Games Industry News Roundup- December 2nd, 2025

Here at Goonhammer, we know that it’s hard to keep track of all the news happening all the time in the games industry. So much is always going on with games of all sorts, and their related media, it can be a real blink-and-you’ll miss it situation.

That's why every week, we round up five of the biggest stories in the gaming sphere from the past week in the Games Industry News Roundup. Our trusty news boy, Dan “Swiftblade” Richardson, is at the very real and cool Goonhammer newsdesk with the scoop.

Wizards Pulls Back Monster Hunter Secret Lair

Credit: Capcom/Wizards of the Coast

Monster Hunter is a series known for its grueling battles against gigantic creatures, but it turns out the latest fight sent the veteran franchise packing: trying to collab with Magic the Gathering.

Earlier last month, Wizards of the Coast announced it would be partnering with Capcom to release a Secret Lair superdrop based on the world of Monster Hunter. Set to release on December 1st, the superdrop would contain existing cards with a brand new Monster Hunter coat of paint, with each of the four sets released with the super drop being themed around either hunters, monsters, or the hunt itself.

With the popularity of Monster Hunter following the release of Monster Hunter: World in 2018, this seems like it would be an easy slam dunk for Wizards and Capcom. Online reactions to the announcement, however, were surprisingly negative, with the consensus being that the cards failed to invoke the spirit of what made the game series so memorable. Five days later, Wizards announced it would be scraping the release all together, and going back to the drawing board.

“Let's cut to the chase: the Secret Lair x Monster Hunter™ Superdrop we revealed last week fell short of expectations,” Wizards wrote in the news post. “We heard loud and clear that you were disappointed, and we believe we can do better. So, we're going to postpone this release and rework this Superdrop entirely.”

Wizards of the Coast assured fans of Magic and Monster Hunter alike that they would try again with a Monster Hunter-themed secret lair in the future, and that Capcom is fully onboard with both cancelling this release and attempting again later.

This marks the first time Wizards has ever cancelled a Secret Lair release, a shocking move considering how the runaway success of Universes Beyond crossover sets has become integral to the game’s marketing strategy. It seems that Wizards sees the importance in making sure that a card release captures the essence of a given IP, or at least wants to desperately avoid bad press from a half-baked superdrop.

Wizards of the Coast says there will be more updates regarding the Monster Hunter Superdrop sometime in 2026.

Corvus Belli Expands Affiliate Program

Credit: Corvus Belli

Infinity creators Corvus Belli started a new affiliate program last week, which offers those who sign up and are accepted a 10% commission on sales for all Corvus Belli products sold through their link.

"The goal is to help creators build sustainable income around the games they already love," marketing director Max Lattanzi told Wargamer. It’s the first step in a larger effort to strengthen and professionalize Corvus Belli's creator ecosystem ahead of its 2026 25th Anniversary.”

The affiliate program homepage touts the ease of signups, with no international restrictions for membership, and a regular monthly payout from the affiliate link. Those selected to become affiliates will be given access to a premade creator dashboard that breaks down their engagement and revenue, built by the software company Adpump. Additionally, the program partners with other major players in the wargaming and nerd culture world, including Army Painter, Joytoy, and Warsenal.

The application to join the program is currently live and free for anyone who wants to apply, but it is unknown at this time how many affiliates Corvus Belli is looking for at this time, or the exact nature of their requirements for a potential applicant.

Games Workshop’s Latest Marketing Campaign Bravely Asks, “Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Ultramarines?”

Credit: Games Workshop

Games Workshop’s Marketing department has grown steadily more self-aware with its humor over the past few years, ">especially with its current video series about fans protesting a “lack” of Ultramarines releases.

As of this writing, there are three videos about the “Ultramad” protests, where throngs of upset Ultramarine fans outside of Warhammer World rally against the total drought of attention their faction has received. “There’s been more non-Ultramarine releases than Ultramarine releases in the past year” one woman yells to a reporter at ‘Calth News’. “It’s Just Rubbish!”

The most recent video in the series claims that every release moving forward will be an Ultramarines release, but does not provide any additional context for what that means, cutting away before anything can be said.

This video campaign is likely linked to the 500 Worlds campaign books that were announced at the World Championships of Warhammer this year, but they could also be hyping up the potential of an even bigger release for Ultramarines, or even some sort of bait and switch. Since Games Workshop has even gone so far as to make official “Ultramad” protest merch, it’s fairly likely that this is either leading to something very big, promises to be a long and ongoing campaign, or both.

GAMA Names Interim Executive Director

Credit: GAMA

Following the announcement of GAMA’s ten-year plan for growth and the departure of it’s previous longtime executive director, John Stacy, the organization has found its new interim director in leadership consultant Zaria Davis, Ph.D.

“The board has brought Zaria Davis in as interim executive director to ensure we keep moving forward during this transitional stage.” Gama wrote in the announcement. “She will be helping the organization build on our existing procedures with a primary objective of ensuring a strong foundation for when we hire the new executive director. We are incredibly excited to tap into Zaria’s knowledge and expertise.”

Davis has a track record of working with nonprofits to help them expand and prosper through her firm, New Direction Coaching and Consulting.

“Dr. Davis wants to provide support to nonprofit leaders through coaching and facilitation,” New Direction Coaching and Consulting writes on its webpage. “Her work expands from individual coaching to consulting nonprofit organizations. In addition to leadership development and advocacy facilitation, Dr. Davis would like to address deeper needs related to oppressive systems that impact professionals directly and indirectly in the nonprofit sector.”

Davis is also an ordained minister with the United Church of Christ, a culturally liberal denomination of Protestantism, and has a doctorate in Social Work from Capella University.

Davis is set to take on her role as interim Executive director of GAMA immediately, and is expected to stay in the role until sometime next Spring.

Epic Games CEO Decries ‘AI’ Tags on Online Storefronts

Credit: Disney/Epic Games

Tim Sweeny, the CEO of Fortnite Epic Games, spoke out last week against Valve’s policy to label any game that includes AI-Generated content on Steam, claiming that the policy makes no sense.

"The AI tag is relevant to art exhibits for authorship disclosure, and to digital content licensing marketplaces where buyers need to understand the rights situation," Sweeney wrote on his social media page. "It makes no sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in nearly all future production."

Initially, Valve was lax with its handling of games with AI-generated content, such as art designs and voice acting. The company walked this laissez-faire policy back after widespread negative reaction, and now lists any game with AI-assets with the “Made with AI” tag.

Sweeny claims AI assists small creators with game making, rather than stomping them out under it’s robotic corporate heel, replying to his original comment with “I just hate to see Valve confiscate ever more opportunity from small developers by facilitating new categories, cancel campaigns and review bombing. Steam used to just facilitate downloads. Then they foreclosed on payments, then price competition, then crypto, now AI.”

Epic Games has recently come under fire for using AI-generated content in Fortnite with its Darth Vader event, which allowed for players to interact with Darth Vader over voice chat. Vader would then respond to the player using the voice of the character's late original Voice Actor, James Earl Jones. Though Jones had agreed to allow for his voice to be replicated with AI following his passing, critics pointed out that using Jones’s voice pushed out opportunities for any other VA from stepping into the role.

Sweeny’s full-throated endorsement of removing the AI tag from digital storefronts has drawn plenty of criticism. Artist Ayi Sanchez perhaps puts it best on why we should keep the “Made with AI” tag, writing on his social media the removing the tag “Is like saying food products shouldn't have their ingredients list. Consumers should have the information to decide if they want to buy something or not depending on its content. The only ppl [sic] afraid of this are the ones that know their product is low effort.”

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