Testing AI for medical care in space
Wednesday, September 3, 2025 by Richard Harris
As NASA embarks on a new era of human spaceflight, beginning with the Artemis campaign's aim to return to the Moon, preparations are underway to ensure crew health and wellness. This includes exploring whether remote care capabilities can deliver detailed diagnoses and treatment options if a physician is not onboard or if real-time communication with Earth is limite...
GitHub Copilot surpasses 20M users
Monday, August 18, 2025 by Austin Harris
Microsoft Corporation wrapped up its fiscal year 2025 on an exceptionally strong note, delivering robust growth across cloud, AI, productivity, and consumer services. The tech giant reported a 24% year-over-year jump in net income for the fourth quarter, amounting to $27.2 billion, while revenue for the same period reached $76.4 billion, an 18% increase. These results u...
How AGI tags help developers and players
Wednesday, August 6, 2025 by Richard Harris
The Microsoft Game Dev blog recently highlighted the launch of the Accessible Games Initiative (AGI), a collaborative effort led by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and major industry players like Xbox, Electronic Arts, Google, Nintendo of America, and Ubisoft. The AGI introduces a set of standardized “tags” that clearly communicate the accessibi...
How Nightdive Studios is future-proofing the video game past
Tuesday, August 5, 2025 by Austin Harris
Video games are a form of art, and their preservation is in trusted hands at Atari’s Nightdive Studios, regarded as the premier game remastering studio in the industry. System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Edition recently launched on Xbox Series X|S, reviving a seminal sci-fi horror classic for a new generation. For Nightdive Studios, however, this release ...
New Xbox certificates and courses on Coursera
Tuesday, August 5, 2025 by Austin Harris
As part of a broader Microsoft initiative to expand access to in-demand tech training, Xbox has partnered with Coursera to launch online programs that help learners explore creative and technical roles in gaming. Whether someone is switching industries or just starting out, these flexible programs cover everything from graphic design and product management to AI-assiste...
Farming Simulator 25
Tuesday, July 8, 2025 by Russ Scritchfield
Farming Simulator 25 is heading to the Scottish Highlands this fall, as GIANTS Software reels in one of the most requested additions to the series: fishing. The new Highlands Fishing expansion lets players cast off from the shores of Kinlaig, a scenic town inspired by Scotland’s rugged landscapes and winding waterways. Whether you're working the fields, raisin...
Top video games launching before Christmas
Tuesday, October 8, 2024 by Austin Harris
A new study has revealed the most popular video games that will be available to purchase in time for Christmas this year.
CS gaming site Clash.gg analyzed the average number of Google searches in the U.S. each month for video games that will be available to purchase in time for Christmas; the games with the highest number of searches were deemed the most anticipated ...
Microsoft surpasses revenue expectations for fourth quarter
Wednesday, August 14, 2024 by Brittany Hainzinger
Microsoft has reported outstanding financial results for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2024, surpassing market expectations with revenues of $64.73 billion, a 15% increase compared to the previous year. Net income reached $22 billion, representing $2.95 per share, slightly higher than earlier estimates. Despite this solid overall performance, the intelligent clo...
Multi platform apps are becoming more popular
Tuesday, June 18, 2024 by Brittany Hainzinger
Candy Crush Saga is one of the world’s most popular video games, with more than 5 billion downloads. That’s partly because gamers can play it anywhere. It offers versions for multiple platforms, including Android, iOS, and Windows: a practice known as multihoming.
Smaller developers, however, often decide not to pursue multiple platforms because it&r...
Mobile game store launching from Microsoft in 2024
Monday, May 13, 2024 by Richard Harris
Months on from its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has revealed plans to launch its own mobile game store, with content including Minecraft and Candy Crush set to be available on the platform. Per Xbox president Sarah Bond, the store will be an alternative to the Apple App Store and Google Play, with its launch allowing Microsoft to break away from the res...
Slime Rancher 2 gets major updates
Monday, October 16, 2023 by Brittany Hainzinger
Slime Rancher is a life simulation adventure video game developed and published by Monomi Park. First released in 2017, the game is available for multiple platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.
In Slime Rancher, players take on the role of Beatrix LeBeau, a rancher who travels to a distant planet known as the "Far, Far Range...
Most time demanding video games revealed
Friday, May 26, 2023 by Richard Harris
New research has shown the top games that take the longest to complete, with many taking hundreds if not thousands of hours.
The study by Cribbage Online analyzed a database of completion times of over 60,000 games across PC and all consoles in order to determine which took the longest to gather all achievements, unlocks, secrets, and collectibles resulting in 100% c...
