which has been organising staff at Rockstar for years. [1][4]

Recognition would give staff a say on pay and bonuses, overtime, job cuts, flexible working and the use of generative AI. [3][2]

GTA 6, Rockstar's next Grand Theft Auto game, comes out on 19 November, in the middle of the vote. [4][6]

If the vote passes, the IWGB says this would be the biggest recognised union in the UK games industry. [6][3]

Union and managers have been agreeing the terms of the deal since July. [2][4]

Earlier the workers asked Rockstar to recognise the union by itself before GTA 6, but it has gone to a vote instead. [4]

Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar's head of publishing, told Bloomberg: 'if they want a union, they will have a union.' [5][2]

Rockstar fired 31 union members in October 2025. It says they leaked secrets in a chat server, and the union calls it union busting. [2][4]

An employment tribunal in Scotland hears closing arguments on that case on 17 and 18 November. [1][2]

Shanti Easton-Steel, on the union's committee, named the gender pay gap, changing overtime pay and job security after release as the issues. [1][5]

Take-Two, which owns Rockstar, expects about $8 billion in revenue in its 2027 financial year, partly from GTA 6. [1]

Edge, a games magazine, visited Rockstar's Edinburgh studio, and its 16-page GTA 6 cover story goes on sale on 29 October. [8]

Why it matters. The vote closes on 26 November, a week after GTA 6 launches. The next thing to watch is that result, and then the tribunal's ruling on the 31 firings, which RPS says will take a while after the 17-18 November arguments. [3][1]

Don't Nod, the French studio behind the first Life is Strange games, plans to cut nearly all its non-manager jobs, says STJV, France's game workers' union. [10][9] The list includes all 6 animators, 18 of 22 programmers and 4 of 8 game designers. [10] The studio is under court protection from its debts, and the union says it cannot even fund an earlier redundancy plan. [10] Staff consultation ends on 3 November, and firing letters could follow on 25 November. [10][9]

Why it matters. Managers plan to hand the work to outside contractors, which the union calls short-term penny-pinching. [10] The union says the studio's last game in development, called P14, cannot now be finished. [10]

Warhorse Studios, which made the Kingdom Come: Deliverance games, says attackers got into its company systems and data. [13][11] Its boss, Martin Fryvaldsky, called it a serious incident. [13][12] The studio says it is working with security experts and the authorities. [13] Warhorse is making a Lord of the Rings role-playing game and a new Kingdom Come game. [12] It has not said what, if anything, was taken. [14]

Why it matters. For a game studio an attack also risks early leaks of unfinished games, as CD Projekt Red, Insomniac and Rockstar found, Rock Paper Shotgun notes. [13] Capcom and Square Enix have also had online breaches recently, Kotaku reports. [14]

Capcom has switched off online play in Street Fighter V, its 2016 fighting game, on PS4 and Steam. [15][14] It says the step strengthens security around PHP, a programming language much of the web runs on. [14] Sales on the PlayStation Store and Steam are being suspended in stages until a fix is done. [14] Players who own it can still play offline. [15]

Why it matters. A flaw in PHP found last week has already taken websites and some older online games offline. [15][14] A loyal group still plays it, though Street Fighter 6 has been the most popular fighting game for three years, Rock Paper Shotgun notes. [15]

The SNTPCT, the biggest union in French animation, has asked every animation and VFX worker in France to stop work from 2pm to 4pm on 18 November. [16] It wants minimum pay raised 11.2% to catch up with prices since 2007. [16] It also wants rules on generative AI in the industry's contract and all 11 French public holidays, against five now. [16] Employers' groups AnimFrance and SPI have rejected its demands for years, it says. [16]

Why it matters. The walkout covers studios that animate for video games as well as films and series. [16] Pay rose 1.8% to 2% in this year's talks, after 1.68% in 2024. [16]

Tim Sweeney, boss of Epic Games, says Epic is working to drop a rule that stops AI being trained on what Unreal Engine and MetaHuman make. [17] Unreal Engine is Epic's software for building games, and MetaHuman is its 3D animation tool. [17] Each game's makers could still allow or forbid such training, he said. [17] He posted it while answering a Kotaku article calling Epic's AI plans hypocritical. [17]

