Games Industry News Roundup- November 18th, 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.

Kickstarter Union Wins Workers Protections Following Strike

Credit: Kickstarter

Following a 42 day strike, the workers of Kickstarter United managed to bring Kickstarter Leadership back to the negotiation table and secure several valuable protections for the crowdfunding giant’s employees.

Talks between Kickstarter and the union stalled earlier this fall, when management refused to accept several key demands, including a four-day work week, a minimum salary of $85,000 a year, and protections for Kickstarter employees against AI. Some of these items, such as the four-day work week, were already in place at the company prior to contract renegotiations.

With leadership at Kickstarter refusing to budge, Kickstarter United announced that it would be going on strike on October 2nd. Striking workers asked that those who wanted to support the strike do so through donating to the cause and showing their support to management, but did not ask for any boycott of Kickstarter itself, citing the fact that doing so could be ruinous for many small time creators.

Last week, management finally conceded, and agreed to accept all terms for the proposed union contract. “Thank you to everyone who showed support, wrote emails to leadership, donated to our strike fund, and came to our pickets,” Kickstarter United wrote on its webpage announcing the end of the strike. “When we fight, we win!”

CMON’s Attempt to Raise Capital Through Share Selloff Falls Through

Credit: CMON Games

Another chapter in the ongoing CMON financial dumpster fire this week, as the tabletop gaming company’s latest attempt to raise money through share selloff failed to generate funds.

According to a report from Boardgamewire, CMON created around 360 million new shares in the company for sale. Should all of these shares sell, it would net CMON around $5 million, which would be a much needed infusion of cash. CMON reportedly had six interested buyers for the shares, organized through traders from China Grand Securities, but approval from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) could not be finalized before the November 7th deadline, thus causing the deal to fall through.

CMON executive leadership elaborated briefly on this, saying that the deal missed the deadline due to conditions for the sale not fully satisfying CMON’s board of directors. Despite the missed opportunity for more money, the board of directors urges everyone to stay calm, saying that they do not expect the fallout of the failed deal to have any negative impact on business.

CMON is still currently dealing with the fallout of its plummeting sales that has sent the company into crippling debt, posting a $7 million dollar loss for the second half of the fiscal year as well as reporting a $12 million loss in revenue from last year in crowdfunding.

Steamforged Reveals Return of Iconic Character Warjacks and More in Lock and Load 2025 Keynote

Credit: Steamforged Games

Over the weekend, Steamforged Games took their first crack at hosting the long-running convention for Warmachine, Lock and Load, in St. Louis. As part of their new Lock and Load, Steamforged held a keynote presentation with a plethora of reveals for the game, including the return of several iconic character Warjacks.

Steamforged announced that four factions would be getting a new superheavy character Warjack, with three of the Warjacks returning characters from previous editions. Cryx, Khador, and Cygnar see the return of Deathjack, Behemoth, and Thunderhead respectively, all three of which have been beefed up from their previous iterations. Orgoth is the fourth faction to get a new superheavy, and introduces the all-new draconic Azdharak. Release dates for each of these character superheavies were also announced in the address, with Deathjack available for purchase at Lock and Load before its wider December release.

The keynote was busting at the seams with plenty of other announcements as well. Steamforged announced open applications for the upcoming Press Ganger program for community organizers, and unveiled the upcoming Kithguard command starter as well as announcing a new Gargantuan for Old Umbrey, the Gorger. Steamforged also shared new details about their upcoming plans for Crucible Guard, the next legacy faction to get a facelift via Warmachine digital, including a new model for Gorman di Wulfe. Finally, Steamforged closed the presentation by sharing that the next new faction for release following Kithguard will be the Fane of Narro for the game’s undead elf faction, Dusk, as well as promising to reveal news related to a Menoth faction at Adepticon 2026. Whether this will be an all new faction, or a revamp of the old faction, is still unknown.

Valve Announces New Steam Machine, VR Headset, and Controller

Credit: Valve

After a string of bad press earlier this year when Valve caved in to censorship laws that had fans and media outlets concerned of the dangerous precedent it set for games with LGBTQ+ themes, the computer gaming media giant is back in the limelight for far more positive reasons, announcing an all-new Steam Machine.

The Steam Machine is branded as an accessible option for those who want the powerful gaming potential of a PC in a small console package. Measuring at about six inches at each side, the Steam Machine boasts about six times the performance capability of their Steam Deck handheld device. The Steam Machine will include custom-designed AMD CPU and GPU hardware, include ports for accessories, and will be available in both 512GB and 2TB versions for purchase. The Steam Machine will also still run as a functioning PC, with Valve stating that tech enthusiasts should be able to replace the SteamOS operating system with a different one if they wish.

The Steam Machine announcement also came with two other hardware announcements: the Steam Frame and the Steam Controller. The Steam Frame is the latest VR headset designed by Valve, with a focus on “streaming first” quality for both VR and non-VR gaming experiences. The Steam Controller introduces a new docking puck for the controller that also acts as a wireless transmitter, allowing for hassle-free wireless setup on any device, as well as customizable button layouts and state-of-the-art magnetic thumbsticks for best in class sensitivity.

Valve has not shared any prices for these new products, and has only given a release window of “early 2026”. All three are available for wishlisting on steam.

Rebecca Heineman, Co-Founder of Interplay Studios, Passes Away

Credit: Wikipedia

One of the most quietly influential people in the world of Video Games, Rebecca Heineman, passed away on November 17th. Marcy joins us this week to share more about the influence and importance of Heineman’s career.

Marcy: Sad news this week at the passing of Rebecca Ann Heineman, one of the co-founders of Interplay. Rebecca was America's first video game tournament champion, winning a Space Invaders competition in 1980, and from there, she began working for Electronic Games and other writing gigs. But where many people perhaps felt the Rebecca's influence is from her work on multiple iconic PC games like Wasteland, The Bard's Tale series, Battle Chess, and many many more.

Rebecca's work in the game industry was notable throughout her life, working for Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Amazon, and even Microsoft over her career, and perhaps publicly became known for her role in Amazon's LGBTQ+ group Glamazon as it's Transgender Chair. Rebecca's life as a queer woman in a fairly hostile industry is felt even more during a period of what seems to be continual corporate and societal backsliding, and her positive influence and presence in the industry will be greatly missed. Rebecca passed away on November 17th after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

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