Steam Founder Rick Ellis talks developing mobile real money games
Friday, October 29, 2021 by Richard Harris
Is developing mobile games that people play for real money the next big wave in game development?
Rick Ellis, lead developer and founder of the Steam platform and marketplace, and also a developer on Half-Life 2 has pivoted to mobile and he's making real-money tournament games alongside Ross Krasner, Ryu Games founder and CEO, and they have plenty to s...
Gaming industry continues to rise
Thursday, September 16, 2021 by Brittany Hainzinger
The global gaming industry continues thriving in 2021, with 2.6 billion users and over $156bn in revenue as of this year. One of the biggest driving forces behind this remarkable growth has been a surge in mobile gaming, the largest revenue stream of the entire market. However, the past two years have also seen impressive growth in the console gaming segment, with profi...
Game Developers Choice Awards at GDC 2021
Monday, August 2, 2021 by Brittany Hainzinger
Organizers of the 21st annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) have revealed the recipients of this year’s Pioneer Award and Lifetime Achievement Award. Tom Fulp, creator of Newgrounds and trailblazer of the Macromedia Flash games that helped define a generation of indie developers, will receive the Pioneer Award, while influential game designer with 28 years ...
Gaming is a full time job study shows
Monday, February 15, 2021 by Brittany Hainzinger
With approximately 32 million gamers in the UK and growing, experts at GamblingDeals.com wanted to uncover just how much time gamers spend playing and which areas of their life may be affected as a result.
GamblingDeals.com surveyed 7,933 gamers asking them to reveal their favoured gaming device, hours spent gaming, and hours spent sleeping.
PlayStation places fir...
AMD 6800 XT GPU Mining and the rise of AMD stock
Tuesday, January 26, 2021 by Richard Harris
AMD, whose share price nearly doubled in 2020, seems to have enough momentum to replicate its performance in 2021.
According to the research data analyzed and published by Finaria, AMD’s share price shot up by 99.98% in 2020. It ranks second out of 31 stocks on the IBD Electronics-Semiconductor Fabless Industry group. On the IBD stock checkup tool, it has a rat...
Apple Arcade game development and Stadia set to shift gaming industry
Wednesday, May 1, 2019 by Richard Harris
In the last few months, the gaming industry has witnessed major shifts as new emerging services begin to take shape across various platforms. Drilling down into mobile gaming, the recent launches of Google Stadia and Apple Arcade have presented gamers with two new mediums to flex their gaming skills. However, these emerging platforms have presented new implications, cha...
StackCommerce celebrates $100M in payouts to creators
Wednesday, November 28, 2018 by Austin Harris
StackCommerce announced that it reached a financial milestone of $100 million in total payouts to its creator network comprised of publishers and brands. Founded in 2011, StackCommerce got its start by connecting niche, tech-focused content sites and their readers with highly relevant tech products through commerce content.
The company expanded into the men’s l...
Retro gaming talk with Matthew Thomas of Storytellers Entertainment
Tuesday, November 20, 2018 by Richard Harris
Storytellers Entertainment, an emerging game studio, seeks to revive fantasy retro gaming with its serialized fantasy based, solo-RPG. Matthew Thomas and Bill Munns are the creative heads behind their game “Imperium Omni”.
Matthew grew up in Southern California, where he went to college at age 16 later on, and earned a degree in Computer Programming ...
New game studio wants to bring back fantasy based retro gaming
Tuesday, November 6, 2018 by Richard Harris
An emerging game studio, Storytellers Entertainment, is hoping to spark a new generation of fantasy based retro gaming with the development of “Imperium Omni”, a four part serialized solo-RPG set in the vast fictional world of Aeris Pri. The game is to be released on PC with future expansion to Xbox and PS4 console platforms.
The company, established by f...
GDC 2018 breaks attendance records
Monday, April 2, 2018 by Richard Harris
The 2018 Game Developers Conference (GDC) ended after a week of networking, learning and inspiration. This year, the event saw a record attendance of 28,000 industry professionals at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center from March 19-23. GDC and VRDC will be returning to the Moscone Convention Center on Monday, March 18 to Friday, March 22, 2019. The call for submi...
The IGF 2018 winning lineup
Tuesday, March 27, 2018 by Richard Harris
Infinite Fall’s Night in the Woods took home the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize for Best Independent Game at the 20th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards. The ceremony took place as part of the 2018 Game Developers Conference (GDC) at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. In addition to the grand prize, Night in the Woods also received top honor...
