Games Industry News Roundup- March seventeenth, 2026

Here at Goonhammer, we all know that it’s onerous to maintain monitor of all of the information taking place on a regular basis within the video games business. So a lot is all the time happening with video games of all types, and their associated media, it may be an actual blink-and-you’ll miss it scenario. 

That’s why each week, we spherical up 5 of the largest tales within the gaming sphere from the previous week within the Games Industry News Roundup. Our trusty information boy, Dan “Swiftblade” Richardson, is on the very actual and funky Goonhammer newsdesk with the inside track.

Arc Raiders Development Team Replaces AI Generated Voice Lines with Real Actors

Normally, once we are speaking about AI within the roundup, it’s about how the expertise is doing the whole lot it may to snuff out human creativity within the gaming sphere. In a uncommon buck to the pattern this week, it’s the true, respiratory individuals which are pushing out AI this time. In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, the CEO of the staff behind common extraction shooter Arc Raiders stated that the team has been in the process of replacing many of the AI generated voice lines in the game with real human voice actors. 

Launching final yr, Arc Raiders discovered fast success on Steam and drew widespread essential reward for its tight and interesting gameplay alongside its retrofuture aesthetics. A sticking level for a lot of reviewers and gamers, nonetheless, was the voice performing within the recreation, which was generated through AI. Embark Studios, the staff behind Arc Raiders, used AI voice performing of their earlier launch, The Finals, which additionally discovered a devoted group regardless of the criticism over the AI generated voices.

Rather than proceed to double down on AI voices nonetheless, Embark has relented to strain and begun the method of changing the AI generated voices.

“We re-recorded some of the lines post-launch and made them with real voices,” Patrick Söderlund, CEO of Embark Studios, informed Gamesindustry.biz in an interview. “”There is a top quality distinction. An actual skilled actor is best than AI; that’s simply how it’s.”

Söderlund expands on the studio’s present outlook on AI utilization in recreation growth, saying, “We look at [AI] first and foremost as a production tool. We can test things internally. We can test 15 different lines without recording them, and then we know what to record. It’s also a way for us to work, not replace actors. We don’t necessarily believe in replacing humans with AI all the time.”

It’s an actual victory for the voice performing business, whose considerations about voice actors being changed by AI was sufficient of a problem to spark a voice actors strike final yr.

Embark has not clarified additional on simply how a lot AI utilization they nonetheless intend to make use of within the growth of any further Arc Raiders content material or any future video games, or what strains particularly have been changed by voice actors. 

Neopets TTRPG Officially Cancelled

Heartbreaking information this week for folk who performed Dungeons and Dragons and thought, “this needs more Neopets”, as the Neopets TTRPG has been officially cancelled.

Neopets introduced final week in a weblog put up on their web site that they’ve determined to formally finish their licensing collaboration with Geekify on the TTRPG. Geekify has been one of many Neopets go-to companions for merchandise for years, and launched a crowdfunding marketing campaign to create a TTRPG based mostly on the world of Neopets. The marketing campaign raised over $400 thousand, with the help of round 7,600 backers. The preliminary projections for the mission slated a December 2024 launch, however the mission was met with continued delays previous to its cancellation final week. 

A beta launch of the principles was distributed to backers earlier this yr, which was met with widespread backlash because the delivered ruleset was largely a hack of the Dungeons & Dragons fifth version ruleset somewhat than an authentic recreation.  

“As part of our commitment to providing quality Neopets experiences, we regularly review our licensing partnerships to ensure they align with our long-term goals and with the standards we set for official Neopets licensed merchandise and experiential projects.” Neopets wrote in a put up. “We determined that it is in the best interest of the Neopets brand and our community to cease this specific project and ongoing license agreement. We wish the best for Geekify Inc as we both continue to grow and evolve separately.”

Regarding the Kickstarter marketing campaign cash, Neopets acknowledged that anybody with questions concerning refunds for his or her pledge have to undergo Geekify, as that’s the firm behind the Kickstarter and managing its funds, although backers of the mission will obtain an unique avatar in-game from Neopets. Neopets additionally left the door open for potential future TTRPG diversifications, recognizing the immense help garnered by the crowdfunding marketing campaign.  

Geekify has not launched an announcement concerning the cancellation right now.   

Valve Releases Statement Regarding New York Lawsuit Against Loot Boxes

Valve has come underneath hearth from a number of angles over the previous few months, specifically catching warmth for its determination to vary content material coverage for video games on Steam in a method that provides fee processing corporations, resembling Mastercard and Visa, an uncomfortable quantity of management about what kind of video games are and aren’t allowed on the platform. Valve’s troubles don’t finish within the courtroom of public opinion nonetheless, as the company released a statement last week regarding an ongoing case with the state of New York regarding Loot Boxes and anti-gambling laws.  

