Gaming

Links from The Ride Home Podcast

All links categorized under this topic, grouped by year and month.

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2026

January

• Meta is closing down three VR studios as part of its metaverse cuts (The Verge)

2025

December

• Riot Has a Secret Plan to Remake Its ‘League of Legends’ Game (Bloomberg)

November

• Nintendo and ‘Battlefield 6’ Pushed US Game Sales Up in October (Bloomberg)
• Roblox will require age estimation to chat starting next year (The Verge)
• Valve brings back Steam Machine and Steam Controller — hands-on with Valve’s new AMD-based living room gaming hardware (Tom’s Hardware)
• The Steam Frame is a surprising new twist on VR (The Verge)
• ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ Is Postponed Again — to November 2026 (Bloomberg)
• Cloud streaming finally arrives on the PlayStation Portal (The Verge)

October

• Market for ‘Counter-Strike’ Items Falls $3 Billion (Bloomberg)
• Xbox’s Prized Sci-Fi Franchise Is Heading to PlayStation (NYTimes)
• Steam just broke its concurrent user record with 41.6 million gamers (TweakTown)
• Nintendo Aims to Make 25 Million Switch 2s to Set Gaming History (Bloomberg)
• Battlefield 6 is a pivotal moment for the series — and EA (The Verge)

September

• EA Buyout Talk Highlights Gaming Struggles as Growth Slows (Bloomberg)
• Play Games Sidekick is Gemini Live for Android games (9to5Google)
• Roblox expands use of age-estimation tech and introduces standardized ratings (TechCrunch)

August

• Microsoft expands Xbox Cloud Gaming to Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers (The Verge)
• Sony is raising PS5 prices, starting tomorrow (The Verge)
• Microsoft and Asus’ new Xbox Ally handhelds launch on October 16th (The Verge)

July

• Sony sues Tencent for allegedly ripping off ‘Horizon’ video games (Reuters)
• The Nintendo Switch 2 Is the Fastest-Selling Gaming Hardware in U.S. History (IGN)

June

• Amazon Misses Out on Switch 2 Sales After Nintendo Pulled Products From US Site (Bloomberg)
• After a year of waiting, Microsoft’s Meta Quest 3S “Xbox Edition” is here — our hands-on review of this (very) limited edition partnership (Windows Central)
• Generation Alpha’s FarmVille Is Growing Like Crazy in Roblox (NYTimes)
• Nintendo Switch 2 review: bigger, faster, and the best handheld since Game Boy
• Nintendo Switch 2 Sets Sales Record in Boon for Games Sector (Bloomberg)
• Hands-On With the Xbox Ally X, the New Gaming Handheld from Asus and Microsoft (IGN)
• It’s official: There are no Nintendo Switch 2 reviews. Here’s what that means for us, and you (VGC)

May

• EXCLUSIVE: Xbox’s first-party handheld has been sidelined (for now), as Microsoft doubles down on ‘Kennan’ and Windows 11 PC gaming optimization (Windows Central)
• NVIDIA GeForce NOW launches a native Steam Deck app, unlocking 4K cloud gaming & extended battery life for Valve’s handheld (Windows Central)
• Apple acquires RAC7, its first-ever video game studio (Digital Trends)
• Apple to Debut Dedicated Gaming App Within Days of Switch 2’s Arrival (Bloomberg)
• Grand Theft Auto VI release delayed to May 2026 (The Verge)
• Microsoft is raising prices on Xbox consoles, controllers, and games worldwide (The Verge)

April

• Nintendo Switch 2 preorders start April 24th and the price is still $449.99 (The Verge)
• Sony raises PlayStation 5 prices in Europe citing ‘challenging’ economic environment (CNBC)
• Nintendo Gains Time to Prep Switch 2 Debut With Tariff Pause (Bloomberg)
• Nintendo’s Switch 2 preorder process has strict requirements to thwart scalpers (The Verge)
• Everything announced at Nintendo’s Switch 2 Direct (Polygon)
• Nintendo Departs From Its Founding Philosophy With Switch 2 (Bloomberg)

March

• ‘Assassin’s Creed’ Maker Ubisoft Jumps After Games Carve Out (Bloomberg)
• ‘Ne Zha 2’s $2B+ Box Office Run: How It Happened And What Does Blockbuster Behemoth Mean For China & Hollywood Ahead
• Microsoft’s new Xbox Copilot will act as an AI gaming coach (The Verge)
• Pokémon Go developer Niantic to sell gaming business to Saudi group (The Verge)
• Saudi-owned Scopely buys Pokémon Go in $3.5bn gaming deal (FT)
• Sony is experimenting with AI-powered PlayStation characters (The Verge)
• Ghost hunting, pornography and interactive art: the weird afterlife of Xbox Kinect (The Guardian)

February

• Sony drops PlayStation VR 2 price to $399 (The Verge)
• Three years later, the Steam Deck has dominated handheld PC gaming (The Verge)
• ‘Pokémon Go’ Maker Nears $3.5 Billion Deal to Sell Games Unit (Bloomberg)
• How is Fortnite’s Attempt to Become the YouTube of Gaming Going?
• The Sims Turned Players Into Gods. And Farmers. And Vampires. And Landlords. (NYTimes)

January

• To release Animal Crossing in the West, Nintendo ‘had to change everything’
• Here’s the Nintendo Switch 2 (The Verge)
• Call of Duty’s massive development budgets revealed: $700 million for Black Ops Cold War (Game File)
• Razer Project Ava: would you pay an AI to help you get good at games? (The Verge)

2024

December

• ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ set to break records despite gaming slowdown (FT)
• Video Games Can’t Afford to Look This Good (NYTimes)
• PS5 Pro deep dive reaction: GPU and RT improvements, PSSR and Sony’s new AMD Amethyst partnership (EuroGamer)
• Apple, Sony Discuss Teaming Up on Gaming Controllers for Vision Pro (Blooomberg)
• Ubisoft shutting down XDefiant in 2025, laying off half of its team (Polygon)

November

• Sony Working on Handheld Console for PS5 Games to Rival Switch (Bloomberg)
• Sony’s new PlayStation Portal update lets you stream PS5 games from the cloud (The Verge)
• Exclusive: Sony is in talks to buy media powerhouse behind ‘Elden Ring’ (Reuters)
• Words With Friends takes on Wordle with new single-player daily puzzles (The Verge)
• Apple Finally Finds Its Gaming Console With the New Mac Mini (Bloomberg)
• After Era of Bloat, Veteran Video-Game Developers Are Going Smaller (Bloomberg)

October

• Nintendo made a music streaming app for Switch Online subscribers (The Verge)
• PlayStation Shutters Studio Behind ‘Concord’ Video-Game Flop (Bloomberg)
• Roblox to Enact Child-Safety Changes Giving Parents More Control (Bloomberg)
• Scoop: Netflix shuts down ‘AAA’ Team Blue gaming studio, amid gaming shake-up (Game File)
• Netflix has closed its AAA gaming studio (Engadget)
• Epic’s ambitious digital asset shop is now open (The Verge)
• Analogue’s 4K Nintendo 64 launches next year for $249 (The Verge)
• Meta Quest 3S review: Impressive VR for $300 (Engadget)
• Xbox will sell games directly in the Android app next month (The Verge)
• Saving Cyberpunk 2077: How CD Projekt Red recovered from one of video games’ most disastrous launches