Why it matters. Studios using Unreal would have to choose for every game whether their work can feed AI tools. [17] Epic has not given a date or answered Game Developer's questions. [17]

A24's film of Elden Ring, the 2022 fantasy game, will be the biggest-budget single film ever offered at a film market, Deadline reports. [18] Its budget is between $175 million and $200 million, nearer the top. [18] Amazon has already bought its first streaming rights in many countries, in a deal sources put at tens of millions of dollars. [18][19] A24 is flying staff to buyers so they can read the 180-page script under watch. [18]

Why it matters. A24 is paying for the film alone, so Amazon's money lowers its risk before the American Film Market from 10 to 15 November. [18][19] The film opens in March 2028. [18]

Ukie, the UK games industry's trade body, wants this week's Autumn Budget to change the Video Games Expenditure Credit, a tax relief for making games. [20] With TIGA, another trade group, it proposes 53% support for games costing up to 15 million pounds. [20] One studio head said 67% of its contract work qualified in 2021 and only 25% in 2025. [20] Ukie also wants a growth fund for studios that have outgrown early grants. [20]

Why it matters. Ukie says France offers studios a 30% tax credit and Ireland 32%, and that jobs are lost when work moves overseas. [20] Its members have asked for the changes in this Budget. [20]

Save the Children, the children's charity, published a report on Tuesday saying young esports players are not protected well enough. [21] It counts up to 300 million children worldwide playing esports, which are video games played as competitions. [21] Risks include lost sleep, neck and wrist pain, anxiety and online abuse. [21] A national esports body told the report there are no agreed rules on training hours. [21]

Why it matters. In one study the report cites, 62% of top Twitch streams had sexist language in their chats. [21] The charity wants children treated as children first and competitors second. [21]

Peter Molyneux, the British designer behind Fable, says the industry pretends it is not using AI, though coding without it is now almost impossible. [22] Masahiro Sakurai, creator of Smash Bros, notes Steam's new games rose from 275 in 2010 to 19,000. [23] He says AI will add more, and most will not make money. [23] Square Enix veterans say makers must learn to use AI well. [24] Kotaro Uchikoshi, writer of Zero Escape, says his studio's cancelled game might have survived with AI. [25]

Why it matters. Uchikoshi says mid-sized studios now compete with single makers who use AI to build big games cheaply. [25] Sakurai expects copies of simple puzzle games to flood stores. [23]

Eurogamer found websites calling themselves wikis for small games that are full of made-up facts. [26] A wiki is a help site that players usually write together. [26] One for Nighthawks listed companions that do not exist. [26] Hooded Horse, a publisher, says it chases such sites, including more than 20 from one operator, GameDB, which admitted using AI. [26] Wardogs, a shooter, got at least five within days of its release. [26]

Why it matters. Players who land on the fake sites get wrong answers and stop trusting wikis at all, a volunteer told Eurogamer. [26] Fan-run wikis earn little, so a small amount of advertising money is enough to make the fakes worth building. [26]

Sam Greszes, a solo board game designer, says Debate and Switch in Jackbox's new Party Pack 12 closely resembles his game, Die On This Hill. [27] Jackbox Games also makes the You Don't Know Jack quiz games. [27] He sent Jackbox a copy in March 2025 after talks about a video game version. [27] Jackbox says its own team made the game, and that pitches go to a separate team that never shares them. [27]

Why it matters. Jackbox says it keeps pitches away from its game teams so that its own work stays independent. [27] Jackbox says it warned him in writing that it might already have a similar idea. [27]

Roblox, a platform where players build and share games, hosts copies of other companies' games made without permission, Eurogamer found. [28] One looks and plays almost exactly like Counter-Strike, Valve's shooter. [28] Another rebuilds the PlayStation 4's home screen with seven playable games, including The Simpsons: Hit and Run and Superhot. [28] They were uploaded by Roblox users, not by Sony, Activision or the original makers. [28]

Why it matters. Eurogamer has asked Sony and the developers for comment. [28] The makers of Peak earlier told players to pirate their game rather than play a Roblox copy. [28]

