“Dungeons & Dragons” IP owner Wizards of the Coast is moving on from its “Baldur’s Gate” video game franchise with a new single-player action-adventure game set in the world of the popular tabletop fantasy roleplaying game. From game developer Giant Skull, the untitled project based on the “D&D” world is “marks a definitive moment in both companies’ gaming ambitions,” per the Hasbro-owned Wizards of the Coast. The game is currently in development for PC and console as part of a new exclusive publishing agreement Wizards has signed with Giant Skull. Related Stories The deal comes on the heels of the end of Wizards’ pact with “Baldur’s Gate 3” maker Larian Studios. Popular on Variety In addition to this new project, Wizards of the Coast’s growing lineup of current and upcoming games includes: “Exodus,” an epic sci-fi RPG that puts players at the center of an emotional story; a game centered on Snake Eyes, the legendary ninja/commando from “G.I. Joe”; another “Dungeons & Dragons” action-adventure game centered around magic; and an untitled project from studio Skeleton Key that the company says “blends suspense, horror and memorable gameplay experiences.” The Wizards of the Coast team also continues to expand ongoing online game “Magic: The Gathering Arena.” Founded by CEO Stig Asmussen, who was most recently the game director of “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor” and “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” for Respawn Entertainment and EA, Giant Skull was founded in 2023. Asmussen has also previously worked as the game director on “God of War III” and the art director for “God of War II” at Sony Santa Monica. “Stig and the team at Giant Skull are exactly the type of exceptionally talented creators we want to work with, and I’m so happy to be reuniting with him on this new project,” Wizards of the Coast chief and digital gaming president at Hasbro John Hight said. “In our time working together on ‘God of War I’ got to see firsthand Stig’s artistry and expertise, and he and the Giant Skull team are the perfect fit for our new game. Worldbuilding and storytelling is in our DNA, and this collaboration reflects our evolution and commitment to our ‘Playing to Win’ strategy, building a stronger presence in digital play. We look forward to revealing more about this brand-new ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ game in the future.” “Our talented and experienced team at Giant Skull is built on creativity and curiosity,” Asmussen said. “Our goal is to craft a rich new ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ universe filled with immersive storytelling, heroic combat and exhilarating traversal that players will fully embrace.”

A film adaptation of hit video game “Split Fiction” starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Jon M. Chu has landed at Amazon MGM Studios, Variety has confirmed. As Variety first reported last month, along with the news of Sweeney’s casting (the actress signed on to the project March 6, the day the game launched) and Chu directing, the script for the movie is being written by “Deadpool & Wolverine” screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Related Stories From developer Hazelight Studios and publisher Electronic Arts, “Split Fiction” blends fantasy and science fiction, following a pair of authors, Mio and Zoe, who become trapped in the worlds they wrote. Written by director and Hazelight studio chief Josef Fares and Sebastian Johansson, “Split Fiction” is a co-op adventure game that features gameplay mechanics involving split-screen combat, platforming challenges and differing abilities for each character. Popular on Variety The “Split Fiction” film will be produced by Mike Goldberg and Dmitri M. Johnson’s Story Kitchen (formerly dj2 Entertainment) and Chu’s Electric Somewhere. Sweeney, Story Kitchen’s Timothy I. Stevenson, and Hazelight Studios’ founder Josef Fares and COO Oskar Wolontis are executive producing. “Even in early development here at Hazelight, it was clear how much potential ‘Split Fiction’ had to become a kick-ass movie,” Wolontis told Variety Monday. “We now know it’s got a shot at becoming something truly special with such an amazing creative team behind it. Jon M. Chu, Sydney Sweeney, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, together with Story Kitchen, have all been champions and true fans of this project since day one, and we can’t wait to see their vision for this movie come to life! Amazon MGM has shown intense interest in this project and we’re happy to see them show both confidence and clear intent to bring this movie to all current and future fans of ‘Split Fiction’ out there. We look forward to holding them to that and working together to bring Mio and Zoe to screen.” It has yet to be decided whether Sweeney will be playing Zoe or Mio, and the film is actively looking to cast her co-star. Released March 6, “Split Fiction” quickly became a hit with players and critics alike, receiving positive reviews and massive sales. According to Hazelight, the game sold more than two million copies in the first week following its launch, and that number continues to rise at a rapid clip. Variety first reported the “Split Fiction” film was in the works, and attracting top Hollywood studios for a bidding war, during the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March. “Split Fiction” marks the third film adaptation Hazelight has set up with Story Kitchen, following projects in development based on games “It Takes Two” (also at Amazon MGM Studios and counting Dwayne Johnson’s Seven Bucks as producer) and “A Way Out.”