September

• Nintendo and Pokémon are suing Palworld maker Pocketpair (The Verge)
• Microsoft Lays Off Another 650 Staff From Its Video Game Workforce, Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Sends Memo to Staff (IGN)
• The $700 PS5 Pro doesn’t come with a disc drive (The Verge)
• Exclusive Hands-On: I Played Sony’s All-New PS5 Pro (CNET)

August

• Steam surpasses 37 million concurrent users for the first time ever thanks to Black Myth: Wukong (PC Gamer)
• Samsung’s new Odyssey monitor lets you play games in glasses-free 3D (The Verge)
• Exclusive: Meta is closing a beloved first-party Quest studio (AndroidConnect)

July

• Video game performers will go on strike over artificial intelligence concerns (AP)
• Microsoft is hiking the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and launching a new ‘Standard’ tier (The Verge)

June

• Why are mobile game ads so weird and bad?
• From Infocom to 80 Days: An oral history of text games and interactive fiction (Ars Technica)
• You’ll soon be able to join Discord calls directly from your PS5 (The Verge)
• Nintendo Switch Update 18.1.0 Pulls X/Twitter Support, Bringing It In-Line With PlayStation and Xbox (IGN)
• Behind ‘Suicide Squad,’ the Year’s Biggest Video-Game Flop (Bloomberg)
• Ikea Is Hiring Roblox Players To Run Its Virtual Store (The Gamer)
• Quest v66 Update “Significantly” Reduces Quest 3 Passthrough Distortion & Warping (UploadVR)
• Palmer Luckey is now selling pixel-perfect ultrabright magnesium Game Boys for $199 (The Verge)

May

• YouTube’s free games catalog ‘Playables’ rolls out to all users (TechCrunch)
• Grand Theft Auto VI is launching in fall 2025 (The Verge)
• Tom Warren’s PS5 sales Tweet (Twitter)
• Microsoft Plans Mobile-Game Store, Vying With Apple, Google (Bloomberg)
• Microsoft’s Xbox Is Planning More Cuts After Studio Closings (Bloomberg)
• Microsoft Closes Redfall Developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush Developer Tango Gameworks, and More in Devastating Cuts at Bethesda (IGN)
• Nintendo Teases Long-Awaited Switch Successor as Profit Slides (Bloomberg)

April

• How Neopets’ nostalgic revival tripled users in six months (The Guardian)
• Survey shows that teenagers are using more VR devices in the US (9to5Mac)

March

• Take-Two Buys Gearbox From Embracer, Confirms Development on New Borderlands Game (IGN)
• The Epic Games Store is coming to Android (9to5Google)
• Stardew Valley’s 1.6 update smashes its Steam player record (The Verge)
• Playtron: the startup hoping to Steam Deck-ify the world (The Verge)

February

• Sony is laying off 900 PlayStation employees (The Verge)
• Microsoft prepares to take Xbox everywhere (The Verge)
• Disney’s Epic Deal Values Fortnite Maker at $22.5 Billion, a Sharp Cut (The Information)
• Activision Had Planned Layoffs Before Merger, Microsoft Says (Bloomberg)
• Disney to take $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games, work with Fortnite maker on new content (CNBC)
• Microsoft to share details on bringing Xbox games to PlayStation next week (The Verge)
• Roblox rolls out real-time AI translation for all users — is this the start of true global multiplayer? (Tom’s Guide)

January

• Games are helping the New York Times thrive amid media chaos (Axios)
• Inquiries Regarding Other Companies’ Games (The Pokemon Company)
• Microsoft lays off 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox employees (The Verge)
• The Rise of Palworld: How ‘Pokémon With Guns’ Became an Overnight Hit (Wired)
• Palworld is a hit, and it’s easy to see why (The Verge)
• SAG-AFTRA Signs Deal With Voiceover Studio for AI Use in Video Games (Variety)
• Netflix Considers Ways to Make Money From Videogames in Possible Pivot (WSJ)
• Boy, 13, Is Believed to Be the First to ‘Beat’ Tetris (NYTimes)
• Full game of Tetris beaten for the first time by 13-year-old Willis Gibson AKA ‘Blue Scuti’ (YouTube)

2023

December

• GTA 5 source code reportedly leaked online a year after RockStar hack (BleepingComputer)
• Puzzle game ‘Royal Match’ dethrones ‘Candy Crush’ from top of app store (FT)
• PlayStation sales and blockbuster games propel console market back to growth (FT)
• Game preservationists dig for lost apps in TestFlight ‘teraleak’ (The Verge)
• Xbox Cloud Gaming is now available on Meta’s Quest VR headsets (The Verge)
• E3, once gaming’s biggest expo, is officially dead (Washington Post)
• PlayStation keeps reminding us why digital ownership sucks (The Verge)
• ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ Coming in 2025, Rockstar Says After Trailer Leak (Bloomberg)
• Xbox Talking to Partners for Mobile Store, CEO Spencer Says (Bloomberg)

November

• TikTok parent ByteDance to cut 1,000 gaming jobs in strategic shift (NikkeiAsia)
• 2023’s Apparent Biggest Mobile Game Launch Is Not What You Expect (GameSpot)
• Amazon Lays Off 180 Employees In Its Games Division (Aftermath)
• Sony PlayStation Portal Review (PCMag)
• The Overwatch League is officially dead: Activision Blizzard is ‘transitioning’ away from its groundbreaking esports league as teams reportedly vote to withdraw (PC Gamer)
• Fortnite just had its biggest day ever, 6 years in (Polygon)

October

• FaZe Clan acquired by GameSquare (Digiday)
• Xbox chief says Activision Blizzard games aren’t coming to Xbox Game Pass until 2024 (The Verge)
• ‘Wait, Netflix Has Games?’ Streaming Giant Plans New Videogames Based on Its Hit Shows (WSJ)
• Minecraft has sold over 300 million copies (The Verge)
• Can EA’s FIFA-Free Soccer Game Win Fans? (Bloomberg)
• PlayStation 5 cloud streaming launches this month (VGC)
• Sony’s new PS5 with a removable disc drive launches in November (The Verge)

September

• Microsoft’s Activision Deal Set to Clear Final UK Hurdle (Bloomberg)
• Microsoft’s Xbox plans revealed in emails tied to FTC case (NBCNews)
• Microsoft’s next Xbox, coming 2028, envisions hybrid computing (The Verge)
• Video-Game Company Unity Closes Offices Following Death Threat (Bloomberg)
• Unity Acknowledges ‘Confusion and Frustration’ Among Developers But Won’t Walk Back Install Fee Plan (IGN)
• Unity has introduced new fees that could have dire effects on the entire game industry, from indies to Xbox Game Pass (UPDATE) (Windows Central)
• Sony has launched a major PlayStation 5 system update (VGC)