Phantom Blade Zero, an action game from the Chinese studio S-Game, needs 300GB free to preload, double its 145GB installed size. [29] The studio says temporary files and the full game must sit side by side while the game is unlocked. [29] It also needs a fast SSD drive. [29][30] GTA 6's standard edition will take 210GB on a PS5, GameSpot reports. [7]

Why it matters. Drives and memory are expensive now, partly because data centres are buying them up, Rock Paper Shotgun says. [30][29] Players with small drives must delete other games to make room. [7]

Coyote vs. Acme, a Looney Tunes film that mixes cartoons with live actors, has been ruled eligible for the Oscar for animated films. [31][32] The rules say at least 75% of the running time must include animation. [32] Warner Bros shelved the finished film in 2023 [32] and took a $30 million write-down, a loss on its books. [31] Ketchup Entertainment bought it for $50 million, and it has taken $101.5 million worldwide. [31]

Why it matters. Ketchup can now run an Oscar campaign for a film its maker gave up on. [32] Only one mixed film, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, has been nominated in the category before. [31]

Nielsen, which measures what people watch, says SpongeBob SquarePants was the most-watched animated series of the 2025-26 season, at 70.6 billion minutes. [33] Bluey came second with 68 billion, and Family Guy third with 65.4 billion. [33] Streaming made up 58% of the minutes for the top 15 shows. [33] On streaming, viewers over 50 gave only 9% of the minutes. [33]

Why it matters. On regular TV, viewers over 50 gave 36% of the minutes, four times their share on streaming. [33] Seth MacFarlane, maker of Family Guy, was the most-watched creator. [33]

Reacher, made by Paramount TV Studios for Amazon's Prime Video, was September's most-streamed original series, with 4.6 billion minutes, Nielsen says. [34] Its spinoff Neagley and Paramount+'s Lioness tied for third with 3.3 billion each. [34] Apple TV's Ted Lasso came second with 3.6 billion. [34] Reacher and Neagley stream on Prime Video, a rival to Paramount's own Paramount+. [34]

Why it matters. Paramount TV Studios makes hits for a rival service as well as its own. [34] Paramount's CBS series Marshals also topped its week in October. [34]

JLA Play, a new French streaming app, has bought about 30 microdramas from DramaBox, owned by StoryMatrix of Singapore. [35] Microdramas are series filmed upright for phones, with episodes a few minutes long. [36][35] Separately, Fox and Endemol Shine are turning the reality show Fear Factor into a 30-episode microdrama, each episode three minutes long. [36] It will stream on My Drama, an app Fox has a stake in. [36]

Why it matters. Deadline says Europe has been slower than Asia and the US to take up the format. [35] Fox says it is the first reality show to become a scripted drama. [36]

AniBiz, an online marketplace where companies can find and license anime characters, has raised $6 million from TBS, Toei Animation and TV Tokyo. [37] Nakama launched it in July. [37] Its president, Gao, says getting anime rights has long depended on who you know. [37] A basic listing is free, and a fuller tier costs $49 a month. [37]

Why it matters. Gao says anime licensing is so complicated that new buyers struggle to break in. [37] AniBiz says its listings cover thousands of anime series. [37]

TIFFCOM, the market attached to the Tokyo International Film Festival, runs from 28 to 30 October. [38] It drew about 4,600 visitors and 300 exhibitors in 2025. [38] Its Tokyo IP Market brings owners of remake rights, such as Toei, Shochiku and the toy maker Takara Tomy, to foreign producers. [38] The Association of Japanese Animations will release its yearly industry figures there. [38]

Why it matters. Its director, Kaori Ikeda, says anime and manga have made Japanese stories sought after. [38] The Violinist, an animated film that found an Italian partner at the festival's financing market in 2023, won Annecy's top award this year. [38]

Hasbro has named Dan Ayoub president of Wizards of the Coast, maker of Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, from 2 November. [40][39] He also runs Hasbro Digital Games. [39] Ayoub ran 343 Industries, the Halo studio, and led D&D for about a year. [39][40] He replaces John Hight, who left in July after two years. [39]

