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 here with the scoop.
Early Build of Space Marine 2 Leaks Online
While most Warhammer fans eagerly count the days until Space Marine 2’s release this September, some impatient fans decided that they’d waited long enough. Earlier this July, a 70 gigabyte torrent appeared on 4chan containing a leaked build of the upcoming game by Saber Entertainment and Focus Interactive.
The 4chan leak was touted as a very recent build of Space Marine 2 to those who sought it out, though the developers of the game confirmed in a statement on Twitter/X that the leaked build is nearly a year old.
Focus elaborates on the developer’s disappointment following the leak, writing, “Our teams have poured years of hard work, passion, and dedication into creating a game worthy of your hopes and expectations, and it’s disheartening that many of the surprises we worked to keep secret were spoiled. We’re saddened that this build, which will be almost a year old by the time we launch, is how some of our most eager fans will first experience Space Marine 2.”
Last month, Focus quietly canceled their planned public beta for Space Marine 2, saying that the team is “entirely focused on optimization, polish and fixing remaining issues ahead of launch on September 9.” While the leak has thrown a wrench into those plans for last-minute fixes for the game, Space Marine 2 is still scheduled to release in September.
Hasbro Selects New President for Wizards of the Coast
A new president has been announced for Wizards of the Coast, according to a post made on the Hasbro investor page.
The new president for Wizards is John Hight, a former higher up at Blizzard Entertainment. Hight joined Blizzard in 2011, eventually becoming the Senior Vice President and Creative Director of the Warcraft franchise. This includes titles like World of Warcraft and its expansions, hearthstone, and the Warcraft series. Hight also served as director of development for Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls, as well as the Diablo 3 console release. Hight left the company last month, announcing his departure on his social media page.
“I admire John’s career focus on fostering community. He is a true embodiment of our mission to bring people together through play,” Chris Cocks, CEO of Hasbro, writes in the announcement. “John’s love of D&D and Magic: The Gathering, combined with his leadership in video games, will be crucial as we expand our digital offerings to deliver what our fans crave.”
Hight will also oversee the digital entertainment branch of Hasbro as well as leading Wizards of the Coast. He fills a position at Wizards left vacant since April, when Cynthia Williams left Wizards after only 2 years as president of the company.
Halo Show Canned on Paramount+
Paramount announced that it is canceling their Halo TV show after just two seasons amidst mixed reception from viewers.
The show premiered in 2022 on the Paramount+ streaming platform after spending almost a decade in development limbo, with the show’s second season being greenlit by Paramount before the first season premiere. While the series maintained positive reception from critics for both its seasons, fan reactions were much more negative due to the show’s deviation from the source material.
“We deeply appreciate the millions of fans who propelled the ‘Halo’ series to be a global success and we remain committed to broadening the ‘Halo’ universe in different ways in the future,” the developers of the Halo games, 343 Industries, said in a statement to Variety. “We are grateful to Amblin and Paramount for their partnership in bringing our expansive sci-fi universe to viewers around the world.”
Despite the series cancellation at Paramount, Xbox, 343, and Amblin Studios are reportedly searching for a new home for the show.
Bethesda Games Studios Workers Unionize
A massive win for video game industry unions last week as workers at Bethesda Games Studios announced that they’ve successfully unionized.
Workers at Bethesda organized and unionized with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), passing the required union election to join. The union represents one of the first all-encompassing workers unions at any major game studio, with its 241 members ranging in roles from engineers, artists, programmers, and designers. Additionally, the CWA site states that Microsoft recognized the union.
The CWA post highlights the excitement felt by the team at Bethesda. “We are so excited to announce our union at Bethesda Game Studio and join the movement sweeping across the video game industry,” says Mandi Parker, Senior System Designer at Bethesda. “It is clear that every worker can benefit from bringing democracy into the workplace and securing a protected voice on the job. We’re thrilled to get down to brass tacks and win a fair contract, proving that our unity is a source of real power to positively shape our working conditions, our lives, and the company as a whole,”.
Bethesda workers are union registered with CWA branch 2108 in Maryland, and 6215 in Texas.
Kickstarter Announces New Head of Games
Crowdfunding giant Kickstarter has selected a board game industry veteran to head its gaming division amidst rising pressure from competitors.
According to a report by Boardgamewire, Kickstarter’s new Head of Games is Maggie Clayton. Clayton is an industry veteran, who’s most recent role was Senior Sales manager and North American Sales Manager for Exploding Kittens. Clayton replaces Jon Ritter-Roderick, who served as Head of Games for two years before his promotion to leading creative strategy for the Kickstarter Performance team.
Kickstarter has traditionally been the dominant player in the tabletop crowdfunding scene, with massive campaigns like Kingdom Death raising millions of dollars on the platform. Yet the competition around Kickstarter became much more fierce this year, with Gamefound becoming a major competitor in the tabletop crowdfunding space. Gamefound’s campaign for Nemesis: Retaliation became the third highest tabletop crowdfunding campaign ever this year, and CMON games signed an exclusive contract with Gamefound in February of this year for exclusive hosting rights for future crowdfunding campaigns.
Clayton told Boardgamewire, “I am thrilled to join a platform that has consistently been at the forefront of bringing innovative projects to life. Kickstarter’s commitment to the games community is evident, and there’s an exciting new momentum around our efforts to provide creators with the tools they need to succeed. I look forward to building upon that foundation to continue meeting the evolving needs of creators and helping them achieve success.”
And that wraps it up for our Games Industry News Roundup this week! Join us again next week for more news about the tabletop games industry and related media.
Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.
