Opinion

Opinion

2024 was the year of Microsoft's grand pivot | Opinion

Expectations this year would suffer a drought of high-quality releases were very much defied – but it's the reinvention of Xbox that will be 2024's lasting legacy

Dec. 20, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Regulation galore: Legal trends to watch in 2025

ADVANT Beiten's Dr Andreas Lober reflects on his 2024 predictions and the legal developments that could impact games companies in the year ahead

Dec. 19, 2024 Dr Andreas Lober

Opinion

Marvel Rivals is a bright spot in a dark year for live service | Opinion

With so many expensive, high-profile live service games failing, the early success of NetEase’s title is a welcome relief – but the risks of this model have never been more clear

Dec. 13, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Unpacking the BEUC complaint against in-game purchases | Opinion

Wiggin's Isabel Davies explores some of the inaccuracies in the EU's complaint and the risks of overregulation

Dec. 3, 2024 Isabel Davies

Opinion

Handheld consoles are the industry's next battleground | Opinion

With both Microsoft and Sony planning portable launches down the line, and Switch and Steam Deck defining their respective markets, gaming's future seems to be handheld

Nov. 29, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Nintendo Switch ending online support exposes fragility of gaming partnerships in China | Opinion

Daniel Camilo explains how, in the end, consumers get the short end of the stick

Nov. 28, 2024 Daniel Camilo

Opinion

Does a Sony bid for Kadokawa make sense? | Opinion

Buying Elden Ring developer From Software would be a coup for Sony – but buying one of Japan's biggest media groups would be a complex and potentially difficult acquisition

Nov. 22, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Microsoft's Xbox transition moves into high gear | Opinion

With a campaign about Xbox as a cross-platform service and "no red lines" for first-party on other platforms, the change to Microsoft's games business speeds to a conclusion

Nov. 15, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

PS5 Pro signposts a disc-less future that few actually want | Opinion

Digital games are an ever-growing market segment, but given a choice, consumers prefer to keep the physical option – making the disc-less PS5 Pro a baffling decision

Nov. 8, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Nintendo Switch 2 will avoid the fate of Wii U | Opinion

Backwards compatibility was inevitable, but it's not good news for everyone

Nov. 7, 2024 Christopher Dring

Opinion

Black Ops 6 does the business for Microsoft | Opinion

Call of Duty's performance is exactly what Microsoft needed from the landmark franchise, and points the way to the future of its games business

Nov. 1, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Games may not be the killer app for VR | Opinion

As Meta and Apple focus on work applications for their VR tech, the best hope for VR games is to evolve as PC gaming did: a fun thing to do on a work-focused device

Oct. 25, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Black Ops 6 is make-or-break for the Game Pass strategy | Opinion

A year after buying Activision Blizzard, Microsoft finally has a Game Pass launch exclusive for Call of Duty. How this plays out will weigh heavily on its future strategy

Oct. 18, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

The voice actors' strike shows its claws | Opinion

With Hoyoverse forced to launch Genshin Impact content without English voices, the "canary in the coalmine" for AI strip-mining of creative talents continues singing

Oct. 11, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Tokyo Game Show stakes a claim for Japan on the global stage | Opinion

TGS 2024 felt like an event in transition, but one firmly rooted in its mission to showcase the strength, depth, and variety of Japanese gaming

Oct. 11, 2024 Alicia Haddick

Opinion

Is the Star Wars franchise in crisis? | Opinion

Ubisoft is in a tailspin over poor sales of Star Wars Outlaws – but for all the publisher's woes, the real problem here may be Disney's management of the IP

Oct. 4, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Nintendo's patents were designed to take on Palworld | Opinion

MBHB associate Andrew Velzen digs deeper into the rights thought to be at the heart of the Pokémon/Palworld legal dispute, and the timings behind them

Sept. 27, 2024 Andrew Velzen

Opinion

Sony embraces its PlayStation history | Opinion

Sony has always seemed reticent to make its software back catalogue into a central part of its current offering – but with the 30th anniversary approaching, attitudes may be changing

Sept. 27, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Assassin's Creed Shadows delay is a real gamble for Ubisoft | Opinion

But a clearer Q4 could mean a second chance for Star Wars Outlaws

Sept. 26, 2024 Christopher Dring

Opinion

Blurring lines: How AAA and indies can benefit each other | Opinion

In a rapidly changing ecosystem where some models are becoming unsustainable, D3T's Dan Hett argues the industry should move away from silos and grow together

Sept. 18, 2024 Dan Hett

Opinion

What's ailing Ubisoft? | Opinion

Yet another share price drop has drawn attention to an activist investor's demands for a takeover; his prescription would be disastrous, but Ubisoft's problems are very real

Sept. 13, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

The problem with PS5 Pro isn't the price tag | Opinion

There is definitely an audience for PS5 Pro, but even four years in, this generation still feels young

Sept. 11, 2024 Christopher Dring

Opinion

Concord raises questions over Sony's live-service competence | Opinion

PlayStation's pivot to live service was to be enabled by buying expertise in the form of studios like Bungie and Firewalk – a strategy that now seems to have failed

Sept. 6, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Xbox wades cautiously into a multiplatform future | Opinion

Announcing a PS5 launch for Indiana Jones – arguably 2024’s biggest Xbox title – is a big step, but the curious way it was announced suggests that bolder plans are afoot

Aug. 23, 2024 Rob Fahey

Opinion

Valve's not-so-secret game Deadlock is a bold experiment in soft-launching | Opinion

With tens of thousands of people already playing despite the game never being formally announced, Valve's Deadlock shows us a smarter way to launch an online game

Aug. 16, 2024 Rob Fahey