August

• Call of Duty enlists AI to eavesdrop on voice chat and help ban toxic players starting today (PCGamer)
• Epic offers devs 100 percent of net revenue for six months of EGS exclusivity (Engadget)
• Sony’s portable PlayStation Portal launches later this year for $199.99 (The Verge)
• PlayStation Portal: Hands On With Sony’s New Remote Play Handheld (IGN)
• Microsoft to sell off Activision cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft in bid for UK approval (The Verge)
• Exclusive Images: This is the Lenovo Legion Go Gaming Handheld (WindowsReport)
• Netflix launches a game controller app for playing games on your TV (TechCrunch)
• One of Gaming’s Biggest YouTubers Wants to Replace Himself With AI (Wired)
• Sources: Nintendo targets 2024 with next-gen console (VCG)

July

• Sony has sold 40 million PS5s (The Verge)
• Microsoft and Activision Blizzard extend merger agreement to October (The Verge)
• Microsoft-Activision Deal Poised to Close Later Than Planned (Bloomberg)
• Sony agrees to 10-year Call of Duty deal with Microsoft (The Verge)
• Roblox is coming to Meta’s Quest VR headsets (The Verge)
• Microsoft-Activision deal moves closer as judge denies FTC injunction request (CNBC)
• THE GAME AVAILABILITY STUDY, EXPLAINED (Video Game History Foundation)

June

• Microsoft exec was ready to ‘go spend Sony out of business’ to strengthen Xbox (The Verge)
• Microsoft is hiking the price of Xbox Series X and Xbox Game Pass (The Verge)
• macOS Sonoma lets developers port Windows games to the Mac; here’s how it works (9to5Mac)
• Inside the Making of Redfall, Xbox’s Latest Misfire (Bloomberg)

May

• Video of the NPC character demo (Twitter)
• Sony’s new Q handheld is official: 8-inch screen, streams PS5 games (The Verge)
• PSVR2’s early sales beat the original, Sony claims (VideoGamesChronicle)
• The E-Sports World Is Starting to Teeter (NYTimes)
• Nintendo Warns of Big Slowdown in Switch Console Sales (Bloomberg)

April

• Microsoft’s $69 Billion Deal Tripped Up by Niche Gaming Market (Bloomberg)
• Microsoft Q3 2023: Windows, devices, and Xbox down again (The Verge)
• Sega to acquire Angry Birds maker Rovio for $776 million (CNBC)
• Streaming Killed E3 (Wired)
• EXCLUSIVE – SONY’S NEXT PLAYSTATION HANDHELD (Insider Gaming)

March

• E3 Has Been Canceled (IGN)
• Epic’s new motion-capture animation tech has to be seen to be believed (Ars Technica)
• Ubisoft’s new AI tool automatically generates dialogue for non-playable game characters (TechCrunch)
• ‘It changed the world’: 50 years on, the story of Pong’s Bay Area origins
• Microsoft details how it could get Call of Duty: Warzone running on Switch (The Verge)
• I don’t think Meta knows it’s a game company (The Verge)

February

• Microsoft inks binding contract with Nintendo for ‘Call of Duty’ as it defends Activision deal (GeekWire)
• Almost-unbeatable AI comes to Gran Turismo 7 (Ars Technica)
• PlayStation VR2 is exciting, exhausting and a new standard for VR (Washington Post)
• Nintendo’s Zelda Price Hike Opens Door for More Expensive Games (Bloomberg)
• Google Stadia had less than 10% market share among cloud gaming services (9to5Google)
• Discord arrives on PS5 for beta testers today (The Verge)

January

• Exclusive: Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony Won’t Be Part of E3 2023 (IGN)
• The Steam Deck wasn’t born ready, but it’s ready now (The Verge)
• Dungeons & Dragons content creators are fighting to protect their livelihoods (TechCrunch)
• Steam hits 10 million concurrent in-game players in record-breaking weekend (The Verge)
• Nvidia upgrades GeForce Now with RTX 4080 performance for premium users (TechCrunch)

2022

December

• Mobile games market to decline for first time in over a decade (FT)
• Tesla’s latest update adds Steam games and Apple Music (The Verge)
• The Hype Around Esports Is Fading as Investors and Sponsors Dry Up (Bloomberg)
• Microsoft says it will bring Call of Duty to Nintendo (Washington Post)

• [Microsoft Raising Prices on New, First-Party Games Built for Xbox Series X

  S to $70 in 2023](https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-raising-prices-new-first-party-games-xbox-series-70-2023-redfall-starfield) (IGN)

November

• Built-in Discord voice chat is now rolling out to all Xbox users (Engadget)
• PlayStation VR2 launches on February 22nd for $549.99 (The Verge)
• PlayStation Plus has lost nearly 2 million subscribers since its revamp (VGC)

October

• Smartphone Storage Space Is the New Turf War for Game Makers (Bloomberg)
• How Gamers Beat NFTs (Bloomberg)
• I Tried the $1,500 Quest Pro and Saw the Best of the Metaverse (NYTimes)
• Meta Avatar Legs Demo ‘Created By Motion Capture’, Not Live VR (UploadVR)
• Facebook’s Legs Video Was A Lie (Kotaku)
• The Meta Quest Pro costs $1,499 and ships October 25th (The Verge)
• What happened to the virtual reality gaming revolution? (Ars Technica)
• It’s painful how hellbent Mark Zuckerberg is on convincing us that VR is a thing (TechCrunch)
• Zuckerberg’s $1,499 Headsets Won’t Help Meta (Bloomberg)
• Google is trying to make Chromebooks built for cloud gaming (Engadget)
• Meta’s flagship metaverse app is too buggy and employees are barely using it, says exec in charge (The Verge)
• DDoS attack on ‘Overwatch 2’ servers prevents fans from playing the game on launch day (Engadget)

September

• Google is shutting down Stadia (The Verge)
• 2K Games says hacked help desk targeted players with malware (BleepingComputer)
• Rockstar comments on GTA 6 leak and claims project won’t be delayed (VideoGameChronicle)
• GTA 6 gameplay leaks online in 90 videos (The Verge)
• The Collectors Who Save Video-Game History from Oblivion (The New Yorker)
• EA will debut new anti-cheat tech with ‘FIFA 23’ on PC (Engadget)
• We finally got our hands and eyes on the PlayStation VR2 (The Verge)
• Splatoon 3 has smashed Switch launch records in Japan (VideoGamesChronicle)

August

• Sony says the PlayStation VR2 is coming in early 2023 (The Verge)
• Unity rejects AppLovin’s takeover bid, to go ahead with ironSource buyout (Reuters)
• Court Documents Confirm Xbox One Sold Less Than Half PS4 Numbers (GameLuster)
• Activision Blizzard Sales Fall on Weak Call of Duty Release (Bloomberg)
• The Morning After: Did Microsoft just neg Activision Blizzard? (Engadget)

