Xbox no longer considers PlayStation its main competitor, Netflix has closed the studio behind Squid Game: Unleashed, and Polden Publishing's revenue has reached a million dollars—we're here to talk about the main events in the gaming industry over the past weekend.
- Matt Booty, Head of Xbox Game Studios, gave an interview to The New York Times in which he explained the decision to release Halo: Campaign Evolved on PlayStation—a first since games in the series had not previously appeared on Sony's consoles. According to him, Microsoft has stopped viewing other consoles as its primary competitors. Now, it increasingly competes with popular media in general—from TikTok to films. Additionally, Booty noted that debuting Halo on PlayStation will help capture a new audience.
- It was revealed that Netflix's internal studio, Boss Fight Entertainment, has been closed. The sad news was shared on LinkedIn by its co-founder and now former CEO, David Rippy. To recall, Boss Fight Entertainment was established in 2013 in the USA and became part of Netflix in 2022. Under the streaming company's wing, it released the mobile game Squid Game: Unleashed, inspired by the series "Squid Game," which ultimately became one of the most downloaded in Netflix's portfolio.
- The developers of the Roblox hit Steal a Brainrot filed a lawsuit against the creator of the game Stealing Brainrots in Fortnite. They accused him of plagiarism, stating that Stealing Brainrots borrowed design, level structure, animations, and many other elements from Steal a Brainrot. Through the lawsuit, Spyder Games aims to shut down the clone and seek compensation for copyright infringement. Notably, Steal a Brainrot is the most popular game in the history of Roblox in terms of peak online users. In early October, the number of simultaneous users reached 25.2 million, surpassing the record set by Grow a Garden. In comparison, Fortnite's peak online is 15.3 million.
- Young publisher Polden Publishing, launched in November 2024, has reached a new financial milestone. Its co-founder Kirill Oreshkin announced on his Telegram channel that the company's revenue hit the million-dollar mark. Remarkably, a month ago, the figure was half that amount—at the end of September, Polden Publishing's revenue was $543,300. Overall game sales have exceeded 111,700 copies. To date, Polden Publishing has released titles such as Lessaria: Fantasy Kingdom Sim, Static Dread: The Lighthouse, Bus Flipper: Renovator Simulator, and Train Valley Origins.