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Video consumption and entertainment spending increased in 2025
TiVo has released its Q4 2025 “Video Trends Report,” finding that consumer video engagement reached ... Read More
Destiny 2 Ending New Content Is "Unthinkable," Warframe Dev Says
Bungie recently announced that it is ending ongoing content releases for Destiny 2 on June 9, with the Sony-owned studio shifting to new projects. The end-of-service announcement was upsetting to many, including Warframe creative director Rebecca Ford. She said on the OnlyFrames podcast that there is “no world where it makes sense.” “Obviously, that news...
MGM and Amazon Game Studios to publish future IO Interactive James Bond titles
Decision follows Amazon's $8.45 billion acquisition of MGM in 2022, which owns the James Bond IP
Future James Bond Games Will Be Led by Amazon and MGM
After the success of 007: First Light, Amazon says future James Bond games will be done by MGM and Amazon Game Studios
God Of War: Laufey Dev Responds To Pizza Company's Dumb Tweet About New Game
God of War developer Santa Monica Studio has responded to a social media post from Domino’s Pizza after the pizza chain’s UK account joked about the newly announced God of War: Laufey for being a God of War game without Kratos. The post from Domino’s Pizza UK said, “God of War game with no Kratos...
'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' Remains Atop U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart Through June 3
Universal’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie remained No. 1 on the weekly Official Film Chart — the U.K. home entertainment sales chart — through June 3 due to digital transactions. Amazon MGM Studios’ former chart topper Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling as a lone astronaut on a mission to save humanity, remained at No. … Continue reading "‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Remains Atop U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart Through June 3"
May's top PlayStation games by copies sold
Yesterday’s State of Play gave us an idea of where PlayStation’s heading next. But we’ve had our May estimates for a couple of days now (we always update our data daily for clients), so it’s time to look at what performed best on PlayStation last month. We’ve got a new IP at the top, two evergreens doing their evergreen thing, FC26 smashing it ahead of the World Cup Plus pivot, and a quiet but promising result for Lego Batman. Let’s have a look at the state of Play…Station’s top games for May. 007 takes #001 007 First Light sold 1M copies on PS5 in May, easily making it the month’s top PS5 game by copies sold. Over 80% of those May copies were digital, which is broadly in line with where PlayStation’s digital share has settled for new releases this year. To date, 007 First Light has sold through 2.2M copies across platforms (so no unsold retail copies in that figure). The platform split is 55.1% PS5, 33.1% Steam, and 11.8% Xbox (console, Windows, and cloud combined). In gross revenue terms, 007 First Light has generated $150M. Owing to regional pricing and audience composition differences, the consoles make up a higher share of revenue than they do copies. Of the $150M, 60.5% came via PlayStation, 27.6% via Steam, and 12.9% via Xbox. Part of this is because over two-thirds of 007 First Light‘s PlayStation audience is in North America (43.4%) or Western Europe (23.2%), where local currency means the game generates more revenue per player. On Steam, under half of First Light‘s audience is from those same regions (31.8% North America, 15.1% Western Europe). As we covered in last week’s 007 Steam piece, the Steam version is pulling in higher-than-expected numbers in China, which now accounts for 17.3% of First Light‘s Steam audience. 007 is the equivalent of $44 USD in China, which is roughly 37% cheaper than the US price and about 44% cheaper than Western Europe. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe The crossover data backs up what we’ve seen all year about launch-window cohorts. 11% of PS5 players who played 007 First Light in May also played Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, which launched just a few days before. Last month was a great month for Denmark! IO Interactive is Copenhagen-based, and Lego Group is headquartered in Billund (TT Games is UK-based but produces work under Lego Group licence and direction). Speaking of which… A very blocky #2 and #3 Minecraft sold another 788K copies on PlayStation consoles last month. Business as usual, since Minecraft hasn’t sold fewer than 760K copies in a single month all year. With over 350M copies sold across all platforms, Minecraft is the best-selling game in history and one of the strongest brands in the world. Every month, a new cohort of children reaches Minecraft age, which guarantees a constant volume of new sales regardless of what the broader market is up to. The demographic refresh rate is truly impressive, with the audience renewing itself faster than it’s churning. Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight shifted 757K copies on PS5 last month, bringing its lifetime total on the platform to over 800K. Across all platforms, Legacy of the Dark Knight has now passed 1.5M sold through, so PlayStation accounts for over half of the game’s players. The May crossover data for Legacy of the Dark Knight on PS5 is also useful. 27% of those players also played Fortnite, 16% Roblox, 16% FC 26, and 14% NBA 2K. That’s the household-and-family cohort showing up, plus the launch-window cohort of core gamers who buy practically everything. FC 26 gets players through the door ahead of the World Cup FC 26 sold 411K copies on PlayStation last month (90% via PS5), the fewest copies FC 26 has sold all year and down heavily from April’s 700K. Part of this dropoff is because FC 26 has been available as a PlayStation Plus monthly game since 6 May, cannibalising premium sales. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe The strategic logic is straightforward for EA, which is sacrificing premium unit sales in May to build up the player base ahead of the FIFA World Cup, which kicks off on 11 June. Obviously, a bigger player pool going into the tournament means a bigger pool of potential Ultimate Team spenders during the period when football attention is at its peak. The early returns are around what you’d expect, with 4.4M new players accessing FC 26 via PS Plus last month – a substantial new spender pool. Anecdotally, a few of my mates who were ‘’skipping FIFA and Ultimate Team this year’’, were drawn back in via PS Plus. Lo and behold, one of them is buying packs like it’s going out of fashion. Whether this is all a smart trade for EA depends entirely on the Ultimate Team conversion rate over the next six weeks. Either way, the short-term engagement impact on the game as a whole is evident. FC 26‘s MAUs hit a record 24M on PlayStation in May, up 30% from the previous record set in April. GTA V does what GTA V always does Rounding out the top five is another evergreen title. Grand Theft Auto V shifted another 387K copies on PlayStation last month. No matter what else is happening in the industry, GTA V keeps pulling players in. It’s sold another 1.8M copies on PS5 in the first half of this year alone, helping the franchise pass the 230M-sold milestone across all platforms. Subscribe for free to get the most accurate games estimates in your inbox twice a week 🫶 Subscribe I have a theory that Minecraft and GTA V are doing the same thing at different demographic levels. Both are functioning as generational gateway games that the audience ages into faster than it ages out of. Minecraft captures kids around age 6-10, GTA V captures much of the same audience around age 12-15 (unofficially, of course). The crossover data suggests this: 40% of GTA V‘s monthly PlayStation players typically play Fortnite in any given month, while 30% play Roblox. Household accounts aside, that’s not the original GTA V audience from 2013. Of course, the under-12 audience would love to get their hands on GTA, too. It’s always been the way of things, and some parents are happy to oblige. Mine did too back in the day, and I turned out just fine. Right? Right!? Want to get your hands on our data for yourself – for free? We’re offering a free trial of our platform for games companies. Send us a message here, or reply to this email, and we’ll set you up. The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]
Evoke Entertainment Secures $35 Million Production Financing Facility to Accelerate Expanding Film & Television Slate
Institutional capital partnership strengthens independent studio's ability to finance and produce content across film, television, and streaming platforms Stan Spry CEO Stan Spry, CEO Evoke Entertainment LOS ANGELES, June 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evoke Entertainment has secured a senior secured production financing facility of up to $35 million backed by a leading institutional private credit fund with extensive experience in media, entertainment, and asset-based lending.The revolving produc
News | Soundstage landlords cater to new entertainment platform: the cellphone
Sunset Studios launches prebuilt sets for fast-turn, short-form series
KEMURI launches in 2027 for PS5, PC
KEMURI, the 2023-announced yokai possession action game from Ikumi Nakamura-led studio UNSEEN, will launch for PlayStation 5 and PC in 2027, the developer announced.
Crimson Desert DLC officially in development at Pearl Abyss as the studio surprises everyone by agreeing to change the game's story
Pearl Abyss has confirmed the new batch of content and features coming through free updates to Crimson Desert, plus a bigger DLC is in the works.
Forward Training & Consulting Receives 2026 Global Recognition Award for Behavioral-Science Leadership Development in the UAE and GCC
Forward Training & Consulting FZE has received a 2026 Global Recognition Award for delivering science-based leadership development across th...
Studio Founded By Forza Horizon 5 Director Announces Open-World Action-Driving Game Clutch
The game is set to launch on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in spring 2027.
Russell Wilson Expected to Join CBS NFL Studio
Wilson's NFL career included 10 Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl Championship.
