Rob Fahey

Tokyo

Contributor at Freelance

No longer active here. Find me on Mastodon: @[email protected] or Bluesky: @robfahey.bsky.social

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Articles

GTA 6's delay won't change the launch calculus for most games | Opinion

6 days ago | gamesindustry.biz | Rob Fahey

It's quite a measure of the incredible status of the Grand Theft Auto franchise – as if anyone needed further convincing – that the announcement of the next instalment being delayed into 2026 quickly turned into a massive wave of hype for the upcoming game. Take Two shares dropped when the delay was announced, understandably enough, but only by enough to shave a fraction off the massive gains they've made as anticipation has built for GTA 6 over the past couple of years.
The new Apple/Epic ruling will change the app landscape | Opinion

1 week ago | gamesindustry.biz | Rob Fahey

When last we checked in with the legal battle between Epic and Apple, things seemed to have mostly turned out in Apple's favour. Almost all of the rulings in the case sided with Apple, with the judge only agreeing with Epic on one relatively narrow-seeming question regarding anti-steering provisions – the App Store rules that forbid developers from pointing app users at alternative ways to purchase digital items or subscriptions.
The new Apple/Epic ruling will change the app landscape | Opinion

1 week ago | flipboard.com | Rob Fahey

7 hours agoApple changes US App Store rules to let apps link to external payment systemsApple has changed its App Store rules in the U.S. to let apps link users to their own websites so they can buy subscriptions or other digital goods.
Switch 2 publishers quietly step away from "real" physical game carts | Opinion

2 weeks ago | gamesindustry.biz | Rob Fahey

With pre-orders for the Switch 2 finally open in most major markets, most of the attention this week has been focused on questions of launch supply and demand – with the basic assessment being that demand is sky-high despite the widespread grumbling about the price, while supply is clearly going to be heavily constrained for quite some time.
Assassin's Creed Shadows' success shows that the threat of negative campaigns is overblown | Opinion

3 weeks ago | gamesindustry.biz | Rob Fahey

It’s been a fairly grim few years for Ubisoft – buffeted by allegations of an abusive culture, plagued by dismal stock market performance, and seemingly unable to turn out the kind of hit titles that would silence its detractors, the company has seen its strategy and its future openly called into question. Late 2024 was a low point.
Tariffs are an industry nightmare, but digital games seem safe - for now | Opinion

1 month ago | gamesindustry.biz | Rob Fahey

The timing of the global battle over trade and tariffs sparked off by President Trump over the past weeks is pretty dreadful for a lot of industries, and the video games sector is no exception.
2024 was the year of Microsoft's grand pivot | Opinion

Dec 20, 2024 | gamesindustry.biz | Rob Fahey

At the outset of 2024, the most often expressed concern about this year in the games business was that it was going to have a very sparse and underwhelming release calendar, at least compared to the spectacular heights of 2023. This was to some extent a ripple effect from the pandemic years: a backlog of delayed software made its way onto the market during 2023, meaning that with many major studios set to be in the early stages of new projects, 2024's line-up did not look very inspiring.
Marvel Rivals is a bright spot in a dark year for live service | Opinion

Dec 13, 2024 | gamesindustry.biz | Rob Fahey

Turning points are tricky things: they seem so obvious in hindsight, but are tough to spot when they’re actually happening. False positives are common, because all manner of things can seem pivotal in the moment, but transpire to be far less important in the long term. This probably speaks to a general tendency to underestimate the sheer power of inertia.
Handheld consoles are the industry's next battleground | Opinion

Nov 28, 2024 | gamesindustry.biz | Rob Fahey

Only a week or two after confirmation that Microsoft is working on a handheld Xbox device, we now have reports that Sony is also in the early stages of developing a new portable device – its first foray into this market since the discontinuation of the ill-fated PS Vita five years ago.
Does a Sony bid for Kadokawa make sense? | Opinion

Nov 21, 2024 | gamesindustry.biz | Rob Fahey

During the drawn-out process of Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard, one regularly voiced concern was that this purchase would spark an arms race. Rivals like Sony would feel that they had little choice but to respond in kind with major acquisitions, locking up studios and content not so much for console exclusivity today, but to build out the portfolio that would be needed for hypothetical subscription and streaming services to be competitive in the future.