Game Industry News – October 2022

Introducing the latest game industry news curated by 8Bit. As a leading GameDev recruitment agency connecting gaming studios and job seekers worldwide, we bring you the most relevant and exciting news from the dynamic realm of game development. Stay informed and ahead of the game with 8Bit’s curated game industry news.

Google pulls the plug on Stadia in January 2023

According to the story published by Catherine Thorbecke from CNN.com,

Stadia, Google’s cloud gaming service, will be shut down. Players will be able to use the service until January 18th, 2023.

Google will reimburse all Stadia purchases, including hardware, software, and DLC. Google expects that mid-January will finish the refunds. Members of the Stadia team will “carry this work forward” in other Google divisions.

Google, according to Stadia vice president and GM Phil Harrison, sees chances to adapt Stadia’s cloud gaming technology to other aspects of Google, such as YouTube, Google Play, and its AR projects, and the firm also aims to “make it available to our industry partners, which aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed,”

In a FAQ, Google shed some light on the technical aspects of the shutdown.

• Refunds will be sent automatically through the Google and Stadia stores
• You will not be obligated to return any gear.
• Stadia Pro subscription memberships will not be refunded, however, you will not be charged during the closure time and will be able to access any titles you may have redeemed as a Stadia Pro user until everything is shut down.
• Google has shut down the Stadia marketplace, meaning you can’t buy games or make in-game purchases

Steam finally updated its mobile app for iOS and Android

According to the story published by CJ Wheeler from rps.com,

There is a new Steam app for phones and tablets. The Android and iOS applications are entirely revamped. They include a way to sign into your account on PC via a QR code, remote downloads from your Library, and customizable tabs and MORE!

Don’t believe us?

Check out the official Steam video

Check out the full list of features:

• Two-factor authentication to ensure you’re the only one with access to your account
• QR code sign-in – Scan a QR code to sign into Steam instead of entering a password or…
• Sign-in confirmation – Confirm your regular Steam sign-ins with simple “approve” or “deny”
• Authorized Devices – Manage access to the devices your account has signed in
• Easy access to the Store, Community, News, etc, from wherever you are
• Your Library with access to your game content, discussions, guides, support, and more
• Remote download of games and updates on your PC, managed from your phone via mobile app
• Customizable Steam notifications: wishlist, sales, comments, trades, discussions, friend requests, and more
• Trade and Market confirmations – to ensure items don’t leave your account without your approval
• An improved Store browsing experience for mobile screens
• Support for using multiple Steam accounts in the app
• Customizable tabs

The mobile app is available in the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store

Fandom has purchased leading entertainment and gaming brands such as GameSpot, TV Guide, and Metacritic

According to the story published by Lauren Forristal from Techcrunch.com,

Fandom announced the acquisition of seven entertainment and gaming businesses from Red Ventures, including websites Comic Vine, Cord Cutters News, GameFAQs, GameSpot, Giant Bomb, Metacritic, and TV Guide.

According to sources close to Fandom, the deal cost somewhere in the mid-fifties, or roughly $55 million.

Fandom, which was founded in 2004 by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and entrepreneur Angela Beesley, now provides a wiki hosting service and fan platform with 40 million pages of content and 250,000 wiki communities to inform and entertain fans about their favorite video games, movies, and TV shows. This acquisition significantly expands Fandom’s services to include reviews, ratings, and news.

According to Fandom’s 2022 State of Gaming report, acquiring the seven brands would also help to boost Fandom’s gamer audience, which is one of its largest, with 115 million video game enthusiasts, 17 million pages of content, and 100,000 gaming communities.

Meta’s Horizon Worlds struggles with attracting and retaining users

According to the story published by James Batchelor from GameIndustry.biz, internal records demonstrate the project is falling short of meeting the company’s business goals, with less than half the expected monthly active users.

Horizon Worlds is a collection of virtual reality social spaces where participants may engage in activities such as shopping, partying, and playing arena shooter mini-games.

Meta had aimed to have 500,000 active users monthly in this virtual world by the end of 2022. However, it has apparently lowered this figure to 280,000 in subsequent weeks, with the current MAU count being fewer than 200,000.

Horizon Worlds is now exclusively available on virtual reality headsets like the Meta Quest, which already limits the audience. Meta Quest Pro (announced earlier) has $1,500 price tag stuck to it, which makes it unlikely to become a mainstream product.

According to internal documents, Quest vr headset retention rates are also faltering, with an overall drop over the last three years. Six months after purchase, more than half of Quest headsets are no longer in use.

So that concludes this set of game industry news. We hope that you found it useful!

If you have any additional questions or would like to ask our Recruiters for support with job endeavors – we’re here for you! Hit’em socials!

Credits:
Stadia Photo by COLLEEN MICHAELS/ALAMY
Mark Zuckerberg Horizon Worlds selfie