Video games
fromKotaku
2 hours agoPeak Devs Call Out Entitled Gamers Who Want Endless Free Updates
Endless support for games is not guaranteed; updates are considered a bonus, not a right.
The Trump administration is weighing whether to force Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent to abandon its investment in U.S. gaming companies, the Financial Times reports. That would include divesting major stakes in Fortnite maker Epic Games and League of Legends maker Riot Games. The threats leaked from the White House come ahead of negotiations with Xi Jinping in China next month.
The problem here is 100% the ability to resell the items from the loot boxes. A loot box/gacha mechanic is fine when you can't turn around and resell the items because you're not getting something of value. When Valve is also providing a marketplace for those items, they've added the third element.
The FBI is investigating a hacker suspected of publishing several video games laced with malware on the popular PC games store Steam. In its announcement looking for victims who may have been infected, the FBI listed the following games suspected of being developed by the same cybercriminal over the last two years, hosted on the Steam store but embedded with malware: BlockBlasters, Chemia, Dashverse/DashFPS, Lampy, Lunara, PirateFi, and Tokenova.
Our leadership team was recently made aware of allegations against an Embark employee. We take these matters seriously, and as a part of our process for addressing any types of allegations, we immediately hired a law firm to conduct an external investigation. The investigation did not substantiate the allegations, but we found the situation unsustainable and mutually agreed to part ways with Rob.
The VanEck Video Gaming and eSports ETF ( NYSEARCA:ESPO) offers pure exposure to an industry defying traditional entertainment economics. With $405 million in assets and a 0.56% expense ratio, ESPO delivered 28% returns over the past year, outpacing the S&P 500 by nearly 11 percentage points. The fund holds 28 gaming companies, led by Tencent Holdings ( NASDAQ:TCEHY) at 8.1%, Nintendo ( NASDAQ:NTDOY) at 7.6%, and NetEase ( NASDAQ:NTES) at 7.4%. Recent trading shows the ETF consolidating around $105 after hitting $111 in November 2025.
Video games are a major part of many children's lives, offering opportunities to build problem-solving skills, foster creativity, strengthen hand-eye coordination and connect socially with peers. In many cases, gaming can promote teamwork, critical thinking and even emotional resilience. When played responsibly, it can serve as a healthy and enriching activity. However, like any social environment, whether in-person or online, gaming platforms can also expose children to difficult situations, including conflicts, exclusion and occasionally bullying behavior.
Starting on February 26 at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET and finishing on March 2 at the same time, the Marathon server slam is an opportunity for players to get their hands on the game ahead of launch. It'll also allow Bungie to test its infrastructure before the full Marathon release date lands.
Since its reveal in December, Highguard has a strange few weeks. Being the big reveal at the end of the Game Awards, which reportedly the company didn't pay for, got it a lot of eyeballs, but also a lot of scrutiny. People tend to expect some big new sequel or long-awaited project to cap off host Geoff Keighley's annual award and trailer showcase. Instead, Geoff showcased a free-to-play online shooter that, too many online, looked too similar to many other games already out there.
A few weeks before MindsEye launched last year, Mark Gerhard, co-CEO of Build A Rocket Boy, alleged that the game was the victim of a targeted campaign to trash the game and studio. The company doubled-down after launch, blaming "saboteurs" for the game's poor reception. They alleged that somebody was unhappy with the success of Leslie Benzies, founder of the studio and former producer for Grand Theft Auto at Rockstar, as well as being president of Rockstar North.