July

• RollerCoaster Tycoon taught me to be a ruthless capitalist
• Minecraft team says NFTs and blockchain are, well, blocked (Polygon)
• Unity is merging with Ironsource in an all-stock deal valuing Ironsource at $4.4B in a big consolidation play for gaming (TechCrunch)

June

• HOW ONE OF GAMING’S MOST INTIMIDATING GENRES SPAWNED A LEGION OF HITS (The Verge)
• Sony targets PC gamers with new hardware brand, Inzone (Washington Post)
• How Townscaper Works: A Story Four Games in the Making
• Microsoft’s new Xbox TV app streams games without a console later this month (The Verge)
• The Xbox game streaming TV app feels almost like the real thing (The Verge)
• Xbox Project Moorcroft will bring early game demos to Xbox Game Pass (The Verge)

May

• Kuo: PlayStation VR2 Mass Production To Start H2 2022 (UploadVR)
• Exclusive: Microsoft continues to iterate on an Xbox cloud streaming device codenamed ‘Keystone’ (Windows Central)
• Report: EA Looking To Sell Or Merge (Kotaku)
• EXCLUSIVE TikTok plans big push into gaming, conducting tests in Vietnam -sources (Reuters)
• Epic’s Fortnite Now Free to Play on Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming for Mobile, Desktop, Console (CNET)

April

• PlayStation Wants Ads In Its Games, Too (IGN)
• Microsoft reportedly wants to bring ads to free-to-play Xbox games (The Verge)
• In latest gaming crackdown, China bans livestreaming of unauthorised titles (Reuters)
• Meta: 124 Quest Apps Have Earned More Than $1M, 8 Have Earned More Than $20M (RoadToVR)
• China Ends Game Freeze by Approving First Titles Since July (Bloomberg)
• The Metaverse Has Bosses Too. Meet the ‘Managers’ of Axie Infinity (Vice)
• Lego and Epic Games partnership aims for a kid-friendly metaverse (Washington Post)
• Inside Epic’s Unreal Engine 5—and What It Means for the Future of Gaming, Movies, and the Metaverse (Time)
• How Epic Games is changing gaming—and maybe the metaverse (Fast Company)
• Elden Ring players called Will Smith keep invading and slapping people (TechRadar)
• Axie Infinity Was Losing Gamers Even Before Record Crypto Hack (Bloomberg)
• E3 2022 - Digital and Physical - Has Officially Been Canceled (IGN)

March

• Sony merges PS Now and PS Plus to create three-tier subscription service (GamesIndustry.biz)
• Sony announces new PlayStation Plus subscriptions, its answer to Xbox Game Pass (The Verge)
• Beating Japan at Its Own (Video) Game: A Smash Hit From China (NYTimes)
• Google casually announces Steam for Chrome OS is coming in alpha for select Chromebooks (9to5Google)
• Google Stadia is subtly reinventing itself to attract new games and gamers (The Verge)
• Get Ready for Faster Game Load Times With DirectStorage for Windows (PC Mag)
• Epic Games Acquires Bandcamp as ‘Fortnite’ Maker Expands Into Music (Variety)
• Netflix to buy mobile game developer Next Games to strengthen its games business (Money Control)
• Amazon Luna launches for anyone in the US, adds free games for Prime members and Twitch integration (The Verge)

February

• Web3 Developers Have Found a Functioning Metaverse. It’s ‘Minecraft’. (Vice)
• Gaming Company Backbone Reveals Series A Funding Backed by Ashton Kutcher, The Weeknd, Kevin Hart, Post Malone and More (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Sony finally reveals the PlayStation VR2’s design (The Verge)
• Free your mind: Meditation could be VR’s next killer app
• The New York Times has changed Wordle’s solutions (The Verge)
• Sony buying Bungie for $3.6 billion (GamesIndustry.biz)
• SONY’S BUNGIE ACQUISITION IS ALL ABOUT FORTNITE (The Verge)
• Wordle has been bought by The New York Times, will ‘initially’ remain free for everyone to play (The Verge)

January

• Valve will start selling the Steam Deck on February 25th (The Verge)
• Activision’s Next Three Call of Duty Games Will Be on PlayStation and Xbox (Bloomberg)
• Google Play Games for PC starts limited beta for Android games on Windows, sharing system requirements (Android Police)
• Activision Blizzard’s Workplace Problems Spurred $75 Billion Microsoft Deal (WSJ)
• Microsoft is buying one of the biggest names in games — if Washington lets it (Recode)
• Microsoft to buy Activision in $68.7 billion all-cash deal (CNBC)
• Activision Blizzard Games Will Come To Xbox Game Pass As Part Of Acquisition (PureXbox)
• Xbox players are fed up with forced crossplay against PC gamers (The Verge)
• Academics want to preserve video games. The game industry is fighting them in court. (Washington Post)
• Take-Two to acquire mobile gaming giant Zynga for $12.7B (TechCrunch)
• E3 shifts to online-only event because of Omicron concerns (GamesBeat)
• Sony confirms PlayStation VR2’s specs, first official game (Ars Technica)
• Samsung’s new 2022 TVs bring Nvidia GeForce Now and Google Stadia gaming (The Verge)

2021

December

• Rec Room raises $145M at a $3.5B valuation for its user-generated, immersive gaming platform (TechCrunch)
• Why Xbox’s Phil Spencer thinks Minecraft is a blueprint for the metaverse (Protocol)
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will no longer have NFTs after fan outcry (The Verge)
• THE METAVERSE IS ALREADY HERE — AND IT’S FULL OF POKEMON, SAYS NIANTIC CEO JOHN HANKE (The Verge)
• Google is bringing Android games to Windows in 2022 (The Verge)
• MICROSOFT QUIETLY TOLD APPLE IT WAS WILLING TO TURN BIG XBOX-EXCLUSIVE GAMES INTO IPHONE APPS (The Verge)
• Meta opens up access to its VR social platform Horizon Worlds (The Verge)
• Pokémon and the First Wave of Digital Nostalgia (The New Yorker)
• Ubisoft Becomes First Major Gaming Company to Launch In-Game NFTs (Decrypt)
• ‘Oregon Trail’ at 50: How Three Teachers Created the Computer Game That Inspired — and Diverted — Generations of Students (the74million.org)

November

• Niantic raises $300M at at $9B valuation to build the ‘real-world metaverse’ (TechCrunch)
• Xbox Chief Says He’s Evaluating Relationship With Activision (Bloomberg)
• GAMECUBE AT 20: NINTENDO INSIDERS ON THE FAILED CONSOLE THAT CHANGED THE INDUSTRY (Video Games Chronicle)
• How Xbox outgrew the console: inside Phil Spencer’s multi-billion dollar gamble (GQ)
• Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Knew for Years About Sexual-Misconduct Allegations at Videogame Giant (WSJ)
• Unity is buying Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital for over $1.6B (TechCrunch)
• Netflix games are coming to all members on Android, starting this week (TechCrunch)
• Roblox Servers Are Turning Back On (Slowly) After 60+ Hour Outage (Kotaku)

