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.
Itch.io Shadowbans All “Adult” Content on Site Until Further Notice
A major change to Steam’s policy happened earlier this month, which states that games must comply with rules and standards of content to be hosted on the platform. This change led to hundreds of pornographic games being removed from Steam, while raising concerns from the wider community about handing payment processing companies a blank check for potential censorship down the line, particularly against LGBTQ+ games. Itch.io took one look at that and decided they weren’t going to be outdone, and without warning deindexed every single piece of content on their website marked as Adult until further notice.
Unlike the Steam ban, the content is still available on the website, but any items marked as Adult or NSFW will not appear in searches of any kind and are only accessible via a direct link. According to a press release from Itch, their hand was forced by mounting pressure from Australian anti-porn group Collective Shout, who have lobbied payment processor companies to take action against Itch and Steam.
“This is a time critical moment for itch.io,” the press release states. “The situation developed rapidly, and we had to act urgently to protect the platform’s core payment infrastructure. Unfortunately, this meant it was not realistic to provide creators with advance notice before making this change. We know this is not ideal, and we apologize for the abruptness of this change.”
Itch is currently performing a comprehensive review of all adult content on the site. At the end of this process, games that comply with the standards set by the investigation will be returned to a searchable status and those that do not comply will be removed.
The wide nature and hasty implementation means the shadowban didn’t just hit pornographic content; a large number of LGBTQ+ games without any adult content were included in this ban, as well as games that cover challenging themes. One such game is Consume Me, a semiautobiographical game about the developer’s battle with eating disorders which won the Grand Prize at last year’s IGF awards. It features no sexual content, but its tackling of sensitive topics led to it being lumped in with all other adult games on Itch.
Itch seems apologetic at face value, but offers no insight on when some of these games may return to being fully listed, or what the new compliance measures for NSFW content on the site even are.
Itch writes, “We ask for your patience and understanding as we navigate this challenging period. I’m sorry we can not share more at this time as we are still getting a full understanding of the situation ourselves. We will post a follow up on our blog if the situation changes.”
Games Workshop Cuts Longtime White Dwarf Managing Editor
Lyle Lowrey, the managing editor of White Dwarf since 2019, announced via his Linkedin page that his role is being eliminated as a part of a corporate restructure at Games Workshop, and he is leaving the company.
“After an amazing six-and-a-half year, 75-issue run, my time as White Dwarf managing editor has come to an end,” Lowery writes. “As part of a restructure, Games Workshop has eliminated the managing editor role and will go on making the magazine without one. My last issue will be number 516 in September.”
Before joining Games Workshop, Lowery worked as the editor-in-chief at No Quarter Magazine, the Warmachine tie-in magazine run by Privateer Press. In 2019, Lowery joined the White Dwarf team, and played a major role in redefining the magazine following its return from hiatus in 2016.
Looking back on his time at the publication, Lowery writes “I’m proud of what my team and I accomplished in my tenure, during which White Dwarf won an industry award for best magazine, steadily climbed the newsstand rankings, featured the two best-selling issues on record, and was Games Workshop’s best-selling product almost every month.”
Lowery plans on moving into the world of freelance writing, and has already received several offers for work, according to his post.
Games Workshop has made no comment at this time as per the reasoning behind the restructuring at White Dwarf, or what it may mean for the future of the magazine.
Modiphius Games Developing Two Doom Boardgames
Modiphius Games announced last week that it’s bringing the Doomslayer to tabletops with not just one, but two board games based on the Doom universe.
The press release from Modiphius reads “Coming to Kickstarter later this year, Modiphius will offer backers two editions of the board game: DOOM | Arena Board Game, based on the original DOOM (1993) video game, and the DOOM: The Dark Ages | Arena Board Game, based on the latest critically acclaimed title in the franchise, DOOM: The Dark Ages. Both games will use the same ruleset, and the campaign will include a variety of expansions covering enemies found in both games, including an Atlan mech and the Mecha Dragon.”
Details on the gameplay for these Doom games is currently sparse. The competitive game will give players control over the Doomslayer or his demonic foes as they clash on a hex-based grid across three rounds, using weapons and power ups from the game in the battle.
This marks the third collaboration between Modiphius and Bethesda Games on the production of a tabletop game based on Bethesda IP, with Modiphius previously designing and releasing games based on Skyrim and Fallout.
Modiphius states that they plan to have more news for excited fans soon, and that playable demos for both versions of the Doom arena game will be playable at both GenCon and QuakeCon this year.
Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy Crossover Shatters Sales Records
Magic: The Gathering’s most recent crossover set with Final Fantasy was a smashing financial success for Wizards of the Coast before it ever hit shelves, but a recent earnings call at Hasbro revealed that it’s wildly more successful than previously imagined.
According to Chris Cocks, the Final Fantasy crossover’s sales figure from just one day equaled the entire lifespan of the popular Lord of the Rings set.
“Lord of the Rings took six months to deliver $200 million of revenue, Final Fantasy took one day, and we left demand on the table,” Cocks said on the call. “So we couldn’t produce enough. I think we increased production runs on it 4x pre-release. It was substantially by many, many very high double-digit percentages ahead of any other production run we’ve ever done, and we left the market wanting more.”
The runaway success of the set is a major relief for Hasbro as tariffs on international trade put a stranglehold on profits, but conversely has been problematic for consumers, who’ve been dealing with stock shortages and are struggling to get copies of Final Fantasy Magic products without turning to the resale market.
Hasbro CFO Gina Goetter assured those on the call that that more product is on the way, saying “We’re continuing to produce this set. We think the set itself is going to have a huge long tail.”, with Cocks adding “Our expectation is there’s going to be a nice long tail of backlist for the product. Likewise, we’re still selling Lord of the Rings product today. So even though we hit $200 million in December of ‘22 for Lord of the Rings, we sold a substantial percentage of that in the several years following and we expect Final Fantasy to be no different.”
Gamefound Buys Out Crowdfunding Rival Indiegogo
Competition against Kickstarter in the crowdfunding space stepped up in intensity last week, with two of the platform’s largest rivals coming together under one roof. Gamefound announced that the company bought out longtime Kickstarter rival, Indiegogo.
This acquisition broadens the scope of crowdfunding campaigns that potentially can find success on Gamefound. Since it’s founding, the company has primarily focused on tabletop campaigns, becoming a major player in the space and hosting six of the top ten most funded tabletop campaigns of 2024. It’s profits in the sector also continue to rise while Kickstarter’s tabletop revenue slumps. Gamefound has also been a chief innovator in the space for its campaign and pledge management systems, with features such as a robust mobile app, multilingual support, and large array of supported payment methods on the platform.
Speaking on the buyout, Gamefound CEO Marcin Świerkot said “Our success comes from a simple philosophy: build a platform at least twice as good as the next competitor, and then dedication, hard work and focus from our team to make it happen. Now, we’re bringing this philosophy to Indiegogo, combining Gamefound’s technology with Indiegogo’s incredible reach to revolutionize crowdfunding for every category.”
“It’s time for crowdfunding to be a forward-facing industry again,” said Indiegogo CEO Julie dePontbriand. “Gamefound’s technology is unrivaled on the market, and we are thrilled to bring it to Indiegogo’s diverse community of creators. Together, we’re making crowdfunding more innovative, creator-friendly, and exciting than ever before.”
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