Results from the GDC Annual State of the Industry Survey
Thursday, January 25, 2018 by Richard Harris
The 2018 Game Developers Conference (GDC) has released the results of the sixth annual State of the Industry Survey, revealing trends in the games industry ahead of GDC 2018 this March. With responses from nearly 4,000 game developers, this year’s survey results reflect a growing level of developer interest in the Nintendo Switch, with 12% of respondents currently devel...
Are app store subscription models right for your app
Friday, October 6, 2017 by Mark Rosner
While advertising and in-app purchases are the methods of monetization app marketers are probably most familiar with, subscription-based models may be the most overlooked. But subscriptions offer publishers benefits like a predictable, long-term revenue stream, and higher average revenue per user (ARPU) versus ads or IAPs. Subscriptions can also be deeply engaging for u...
Take the Scifi developer survey and win a $200 Amazon voucher
Friday, June 9, 2017 by Mark Wilcox
We are excited to present you with the Developer Economics Q3 2017 survey, run by VisionMobile! This is their 13th developer survey, focusing on tools, training and career development. The survey has an annual reach of more than 40,000 developers around the world, so it is a chance for you to contribute to the global developer community. The survey includes r...
Drag and drop game creator studio GameMaker updates to version 2
Wednesday, May 24, 2017 by Richard Harris
YoYo Games’ recently launched cross-platform 2D game engine, GameMaker Studio 2, is now available in a convenient education package specifically for schools and their students. Any approved university or school affiliate will now have access to a free trial version with zero time restrictions/commitments and a simple option to upgrade to the full version. Educational in...
GameMaker Studio platform begins closed beta
Thursday, March 23, 2017 by Richard Harris
Game developers on Mac will soon receive access to the powerful GameMaker Studio platform for the first time as YoYo Games begins the closed beta period of the long-awaited Mac OS version of GameMaker Studio 2. The Mac IDE closed beta for GameMaker Studio 2 will bring enhancements since the release of GameMaker for Mac in 2011. GameMaker Studio 2 features rich func...
Virtual reality gambling expected to grow 800 percent by 2021
Wednesday, January 25, 2017 by Paul Swaddle
How virtual reality will transport casino players and their friends to exciting locations for their online gambling experience.With the advances in technology and the corresponding growth in interest from major key players, VR is now in a position where the market can finally take off. Juniper released its study late last year into augmented reality across multi platfor...
GDC says HTC Vive outpaces Oculus Rift as the most popular VR - AR platform
Thursday, January 12, 2017 by Austin Harris
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) has released the results of the fifth annual State of the Industry Survey, revealing trends in the games industry ahead of GDC 2017 this February. Here are some of the many learnings from the survey of more than 4,500 game developers who have attended GDC in the last three years.Game Makers are feeling optim...
Microsoft Teams Up with GameAnalytics
Thursday, December 29, 2016 by Richard Harris
Microsoft has revealed a technology partnership which introduces GameAnalytics, a tool that helps developers understand user behavior, to applications developed on the Universal Windows Platform (UWP).Microsoft first announced UWP with Windows 10, as a platform-homogeneous application architecture to simplify the development process across a range device types...
NeoFur is now available for the Unity game engine
Saturday, December 3, 2016 by Richard Harris
Neoglyphic Entertainment, a story company building advanced entertainment technologies, announced the release of its award-winning 3D graphics technology NeoFur for the Unity game development platform. Previously available only on Unreal Engine 4 and in closed beta for Unity, NeoFur is an easy-to-use, in-editor tool that simplifies the creative process for developers. T...
Five women who are destroying gender stereotypes in the gaming world
Sunday, November 13, 2016 by Richard Harris
The online gaming industry has largely been dominated by men as there were very few women playing the game competitively. Today, all that has changed with the entry of women in the gaming arena who have been open to experimenting with all forms of gaming. New research shows that women prefer to play online slots machines games. We take a look at the top five w...
Buildbox and Vungle Team Up for Windows 10 Game Development Promotion
Friday, May 20, 2016 by Richard Harris
Buildbox, Microsoft, and Vungle are teaming up to offer a new promotion to give $500 to Buildbox customers who bring their games over to the Windows 10 Store. The promotion coincides with the release of Buildbox 2.1.0.Buildbox offers a no code game development environment providing a drop and drag game creation experience that doesn't require any scripting, programming ...
Microsoft is Bringing Facebook's Open Source React Native to Windows
Friday, April 15, 2016 by Stuart Parkerson
Among the announcements at Facebook’s F8 developer conference was the continuation of the company’s efforts with its open source React Native platform for building iOS and Android interfaces. Included in the announcement is the news that Microsoft is bringing React Native to the Windows ecosystem, giving developers the ability to build React Native on Windows PC, P...
