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Games for Change London: Schedule Announced, 02/04/2026
The Games for Change London conference, scheduled for April 15, 2026, at the Leonardo Tower Bridge Hotel, focuses on the theme of Community Channelled.
- The Games for Change London conference will take place on April 15, 2026, at the Leonardo Tower Bridge Hotel, featuring over 45 speakers and 150 attendees focused on leveraging player communities for social impact.
- Major industry partners supporting the event include Roblox, Xsolla, Ubisoft, and Supercell, with scholarship programs provided by organizations like UK Game Angels to support students and indie developers.
- Conference programming includes a UNICEF-led workshop on the RITEC Design Toolbox for children’s well-being and sessions on using games to influence urban design and sustainable consumer behavior.
NewGen Builds on West Hunt Success with Ambitious Viking-Era Followup
Tunisian indie studio NewGen is transitioning from a single-hit developer to a multi-project studio with the upcoming April 2026 Early Access launch of North Hunt.
- Tunisian indie studio NewGen will launch its Viking-themed social deduction game, North Hunt, into Early Access in April 2026.
- North Hunt is designed to scale the core social deduction mechanics of the studio's 2022 hit, West Hunt, into a more competitive multiplayer market.
- The studio is transitioning from a single-hit developer to a multi-project entity by balancing new development with ongoing live-service support for West Hunt.
Back Next Week
This update serves as a brief industry briefing during a scheduled hiatus, providing a snapshot of the current state of the video game sector as of late March 2026.
- The video game industry is experiencing severe instability as of late March 2026, marked by significant layoffs at Eidos Montreal and Polyarc, and the closure of Ivy Road.
- Industry veterans characterize the current economic climate as more severe than the market crash of the 1980s, with few professionals remaining unaffected.
- Nexon is shifting to a conservative investment strategy that prioritizes fewer, high-conviction projects with proven long-term retention and margin potential.
How Retro Rewind's Perfect Theme Hit Nearly 200k Copies in 2 Weeks
The success of the indie title Retro Rewind: Video Store Simulator serves as a primary case study for effective game discovery and development in the current market.
- Retro Rewind: Video Store Simulator sold nearly 200,000 copies within its first two weeks following its March 2026 release.
- The game’s success was driven by iterating on a proven store management simulation loop while maintaining high polish and a distinct theme.
- A playable demo was a critical tool for building community engagement, refining core mechanics, and driving wishlist growth prior to the official launch.
Slay the Spire 2 Surpasses Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hades II in Revenue on Steam
Slay the Spire 2 has achieved significant commercial success on Steam, grossing over $92 million within its first 14 days of release.
- Within 14 days of its Steam launch, Slay the Spire 2 generated over $92 million in revenue from 4.6 million copies sold.
- Slay the Spire 2's Steam revenue has surpassed the lifetime Steam earnings of Hades II ($82 million) and Hollow Knight: Silksong ($83 million).
- The game achieved a 31% wishlist-to-sales conversion rate during its debut week, significantly outperforming the industry average of 7-10%.
How Over The Top Sold 200k Copies in Just Two Weeks
The rapid commercial success of the World War I shooter Over The Top serves as a case study for effective indie game discovery and marketing in the 2026 PC market.
- Flying Squirrel Entertainment’s 'Over The Top' sold 200,000 units within two weeks of its March 6, 2026, release, with projected gross revenue exceeding $10 million.
- The developers secured high-visibility coverage from major streamers like LIRIK, xQc, and Asmongold by executing a targeted outreach campaign that contacted over 9,000 content creators.
- The game mitigated the multiplayer 'cold start' problem by integrating AI bots, ensuring a consistent experience regardless of player count while prioritizing sandbox mechanics over high-skill requirements.
Slay the Spire 2: Steam Launch Performance Analysis
Slay the Spire 2 has achieved one of the most successful indie launches in Steam history, signaling a robust start for the roguelike genre in 2026.
- Slay the Spire 2 generated over $92 million in revenue from 4.6 million copies sold on Steam within its first two weeks of early access.
- The game achieved a 34% wishlist-to-buyer conversion rate within two weeks of launch, significantly outperforming the industry-standard 7–10% benchmark.
- Chinese players are a critical market, accounting for over one-third of the game's total Steam audience.
Profit-sharing for Indie Game Studios
Profit-sharing serves as a critical mechanism for indie game studios to formalize implicit promises of compensation, thereby fostering trust and long-term retention.
- Formalize profit-sharing in legally binding contracts to replace vague, implicit promises that erode trust when a game succeeds.
- Define profit as actual net income received by the studio after platform cuts (e.g., 30% for Steam) and publisher recoupment are fully settled.
- Implement a 5–15% profit-sharing pool for staff, ensuring the studio retains the majority of revenue to account for the financial risk of development.
How's PC Game Engine Usage Changing?
This analysis examines shifting trends in PC game engine adoption by leveraging file structure scanning across more than 33,000 Steam titles.
- Unity maintains a 50% market share of released PC games, holding its position as the industry's most widely used engine.
- Unreal Engine has grown its market share from 15% in 2020 to 20% in 2025, with its top 50 titles generating $1.8 billion compared to $930 million for Unity's top 50.
- Godot has emerged as a significant challenger, increasing its market share from 0.9% in 2017 to 7.1% by 2025.
Seven Things the 2025 State of Gaming Report Actually Tells Us
The 2025 State of Gaming analysis provides a critical evaluation of the global video game industry, highlighting a growing divergence between the premium console/PC market and the increasingly consolidated mobile sector.
- Global mobile gaming revenue growth stagnated at 1% in 2025, with 80% of that limited growth captured by the top 50 titles.
- The premium console and PC market remains viable for non-GaaS titles, evidenced by nine games exceeding 10 million downloads in 2025.
- Chinese publishers like Century Games are dominating mobile strategy genres through superior live operations, metadata engineering, and high-volume paid user acquisition.
“If we can survive that, we can survive anything“
Veteran game developer Don Daglow offers a perspective of resilience for the modern video game industry, which is currently navigating a period of significant instability marked by widespread layoffs and studio closures.
- The Delaware Court of Chancery ordered Krafton to reinstate Unknown Worlds CEO Ted Gill, ruling that the parent company breached its contract to avoid paying up to $250 million in performance-based incentives.
- The court found that interim management at Unknown Worlds negatively impacted studio operations, necessitating the return of original leadership to stabilize the studio and ensure the release of the Subnautica sequel.
- The head of Disney Games Group has filed a $40 million discrimination lawsuit, highlighting ongoing industry-wide scrutiny regarding corporate governance and labor practices.
South African Indie Developer Releases Game After 13-Year Journey
The release of the indie title Cadence on February 12, 2026, marks the conclusion of a 13-year development cycle for South African programmer Peter Cardwell-Gardner.
- South African developer Peter Cardwell-Gardner released the minimalist puzzle game Cadence on February 12, 2026, following a 13-year development cycle.
- The project was developed by the solo studio Made With Monster Love and features mechanics that allow players to compose and share musical patterns via Steam Workshop.
- Development began in 2013 and faced significant financial hurdles, including a failed £25,000 Kickstarter campaign in 2015.