PlayStation boss Jim Ryan is stepping down. His departure is scheduled for March 2024, with Hiroki Totoki - President/COO/CFO of Sony Group Corp - taking over as Chairman immediately and interim CEO starting April 1, with the crucial task of identifying Ryan’s successor for PlayStation.

Valve’s Counter-Strike 2 is live. It replaces CS:GO on Steam, offering the “largest technical leap” in the series. Announced in March, CS2 overhauls almost every aspect of the game, with updated maps, dynamic smoke grenades, and precise “sub-tick updates.” This marks Valve’s fourth major release in the series, and CS:GO remains wildly popular, with a record 1.5 million concurrent Steam players.

SAG-AFTRA members have voted 98.32% in favour to authorise a strike in the videogame industry. Companies targeted include Insomniac, Disney, WB, Epic Games, Activision, EA and more. Key issues on the table are fair pay, AI use, and employee safety. This does not mean an immediate strike - negotiations continue.

Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland has announced that Australia will raise age ratings for games with ‘gambling-like’ features, including loot boxes, in September 2024. Simulated gambling games will be R18+, while games with in-game purchases tied to chance will be rated M (recommended for 15+). These changes will affect releases from September 2024 onwards, not retroactively.

An interview with Bandai Namco EU CEO Arnaud Muller might hint that the upcoming Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, is set “to release soon”. No release date has been provided - ‘soon’ could mean anything - and it might just be presumptuous phrasing by the author, but… let’s gooo!

Unity have attempted to apologise and walk back some of their recent ridiculous, disastrous changes. Personal plan remains free, no Runtime Fee for Unity Personal games, raised revenue limit to $200,000USD, and no more mandatory splash screen. Fee applies only to forthcoming 2024 LTS version, and you get to choose between 2.5% revshare or a calculated Runtime Fee. Broadly, devs are cautiously pleased by the changes, but in reality, the damage is done.

In an unassuming press release and a single tweet, Ubisoft announced that Tom Clancy’s The Division 3 is in the works; developed by Massive Entertainment, the original creators of The Division series. The Swedish studio, known more recently for Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, is currently assembling a team. Julian Gerighty, creative director of Star Wars Outlaws, now serves as the executive producer for The Division franchise.

In a bafflingly incompetent turn of events, emails and other internal documents were leaked as part of the ongoing Microsoft vs Federal Trade Commission (FTC) trial. One particularly interesting email reveals Phil Spencer’s desires to buy Nintendo (!) and/or Valve, among others - “getting Nintendo would be a career moment and I honestly believe a good move for both companies”, he wrote. Crazy.

In a statement today, Valve announced their plan to discontinue the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC) after the 2023 season, but reassure the community that their annual tournament The International will continue. Launched in 2017, the DPC aimed to clarify & formalise invites for The International, but Valve now claim it led to a less varied and exciting competitive Dota scene.

Bryan Intihar previews the expanded NYC and ‘next-gen’ gameplay of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which is coming out October 20. Looks stunning, visually - and damn, that loading time (or lack thereof) on fast travel is unreal.