Happy holidays my geeks and gamers! This week, we’re discussing China’s new laws, cracking down on game monetization, and the ransomware attack at Insomniac Games. Although it’s the holiday season, this week in gaming news has been a hard one for all gaming fans. Definitely not a gift you wanna wake up to if you’re Insomniac Games. On the bright side, their upcoming Wolverine game looks really promising! That’s all for this week, have a safe holiday and keep on gaming.
News
China's New Laws Cracking Down on Game Monetization
Image credits to Reuters
China will be implementing new regulations that limit what types of monetization can be included in video games. Specific tactics such as selling random loot box type rewards to those under 18 has been outright banned. Other limiting factors will be put into place such as having a maximum amount of money that in-game wallets can have, limiting potential purchases. For more details on all the potential legal changes, check out this Reuters link here. Stocks for major Chinese gaming companies Tencent and Netease have dropped by huge margins in anticipation of the changes. Normally restrictions to market forces like this can be seen as overreaching control, but it is hard from a gamer’s perspective to not see the potential good in limiting just how much large companies can monetize their players.
Insomniac Ransomware Attack
Image credits to Insomniac Games
Earlier this week, Insomniac Games fell victim to a rather unfortunate ransomware attack. The group known as Rhysida, had reportedly stolen almost two terabytes of data that contained personal information on insomniac employees, past employees and independent contractors. Early development details about the upcoming Wolverine game had also been stolen and leveraged for $2 million in bitcoin. Insomniac Games stood their ground against the threat and released a statement this morning to shed light on their current situation.
Game Sales
Steam Weekend Sales
Image credits to Steam
Steam's Winter Sale is here until January 4th, slashing prices on tons of hit games. To make it even better, we have several franchise sales to choose from like, The Witcher, Resident Evil, Warhammer, Fallout and many more. Good luck gamers!
Elden Ring: $59.99 > $35.99
Baldur's Gate 3: $59.99 > $53.99
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim SE: $39.99 > $7.99
Remnant II: $49.99 > $29.99
Dead Cells: $24.99 > $12.49
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