publishers Archives

AppWizard

September 30, 2026

Google Play Cuts Game Fee to 15%, Day-One Rule [2026]

Starting September 30, 2026, Google will implement changes to the Android game distribution economics through the Google Play Games Level Up program, reducing the commission on game revenue exceeding million annually from 20% to 15%. Developers must launch their games on Android simultaneously with other platforms to qualify for this discount; otherwise, they will be ineligible for six months. The new fee structure includes a baseline rate cut to 10% on the first million and 20% on earnings above that, while the Level Up program allows qualifying titles to pay 15% on revenue beyond the first million. The rollout of the Level Up program will begin in Australia, the European Economic Area, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States on September 30, 2026, followed by South Korea on December 31, 2026, and the rest of the world on September 30, 2027. If a game launches on a non-Android platform first, it will face a six-month waiting period before qualifying for Level Up pricing. Existing games launched before September 30, 2026, are exempt from this penalty.

AppWizard

September 15, 2026

Steam Price-Fixing Lawsuit: Valve, 10 Publishers Sued [2026]

On August 27, 2026, a class action lawsuit was filed in San Mateo County Superior Court by three California gamers—Alexander Shimota, Ricardo Camargo, and John Elliott—against Valve Corporation and ten video game publishers, accusing them of colluding to maintain uniform pricing for PC games across digital storefronts. The lawsuit alleges that Valve requires publishers on its Steam platform to agree to a most-favored-nation clause, preventing them from offering lower prices on competing platforms, which stifles competition and limits consumer choice. The ten implicated publishers include Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Sony Interactive Entertainment. The lawsuit is filed under California's Cartwright Act and claims that the coordinated pricing strategy harms consumers by reducing product diversity and inflating prices. Valve's commission structure, which has largely remained unchanged, is central to the plaintiffs' argument. Valve's co-founder, Gabe Newell, has previously denied dictating prices to third-party developers. The lawsuit is distinct from a prior case, Wolfire Games v. Valve, which focuses on monopoly abuse against developers rather than consumer pricing. Additionally, Valve faces a parallel £2 billion class action in the UK regarding similar pricing allegations. The outcome of these cases could significantly impact the pricing landscape for PC games and the practices of digital storefronts.

AppWizard

September 12, 2026

While still headquartered in the US, Saber exec Tim Willits says it has ‘no real development in North America anymore’

Saber Interactive has shifted its focus from North America for game development to primarily publishing activities in the region, with game creation now centered in a network of global subsidiaries. Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits expressed a willingness to explore diverse markets and local talent, stating, “We are not afraid of any territories.” He noted that some publishers hesitate to work in unfamiliar territories, but Saber aims to find and support talented individuals globally. Willits also identified overspecialization among developers as a challenge in the gaming sector but suggested that the industry's situation may not be as severe as reported, highlighting the potential for innovation through global collaborations.

AppWizard

September 6, 2026

Mortal Kombat 1’s Denuvo Has Been Cracked

Mortal Kombat 1 was cracked by voices38, bypassing its Denuvo anti-tamper protection, nearly three years after its release for PC in September 2023. The previous Denuvo-protected title to be cracked was Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced. Warner Bros has previously removed Denuvo from Mortal Kombat 11 and other titles, raising questions about similar actions for Mortal Kombat 1. Other publishers, including Square Enix and Capcom, have also removed Denuvo from various titles. KRAFTON, NEOWIZ, Gearbox, IO Interactive, Bethesda, and Bandai Namco have also eliminated Denuvo from their games.

Winsage

September 5, 2026

Nvidia & Microsoft push local AI agents on Windows

NVIDIA has enhanced the capability to run AI agents locally on its hardware in collaboration with Microsoft and software partners, coinciding with the launch of new RTX Spark Windows PCs. The installation process for local agent software has been simplified, with improved inference speeds and the introduction of NVIDIA PAIR, which distributes inference tasks across multiple PCs on a local network. Three applications benefiting from these enhancements are Hermes Agent, OpenClaw, and Perplexity Portable Computer, all designed to minimize manual configuration. Hermes Agent offers a one-click local setup for RTX and DGX systems, automatically detecting the GPU and optimizing model selection. OpenClaw simplifies local model setups for RTX GPUs with at least 24GB of VRAM, backed by an open-source community. Perplexity Portable Computer, already available on Linux, is extending support to NVIDIA RTX GPUs and Windows. NVIDIA is also improving performance in the open-source inference stack, achieving throughput increases of up to 1.9 times on GeForce RTX 5090 and up to 1.4 times on DGX Spark clusters. The PAIR software identifies compatible PCs on the same network to optimize computing resources, supporting various hardware configurations. The upcoming RTX Spark Windows PCs, set to launch in October, will include compact desktop and laptop designs featuring Blackwell GPU and Grace CPU architecture. Game publishers like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft are developing titles for these systems. Additionally, CyberLink's PhotoDirector AI PC Mode will integrate local AI processing for creative tasks, emphasizing the trend of migrating generative AI workloads from cloud to local devices. NVIDIA notes that over half of U.S. households have two or more PCs, indicating potential for maximizing computing power.