October

• Nvidia Supercharges GeForce Now Cloud Gaming Service With RTX 3080 GPUs (Gizmodo)
• Tweet I mentioned comparing the M1Max to the PS5 (@ZONEofTech)
• How Axie Infinity is turning gaming on its head (Platformer)
• Call of Duty’s new anti-cheat system includes a kernel-level driver to catch PC cheaters (The Verge)
• Twitch Streamer Earnings Increase for Top Gamers, Data From Hack Shows (WSJ)
• Apple Doesn’t Make Videogames. But It’s the Hottest Player in Gaming. (WSJ)
• How EA got into mobile — and figured out the future of gaming (Protocol)

September

• Netflix acquires its first game studio in deal with Oxenfree creator Night School Studio (VentureBeat)
• The App Store is the Games Store. Apple should recognize this. (Mobile Dev Memo)
• Facebook enters the fantasy gaming market (TechCrunch)

August

• Netflix and Video Games (MatthewBall.vc)
• Turns Out The Hardest Part of Making a Game Is…Everything (IGN)
• Microsoft to launch cloud gaming service on Xbox consoles (CNBC)
• Nintendo profits decline year-on-year as Switch hits 89 million sold (The Verge)
• Blizzard’s head of HR is out (The Verge)
• Tencent Sinks After China Denounces Online Gaming (WSJ)

July

• Xbox hardware sales spike 172% as Microsoft reports $3.7B in quarterly gaming revenue (GeekWire)
• Activision CEO Apologizes After Employees Threaten to Walk Out (Bloomberg)
• Netflix’s gaming expansion starts with mobile (The Verge)
• Valve’s gaming handheld is called the Steam Deck and it’s shipping in December (The Verge)
• THE GAME MAKERS AND ARTISTS PUSHING ROBLOX TO ITS LIMITS (The Verge)
• Android 12 adds ‘Game dashboard’ and ‘Play as You Download’ in Google Play Store (9to5Google)
• Amazon shifts Lumberyard to open source 3D game engine supported by 20 companies (Venture Beat)
• Nintendo Switch OLED model will go on sale October 8th for $350 (The Verge)
• ROBBING THE XBOX VAULT: INSIDE A $10 MILLION GIFT CARD CHEAT (Bloomberg)

June

• What Is Blue Box? A Vast Conspiracy Grips the Video Game World (Bloomberg)
• Resolution Games Pulls Blaston Out Of Facebook Ad Test (Upload)
• Epic Games releases free anti-cheat and voice chat services for developers (The Verge)
• Xbox’s June update adds speech-to-text chat feature (Engadget)
• Amazon’s game streaming service Luna is opening access to all Prime members June 21 and 22 (The Verge)
• Microsoft is building its own streaming devices as part of a major Xbox Game Pass expansion (Protocol)
• Inside The ‘World’s Largest’ Video Game Cheating Empire (Motherboard)
• Alienware’s New X-Series Laptops Are Its Thinnest Gaming Notebooks Yet (Gizmodo)

May

• Nintendo Plans Upgraded Switch Replacement as Soon as September (Bloomberg)
• Exclusive: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC (Ars Technica)
• Netflix Seeks Executive to Expand Game Efforts (The Information)
• The PlayStation 5 Is Starting to Look Like the Revolution It Promised (Wired)
• Next-Gen PlayStation VR Is 4K With Foveated Rendering And Vibration Feature (Upload)
• Sony warns tight Playstation 5 supply to extend into next year (Bloomberg)
• EXCLUSIVE China’s Tencent in talks with U.S. to keep gaming investments -sources (Reuters)
• Microsoft explored reducing its Xbox store cut to shake up console gaming (The Verge)

April

• As Nintendo’s entertainment kingdom expands, it’s still about the games (Fast Company)
• Microsoft’s xCloud beta arrives on iOS and PC this week (The Verge)
• Oculus Quest 2 owners can start testing wireless PC VR gaming with Air Link (Engadget)
• Facebook Announces Oculus Gaming Showcase For April 21 (Upload)
• Alienware’s M15 R5 is its first AMD-based gaming laptop in over a decade (The Verge)
• E3 2021 Will Take Place as a Free Virtual Conference, In-Person L.A. Event Targeted for Next Year (Variety)
• Exclusive: Tencent’s Timi gaming studio generated $10 billion in 2020, sources say (Reuters)

March

• Manticore Games raises $100M for user-generated games in the ‘multiverse’ (GamesBeat)
• Genshin Impact Races Past $1 Billion on Mobile in Less Than Six Months (SensorTower)
• Exclusive: Qualcomm is planning an Android-powered Nintendo Switch knockoff (Android Police)
• Microsoft rebrands Xbox Live to Xbox network (The Verge)
• Pikmin is the next AR game from the makers of Pokémon Go (The Verge)
• PS5’s VR 2.0: First Look At New Controllers (GameSpot)
• Roblox jumps to $38 billion market cap as public investors get their first crack at the popular kids game app (CNBC)

February

• HP is buying gaming accessory brand HyperX for $425 million (The Verge)
• PlayStation CEO says PS5 will get its own VR headset, explains console supply chain shortfall (Washington Post)
• Here’s a first look at Microsoft’s xCloud for the web (The Verge)
• HOW SONY DESIGNED THE PS5’S ULTIMATE EASTER EGG (The Verge)
• They’re Flocking to America to Make a Fortune Playing Video Games (NYTimes)
• 60+ Oculus Quest Apps Made More Than $1 Million (UploadVR)
• Google Stadia Shuts Down Internal Studios, Changing Business Focus (Kotaku)

January

• Razer Unveils RGB Face Mask and Immersive Gaming Chair Concepts (IGN)
• Plex is launching a game subscription service filled with Atari games (The Verge)
• HyperX made its first 60-percent mechanical gaming keyboard (The Verge)
• Xbox: The Oral History of an American Video Game Empire (Bloomberg)
• FarmVille Once Took Over Facebook. Now Everything Is FarmVille. (NYTimes)
• SuperData: Games grew 12% to $139.9 billion in 2020 amid pandemic (VentureBeat)
• Players in Eve Online broke a world record — and then the game itself (Polygon)
• This LG display transforms from flat to curved for immersive gaming (The Verge)

2020

December

• What if life were a video game? These 650,000 people imagine it that way. (The Washington Post)
• Star Wars toys keep changing, and leaving kids behind (Polygon)
• Shigeru Miyamoto Wants to Create a Kinder World (The New Yorker)
• Sony is pulling Cyberpunk 2077 from the PlayStation Store and offering full refunds (The Verge)
• Can’t get a PlayStation 5? Meet the Grinch bots snapping up the holidays’ hottest gift. (Washington Post)
• Stadia comes to the iPhone and iPad with new iOS beta (The Verge)
• I’m so excited about this board games console I just peed a little (TNW)
• Microsoft confirms Xbox cloud gaming is coming to iOS in spring 2021 (9to5Mac)
• Google Stadia will let all users livestream games directly to YouTube tomorrow (The Verge)