New AI Inference Service Now Ready for Science at Argonne
AI can help accelerate scientific discovery, but setting up and running a foundation model is not a simple task. Thanks to the work of the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, scientists affiliated with DOE National Labs and the Genesis Mission can now tap into a new AI inference service running on ALCF supercomputers. Dubbed the ALCF […]
"The live-action Smurfs movie paid for itself entirely through product placement" - Former Dragon Age boss suggests games can be funded another way
Ex-BioWare veteran Mark Darrah has suggested publishers and studios could look to movies for new game-funding ideas.
It's Your Business | Champaign loft studio available for photo shoots, 'micro' events
“I’ve modeled the types of events that I want to have based off of a few places in Texas. …They are running truly micro events. And when I say micro,
ARC Raiders PvE 'Rebellion' Map Condition Being Tested in China
Embark Studios appears to be testing a new PvE-focused ARC Raiders map condition in China called Rebellion Incident.
Upcoming Beats headphones teased by Lamine Yamal: New design, pink colorway
Last week, reports emerged around Apple developing a new pair of Beats over-ear headphones, with the FCC leaking an outline...
MSU Benefitted From Recent Legislative Session
The recently-completed 2026 regular session of the Mississippi Legislature saw encouraging gains for Mississippi State University, the state’s leading research university, as lawmakers invested in the land-grant institution’s core missions and in the university’s world-class faculty and staff. “While the bulk of our operations saw level funding, I’m extremely pleased that the Mississippi Legislature and […]
Infinity Ward Vows Modern Warfare 4 Stays Grounded, Slams Door on Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and Omni-Man Skins
Infinity Ward dumped a lot of information on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 all at once on Thursday, May 28. Among the reveals, the studio also shared that cosmetics and collaborations won't betray the game's grounded atmosphere, unlike in other recent installments. On the studio's X account, they tweeted: Every aspect of Modern Warfare 4 is anchored in the game's narrative. Every feature, every decision needs to feel authentic to what Modern Warfare is, and that includes cosmetics and collabs. We're committed to keeping it grounded and transparent, and we want to hear from you on what you'd like […]
Minecraft Live May 2026: Everything Announced
Mojang Studios is back for a May 2026 installment of Minecraft Live, and we're here to gather all of the highlights.
North Kansas City Health and BCBS reach a deal. What that means for patients
Patients were informed their insurance would no longer be accepted at the Northland healthcare system.
Jani Hirvonen appointed as a Member of the Forttuna Business Council Global Advisory Board
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 29, 2026 -- The Forttuna Councils, a flagship initiative of The Forttuna Group, is a global leadership ecosyste...
Witcher Dev Will Focus On Sequels Over Expansions For Witcher 4, 5, 6
The Witcher 3 may be getting a big new expansion almost 12 years after launch, but you shouldn’t expect that to be the norm for the series going forward. From Witcher 4 on, CDPR will focus on full games instead of developing expansions, the studio said. In the Q&A section of CD Projekt Red’s latest...
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma warns tough decisions are ahead, raising questions about Helix, Xbox Game Studios, and exclusives
We break down what "tough decisions" could mean for the future of Xbox and gaming at Microsoft.
Scene Calendar: ArtWalk, live music, local theater
ArtWalk will return from 7 to 10 p.m. May 29 with a self-guided evening of art galleries, studios, live performances and more.