The lawsuit particularly targets a few of Valve’s most profitable live-service video games, resembling DOTA 2, Counter-Strike 2, and Team Fortress 2, and argues that the presence of randomized loot bins or loot field equivalents on this recreation are a type of playing, as gamers should pay cash for a random end result that solely has  a small probability of being one of many objects a participant is doubtlessly in search of. 

Valve argues that this isn’t the case, stating, “These types of boxes in our games are widely used, not just in video games but in the tangible world as well, where generations have grown up opening baseball card packs and blind boxes and bags, and then trading and selling the items they receive. On the physical side, popular products used in this way include baseball cards, Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, and Labubu. In the game space, digital packs similar to our boxes date back to 2004 and are in widespread use. Players don’t have to open mystery boxes to play Valve games. In fact, most of you don’t open any boxes at all and just play the games—because the items in the boxes are purely cosmetic, there is no disadvantage to a player not spending money.”

Valve additionally claims to observe these things fastidiously on in-game marketplaces, and that the corporate cracks down on any try to make use of these things for functions that might be perceived as playing.

The New York Attorney General’s office filed the suit in February of this yr after a protracted investigation into Valve’s loot field enterprise practices previous to submitting the swimsuit. In the criticism, the NYAG states that these loot field practices are predatory and harmful, notably in direction of youthful audiences, claiming Valve “has made billions of dollars luring its users, many of whom are teenagers or younger, to engage in gambling.”

“Ultimately, a court will decide whose position—ours or NYAG’s—is correct.” Valve writes to shut their assertion. At this time, Valve has not stopped any of its loot bins throughout, whatever the impeding courtroom case.

Former Subnautica CEO Wins Lawsuit Against Employers for Trying to Avoid Payment

The wild story of the Subnautica growth staff and its ousted CEOs may really find yourself having a cheerful ending, or not less than as shut as we are inclined to get to these days. On Monday, the choose within the case between Krafton and Ted Gill, the previous CEO of Unknown Worlds who was ousted by Krafton, announced that he was ruling in Gill’s favor in the case, requiring Krafton to immediately reinstate Gill to his position as CEO and pay him $250 million.

The lawsuit states that Krafton put strain on the staff at Unknown Worlds and created purposeful obstacles to make the staff miss the winter 2025 launch window for publishing Subnautica 2 in early entry. Gill claims that this was intentional on Krafton’s half, in order that the corporate may keep away from paying out a $250 million contractual bonus for releasing the early entry construct on time. Following this, Gill and different leaders at Unknown Worlds threatened to self-publish Subnautica 2, which based on Krafton left the corporate “no choice” however to take away them from their management positions.

In the courtroom ruling, the choose over the case writes that whereas it was unsuitable for Gill and different leaders to obtain firm information as leverage, that this motion was solely taken as a result of Krafton pressured their hand with an escalating marketing campaign of blatant company sabotage towards the staff at Unkown Worlds, and that utilizing the specter of releasing the sport independently was a weak excuse on Krafton’s half to eliminate Gill and his friends to interchange them with Krafton loyalists. 

Krafton intends to nonetheless battle the case, regardless of the courtroom ruling. “While we respectfully disagree with today’s ruling, we are evaluating our options as we determine our path forward. Today’s ruling does not resolve the former executives’ claim for damages or an earnout related to Subnautica 2, with further litigation still pending.”

Hachette Announces New Age of Sigmar Spearhead Magazine

Games Workshop is collaborating once again with Hachette, a popular magazine publisher, to release a year-long weekly publication for Age of Sigmar, specializing in giving the gamers a big selection of fashions and terrain to construct their collections with, alongside slowly introducing them to the Spearhead recreation mode. 

According to the put up on the Warhammer group web site, those that follow the Spearhead subscription for its complete run can have a spearhead for twelve totally different factions within the Age of Sigmar universe, together with Seraphon, Stormcast, Skaven, Ossiarch Bonereapers, and Gloomspite Gitz, in addition to all of the terrain required to play a recreation of Spearhead. In addition to those fashions, Spearhead will even include passion provides, like paints and brushes, in addition to getting began guides for easy methods to paint the fashions included with the journal.

Much like Hachette’s earlier journal collaboration with Games Workshop, Combat Patrol, the subscription comes with a standard subscriber tier alongside a deluxe degree subscription, which incorporates additional premium fashions alongside the twelve Spearhead forces included with the journal.

Currently, Hachette solely has subscription choices for Spearhead for UK areas solely. The first situation of Spearhead was made accessible for buy in retailer beginning on March 4th, with the second situation made accessible on the 18th. Following these two huge releases, these keen on Spearhead might want to subscribe immediately on the Hachette web site to get further problems with the journal.     

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