Games Industry News Roundup- January 20th, 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.

Games Workshop Executives Ban Generative AI Use

Credit: Games Workshop

Games Workshop’s half year report released last week, giving interested Warhammer fans a peek behind the curtain to catch a glimpse at the finances and current projects happening at GW. The report shows that the company is on track for another excellent year financially, up around £14 million from the last half year report in December 2024. The report also gave us a look at how tariffs affected the company, with Games Workshop confirming that it was able to largely offset the loss from tariffs via a 2.5% price increase in many of their products shipped to the United States.

While there’s plenty of interesting stuff for those willing to dig into the nitty gritty of the report, the big headline out of the report is Games Workshop’s stance on AI use in it’s design studio. Unlike most major corporations, who sprint towards AI with open arms, executives at GW are highly cautious about the technology, and have drawn a hard line on keeping generative AI out of the Warhammer design studio.

Kevin Rountree, CEO at GW, expanded on the company’s feelings towards AI in the report. “(AI is) a very broad topic and to be honest I’m not an expert on it,” Rountree writes.

“We do have a few senior managers that are: none are that excited about it yet. We have agreed an internal policy to guide us all, which is currently very cautious e.g. we do not allow AI generated content or AI to be used in our design processes or its unauthorised use outside of GW including in any of our competitions.”

Rountree concludes the section on AI by confirming that while GW is allowing some senior managers to toy with the tech, the company is not interested in replacing human artists and designers with AI.

“We are allowing those few senior managers to continue to be inquisitive about the technology. We have also agreed we will be maintaining a strong commitment to protect our intellectual property and respect our human creators. In the period reported, we continued to invest in our Warhammer Studio - hiring more creatives in multiple disciplines from concepting and art to writing and sculpting. Talented and passionate individuals that make Warhammer the rich, evocative IP that our hobbyists and we all love.”

While Games Workshop very well could do an about face on this policy in the future, it’s a breath of fresh air to see the head honchos of Warhammer balk at AI in the middle of an international corporate mad rush to utilize the tech and push it onto the consumer. Plus, if the financial reports are anything to go by, Games Workshop certainly doesn’t need any help from AI in making money hand over fist.

Bobby Kotick Claims Embracer Group Tried to Sabotage Microsoft Merger

Credit: Activision Blizzard

The former CEO of Activision Blizzard and stronger contender for world's most hateable man, Bobby Kotick, reared his head back up in the news last week.

According to reporting from over at Game File, Kotick has filed a claim in court claiming that the Swedish lawsuit against the merger between Activision Blizzard and Microsoft in 2022 was a scheme created by Embracer Group executives to keep Activision from dominating the market, as well as claiming that the Communications Workers of America made up evidence of systemic harassment in the workplace in order to drive up union interest in Activision employees.

The lawsuit, filed by the Swedish pension fund Sjunde AP-fonden (AP7), claimed that the historic merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard was rushed due to the explosive harassment lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, and that the sale price per share was way too low. In the court filing, Kotick pushed back against this by claiming that the lawsuit by AP7 was actually a front for Embracer Group, who was a major rival to Activision at the time, and Embracer filed the suit “for ulterior motives, to obtain collateral advantages, and to exert collateral harm on Activision."

In a statement to Game File, Embracer has denied this claim, writing “There [was] no coordination or collaboration between Embracer and AP7 relating to any of Mr. Kotick's statements. No agenda or instructions were directed from Embracer via Emma Ihre (an executive at Embracer) or directly to AP7."

Kotick also attempted to refute the harassment claims brought against Activision, which quickly became one of the largest scandals in recent video game history. Kotick claimed that the allegations of harassment brought up by this case were either overblown or fabricated completely by the Communication Workers of America (CWA). In the court filing, Kotick asserts, “In 2018, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, with support from certain employees at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), launched a multimillion-dollar campaign to unionize the videogame industry. To assist this campaign, unscrupulous government employees began an unwarranted investigation into Activision’s workplace with the goal of destabilizing the Company and creating a false impression of systemic issues that would create an opportunity for a Union organizing campaign.”

Kotick is seeking to take AP7 to court for financial damages caused by the lawsuit, which he claims stalled the merger and cost Activision a pretty penny. No further information regarding a court date is currently known at time of writing.

Inverse, The Verge Lay Off Video Game Writing Staff Members

Credit: Vox Media

Two major media outlets, Inverse and The Verge, have both laid off multiple members of their games journalism staff, leaving each site with a skeleton crew at best for covering anything gaming related on their platforms.