November

• Stadia will be playable on iOS via Safari in the coming ‘weeks’ (9to5Google)
• Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service launches on iOS as a web app (The Verge)
• ‘Fortnite’ now offers Houseparty video calls on PC, PS4 and PS5 (Engadget)
• PLAYSTATION 5 REVIEW: A BIG, CONFIDENT STEP INTO NEXT GEN (The Verge)
• Fortnite set to return to iPhones via Nvidia cloud gaming service (BBCNews)
• XBOX SERIES X REVIEW: A NEXT-GEN PC (The Verge)
• Tencent claims record 100M daily users on mobile game Honor of Kings (TechCrunch)

October

• Genshin Impact made $245m in its first month on mobile alone (GamesIndustry.biz)
• Facebook launches cloud games but says Apple won’t allow it on iOS (CNBC)
• Cloud gaming’s history of false starts and promising reboots (Polygon)
• XBOX SERIES X PREVIEW: THE NEXT GEN FEELS LIKE A PC (The Verge)
• Microsoft told employees it plans to release a browser-based app for the Xbox Game Pass streaming service next year that will get around Apple App Store rules: ‘We absolutely will end up on iOS’ (BusinessInsider)
• The new Chromecast with Google TV won’t officially support Stadia at launch (The Verge)

September

• The original FarmVille on Facebook is shutting down at the end of the year (The Verge)
• A closer look at Luna, Amazon’s cloud gaming service (Engadget)
• THE GAMING INDUSTRY KEEPS FAILING MISERABLY AT SELLING ITS MOST IMPORTANT PRODUCTS (The Verge)
• You can now stream your Xbox One games to your Android phone for free (The Verge)
• Microsoft to Buy Bethesda for $7.5 Billion to Boost Xbox (Bloomberg)
• Microsoft to acquire Elder Scrolls, Fallout, other hit games in $7.5B deal for Bethesda Softworks parent (GeekWire)
• With $100M in funding, Playco is already a mobile gaming unicorn (TechCrunch)
• ‘Interactive entertainment is the standard bearer of the entertainment business’ (Protocol)
• PlayStation 5 preorders: Sony reveals release date and price (VentureBeat)
• The PS5 will launch on November 12th for $499.99 (The Verge)
• Sony confirms PS5’s first-party launch lineup and free game upgrade plans for PS4 titles (The Verge)
• Oculus Quest 2 delivers standalone VR with sharper 90Hz screens for $299 (Engadget)
• OCULUS QUEST 2 REVIEW: BETTER, CHEAPER VR (The Verge)
• Epic says that Sign in with Apple for Fortnite will still work after all (iMore)
• Esports Pros Have ‘Dream’ Jobs—but Game Publishers Have All the Power (Wired)
• Xbox Series X launches on November 10th for $499 (The Verge)
• Microsoft is adding EA Play to Xbox Game Pass (Engadget)
• Nintendo Boosts Switch Production by Another 20% (Bloomberg)
• Fortnite is launching a concert series it hopes will become a ‘tour stop’ for artists (The Verge)
• Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S release date and price finally revealed (WindowsCentral)
• Leaked Xbox Series S commercial reveals 1440p, ray tracing, and 512GB SSD (The Verge)
• The Digital Future of Tabletop Games (A16Z)
• How I hacked my Lego NES into a real console (Input)
• The first battery-free Game Boy wants to power a gaming revolution (CNET)
• Nvidia’s new RTX 3090 is a $1,499 monster GPU designed for 8K gaming (The Verge)
• How the British studio behind ‘Fall Guys’ went from near-disaster to launching one of the biggest gaming hits of all time (Business Insider)

August

• Stolen Fortnite Accounts Sold as Part of $1 Billion Black Market (Bloomberg)
• Nintendo Plans Upgraded Switch Console and Major Games for 202 (Bloomberg)
• Nintendo reportedly releasing upgraded Switch next year (The Verge)
• Epic judge will protect Unreal Engine — but not Fortnite (The Verge)
• Epic to host a #FreeFortnite tournament with anti-Apple prizes (The Verge)
• Sex, lies, and video games: Inside Roblox’s war on porn (Fast Company)
• Microsoft Flight Simulator review: clear skies with some light chop (Polygon)
• Why Microsoft’s new Flight Simulator should make Google and Amazon nervous (Protocol)
• Fortnite for Android has also been kicked off the Google Play Store (The Verge)
• Epic rallies Fortnite players against Apple with a warning that they’ll miss the next season (The Verge)
• Epic’s 1984 Parody Video (YouTube)
• Epic offers new direct payment in Fortnite on iOS and Android to get around app store fees (The Verge)
• Microsoft to launch Xbox Series X in November (The Verge)
• The Vigilante Hunting Down Cheaters in Video Games (Motherboard)
• Animal Crossing outsells Breath of the Wild in mere months (Polygon)
• Microsoft’s xCloud game streaming will launch on September 15th on Android (The Verge)
• Take-Two Interactive coasts to $831.3 million in Q1 2021 revenue as fans flock to online games (Venture Beat)
• Take-Two: Next-gen software price hikes “reflect the quality of the experience” (GamesIndustry.biz)

July

• Roblox jumps to over 150M monthly users, will pay out $250M to developers in 2020 (TechCrunch)
• Sony Boosting Output of PlayStation 5 to Meet Surge in Demand (Bloomberg)
• Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 865 Plus is its most powerful mobile chip, designed for gaming (The Verge)
• Microsoft announces Xbox Series X games event for July 23rd (The Verge)
• Apple Cancels Some Arcade Games in Strategy Shift To Keep Subscribers (Bloomberg)

June

• An Infrastructure Arms Race Is Fueling the Future of Gaming (Wired)
• Top composers used to head to Hollywood. Now they’re into games (Wired)
• Nintendo Chills Mobile Ambitions After Animal Crossing Success (Bloomberg)
• The Grandmaster Who Got Twitch Hooked on Chess (Wired)
• This is the PlayStation 5 (The Verge)
• With Real-Life Games Halted, Betting World Puts Action on E-Sports (NYTimes)
• Advertisers eye in-game ads as audiences swell in lockdown (Digiday)
• Indie history: How shareware helped build Epic Games (Engadget)
• Zynga to Buy Peak for $1.8 Billion in Its Largest Deal Ever (Bloomberg)
• Sony confirms PS5 will have exclusive games playable only on next-gen hardware (The Verge)

May

• THE WORLD’S BIGGEST PC GAMES ARE FIGHTING A NEW SURGE OF CHEATERS AND HACKERS (The Verge)
• This Should Be V.R.’s Moment. Why Is It Still So Niche? (NYTimes)