Next week, the former president of “Grant Theft Auto” maker Rockstar North launches his first title since leaving the Take-Two Interactive-owned video game developer and opening his own studio, Build A Rocket Boy: the AAA narrative-driven action-adventure thriller “MindsEye.” Published by IOI Partners, the team behind the “Hitman” franchise, the Unreal Engine 5-built game will debut June 10 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store with a $59.99 price tag for the standard edition. Related Stories Set in the near-futuristic city of Redrock, “MindsEye” puts players into the role of Jacob Diaz, a former soldier haunted by fragmented memories from his mysterious MindsEye neural implant, as he uncovers a conspiracy involving rogue AI, corporate greed, an unchecked military, and a threat so sinister that it endangers the very survival of humanity. Popular on Variety But the base story isn’t the biggest draw for “MindsEye,” which includes Build A Rocket Boy’s proprietary Game Creation System, that enables players to, well, “craft anything in their minds eye.” Per the studio, “Players can craft their own experiences using all of the ‘MindsEye’ assets, creating everything from custom missions to entirely new scenarios within the game’s expansive, richly detailed world. Whether you’re designing a high-speed chase through Redrock’s bustling cityscapes or a stealth mission in its industrial outskirts, it is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, ensuring that players of all skill levels can bring their imagination to life.” Benzies’ Edinburgh-based Build A Rocket Boy has promised “fresh premium content” will rollout monthly for the game, including regular releases of new missions, challenges and game assets. While “MindsEye” is the first title from Benzies since he launched BARB after leaving Rockstar in 2016 (Benzies was the lead “Grand Theft Auto” developer across the third through fifth games in the franchise, as well as “Grand Theft Auto Online,” and was in a legal battle with parent company Take Two over unpaid royalties from 2016 until 2019), it’s just step one in the prolific producer’s plan to shake up the gaming industry. “At Build A Rocket Boy, our vision goes far beyond a single title,” Benzies told Variety. “‘MindsEye’ is the first episode and central story around which ever-expanding interconnected episodes will span. We’re already working on future episodes, which will introduce alternate realities while maintaining it’s core themes of hope, redemption, and the intrigue of civilizations past and future, drawing from the lore and multiverse concepts.” See Variety‘s full interview with Benzies below, including the inevitable comparisons that will be drawn between “MindsEye” and the aesthetic of the “GTA” franchise, and his hopes for Rockstar Games’ highly anticipated and much-delayed “GTA 6.” Where did the concept for “MindsEye” come from? I pull a lot of inspiration from the real world. Watching the actions of humans – their foibles and their virtues. Watching the advancement of technology and how we adapt, or indeed, do not adapt. We’ve been moving to an automated world for many years now, and the impact on humans, especially with recent advancements in AI, which serves as good fodder for a story and even better for a video game. I think we all have this little nagging feeling about how humans and AI will blend together in the future—will it go smoothly, or will it turn sinister? We’re fans of all different types of media, and we’ve drawn influence from cinematic visionaries like Ridley Scott, Paul Greengrass, Christopher Nolan, and J.J. Abrams, and films like “The Bourne Identity,” “Memento,” and TV series “Lost” — they’re all exploring memory, perception, and control in their own ways. So, while we nod to those influences here and there, we wanted to build something that feels fresh, grounded in today’s world, but still asking the kinds of questions that have always made this genre powerful. With your “GTA” roots, obvious comparisons are already being drawn between the style and aesthetic of that franchise and “MindsEye.” Comparisons will always be made—it’s the way human beings pigeonhole concepts. But “MindsEye” isn’t built to fit into anyone else’s box. Many games share the same core elements: cars, guns, cities, and charismatic characters, and differentiation is even tougher in today’s entertainment landscape. Streaming, social media, and on-demand binge culture have fractured attention spans, and consumer mindshare is a brutal battlefield for all IP. Our industry continues to celebrate each other’s breakthroughs, and I’m proud that our collective innovation is advancing the medium of gaming, even if our paths diverge. As an independent studio we have the freedom to break ground in experimental new ways and the challenge is balancing