According to social media posts of those affected by the layoffs, Inverse has let go of three writers who worked the games beat as well as its gaming editor, Shannon Liao. According to Aftermath, Liao was let go via a Zoom call with leadership, who told her the company was “divesting from gaming content”.

The Inverse's parent company, BDG, was bought by Bustle in 2019, and has since gone through multiple rounds of cuts and layoffs across all sectors.

Meanwhile, The Verge laid off at least two members of its writing staff, including Ash Parrish, who wrote about gaming content for the site. Parrish’s firing coincides with a larger round of layoffs at The Verge’s parent company, Vox Media, who have eliminated roles from multiple Vox-owned websites (including roles for writers who were on parental leave), and have done away with their entire DEI department, according to a statement from Vox Media Union.

“There is almost no further room to be shocked at these developments,” the Union wrote in a statement on social media, “as the company has laid off workers at an average of once per quarter in the last year, but we continue to be disgusted by the fact that leadership seems to have developed no real learning or commitment to workforce sustainability and retention. Those at the top remain safe in their positions while mercilessly cutting off those who work day in and day out (and then some) to make sure that essential, business-critical work is done.”

Both Inverse and The Verge have not publicly commented on the layoffs.

Roots and Arcs Designer Exits Leder Games

Credit: Leder Games

Cole Wehrle, one of the founding members of Leder Games and designer of its breakout success, Root, and lead designer of Arcs, announced last week that he is leaving the company to pursue his own interests.

“In the coming weeks Kyle (Lead Artist at Leder) and I will be forming an entirely new company called Buried Giant Studios with my brother Drew, Ted Caya, and some of our longstanding collaborators.” Wehrle wrote in a statement on the company website. “Leder Games has agreed to sell us ownership of both Oath and Arcs, and we look forward to supporting both titles while also developing new games. In the short term, we will be handling the fulfillment of Oath: New Foundations and will be working on a new expansion to Arcs. We will have much more to say about those plans soon.”

Wehrle joined Leder Games in 2018 and was a significant part of the success behind it’s breakout hit, Root. Following the game’s newfound hit status, Leder’s founder, Patrick Leder, gave Wehrle and the team a long leash in order to foster creativity, rather than push for something new immediately to capitalize on the wild success of Root. This sort of nurturing leadership from Leder allowed for Wehrle and the team to develop multiple well received expansions for Root, as well as develop new games for Leder like Arc and Oath.

Speaking to Boardgamewire about their departure, Wehrle and Ferrin do not seem to hold any ill will against Leder, with Ferrin saying that his departure from the company was amicable. “Not going to comment on anything specific, we were just ready for something new.”

“It has been a great pleasure to serve as the Creative Director at Leder Games and to help this team make some remarkable games.” Wehrle writes. “Over the years, I have been consistently amazed by their attention to detail, their professionalism, and their abiding kindness. It has been an honor to work with everyone here and to play my part in helping these games come to life.”

StarCraft Tabletop Game Announces Release Window and Founders Boxes

Credit: Blizzard Entertainment

Big news for StarCraft fans, and no, it’s not a new video game. But it is the next best thing, which is a release window for the upcoming tabletop adaptation of the beloved franchise, as well as the products that will be available on the games release and a roadmap of whats to come.

style="font-weight: 400;">According to an AMA hosted by the designers of the game, Archon Studio, the StarCraft tabletop game has a release window between April and May 2026, though Adepticon attendees will have a chance to get their hands on boxes prior to public release at the Archon Games booth.

The initial product release wave includes a two player starter box as well as a Protoss faction starter set. The two player starter box pits the Terran, led by Jim Raynor, against the Zerg Swarm, commanded by Kerrigan, Queen of Blades. Backing up these two legendary characters includes iconic StarCraft units like Marines, Medics, Zerglings, and Roaches. Meanwhile, the Protoss starter set includes the iconic Zealots and Pylon, and is led by Artanis.

Alongside separate SKUs for contents included in the starter boxes, the team plans multiple waves of new releases in 2026 for all three factions. According to the AMA, each faction will get a themed rollout of new units every few months of 2026, such as adding a heavy support unit, new heroes, and even flying units at the end of the year.

Those interested in the StarCraft tabletop game will be able to preorder the boxes from the Archon website starting on March 10th at the latest, possibly earlier with Blizzard’s permission, with a planned preorder cutoff date of March 31st.

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