After Rich Colleges Raid Basketball Team, School Exits D1 Sports
(Bloomberg) -- Saint Francis University was out of its league, and Father Malachi Van Tassell knew it.Most Read from BloombergSingapore Hands Byju's Founder His First Ever Jail TermIran’s Khamenei Says No Going Back for Middle East Rocked by WarTwo More Oil Supertankers Exit Hormuz to Help Push Up FlowsEx-President Biden Sues to Stop DOJ Sharing Interview Tapes‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Studio Draws Tencent Music InvestmentBigger, richer universities were raiding its men’s basketball team, luring away
31 hours with the spit-shined Mina the Hollower (and 34 with the four games that came before it)
To truly appreciate Mina The Hollower, an extraordinary new throwback of a game, I sent myself to Yacht Club University. That’s not a real institution of higher learning, but it’s the best way I can explain much of the past several weeks as I prepared to play Mina by playing the four biggest game previously made by studio Yacht Club Games. I had expected Mina the Hollower, in development for six years for PC and consoles, to potentially be something special. A demo I tried in March had felt great. Mina the Hollower had an old-school premise: a singular move for its hero that felt so good to control and so rich with possibilities that, in the hands of skilled designers, it could be riffed on in various ways for the length of a full game. Mina’s core maneuver, her hollowing, made her sort of an upside down Super Mario. Nintendo’s hero jumps through the air, discovering power-ups at the apex of his jump by bonking overhead blocks, then defeating enemies by landing on them. Mina essentially jumps into the ground, digging (“hollowing”) into the earth to fetch buried treasure, then burrows for a short distance to emerge on the other side of a wall that hides treasure or an enemy that needs some battering. I wanted to understand how good Yacht Club was at making games. I wanted to see how far they’d come. If Mina was terrific—as I predicted it might be—I wanted to feel how they got there, one button press at a time. On May 6, 21 days before the writing of this review, I checked with Yacht Club Games co-founder and programmer David D’Angelo, to ask which of the studio’s games I should play to truly appreciate the new one’s design. “Hmmm all of them?” he wrote back. “Starting with Shovel Knight definitely is helpful,” he continued, referring to Yacht Club’s first game. He gave me a link to a spreadsheet of over 400 cheat codes that could help me out, if I found the game too tough.1 “Most folks say Specter of Torment is the least difficult and quickest to finish in terms of playtime, and [it] refines much of Shovel Knight,” he told me. “King of Cards is a big celebration of everything we did in [the Shovel Knight compilation] Treasure Trove— might work for you better if you’re a fan of shorter, Mario-style courses. And it’s probably the closest to Mina in terms of polish.” So that was that. Four games, none of which were required. Mina is a whole new game in a whole new world, best I can tell. I’d barely played that first Shovel Knight before and never the other three. I just thought it’d help. It did. It turns out that playing a game studios major works before their latest is very illuminating.
FOX Entertainment Studios, Access Entertainment sign on to Avi Nesher’s 'Our Lives'
Inspired by true events, Nesher’s film is an emotionally gripping story about the enduring strength of the human spirit and the transformative power of love in the face of the horror of October 7.
FOX Sports Wins Nine Sports EMMY Awards
FOX MLB Scores Big with Seven Wins, Including Honors for 121st World Series, 95th All-Star Game, Technical Achievements and Studio Analyst Alex Rodriguez
Wheelhouse Acquires ‘Shark Week’ Producer Anomaly Entertainment
The move makes Anomaly the latest label at Wheelhouse, which operates Spoke Studios, Campfire Studios, Butternut and Twist.
'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' Leaps Atop Weekly U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart Through May 27
Universal/Illumination’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the top-grossing box office release ($983.7 million) thus far in 2026, jumped atop the Official Film Chart, the weekly U.K. home entertainment sales chart, through May 27. Amazon MGM Studios’ sci-fi adventure Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling, dropped to No. 2 in its second week on the chart, followed … Continue reading "‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Leaps Atop Weekly U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart Through May 27"
'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' Leaps Atop Weekly U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart Through May 27
Universal/Illumination’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the top-grossing box office release ($983.7 million) thus far in 2026, jumped atop the Official Film Chart, the weekly U.K. home entertainment sales chart, through May 27. Amazon MGM Studios’ sci-fi adventure Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling, dropped to No. 2 in its second week on the chart, followed … Continue reading "‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Leaps Atop Weekly U.K. Home Entertainment Sales Chart Through May 27"
Mina The Hollower Surpasses The Greatness Of Shovel Knight
With Mina the Hollower, Yacht Club Games has cemented itself as one of the premiere independent studios in the industry today. Its breakout hit, Shovel Knight, was a retro-throwback platformer that merged classic 8-bit-style action with some modern touches. Mina the Hollower looked similarly old-school, with a look and feel that obviously pays tribute to...
ESPN earns 10 Sports Emmy Awards led by College GameDay, NFL Live and E60
ESPN earned 10 Sports Emmys as the National Academy of Television and Sciences honored the best in sports media during the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards ceremony Tuesday night in New York City. The winners included honors across storytelling and journalism, along with wins for several of the company’s marquee studio shows.
Blu Ocean Innovations Introduces AI Visibility Strategy As User Habits Shift
With a majority of consumers from all generations reporting using AI as a search engine, Blu Ocean Innovations, LLC announces the launch of the ...
CD Projekt Announces Official The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine Special Anniversary Stream as DLC Rumors Swirl
CD Projekt has announced an official special anniversary stream for The Witcher 3’s much-loved expansion, Blood and Wine, sparking speculation the studio may tease more DLC for the game.
NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Drivers 610.47 WHQL Drops Control Panel Support
NVIDIA has released its latest GeForce Graphics Drivers 610.47 WHQL today, introducing significant changes for consumer PC users. With this driver update, NVIDIA is retiring its Control Panel for GeForce Game Ready and Studio Drivers after 20 years of service. Starting with this version, users will ...
Seth Rogen on comedy, money and all those awards
Founded by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver, Point Grey Pictures has had a successful awards season with its comedic hit, "The Studio."
Franklin Primary Health Center offering free men’s health check-ups
June is Men’s Health month. Join us for our free men’s health checkup Thursday, June 4th at the Franklin Primary Health Center Medical Mall, and Friday, June 5th at the FOX10 Studio.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster gets new Nintendo Switch 2 version
Atari and Nightdive Studios have announced that, starting today, a new Nintendo Switch 2 version of System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster will be available. The game previously landed on the original Nintendo Switch. The survival horror game features high-resolution models, bonus materials, and cross-play capabilities. Here’s some information about the title: System Shock® 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster by Nightdive...
Jim Henson's Creature Shop opens for tours. Here's what's inside the once-hidden puppet studio
A puppet-making workshop founded by the legendary creator of the Muppets is drawing back its curtain.
What to Stream: Paul McCartney, John Travolta, Tina Fey, Latto and Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man
Paul McCartney reflecting on the “Days We Left Behind” with his 18th studio album and John Travolta writing, directing and narrating an ode to the glamorous days of 1960s air travel are some of the new television, films, music and...
New VIP entertainment lounge unveiled at Sacramento-area casino
The Studio offers “an exclusive private space for mingling and celebrating during concerts and performances.”
Box Office: ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ tops charts and ‘Obsession’ grows in second weekend
Studio estimates on Sunday say “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” has made $82 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend.
Box Office: ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ tops charts and ‘Obsession’ grows in second weekend
Studio estimates on Sunday say “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” has made $82 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend.
Carmelo Anthony’s Creative 7 Productions: Strategic Partnership With Utopai Studios To Expand Sports And Entertainment IP
Carmelo Anthony, through his production company Creative 7, has become a strategic partner in Utopai Studios as the companies look to expand original sports and entertainment intellectual property development powered by cinematic AI technology.
The Indie Era: Why Independent Creators Are Rewriting the Rules of Entertainment
/PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- We, at Mortfield Industries, believe that something has quietly broken open in the entertainment industry, and it wasn't a studio...
Intel's Latest Round Of Open-Source Projects Ended: OBS Studio Plugin, CVE Binary Tool & More
With Intel having been one of the most dominant open-source contributors for years across the software ecosystem, months after they began sunsetting various software projects no longer aligned with today's Intel, they continue formally sunsetting/archiving different open-source projects.
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Deathwatch: Redefined Brutal Turn-Based Tactics on XBOX
Complex Games Studio Head Jonas Van Niekerk lays out everything you need to know to get excited about the newly announced Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Deathwatch.
Hasbro Moving Entertainment Division to Historic Hollywood Lot
Hasbro will move its entertainment division to The Lot, the historic Hollywood studio once tied to United Artists.
Astros vs. Cubs Series Primer with Ryan Sweeney of Marquee Sports Network
Former Major Leaguer Ryan Sweeney, who serves as studio analyst on Chicago’s Marquee Sports Network, sits down to preview the Astros upcoming series with the Cubs at historic Wrigley Field. Q: When it’s all said and done, could the Cubs have the best rotation in all of baseball this season? A: Cubs have had a […]
Coffee shop, dance studio: Check out 5 businesses coming soon to Allen
Several businesses are opening soon in Allen. Keep reading for the latest business updates from Community Impact. This list is not comprehensive.
Xbox Game Studios Now Has An Official Shop, Featuring Merch For Major First-Party Games
Forza, Halo, Sea of Thieves and much more!
Introducing the XBOX Game Studios Shop
Today, we’re launching the XBOX Game Studios Shop, your new destination for official merchandise from your favorite XBOX Game Studios titles.
Introducing the PlayStation Studios Accessibility Community Council
Learn how PlayStation is helping developers build more accessible and inclusive games through direct collaboration with accessibility experts and players.
Echoes of Aincrad: Sword Art Online ‘System’ trailer
Publisher Bandai Namco and developer Game Studio have released a seven-minute trailer for action RPG Echoes of Aincrad: Sword Art Online introducing the gameplay systems.
