Kwalee releases Arabic version of mobile game platform for MENA devs

Mobile publisher Tilting Point is laying off 20 percent of its workforce to "continue operating a healthy ongoing company."Confirming the news in a statement sent to MobileGamer.biz, the company said the cuts were made in response to "tough" market conditions."As anyone watching the games industry is acutely aware, the current market is tough and it has impacted us as well. We have done everything we can to maintain the shape of the business as long as possible, however we have come to a point where we have had to make some difficult decisions in order to continue operating a healthy ongoing company," reads a statement penned by company founder and CEO, Kevin Segalla."Unfortunately, this includes layoffs of some of our amazing colleagues in different part…

Sony Interactive Entertainment is giving an olive branch to developers in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Its Hero Project incubator program will "identify promising local developers and support them" through mentorship and training programs."The program aims to "drive growth and innovation with developers in the MENA region," and also "lower the barrier of entry and showcase the most incredible talents emerging from this region."Studios based in countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq are eligible to apply. Per the FAQ, project-based funding will be provided for PlayStation 5, PC, and PlayStation VR2 games.Mobile titles will be considered on a "case-by-case" basis, but must have cross-platform features. Regar…

PUBG maker Krafton has acquired Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks from Microsoft.The move has pulled the Japanese studio back from the brink, with Microsoft having recently announced plans to shutter the Ghostwire: Tokyo and The Evil Within developer.Krafton said the deal marks its first significant investment into the Japanese video game market and includes the rights to the Hi-Fi Rush franchise."As part of this strategic agreement, Krafton intends to collaborate with Xbox and ZeniMax to ensure a smooth transition and maintain continuity at Tango Gameworks, allowing the talented team to continue developing the Hi-Fi Rush IP and explore future projects," reads a press release."Krafton intends to support the Tango Gameworks team to continue its commitment to innovation and…

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's release is bringing change to the larger franchise by letting players dictate what they download from the games.In a new blog on the series' website, the developers revealed players will be able to remove Call of Duty: Warzone from the download of yearly entries. This change will go into effect next Wednesday, August 21.Previous Call of Duty games have become infamous for their large file sizes at launch, which grow further during their individual lifecycles. Much of that can be placed on the free-to-play battle royale, whose updates change with each new game.In separating Warzone from the annual game, Call of Duty will be treated like a service platform akin to Jackbox's recent unified library or eventually Assassin's Creed Infinity."Wh…

Leaked documents obtained by 404 Media reveal NVIDIA was allegedly scraping videos across the internet like movie and game footage for its AI products. As a result, clients using those products and tools are at risk of unintentional copyright infringement.Like other AI toolmakers, Nvidia needs training data for its text, video, and audio generators to "learn" how to create assets. Data scraping generally refers to the practice of feeding existing video, text, and audio into training models without securing the permission of the people who made it.The technique means YouTube and Netflix (and the companies with media on those platforms) have copyrighted material taken without consent.Regulators in the US and EU are still determining if data scraping practices violate copyright rule…

"Parents are letting children play on Roblox thinking it’s a cute little kids’ game, with no idea what is really happening. If I could wipe one app off the face of the Earth right now, it would be that one—it would be Roblox."—Safe on Social CEO Kirra Pendergast

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Lively Studio has laid off a "small" number of staff, according to GamesIndustry.Sources speaking to the outlet claim these cuts were spurred by a recent review from parent company Keywords Studios. The company is streamlining "certain areas" of its business between Lively and the unaffected sibling studio Electric Square.

Mobile game industry woes this month

Even so, it's another blow to the mobile game industry. Last week, NetherRealm killed its Mortal Kombat mobile game (and team), and the summer also saw cuts at Pokémon Go co-dev Very Very Spaceship."This decision…was made with the long-term health of the company …

A new developer by the name of Blue Scarab Entertainment has formed over in Stockholm, Sweden, securing $7 million in funding for its debut project, an MMORPG running on Unreal Engine 5.The funding round was led by NetEase Games, which has previously invested in startups like Rebel Wolves. Other key contributors include Behold Ventures, Raw Fury founder Jonas Antonsson, and Creandum founder Stefan Lindeberg.Blue Scarab will be led by CEO Colin Cragg and CTO Enno Rehling. Both have extensive experience with MMOs: Cragg directed and designed Funcom's Anarchy Online, while Rehling was a programmer on the same game and also Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.Other notable additions include DICE veteran Craig Morrison (operating here as studio director), Helldivers 2's community director …

AppMagic, a service used to determine the market for mobile apps and games, has raised $3 million in a new round of seed funding.The bulk of it ($2.5 million) comes from Gem Capital, a Cyprus-based company that's previously aided developers like Mundfish and Sad Cat Studios. With the funding, AppMagic plans to build out staff for international territories.Per the press release, that expansion will involve dedicated teams recognizing the "specific sales approaches" for the US, China, Korea, and Japan.Gem managing director Kirill Guskiy explained the firm was impressed with AppMagic growing into "the third-largest mobile marketing intelligence tool" by client numbers. The funding was also spurred by fellow analyst tool Data.ai being acquired by Sensor Tower in March.…