Gaming

Mobile gaming is a behemoth in terms of annual revenue, and our gaming news coverage includes iOS, Android, mobile web and more, including companies like Netflix trying to get a foot in the door. We also report on the AAA gaming studios, which are increasingly a target for acquisitive giants like Microsoft and Sony.

Bungie, the gaming company that created sci-fi hits such as Halo, Destiny, and Marathon, has laid off 220 employees, roughly a 17% reduction to its workforce, the company announced Wednesday.…

Bungie employees say they were caught off-guard by 17% staff reduction

A little more than a year after launching the ROG Ally, Asus is releasing a refined version of its portable device, the ROG Ally X. This Windows-based machine starts shipping…

The Asus ROG Ally X turns PC gaming into a portable console

Employees at Bethesda Game Studios — the Microsoft-owned game developer that produces the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchises — are joining the Communications Workers of America union. Quality assurance testers…

Bethesda Game Studios employees form a ‘wall-to-wall’ union

A team of former Google DeepMind researchers are betting that their unique behavior engine for NPCs will make games more fun and dynamic.

Artificial Agency raises $16M to use AI to make NPCs feel more realistic in video games

If you play Wordle every day but also happen to enjoy chess, we’ve got great news for you.  Echo Chess, a game built by a…

TechCrunch Minute: This startup wants to make Wordle for chess

Echo Chunk, a company that is building Wordle-styled daily chess puzzle game Echo Chess, has raised $1.4 million in pre-seed from a16z Speedrun (Andreessen Horowitz’s early-stage games accelerator), founder of…

A company building Wordle for chess raises money from a16z Speedrun, Mark Pincus and Eric Wu

Just like in your favorite anime, this is the story of a young group of twentysomethings who started with nothing, traveled the world and ended up with a global license…

Sekai secures Naruto’s license to develop consumer apps for anime fans

For over a decade, real-money gaming companies and fantasy sports startups have marketed themselves as video game companies. But as these businesses face increasing regulatory scrutiny, a coalition of more…

Indian game firms want to distance themselves from fantasy sports

Here are the latest companies venturing into the gaming scene and details about each offering, including pricing, examples of titles and supported devices. 

YouTube and LinkedIn have games now, and here’s how you can play them

It sounds like the latest dispute between Apple and Fortnite-maker Epic Games isn’t over. Epic has been fighting Apple for years over the company’s revenue-sharing requirements in the App Store.…

Epic Games CEO promises to ‘fight’ Apple over ‘absurd’ changes

After multiple rejections, Apple has approved Fortnite maker Epic Games’ third-party app marketplace for launch in the EU. As now permitted by the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Epic announced…

Apple approves Epic Games’ marketplace app after initial rejections

Meta plans to bring more generative AI tech into games, specifically VR, AR and mixed reality games, as the company looks to reinvigorate its flagging metaverse strategy. According to a…

Meta plans to bring generative AI to metaverse games

k-ID’s platform makes it easy for game devs to comply with child safety and data privacy regulations.

k-ID wins $45M to help game devs speedrun the child safety compliance puzzle

The $200 Beam pro looks like an Android phone, but instead it’s a mobile device designed specifically for Xreal’s glasses.

XReal introduces a $200 device that brings Android apps to its AR glasses

Apple’s annual list of what it considers the best and most innovative software available on its platform is turning its attention to the little guy.

Apple’s Design Awards highlight indies and startups

Featured Article

Sonos Ace review: A high-priced contender

The Ace are a contender in a crowded market, but they’re still in search of that magic bullet to truly let them stand out from the pack.

Sonos Ace review: A high-priced contender

The watch features a variety of different 3D games, unlocking more play time the more kids move.

Fitbit’s new kid smartwatch is a little Wiimote, a little Tamagotchi

YouTube’s free Playables don’t directly challenge the app store model or break Apple’s rules. However, they do compete with the App Store’s free games.

YouTube’s free games catalog ‘Playables’ rolls out to all users

The families of victims of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas are suing Activision and Meta, as well as gun manufacturer Daniel Defense. The families bringing the…

Families of Uvalde shooting victims sue Activision and Meta

It’s been a wild few months for the developers behind Delta, a retro game emulator app. Their latest hiccup came when Adobe accused the app…

TechCrunch Minute: Adobe lodges branding complaint against indie emulator app Delta

After Apple loosened its App Store guidelines to permit game emulators, the retro game emulator Delta — an app 10 years in the making — hit the top of the…

Adobe comes after indie game emulator Delta for copying its logo

Microsoft will launch its own mobile game store in July, the company announced at the Bloomberg Technology Summit on Thursday. Xbox president Sarah Bond shared that the company plans to…

Microsoft is launching its mobile game store in July

Garena is quietly developing new India-themed games even though Free Fire, its biggest title, has still not made a comeback to the country.

Garena is quietly making India-themed games even as Free Fire’s relaunch remains doubtful

In the most anticlimactic way possible, Nintendo on Tuesday confirmed years of rumors: The Nintendo Switch 2 console is on the way. “We will make an announcement about the successor…

Nintendo finally confirms the Switch 2 is on the way

Apple finally updated its App Store guidelines to allow global developers to host retro game emulators on iOS. Now, you don’t need to jailbreak your iPhone or download any sketchy…

How to play Pokémon and other Game Boy games on your iPhone

Featured Article

10 years in the making, retro game emulator Delta is now No. 1 on the iOS charts

Video game emulator Delta’s decade-long struggle against the iOS App Store began with a school-issued TI-84 calculator. When Riley Testut was a sophomore in high school, he showed his friends how to load illicit software onto their bulky graphing calculators. Such behavior was generally discouraged at school, but he wasn’t…

10 years in the making, retro game emulator Delta is now No. 1 on the iOS charts

In an effort to attract more users and increase engagement, LinkedIn is launching three games: Queens, Crossclimb and Pinpoint.

LinkedIn launches gaming: 3 logic puzzles aimed at extending time spent on its networking platform

Twitch is officially rolling out its new TikTok-like discovery feed to all users this week, the company announced on Tuesday. The new feed, which is launching as a tab within…

Twitch’s TikTok-like discovery feed is rolling out to all users

It’s still unclear whether cloud gaming will ever become the next big thing. The appeal is clear: The game you’re playing runs in a data center near you, and the…

Playruo lets you try game demos from your web browser

Sanlo, a fintech startup that helps gaming companies manage finances, announced Wednesday the closed beta launch of its webshop tool, giving select game developers and studios a plug-and-play solution that…

Fintech gaming startup Sanlo’s webshop tool could help developers avoid costly app store fees