I can’t believe how fast Google vibe coded my first Android app
From prompt to phone in minutes flat.
Yasam Ayavefe Expands Active Investment Strategy Across Hospitality, Real Estate, Technology, and Energy Sectors
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 21, 2026 -- Yasam Ayavefe is advancing a cross-sector investment strategy focused on operational discipline, lo...
New KLTV KidsCast exhibit opens at Discovery Science Place
Hands-on television studio allows children to experience broadcasting firsthand
JB Smoove Strikes First-Look Deal With Fox Entertainment Studios
It comes after Smoove, known for his improv comedy style, hosted Amazon game show Buy It Now, which ran for one season in 2024.
Xbox expands leadership team with major hires
Xbox has added two big names to its leadership team: Matthew Ball and Scott Van Vliet. The new recruits are part of an on-going drive from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to move faster, build better products, and make more focused business decisions. The Game Business can reveal that Ball is joining as Chief Strategy Officer. He is a popular industry analyst who is responsible for the annual The State of Video Gaming report, which is widely read across the business. His first job will be to strengthen the console side of Xbox, which is facing significant pressures, not least from the rising costs of memory and storage. In an interview with The Game Business earlier in the year, he admitted he was “pretty frightened” by the situation for the console sector. Ball had previously worked as head of strategy and planning for Amazon Studios, and wrote the 2022 international best-seller The Metaverse. He is currently CEO of Epyllion, a venture partner at investment group Makers Fund and senior advisor at KKR & Co. Meanwhile, Scott Van Vliet joins as Chief Technology Officer. He was previously in charge of Azure OpenAI and AI Core infrastructure at Microsoft, and he also led engineering for Microsoft Teams during the COVID 19 pandemic. But he has a games background. He previously worked across games for Amazon, including Alexa, Amazon Game Studios and the Amazon App Store. He directly worked on the Minecraft: Fire TV Edition. Prior to that, he was VP of Digital Play at Mattel, and worked across brands such as Batman, Barbie, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Cut The Rope. His job will be to improve how Xbox builds products so teams can move faster and deliver stronger results. For more breaking stories, sign-up to The Game Business today Subscribe In addition to these new hires, Xbox has promoted Chris Schnakenberg to Corporate Vice President, Partnerships & Business Development. He was previously VP of partnerships and business development, and joined from Activision Blizzard, where he spent 12 years in various strategy, business development and partner relations role. His focus is on third-party games, publishers and developers working with Xbox. The news follows a number of new hires and promotions earlier in the month, including Jason Ronald taking leadership over Xbox’s upcoming Project Helix console. “These changes are about strengthening our foundation by creating more clarity and improving execution,” Sharma said in an email to staff. “As we head toward Showcase and beyond, we’ll continue making the changes needed to position XBOX for the future.” Matthew Ball is speaking with Christopher Dring at The Game Business Live on Monday, June 8. More details on the event can be found here.
Xbox expands leadership team with major hires
Xbox has added two big names to its leadership team: Matthew Ball and Scott Van Vliet. The new recruits are part of an on-going drive from Xbox CEO Asha Sharma to move faster, build better products, and make more focused business decisions. The Game Business can reveal that Ball is joining as Chief Strategy Officer. He is a popular industry analyst who is responsible for the annual The State of Video Gaming report, which is widely read across the business. His first job will be to strengthen the console side of Xbox, which is facing significant pressures, not least from the rising costs of memory and storage. In an interview with The Game Business earlier in the year, he admitted he was “pretty frightened” by the situation for the console sector. Ball had previously worked as head of strategy and planning for Amazon Studios, and wrote the 2022 international best-seller The Metaverse. He is currently CEO of Epyllion, a venture partner at investment group Makers Fund and senior advisor at KKR & Co. Meanwhile, Scott Van Vliet joins as Chief Technology Officer. He was previously in charge of Azure OpenAI and AI Core infrastructure at Microsoft, and he also led engineering for Microsoft Teams during the COVID 19 pandemic. But he has a games background. He previously worked across games for Amazon, including Alexa, Amazon Game Studios and the Amazon App Store. He directly worked on the Minecraft: Fire TV Edition. Prior to that, he was VP of Digital Play at Mattel, and worked across brands such as Batman, Barbie, Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Cut The Rope. His job will be to improve how Xbox builds products so teams can move faster and deliver stronger results. For more breaking stories, sign-up to The Game Business today Subscribe In addition to these new hires, Xbox has promoted Chris Schnakenberg to Corporate Vice President, Partnerships & Business Development. He was previously VP of partnerships and business development, and joined from Activision Blizzard, where he spent 12 years in various strategy, business development and partner relations role. His focus is on third-party games, publishers and developers working with Xbox. The news follows a number of new hires and promotions earlier in the month, including Jason Ronald taking leadership over Xbox’s upcoming Project Helix console. “These changes are about strengthening our foundation by creating more clarity and improving execution,” Sharma said in an email to staff. “As we head toward Showcase and beyond, we’ll continue making the changes needed to position XBOX for the future.” Matthew Ball is speaking with Christopher Dring at The Game Business Live on Monday, June 8. More details on the event can be found here.
