This Month
How Dungeons & Dragons became cool
The role-playing game, celebrating its 50th birthday, was once a nerdy niche. It’s championing by Hollywood creators has won it unprecedented popularity.
- The Economist
November
Aristocrat sells fantasy mobile games publisher for $1.2b
The pokies manufacturer is refocusing on slot machines, lotteries and social casinos, divesting itself from the owner of a popular RPG.
- Zoe Samios
Australian crypto giant Immutable faces SEC blowtorch
The video game software company was founded by the two sons of a Macquarie banker and in 2022 had a valuation of around $3.5 billion.
- Amelia McGuire
May
Why anger is rising over Japan’s ‘dangerously’ weak yen
Ryohei Kim is furious at the Bank of Japan because of the record-low yen and the impact it is having on his beloved video games.
- Jessica Sier
January
Microsoft cuts 1900 jobs from games division it bought for $105b
The layoffs at both Activision Blizzard and Xbox, as well as elsewhere in the sector, come as the pandemic boom in playing continues to recede.
- Karen Weise and Edward Moreno
How a 13-year-old beat AI to ‘break’ Tetris
For years the limit was thought to be level 29, when the blocks start falling so quickly it seems as if it would be impossible for a human to keep up.
- Updated
- Sopan Deb
China removes official after video game rules spark turmoil
Feng Shixin was said to have been fired after his agency unveiled new rules that sent video game stocks plunging.
- Josh Ye
November 2023
Shareholders oust Michelle Guthrie from video game maker’s board
The former ABC managing director has been voted off the board of the video game developer.
- Jessica Sier
Nintendo gets Wes Ball to sprinkle movie magic on Zelda
The games giant scored big with the Super Mario Bros movie. Now it’s hoping for a repeat.
- Sam Nussey
October 2023
This video game maker was Australia’s big hope. It’s on life support
Mighty Kingdom has burned through $35 million in two years and has tapped the market for $1 million more to keep the lights on.
- Jessica Sier
PAC Capital forced to liquidate ‘esports’ gaming fund
The decision is a blow to fund owner Clayton Larcombe, who has promoted online gaming as a promising investment opportunity.
- Aaron Patrick
September 2023
Why this Newcastle doctor switched from scrubs to video games
Michael Pomroy made about $140,000 last year playing construction and building games online and posting videos about them after burning out as a doctor.
- Larry Schlesinger
August 2023
How Nvidia became the world’s most important company overnight
Almost every company and government in the world is desperate to invest in AI and the chip maker has ridden that wave to a trillion-dollar valuation.
- James Titcomb and Matthew Field
July 2023
- Analysis
- Japan
Shares in this Japanese gaming group have surged 1200pc in a decade
Tapping underserved and developing markets, such as Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, with heavily discounted classic games has paid off for Capcom.
- Takashi Mochizuki and Yuki Furukawa
Court ruling changes game for Microsoft’s $103b Activision deal
US and UK regulators could demand more concessions but investors are betting on an industry-shaping victory.
- Richard Waters and Stefania Palma
May 2023
Property crisis in the Metaverse as virtual land-grab turns sour
Blockchain-based metaverses are suffering their own housing crisis, with virtual land values in Decentraland and Sandbox plummeting.
- Jessica Sier
This author’s bestselling book shows you how to continue after failure
“Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow” writer Gabrielle Zevin talks about the never-ending cycle of hopes and broken dreams in a creative life.
- Lucy Dean
- Exclusive
- Gaming & wagering
ASX-hopeful Dynasty Gaming & Media inks deal with Let’sPlay.Live
The company, backed by ex-Virgin Group CEO David Baxby and Caledonia’s Mark Nelson, is hoping to scoop up $6.5 billion in spending from Australian gamers.
- Jessica Sier
February 2023
Next hot housing market is out of this world: it’s in the metaverse
Much like real-world real estate, where pricing fluctuates according to the principle of supply and demand, metaverse real estate also operates on a fixed scale.
- Debra Kamin
January 2023
Tech and gaming workers get overtime rights
Employers will have to record the hours of IT staff, game workers and engineers under new penalty rates and overtime rules brought in to regulate “60 hour-plus” weeks.
- Updated
- David Marin-Guzman