Misery was removed from sale on Steam following a DMCA complaint from the creators of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.*, Rospotrebsoyuz decided to investigate Homescapes and Royal Match for manipulative mechanics, NetEase closed Jackalyptic Games — these are the main events in the gaming industry from the past weekend.
- The cooperative survival game Misery was removed from Steam. According to developers from Platypus Entertainment, this was due to a DMCA complaint filed by GSC Game World* for copyright infringement on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.** series. The creators of Misery disagree with the accusation. They acknowledged drawing inspiration from various games, books, and films but do not see any infringements: “Misery does not use characters, plot, assets, monsters, music, code, or other elements from GSC Game World* games. Everything is either created by us or legally licensed,” they stated in a statement. Platypus Entertainment also reminded that the authors of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.** themselves were largely inspired by the novel "Roadside Picnic" by the Strugatsky brothers and Andrei Tarkovsky's film "Stalker." GSC Game World* has not publicly commented on the situation.
- Match-3 genre games have become new objects for investigation by Rospotrebsoyuz. They will be examined for manipulative mechanics that encourage gamers to spend money. In total, specialists will review 14 games with the most downloads. The full list has not been disclosed, but it is known to include Candy Crush Saga, Homescapes, Royal Match, "Jewel Planet," and "Household Spirits World." Rospotrebsoyuz promised to share the results of the study at the end of November.
- In 2022-2023, NetEase opened a number of Western studios led by industry veterans. Now it's methodically closing them. Its latest "victim" was American studio Jackalyptic Games, headed by former Star Trek Online and City of Heroes game designer Jack Emmert. The studio operated for three and a half years without releasing any games — its debut was supposed to be an MMO in the Warhammer universe. Notably, Jackalyptic Games was NetEase's first studio in the U.S., essentially marking the start of the Chinese company's significant expansion abroad.
- Team Soda has shared new sales data for Escape from Duckov. They announced that the evacuation shooter about combat ducks has sold 3 million copies. This took a little over three weeks: the game was released on October 16 for PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and Mac App Store.
*The activities of the studio are recognized as undesirable in Russia
**Belongs to GSC Game World, whose activities are recognized as undesirable in Russia