Jeff Bezos Defends 'Melania' Documentary as 'Very Good Business Decision,' Denies It Was Way to Buy Influence
Jeff Bezos insists that Amazon MGM Studios' decision to acquire and release "Melania," a documentary about the First Lady, was smart business -- and not an attempt to curry favor with her husband.
Fox Sports reveals studio team for 2026 World Cup including Lloyd, Stone
Fox Sports revealed their studio team for the 2026 World Cup including soccer legends Carli Lloyd, Alexi Lalas, Clarence Seedorf and Thiago Alcântara.
FOX Sports Presents All-Star Studio Team Anchoring FIFA World Cup 2026™
FOX Sports Presents All-Star Studio Team Anchoring FIFA World Cup 2026™
Google is launching an Android version of its AI Studio vibe coding tool.
The app, which you can pre-register for on Google Play, will let you use AI and prompts to starting building other apps. [Image: https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-19-at-5.10.01PM.png?quality=90&strip=all]
Google flips Antigravity into an agentic dev suite, AI Studio app lands on Android
Google's Antigravity 2.0 is here to build and manage agents to let them loose on your latest projects, as AI Studio Android app arrives.
Google AI Studio can now build Android apps, Android Studio adds iOS app porting
Google made several developer announcements at I/O 2026, led by AI Studio's new capability to build native Android apps.
Google's AI Studio now lets anyone build Android apps in minutes
Google unveiled new web-based AI tools that can generate native Android apps in minutes, as the company expands its push into AI-powered software development.
Whoa! Netflix is Sending Narnia Heading to Theaters...What This Means for the Future of Film
(Welcome to the “Most Important Story of the Week”, my bi-weekly strategy column analyzing the most important (but often not buzziest) news story of the last two weeks. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. Please subscribe.) Here’s a funny thing about the debate over whether streamers should release their movies in theaters first: Both sides think the other side represents the “conventional wisdom”. If you’ve been reading me for any amount of time, or even just scanned my front page, you know I think movies make more money by having a robust theatrical window compared to going straight-to-streaming. I’ve published thousands of words on this topic. And for years, I felt like I was standing up to a wave of opposition. See, while the “put your films in theaters to make money” take was obvious at any point before 2019, post-streaming revolution, most of the trendy thinkers took the opposite point of view. Big names argued that Netflix putting their film straight-to-streaming (“S-to-S” from here on out) actually made more money. Netflix was “disrupting” theaters, just as they disrupted Blockbuster Video, and since innovation is always good, this too was a great idea. This thinking then leaked into the mainstream business outlets like the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg. I read many articles whose take boiled down to “Netflix makes tons of money from S-to-S releases” and “theaters were in structural decline” anyways. Covid-19 shutting down theaters and the 2023 strikes shutting down film production seemingly justified this point of view, as the box office struggled to return to 2017-2019 heights. Yet I’ve also read folks arguing the opposite point: the conventional wisdom says to put films in theaters! From some writers’ points of view, “everyone” actually agrees/agreed with my “send your films to theaters” take—especially the stodgy traditional studios—and folks still didn’t understand Netflix’s genius. I feel like, for the last two years, many people have argued this point as if it’s conventional wisdom. You know what? I may have been wrong. At this point, the “S-to-S strategy makes money” might be the minority viewpoint. Especially with the news this month that Netflix will put at least one film—Greta Gerwig’s Narnia film The Magician’s Nephew—in theaters in 2027 for a full 49-day run is big news. So that’s the story of the week, but I’ll also explain why they’re making this move now and why Netflix may not completely embrace theaters, along with other topics, like how I don’t buy Disney’s “super app” strategy, the latest good news out of the unions, my take on the latest attacks against free speech, and a whole lot more. Let’s get started. Subscribe Most Important Story of the Week - Netflix Goes to Theaters! Listen, I promise not to victory lap too hard today. As I just wrote, I’ve argued against sending films straight-to-streaming for—checks calendar—eight years now. Since 2018. Yikes. That’s a long time. And for years, others painted my thinking as “conventional” in that I was standing up for the status quo against trendy, cool disruption. And that’s not cool! But math is math, and I never could make the S-to-S numbers work. The only thing that ever enabled that model was Wall Street’s brief exuberance for it. It seems like the heads of Netflix now agree with me. (There were always rumors that former head of film for Netflix Scott Stuber argued internally for theatrical releases as well.) As they announced: “The Magician’s Nephew_—the first film in a Narnia series of films—will open on 12-Feb-2027, with a 49 day theatrical exclusive run.”