Winsage

September 3, 2026

17 Useful WinGet Commands Every Windows 11 User Should Know

WinGet is a package manager included with Windows 11, accessible via a command line interface. It provides a more efficient method for installing applications compared to traditional download methods. Users can verify WinGet installation by running the command winget --version. Key commands include: 1. winget search : Finds packages by name, publisher, or moniker. 2. winget show --id : Displays detailed information about a specific package. 3. winget install -e --id : Installs a package using its exact ID. 4. winget install -e --id --version : Installs a specific version of a package. 5. winget install -e --id --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements: Installs a package silently without user prompts. 6. winget list: Lists all installed applications. 7. winget upgrade: Lists installed packages with available updates. 8. winget upgrade --all --include-unknown --silent --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements: Updates all packages without user input. 9. winget uninstall : Removes a specified package. 10. winget export: Generates a JSON file of installed packages. 11. winget import: Reinstalls applications from an exported file. 12. winget pin : Prevents a package from being updated. 13. winget download : Retrieves an installer without executing it. 14. winget repair : Initiates a repair routine for an application. 15. winget source: Manages package sources. 16. winget settings: Opens the WinGet settings file for customization. 17. winget configure: Applies a configuration file for installations. Three commands are primarily for package publishers and can be ignored by most users: PLACEHOLDER3dfbcb91baab02cd, PLACEHOLDER5b3baaac6e2d9202, and winget dscv3. If WinGet is not recognized, it may be due to a missing App Installer package, a missing PATH entry, or running in an unsupported context. WinGet is safe to use, compatible with Windows 10 version 1809 and later, and does not require administrator rights for all commands.

AppWizard

September 2, 2026

PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct set for September 20

PC Gamer will host the PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct 2026 on September 20 at 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET, as part of the Tokyo Game Show 2026. The 90-minute showcase will feature over 35 games, including Stronghold 4 from Firefly Studios and titles from Devolver Digital. The event will include exclusive trailers, breaking news, developer interviews, and world premieres. The live stream will be available on YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and Steam.

TrendTechie

September 2, 2026

Sony и Warner подают в суд на Anthropic из‑за обучения Claude на пиратских песенниках

Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell Music have filed a lawsuit against Anthropic, claiming that the company used pirated songbooks and song lyrics from "shadow libraries" to train its AI model, Claude. The lawsuit cites approximately 7 million books obtained through torrent downloads and web scraping, including unauthorized sheet music and songbooks. The plaintiffs are seeking statutory damages of up to 0,000 for each work that is found to have been willfully infringed. The lawsuit was filed on August 28, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, naming Anthropic and its co-founders as defendants. The plaintiffs allege that the data sources used for training included 5 million books downloaded from Library Genesis and 2 million from Pirate Library Mirror, as well as scraped song lyrics from licensed platforms Musixmatch and LyricFind. The use of BitTorrent for downloads introduces legal risks due to the simultaneous distribution of files. The lawsuit emphasizes the distinction between legally purchased and pirated materials, with prior cases indicating that downloads from pirate libraries constitute significant copyright infringement.

AppWizard

September 2, 2026

Fully Playable Scream Game Found in Steam Leak [2026]

A horror game based on the Scream film franchise was discovered in the Steam data leak that occurred from August 29 to 31, 2026. The game, an unfinished multiplayer prototype created by Fatshark, was found by a Twitter user named Roly Poly Reaper, who managed to run it on their computer and enable online multiplayer. The prototype included several unfinished builds, with one featuring operational networking code that allowed players to take on the roles of survivors evading a player-controlled Ghostface. The project appears to have been a pitch build, never fully greenlit for production, and was stored in Valve’s old Steam2 backend for approximately 15 years before the leak. Roly Poly Reaper used the Goldberg Steam emulator and Radmin VPN to run the game, circumventing the need for a live connection to Valve’s servers. Fatshark, known for cooperative shooters, had reportedly built the Scream prototype around 2011, coinciding with the release of Scream 4. The prototype's existence predates the popularization of the asymmetric horror genre by several years. The Steam2 leak itself involved approximately 12 to 13 terabytes of data, including various internal builds and beta versions from Valve and third-party developers. Valve has not publicly commented on the leak.

AppWizard

August 30, 2026

DLSS 5: Modders Push Leaked Neural Rendering Into 10+ More PC Games

Modders have integrated Nvidia’s leaked DLSS 5 Neural Rendering library into over a dozen PC games, including Cyberpunk 2077 and GTA V, following its discovery in an early access build of NBA 2K27. The RenoDX Discord community reverse-engineered this feature and used tools like RenoDX and ReShade to apply the library to various games. Nvidia describes DLSS 5 as a significant architectural advancement in real-time neural rendering that enhances graphics with photorealistic lighting and materials. Modders have successfully applied the library to titles such as Control, Red Dead Redemption 2, and The Last of Us Part II Remastered. These modifications are unofficial and not sanctioned by Nvidia or the game publishers. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has defended the technology against criticism, emphasizing that it allows for artist oversight rather than being a generic AI filter. DLSS 5 is set to launch in fall 2026, with support confirmed from major industry players. All current comparisons and tests are based on the leaked build rather than official Nvidia code.