April

• Worldwide Digital Video Game Spending Hits All-Time High of $10B in March (The Hollywood Reporter)
• Facebook to Introduce an App for Gaming (NYTimes)
• In Half-Life’s improv scene, anyone can speak for Gordon Freeman (Ars Technica)
• Sony Plans Limited PlayStation 5 Output in First Year (Bloomberg)
• ESRB introduces a new label to indicate that a game has loot boxes (The Verge)
• ‘It’s still niche’: Esports see audience surge, more tepid ad demand (Digiday)
• Google Stadia now free to anyone with a Gmail address (Polygon)
• The Xbox Series X master plan (Polygon)
• From courts to consoles: With live sports canceled, pro athletes join the streaming surge (The Washington Post)

March

• Google opens Stadia Makers program for indie game developers (9to5Google)
• Google unveils Android Performance Tuner, Android GPU Inspector, and Cloud Firestore for game developers (VentureBeat)
• Facebook: 90% Of Quest Users For Christmas Were ‘Brand New’ To Oculus (UploadVR)
• Microsoft’s DirectX 12 Ultimate unifies graphics tech for PC gaming and Xbox Series X (The Verge)
• PlayStation 5 hardware specifications revealed (Polygon)
• Inside Xbox Series X: the full specs (Eurogamer)
• Housebound Italian Kids Strain Network With Fortnite Marathon (Bloomberg)
• E3 2020 Canceled After ‘Overwhelming Concerns’ About Coronavirus (Variety)
• Hideo Kojima’s Strange, Unforgettable Video-Game Worlds (NYTimes Magazine)
• Google starts rolling out 4K Stadia gaming on the web (9to5Google)
• Google’s ambitious push into gaming is floundering, and it’s due largely to too few games on its Stadia platform — here’s why developers have held back (Business Insider)

February

• Roblox raises $150M Series G, led by Andreessen Horowitz, now valued at $4B (TechCrunch)
• Microsoft reveals more Xbox Series X specs (Polygon)
• PlayStation and Facebook cancel GDC appearances citing coronavirus concerns (GamesIndustry.biz)
• Game over for HQ Trivia (CNN Business)
• Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser is leaving the company (The Verge)

January

• Xbox revenue falls 21% as Microsoft gears up for Xbox Series X debut (GeekWire)
• Nintendo upgrades fiscal-year forecast as Switch hits 52.5 million consoles sold (VentureBeat)
• Atari is opening eight video game hotels across the U.S
• YouTube signs exclusive streaming deal for Activision e-sports like Call of Duty and Overwatch (The Verge)
• Esports Training Site ProGuides Raises $5 Million In Seed Funding (Forbes)
• All the money in the world couldn’t make Kinect happen (Polygon)
• The Promise of Cloud-Native Games (A16Z)
• The Metaverse: What It Is, Where to Find it, Who Will Build It, and Fortnite (MatthewBall.vc)
• Epic says its PC game store now has more than 100 million users (The Verge)
• The hidden world and overlooked problems of acting in video games (Washington Post)

2019

December

• Google buys triple-A game dev Typhoon Studio to beef up Stadia (VentureBeat)
• Puma’s first ‘active gaming footwear’ is a sock (Engadget)
• A Look Back At the Top Apps & Games of the Decade (App Annie)
• Microsoft’s next Xbox is Xbox Series X, coming holiday 2020 (The Verge)
• HOW SONY BOUGHT, AND SQUANDERED, THE FUTURE OF GAMING (The Verge)
• Why ‘The Mandalorian’ cites Fortnite dev Epic Games in its credits (VentureBeat)
• Sources: Microsoft Is Still Planning A Cheaper, Disc-Less Next-Gen Xbox (Kotaku)

November

• GOOGLE STADIA REVIEW: THE BEST OF CLOUD GAMING IS STILL JUST A BETA (The Verge)
• Stadia the Technology? Awesome. Stadia the Service? Not So Much (Vice)
• Stadia tech review: the best game streaming yet, but far from ready (EuroGamer)
• November 2019 Xbox One Update Brings Xbox Action for the Google Assistant, Gamertag Updates, Text Filters and More (XBox Wire)
• Microsoft to launch xCloud in 2020, with PS4 controllers and PC streaming on the way (The Verge)
• Google demos Stadia UI and lists several missing launch features (Engadget)

October

• Mario Kart Tour Has a Rocket Start With 123.9 Million Downloads in Its First Month (SensorTower)
• Microsoft’s Xbox bundles are back and ready for the new Project Scarlett Xbox (The Verge)
• Behold the massive social media explosion from Fortnite’s Season 10 finale (The Washington Post)
• Last week’s Fortnite update helped Akamai set a new CDN traffic record (ZDNet)
• Giphy Arcade lets you play, create, and share mini-games on the web as if they were GIFs (The Verge)
• Fortnite’s black hole has closed, and Chapter 2 is finally here (The Verge)
• ‘Fortnite’ Goes Dark: A Masterful Marketing Stroke by Epic Games (Variety)
• ‘Call of Duty: Mobile’ smashes records with 100 million downloads in first week (Reuters)
• Exclusive: A Deeper Look at the PlayStation 5 (Wired)
• Blizzard Bans Gamer, Rescinds Money, on Hong Kong Protest Support (Bloomberg)
• Blizzard Suspends Professional Hearthstone Player for Hong Kong Comments (Hacker News)

September

• AltStore is an alternative iOS App Store with a built-in Nintendo emulator (The Verge)
• You can now sign up for Microsoft’s xCloud game streaming preview (The Verge)
• Google Play Pass bundles 350 Android games and apps for $4.99 per month (The Verge)
• Apple Arcade’s best selling point: Games you’ll actually want to play (Engadget)
• TONY HAWK ON HOW HIS GAMES CHANGED SKATEBOARDING (The Verge)
• Apple Arcade is launching on September 19th for $4.99 a month (The Verge)
• Drivetime raises $11 million for interactive audio games like Jeopardy in the car (Venture Beat)
• ‘NCAA Football’ Is Still Alive, Because One Online Community Won’t Let the Game Die (The Ringer)
• Acer announces a $14,000 gaming chair because why not (TechCrunch)

August

• Older people are embracing video games. For some, that means stardom. (NBC News)
• World of Warcraft Classic players are standing in long lines to finish quests (Polygon)
• Sony to acquire Insomniac Games (Polygon)
• THE SEGA GENESIS MINI BUILDS ON WHAT MADE NINTENDO’S TINY CONSOLES GREAT (The Verge)
• Microsoft Cancels Super Duper Graphics Pack for Minecraft (Thurrott.com)
• Ninja calls out Twitch after his dormant channel highlights porn (updated) (Engadget)
• Fortnite season X adds mech suits, a meteor, and ‘volatile rift zones’ (The Verge)

July

• Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, 16, wins Fortnite World Cup singles and $3 million (ESPN)

June

• EverQuest’s long, strange 20-year trip still has no end in sight (Ars Technica)
• The story of the first E3 (Polygon)
• Comcast CEO’s Son Wants to Turn Philly Into an E-Sports Town (Bloomberg Businessweek)

