The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation announced the importance of regulating in—game currencies, Tencent decided to change its investment strategy, and ZA/UM studio lost several key developers of Disco Elysium, – we tell you what happened in the gaming industry this weekend.
The Russian government has approved new rules for the accreditation of IT companies. The main condition is that the organization must receive at least 30% of revenue from IT. At the same time, IT startups that do not have revenue can now get into the list of accredited companies.
The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has come out in favor of regulating in-game currencies, the Izvestia newspaper reports, citing Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev. The authorities want such currency not to be used outside the game and exchanged for real money. It is assumed that the relevant ban will help to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Microsoft has submitted documents related to the purchase of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion to the European Commission. The agency must announce a decision on the first stage of the transaction verification by November 8.
According to Dealreporter, in September, the head of Sony‘s gaming division flew to Brussels to personally express concerns to the European regulator about the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. Dealreporter sources report that Google also expressed concern about the deal.
Reuters found out that Tencent decided to focus on buying controlling stakes in companies instead of minority ones. The Chinese giant will prioritize game studios from Europe.
In an interview with Bright, Tim Cook stated that the average person does not quite understand what a metaverse is. The head of Apple also noted that despite the advantages of virtual reality, it is not worth “living a lifetime” in it.
It became known that at the end of last year three key developers of Disco Elysium left ZA/UM studio. According to Martin Luiga, founder of the ZA/UM Cultural association, they did it “forcibly”. One of the reasons for leaving could be a conflict with investors,” Luiga compared ZA/UM investors to kleptomaniacs manipulating dozens of people and stealing from themselves.