Author: Justin Carter
Nikolay Dybowski, the founder and studio creative director of Ice-Pick Lodge, has left the studio.In a statement, the Russian developer said Dybowski chose to leave to “focus on personal projects and his private life.” In recent months, Pathologic players unearthed allegations accusing Dybowski of kidnapping and abuse, some of which date back to 2021.Dybowski founded Ice-Pick in 2002, and has been a guiding creative force on most of its games since. Along with the two Pathologic games and the upcoming Pathologic 3, he directed 2013’s Knock-Knock.Aleksey Luchin, a former Ice-Pick developer, later commented on the allegations and claimed Dybowski’s behavior…
As the SAG-AFTRA voice actor strikes continue, a pair of voice actors for MiHoYo’s Zenless Zone Zero learned they were abruptly recast.Emeri Chase and Nicholas Thurkettle, who respectively play Soldier 11 and Lycaon, discovered they were replaced in a recent patch for the game released earlier this week. On social media, Chase explained she was “unwilling to perform work not covered by a SAG Interim Agreement during a strike for AI protections.”Earlier this week, the union said “alarming loopholes” have kept it from reaching a consensus with major game developers. The proposals offered would potentially leave actors vulnerable to AI…
Dave Mallow, a longtime voice actor across games and animation, has died at 76.Sources speaking to TMZ revealed Mallow had been in hospice care for some time, and that his health had been declining in recent years. For many, Mallow was best known as the voice of Baboo on Power Rangers and Angemon in the first two seasons of Digimon.Games-wise, he lent his talents to several Call of Duty and Blizzard titles, including Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (as Baseplate) and Diablo III (Raziel the Dark One). He was also the English voice for Street Fighter’s Akuma across several…
Pragma, a backend engine for live-service games like Spectre Divide and Predecessor, recently secured $12.75 million in a round of “strategic investment.”Square Enix and venture firms Insight Partners, Upfront Ventures, and Greylock Partners all contributed to this round. This new investment, per VentureBeat, delivers over $50 million in investment to Pragma.In its announcement, the company noted the funding “helps us continue delivering scalable, live-service infrastructure while expanding our suite of game dev tools.” Pragma’s services include cross-platform accounts and monetization, live operations, and social features like matchmaking and player data systems.Major players on Pragma’s rolodexPrevious Pragma clients have included People…
For the first time in years, Blizzard Entertainment’s showcase event BlizzCon is making a comeback.The World of Warcraft and Overwatch developer revealed the convention will skip 2025, but make a two-day return on September 12 and 13, 2026 at the Anaheim Convention Center. It’ll be the first BlizzCon since 2023, and since Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for $68.7 million.Previous BlizzCons have been defined by reveals for future projects, or updates to current titles. For example, the 2018 event featured reveals for Diablo Immortal, and Warcraft III: Reforged; the following year had reveals for Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV.In 2022 and…