May

• Exclusive: The Saga Of ‘Star Citizen,’ A Video Game That Raised $300 Million—But May Never Be Ready To Play (Forbes)

April

• How Fortnite’s success led to months of intense crunch at Epic Games (Polygon)
• Red Dead Redemption 2: six months later (Polygon)
• Russian Gamer Brothers Are the Newest Hidden Billionaires (Bloomberg)
• Roblox hits milestone of 90M monthly active users (TechCrunch)
• Why Are People Still Playing Google’s Halloween Ghost Game in April? (Slate)
• Snapchat launches Mario Party-style multiplayer games platform (TechCrunch)
• Talking Reckless (A Gaming Podcast)
• The CEO behind ‘Fortnite’ says it’s ‘evolving beyond being a game’ and explains the company’s ambitious vision (Business Insider)

March

• Nintendo to Launch Two New Switch Models (WSJ)
• The Oculus Rift S is real and arrives in spring for $399 (TechCrunch)
• Google Stadia announced, a game streaming service for Chrome, Android, and TVs (9to5Google)
• Google unveils Stadia cloud gaming service, launches in 2019 (The Verge)
• Stadia, Google’s gaming platform, changed the rules of the console wars (Polygon)
• Microsoft announces Xbox Live for any iOS or Android game (The Verge)
• Microsoft demonstrates xCloud game streaming a week before Google’s ‘future of gaming’ event (The Verge)
• How an App for Gamers Went Mainstream (The Atlantic)

February

• Source: Google plans to announce long-rumored ‘Yeti’ hardware at GDC event (9to5Google)
• Google Set To Unveil Netflix-Like Game Streaming Service (Fortune)
• Activision Blizzard cuts hundreds of jobs despite ‘record revenue’ year (Polygon)
• Apex Legends Quickly Surpasses Fortnite (Thurrott.com)
• Fortnite Is the Future, but Probably Not for the Reasons You Think (Redef)
• Boring Game Plus New Orleans Rebellion Leads to Ratings Drop (NYTimes)
• ‘Fortnite’ Had 10 Million Concurrent Players In The Marshmello Concert Event (Forbes)
• Microsoft wants to bring Xbox Live cross-platform gaming to Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, and more (WindowsCentral)

January

• Nintendo cuts Switch sales forecast despite strong holiday season (The Verge)
• Apple Plans Gaming Subscription Service: Sources (Cheddar)
• EA’s Troubled Decade Of Star Wars Games (Kotaku)
• Amazon Developing Game Streaming Service (The Information)
• Birding Like It’s 1899: Inside a Blockbuster American West Video Game (Audubon)

2018

December

• Epic Games, the creator of Fortnite, banked a $3 billion profit in 2018 (TechCrunch)
• HQ Trivia launches HQ Words as reinstalled CEO seeks a game-changer (TechCrunch)
• FORTNITE KEEPS STEALING DANCES — AND NO ONE KNOWS IF IT’S ILLEGAL (The Verge)
• Zwift, which turns indoor cycling workouts into multiplayer games, raises $120M (TechCrunch)
• Doom is 25 and co-creator John Romero is putting out a giant expansion for it (TechCrunch)
• Fortnite’s Minecraft-like creative mode launches tomorrow (The Verge)

November

• The legacy of PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi, in 24 stories (Polygon)
• Atari CEO interview — How Rollercoaster Tycoon revival saved the company (VentureBeat)
• Video games could be a short-term answer to science’s gender problem (The Conversation)
• Microsoft’s Building a Disc-Less Xbox One for Release in 2019 (Thurrott.com)

October

• Here are the 20 games shipping with the PlayStation Classic (TechCrunch)
• Inside Rockstar Games’ Culture Of Crunch (Kotaku)
• VIDEO: Joseph Saelee vs. Jonas Neubeauer in CTWC 2018 Finals (Twitter)
• How the West Was Digitized: The Making of Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 (Vulture)
• Fortnite, GTA V hackers face legal action for online cheating (Ars Technica)
• Apple’s dream of making the Apple TV a gaming console just took a major hit (Business Insider)
• Microsoft’s xCloud service streams Xbox games to PCs, consoles, and mobile devices (The Verge)
• Facebook’s Oculus Looking to Invest in Location-Based Virtual Reality (EXCLUSIVE) (Variety)
• EA announces ‘FIFA 19’ PS4 esports tournament (Engadget)
• Nintendo Plans New Version of Switch Next Year (WSJ)
• Google’s Project Stream lets you play Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in Chrome (CNET)

September

• Sony is launching a PlayStation Classic console this December loaded with 20 games (The Verge)
• The Nintendo Switch online service is launching on September 18th (The Verge)
• You Will Soon Be Able to Control Your Xbox With Alexa and Cortana (Thurrott)
• Kids’ gaming platform Roblox raises $150M (TechCrunch)
• The video game turning teens into millionaires has raised a whopping $150 million, making it a $2.5 billion company (Business Insider)

August

• How ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Is Changing the Way the World Experiences Music (Rolling Stone)
• Microsoft Announces Xbox All Access (Thurrott.com)
• ‘Xbox All Access’ looks like a new subscription service with Xbox Live, Game Pass, and a console (Windows Central)
• ‘Minecraft: Education Edition’ comes to iPad, as education features expand to mainstream version of game (GeekWire)
• Women are 79 percent more likely to spend money on mobile games (The Verge)
• Epic Games sidesteps the Play Store with Fortnite for Android launch (TechCrunch)
• Ready, Aim, Hire a ‘Fortnite’ Coach: Parents Enlist Videogame Tutors for Their Children (WSJ)

July

• Sony can’t stop making money from PlayStation (Engadget)
• Steam is rolling out its new Discord-like chat features to all users (The Verge)
• A Few More Details About Microsoft’s Xbox Scarlett Game Streaming Service (Thurrott.com)

June

• The NES Classic is back: here’s where you can pick one up (The Verge)
• Fortnite is generating more revenue than any other free game ever (ReCode)
• The Legend of Nintendo (Bloomberg)
• Video Game Addiction Tries to Move From Basement to Doctor’s Office (NYTimes)
• THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE RACY MODULE THAT ALMOST RUINED D&D (Wired)
• Fortnite on the Switch is good enough to make Sony’s cross-play policy look even more stupid (The Verge)
• Microsoft’s Next-Gen Xbox Will Arrive in 2020 (Thurrott.com)
• Ubisoft Believes Next Gen Is the Last for Consoles as Microsoft Looks Beyond Platforms (Variety)
• Exploring The Digital Ruins Of ‘Second Life’ (Digg)

May

• Atari is crowdfunding a new console, but who is this device actually for? (Polygon)
• Xbox Adaptive Controller first look: A new, necessary gamepad (Engadget)
• All We Want to Do Is Watch Each Other Play Video Games (NYTimes)

April

• Oculus wants to make immersive virtual theater a reality (CNET)
• Inside Nintendo’s secretive creative process (The Guardian)
• PlayVS wants every high school to have an esports team (TechCrunch)