Reading path · 9 stops · 46 min of reading · 1 tool and data page

The game industry, with the numbers.

What you'll learnLaunches, shutdowns, prices and AI fights in games, each one checked against sales data and primary sources.

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The path, in order

Topics: Games. Ticks show what you have read in this browser.

1. Article · 5 minJonathan Blow's new game outsold The Witness by 45% in week one

   Jonathan Blow says Order of the Sinking Star sold 45% more Steam copies in week one than The Witness, at $30 vs $40. What it means for indie launches in 2026.

2. Article · 8 minTim Sweeney told Kenney "up yours" on 2.5M views. Kenney is right

   Tim Sweeney told Kenney 'up yours' over Epic's AI-first pivot. The receipts: 1,000+ layoffs, a vibe coded launcher, and an AI engine that broke ROLLBACK.

3. Article · 5 minEpic vibe-coded a launcher to beat Steam's 10.07s. Steam hit 5.23s

   Epic says its vibe-coded launcher opens 46% faster than Steam. Valve patched Steam a day earlier and one test now has it at 5.23s. What the numbers prove.

4. Article · 10 minXbox's new cloud cap can't finish 42% of its own games

   From November Xbox caps cloud gaming at 15/10/5 hours a month and sells the rest at 24-40c an hour. We timed all 562 cloud games: 42% outlast Ultimate.

5. Article · 5 minSega pulled Shogun 2's remaster in 2 days. 19% of players liked it

   Sega pulled Total War: Shogun 2 Complete Edition two days after launch. 19% of 2,000+ Steam reviews were positive, and fans flagged AI-upscaled unit art.

6. Article · 5 minDecompiling one game took years. AI made it so easy the hub quit

   decomp.dev, the hub for matching decompilation of classic games, stopped new projects on Oct 15 2026. Its admin says AI broke the community, not the craft.

7. Article · 4 minValve's $999 VR headset is officially done. Here's how you retire something people loved.

   Valve Index is no longer being produced. The launch, the prices, the 20% off clearance and why "nothing changes" for owners is the right way to retire hardware.

8. Article · 4 minA GBA game America never got just hit Switch, 24 years late. 177.9K people showed up for it.

   Nintendo added Kururin Paradise, a GBA game America never got, to Switch Online almost 24 years after Japan. Why the news hit 177.9K views in hours.

9. Free toolSteam revenue calculator

   Price and copies (or reviews) to what the developer keeps, on Valve's real 30/25/20% tiers.

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Reading path · 12 stops

O'BLOCK: how it's made

How we built and launched a Steam game in Rust: lying NPCs, 639,000 units on screen, a bot-proof economy and launch week.

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