Independent video game studios gain popularity in tumultuous industry environment

Jul 3, 2024
Games made by small teams and solo developers are some of the best selling products in the past year.
Big game publishing companies made huge investments during the pandemic, but as player numbers have dwindled, some studios laid off thousands of developers.
Leon Neal/Getty Images

Gaming furniture levels up to a more decorative aesthetic

Apr 18, 2024
Ikea is launching a new line of gaming furniture more suited for the living room than the basement. It's a sign of how gamer demographics are maturing.
Back in the day, furniture designed for gamers may have looked more like fighter pilot seats than something you'd find in a living room. Increasingly, that's changing.
Courtesy Ikea

Why Microsoft is switching up its Xbox strategy

Feb 16, 2024
Microsoft sees the change in strategy as a revenue opportunity, explains Tom Warren, senior editor at The Verge.
Why might Xbox want to bring Xbox-exclusive games to rival consoles? For "the revenue opportunity," said The Verge's Tom Warren.
Matt Cardy/Getty Images

The video game business is hoping streaming games from the cloud will attract new players

Oct 13, 2023
A $15-a-month subscription may be more attractive than dropping $500 on a console.
Cloud gaming sales hit about $5 billion last year, compared to about $35 billion for console games.
Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images

Wizards, druids and open game licenses: The fight over the unique Dungeons & Dragons economy

Mar 3, 2023
When Hasbro wanted to change D&D's open game license to get a cut of third-party company profits, the game's fans went to battle.
Fantasy game enthusiast Mark Warren poses next to a life-size replica of a Dungeons & Dragons character.
Matt Levin/Marketplace

Are computers ruining chess?

Oct 5, 2022
A controversy involving one of the game's rising stars has sparked debate about creativity.
Magnus Carlsen during a chess tournament in 2021. Carlsen recently accused another grandmaster, Hans Niemann, of cheating.
Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Netflix is looking into video games to keep subscriptions growing

Jun 3, 2021
The company has plenty of original material and experience licensing other content it could mine for games.
One expert says Netflix could offer a rotating mix of video games from other creators and even have its own gaming console.
Alastair Pike/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Video game workers speak out about treatment amid industry's record sales

Aug 4, 2020
There have been charges of pay disparities, discrimination and harassment.
Gamers at the BlizzCon 2017 gathering in Anaheim, California. Some workers in the industry have complained about the conditions they face.
Joe Scarnici/Getty Images

Gaming sales top a record $120 billion in 2019

Jan 3, 2020
The industry is growing its audience and finding new ways to monetize games.
Adam Berry/Getty Images

Apple wants users to add its "Arcade" to subscriptions

Sep 20, 2019
It remains to be seen whether gamers are willing to pay for the kind of games they're used to getting for free.
"Some of the games in Apple's new video game subscription service, Apple Arcade."
Apple