Why it matters. He takes over two video games in the making, Exodus and Warlock. [39] Hasbro booked a $56 million loss this year for games it cancelled. [39]

SPIEL Essen, the board game fair in Germany, had 230,000 visitors this year, 10,000 more than its previous record. [41] It sold out on every day of the fair. [41] Exhibitors rose from 948 to 997, and they showed 2,012 new games, up from 1,700. [41] The fair opened an extra hall to fit them. [41]

Why it matters. The show floor grew to a record 81,200 square metres. [41] It also held its first awards for trading card games. [41]

Acer, a Taiwanese computer maker, will sell its Predator Atlas 8 handheld in the US from 1 November, only at Best Buy. [42] The stronger model costs $1,299.99, the same as Microsoft's Xbox Ally X20. [42] It runs Windows 11 and can play Xbox Game Pass games. [42] Best Buy's preorders sold out last week. [42]

Why it matters. It is the first of Acer's handhelds to go on sale officially in the US. [42] Sold-out preorders show some players will pay $1,299.99 for a handheld. [42]

Steam had 2,924 Early Access games by mid-October, an 18% rise on 2025, SteamDB counts. [43] Early Access lets players buy a game while it is still being made. [43] Such games are now 13.7% of all Steam releases. [43] ArcheAge Chronicles, an online role-playing game, joins them on 3 November at $29.99, for nine to 12 months. [44]

Why it matters. Only 21% of these games earned more in the 30 days after their full release than after their early launch, GameDiscoverCo found. [43] GamesIndustry.biz says the early launch now matters as much as the full one. [43]

Mass Effect fans raised $5,274 in under 15 minutes for billboards outside EA's headquarters, its Edmonton office and the Game Awards. [45] EA has closed BioWare, the studio that made Mass Effect. [45][46] A petition to save the series has passed 250,000 signatures. [45] Composer Austin Wintory has shared music he wrote while in talks to score the cancelled game. [46] Sam Hulick, who scored the first games, plans a new score for its leaked trailer. [47]

Why it matters. The fans have asked a fund for laid-off developers whether it can take any extra money. [45] The Game Awards take place on 10 December. [45]

Atari has bought studios including Nightdive, Digital Eclipse and Hipster Whale, maker of Crossy Road, for $1 million to $40 million each. [50] Nightdive's boss, Stephen Kick, says Atari took over payroll and tax work and left the studio to remake old games. [50] He says owners who force bought studios to change usually close them later. [50] He names EA's Bullfrog, Westwood and BioWare. [50]

Why it matters. Atari has not cut staff while buying, Game Developer says, unlike many big buyers since 2020. [50] Game Developer notes that as a studio boss he may be biased. [50]

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, a 2006 action game, is getting a free Community Edition on Steam this year. [51] A team called wiltOS Technologies rebuilt it with co-op play and years of fan-made changes. [51][52] Ubisoft, the publisher, and Valve, which made the engine, back the project. [52] Ubisoft invited the team to Montreal to add features once only on consoles. [51]

Why it matters. PC Gamer calls it effectively an official upgrade, released for free. [51] The team wants other modders to keep adding to it. [51]

Ubisoft released the last major update for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, its remake of a 2013 pirate game, on 27 October. [53] It adds a mode to replay the game up to five times with harder enemies. [53] After this, only small fixes are planned. [53] Ubisoft cut 70 jobs this month at Ubisoft Singapore, which led the remake. [53]

Why it matters. The new mode keeps tools, weapons and ship upgrades from the last playthrough. [53] Ubisoft says only quality-of-life fixes will follow. [53]

Bandai Namco launches Bleach Mirrors High, a free game based on the Bleach manga and anime, on iPhone and Android on 28 October. [54][55] Tite Kubo, who created Bleach, designed its new characters. [54][55] Studio Pierrot Films, which animates the anime, made its opening film. [55] Its story is set after the Thousand-Year Blood War part of Bleach. [54][55]

Why it matters. The game is free to play, so it earns from what players buy inside it. [54] The anime's own cast voice the characters. [54]