Gaming News... Seems Like A Lot Is Happening, Actually.

A Lot Going On in the Gaming World Lately – Let’s Catch Up!

Hi everyone, Leo Parks here. Things have been… quite busy in the gaming world recently, and I figured we should all take a moment to sort through it all. It’s a lot, honestly.

First off, there's the big news surrounding the Nintendo Switch 2. We've even gotten a little peek! However, things are a bit complicated. Preorders in the US have been delayed, which is a bit disappointing, apparently due to those tariffs President Trump put in place. Hopefully, that can get sorted out soon.

Speaking of big companies, Microsoft's Xbox division has been in the news, too. Some internal emails have surfaced as part of an FTC case, revealing a bit about their plans. I don’t really follow all that legal stuff, but it sounds important!

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing. The industry is facing some headwinds, that's for sure. Epic Games, the folks behind Fortnite, are refunding around 600,000 players to the tune of $72 million. Seems like some people felt a little… misled about some purchases. And interestingly, Apple is actually letting Epic Games create a competing app store for iPhones in Europe. That’s… unexpected?

Now, a bit of a legal kerfuffle: Nintendo and The Pokémon Company are accusing the developers of Palworld of patent infringement. Palworld, you know, that game everyone’s comparing to Pokémon but with… well, guns. It’s gotten a lot of attention, to say the least.

Things aren't looking too rosy for a lot of workers either. EA Sports is laying off about 670 people – that's 5% of their workforce. And Microsoft is letting go of 1,900 people in their gaming division. It’s a lot of change, and it's certainly unsettling to see. Even over at Tencent, the developer behind League of Legends, Riot Games is cutting 530 staff.

On the game-front, Grand Theft Auto VI’s trailer really got people excited, but the general feeling is that the whole industry has been struggling a bit. Speaking of games, a recent Spider-Man video game had a bit of an oopsie – they accidentally mixed up the Puerto Rican and Cuban flags. Just a small thing, but I can see how that would be awkward. It’s great that a 13-year-old managed to beat the original Tetris - quite an accomplishment! League of Legends is also facing layoffs, as mentioned before.

Finally, there’s the whole conversation around Artificial Intelligence (AI). It’s becoming a bigger issue in gaming, and thankfully, actors have reached an agreement about how AI voice acting will be licensed, which seems like a good compromise.

It's a lot to process, and I’m sure there will be more developments soon. Hopefully, things will start looking up for everyone involved. Until next time!