_ I’m a little surprised at how little coverage this big change actually got. Credit to Bloomberg for leading with it and Matt Belloni’s The Town for highlighting it with the provocatively titled podcast “Hell Hath Frozen Over”. But after that? Instead of getting as much coverage as, say, the FCC’s latest egregious crackdown on free speech, this news story got crickets. But it’s massively more important for the future business of entertainment. So let’s start with the obvious question… Why Put Your Movies in Theaters? So…why should Netflix put (some!) of their movies in theaters? Well, I’ve already written that in a very, very, very long article from 2022: [ ](https://entertainment.substack.com/p/the-data-is-in-theatrical-films-massively) [ The Data Is In: Theatrical Films Massively Outperform Straight-To-Streaming Films ](https://entertainment.substack.com/p/the-data-is-in-theatrical-films-massively) Entertainment Strategy Guy · April 5, 2023 [ Read full story ](https://entertainment.substack.com/p/the-data-is-in-theatrical-films-massively) To summarize, theatrical runs make much more money, especially blockbusters, because they earn more money per viewing,1 and that helps boost home entertainment sales. Theatrical films also perform as well or better than the streaming-only films. Now, partially this is driven by increased marketing for said films, but said marketing ultimately boosts the awareness of the movies and drives improved streaming and library performance as well. Again, I’ve made this case after reviewing the economic models and streaming data for years. Just last week, Emily Horgan also made the case for kids films! Yes, it is probably conventional wisdom, but that’s also because it’s true! I’d also argue we’ve seen a lot of data in the various studios’ behavior. As I’ve noted before, the more a studio needs to make money, the likelier they are to put films in theaters. As such, Disney, Universal, Warner Bros., Paramount and Sony all send their major films to theaters. Even if they once made a big S-to-S push (*cough* Disney *cough*), they’ve since relented and returned to theaters. The tech companies don’t need to make money, per se, so it took them years to embrace theaters. Apple doesn’t need to make money because it doesn’t disclose their (likely) Quibi-sized losses each year. (They fear bad press more than losing money.) Amazon announced two years ago that they planned to make Amazon-MGM Studios/Prime Video profitable on its own, and guess what? Now they’re putting films in theaters. That leaves Netflix. They’re in between the “no need to make money at all” and the “desperately need to make money to offset linear TV declines”, so they had less pressure to put some films in theaters. Plus, for years, they were the sexy disruptor, and Wall Street rewarded them for that. (Honestly, they still do.) Yet, even Netflix likely saw the money they were leaving on the table (I’ve estimated it at an easy billion dollars before) so they changed their course. I heard one pundit argue that, because Netflix already makes so much money, they don’t need to make more money, which sort of goes against everything I’ve ever learned about business and economics. Again, to be super-nuanced, sending “films to theaters” does not mean EVERY film. TV movies have been a thing for decades. Lifetime films, Hallmark holiday films, Disney Channel Original Movies, and so on, don’t need theatrical runs. But films above a certain budget level (say $25 to 50 million) almost certainly need theaters to maximize their revenue. The Scenarios (with a Dose of Skepticism) Now time for some skepticism: it won’t surprise me at all if Netflix re-changes course. Specifically, Netflix announced that their Narnia film will go to theaters. And I’d bet anything we see KPop Demon Hunters 2: The Huntering2 also goes to theaters, cause it’s the surest hit outside of a Disney animated sequel right now. But how much does Netflix truly commit to theaters? They’ve already tried to emphasize that this is a one-off move. I see three broad scenarios:
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