Australia’s National Film & Sound Archive recently conducted a survey on international game preservation. The results show how dire the efforts to preserve games are worldwide and how they will hit local industry the hardest. In the NFSA’s survey (conducted in 2023), respondents cited key roadblocks such as legal and technical access, a lack of dedicated staffing, and funds. Its summary further notes most groups treat preservation as part of a larger operation rather than a key focus.

Techland just revealed Dying Light: The Beast at Gamescom, but it turns out the standalone title isn’t new new. Speaking with Game Developer, director Nathan Lamaire explained the game was actually born from DLC originally meant for Dying Light 2. After its plot was leaked by hackers last year, Techland pivoted it into a full game. Leaks have been a part of the industry for a long time, especially recently. A developer leaning into those leaks is rare, and it’s even more unusual when it comes to expansions that have bloomed into fuller projects.

External development partner Virtuos has just announced its acquisition of Third Kind Studios, a move that they say will, “bolster Virtuos’ AAA co-development capabilities” in the years to come. In an announcement on its website, the company revealed that the studio will continue to be led by its original co-founders and that it seeks to double its headcount in the coming years in response to growing client demand. Founded in 2016, Third Kind has co-developed several triple-A games in recent years.

The Backyard Sports franchise will soon return after a nearly decade-long hiatus. Announced today, Playground Productions will bring the games back—and introduce the iconic characters to TV, film, and other media. The franchise began in the late 90s with Backyard Baseball, developed by Humongous Entertainment, and soon blossomed to include entries focused on skateboarding, hockey, football, and more. The last releases before the new announcement were 2015’s Backyard Sports: Baseball and Backyard Sports: Basketball.

Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong has been out for less than a day, and already, it’s made waves on the PC front. Per SteamDB, the action-RPG opened to 2.2 million players on Steam, and has quickly climbed the sales charts. At time of writing, it’s the Steam store’s top seller ahead of the Steam Deck OLED, Counter-Strike 2, and the incoming Final Fantasy XVI port. According to Game Discover’s Simon Carless, the bulk of Black Myth’s PC base on the platform is owed to China.

With a few weeks to go before a new tier is introduced to Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft has released a blog detailing how the service’s Standard plan will work for subscribers beginning on September 12. Standard will run $15/mo, and its biggest change is the loss of day one access to first-party games. According to Microsoft, those titles may potentially join the Standard tier “at a future date,” ranging up to a full year or later from its arrival, depending on the game.

Voice actor Atsuko Tanaka has passed away at the age of 61 years old. Per her son Hikaru, she died of an undisclosed illness she’d been battling for the past year. “Including her year-long battle with illness, I think she lived a life that was typical of Tanaka,” he wrote in a translated obituary. “Serious, dignified, and a little playful. I am truly happy to have such a proud mother.”

Another video game is crossing over into films: Ruiner, the sci-fi shooter from Reikon Games and Devolver Digital. Per Variety, director Wes Ball (of Planet of the Apes and eventual Legend of Zelda fame) will adapt the game for Universal Pictures, which will be produced by Story Kitchen and 87North. It’s the newest video game get for Universal, who recently entered the game-to-film scene with the very successful Super Mario and Five Nights at Freddy’s films.

Indie developer Blingame revealed it had to kill the Xbox Series X|S version of its 2022 game, Haak, owing to a tumultuous porting process. Over the weekend, the studio released a statement detailing how it spent “over 14 months” trying to bring its game to Microsoft’s console. That ended up being a “nightmare,” mainly owing to “many” alleged bugs in Microsoft’s Partner Center. Last year, Baldur’s Gate 3’s Xbox Series X|S port hit a snag pre-release owing to the S console.