Last week, WN Istanbul’26 took place in Istanbul — the tenth anniversary Turkish event for game developers and publishers organized by WN Media Group. Here’s what happened at the event.

The Japanese government has long considered it extremely important to promote the country’s culture abroad. To achieve this, officials are focusing on the local content industry, which includes video games, anime, music, and much more.

It took a month for the life simulator to surpass the million mark: the release of Paralives took place on May 25, 2026.

Analysts from Atomik Research examined the situation in the web gaming market. They conducted a survey for the gaming platform Poki, involving over 400 developers and 2,000 web gamers from the US and the UK.

A new entry in the “Investor/Publisher Wanted” section. This time, we’re spotlighting the game Atlas of Eternity. This is the second project from Vengeance Games. It’s a space-based 4X strategy game.

The Brazilian publisher and developer Afil Games made this statement.

Recently, media outlets reported that in July, Microsoft’s gaming division plans to conduct mass layoffs. In anticipation of this, several former XBOX employees told the portal Game Developer that there is a significant likelihood that top managers will use the layoffs for “revenge” against workers.

It has become known about the opening of another gaming fund. It was created by the investment company Denmu.

Vyking Ventures announced a strategic investment in PlayAIO, a company specializing in data and artificial intelligence solutions for the iGaming industry.

Google Corporation has confirmed that it still plans to reduce the commission rate in its app store. It first announced its intentions back in March ahead of the conclusion of its long-standing legal battles with Epic Games.

The studio Owlcat Games announced the new achievement of the game on social media and the event feed for Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader on Steam.

Strikerz is a studio with Belarusian roots, currently based in Cyprus. Anonymous sources have informed App2Top that it has faced mass layoffs due to challenges with the soccer simulator UFL.

In May, unknown individuals published the source code for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty online, more than 20 years after the game’s release. Now, the company Konami wants to find the perpetrators and hold them accountable.

Traditionally, following the Steam demo festival, we prepare a detailed report on the outcomes of the main projects and overall trends. We will also share less obvious conclusions, as well as discuss anomalous cases and unsuccessful boosts.

Nexon has decided to support independent developers from South Korea. To achieve this, they took an unusual step: they partnered with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the country and launched a multi-million dollar fund.

Recently, developers have been complaining that the game review process for publication on “Yandex Games” has been taking longer than usual. As the platform’s team explained, it’s all due to the sharp increase in the number of applications.

The French studio Douze Dixièmes has possibly ceased to exist. It operated for nine years.

Bloober Team announced that the revenue from sales of the action-horror game Cronos: The New Dawn has exceeded its production costs. It took the game nine months to reach its break-even point, with its release on September 5, 2025.

Estonia’s plan to attract foreign operators in the online gambling sector by reducing the tax rate has not yet yielded the expected results. At the end of last year, the rate was decreased from 6% to 4%, but this has attracted little interest.