Kuldeep Lather Announces ILVL Entertainment: New Game Studio in India
Kuldeep Lather, founder of Villager Esports, has , a game studio based in India. “We believe it’s essential to create games that cater to the Indian market, given its size and the significant contribution to the popularity of games worldwide,” Lather stated.
He acknowledged challenges such as funding and talent acquisition but remains optimistic, leveraging his experience with Villager Esports. Lather invites the gaming community to join the initiative, offering opportunities in community moderation, content creation, and game development.
World of Warcraft Developers Unionize, Forming WoWGG-CWA
Over 500 World of Warcraft developers have unionized, . This union, comprising designers, engineers, producers, artists, quality assurance testers, and more, is the first wall-to-wall union at Activision Blizzard and the largest at a Microsoft-owned studio.
China Approves 105 Video Game Licenses for July, Including Titles from Tencent and miHoYo
China’s National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) approved 105 video game licenses for July, including Tencent’s first-person shooter “Arena Breakout: Infinite” and miHoYo’s “Xingbu Gudi” (Star Valley) for mobile and PC. This approval rate aligns with Beijing’s trend of licensing about 100 new games monthly, with 733 domestic titles approved in the first seven months of the year compared to 609 last year. , which saw first-quarter revenue rise 7.6% year-on-year to 72.6 billion yuan (US$10 billion), despite a 0.3% dip in April.
Activision Blizzard Reportedly Approves Use of Generative AI for Concept Art and Marketing
Activision Blizzard has approved the use of generative AI tools, such as Midjourney and Stable Diffusion, for concept art and marketing materials, . An internal memo from former Chief Technology Officer Michael Vance, who still works for Activision as a fellow software engineer, reportedly confirmed this approval. A former employee stated the publisher assured artists that AI would be used only for internal concepts, not final game assets, and would not replace them.