innovation with familiarity—too much “new” risks alienating fans, too much “same” feels stale. It’s about nailing what makes your game’s world feel alive and urgent. “MindsEye” is about consequence and connection—it’s cinematic, reactive, and meant to feel like a world you’re not just playing in, but able to create in it too. We’re excited to see what they’ve crafted with “GTA VI ,” and I can’t wait to play it as a consumer for the first time. They’re always delivering something new, unique and at a scale that very few can pull off. What does MindsEye represent in BARB’s larger vision and long-term strategy? Are you plotting this out as a multi-game franchise or your first standalone? At Build A Rocket Boy, our vision goes far beyond a single title. “MindsEye” is the first episode and central story around which ever-expanding interconnected episodes will span. We’re already working on future episodes, which will introduce alternate realities while maintaining it’s core themes of hope, redemption, and the intrigue of civilizations past and future, drawing from the lore and multiverse concepts. It’s the future of entertainment to allow active participation so players feel like they have agency and can immerse themselves in our world as they want to. We are introducing three products in one game that will revolutionize AAA-quality interactive gaming and storytelling: “MindsEye” narrative story, Play.MindsEye, and Build.MindsEye. In our tightly crafted action-noir, “MindsEye” narrative story we have rips in time accessed through portals at strategic points throughout the game – so while you play as Jacob Diaz on his personal journey, players can also explore side stories and delve deeper into the backstories of characters they encounter along the way. In this way we are delivering companion content at the same time as the anchor content, weaving a rich narrative tapestry which will continue to evolve and expand giving greater depth to characters so you understand their personality and motivations. How do digital products Play.MindsEye (formerly named Arcadia) and Build.MindsEye (formerly Everywhere) tie in to plans for “MindsEye” and what BARB wants to offer gamers? In this new era of entertainment, where streaming platforms, boom-and-bust games, and an on-demand culture dominate, we’re pushing things in a new direction—with an interface that simplifies how we consume not just games, but all forms of entertainment. Consumers are moving away from 2D browsing into fully 3D, immersive experiences. Put simply, we’re shifting from passive interaction to active participation. As with all new products, things evolve. Arcadia was originally envisioned as our creation platform, but as we continued developing “MindsEye” and building out BARB’s ecosystem, it naturally grew into something more focused— Play.MindsEye and Build.MindsEye. Play delivers cinematic, high-intensity gameplay with missions and maps that constantly evolve. Build gives players intuitive tools to create their own content—no technical skills required, just imagination and intent. For BARB to fully realize our vision, we had to beta test our creation system with a community of builders in real-time and started with Everywhere while we were in stealth mode developing MindsEye. How did you settle on IOI as publishing partner? We’ve always found the way IOI handled the “Hitman” franchise interesting. They are one of the few publishers that have taken their single-player IP and increased their player count and amplified their community culture over time. From a technology point of view, their one executable approach for all of their content is very smart, and we always planned to have a similar approach, which encouraged us to join forces. This interview has been edited and condensed.

A video game based on Disney and Marvel’s “Black Panther” has been scrapped at publisher Electronic Arts as part of the closure of the game’s developer, Cliffhanger Games. As a result of EA shuttering Cliffhanger, multiple employees have been laid off at both that studio and across EA’s mobile and central teams. Variety has confirmed the number of staffers cut is less than the 300 that EA let go last month when it canceled its next planned “Titanfall” game, and the company is working to place these individuals with other teams throughout EA. Related Stories In an email sent to staff Wednesday, EA Entertainment president Laura Miele said these moves were made to “sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities.” Popular on Variety The cuts come as EA chief Andrew Wilson has made it clear the company’s priority is its biggest franchises, including EA Sports, “The Sims,” “Battlefield” and “Apex Legends,” and upcoming game “Skate,” rather than making licensed games. “These decisions are hard,” Miele said. “They affect people we’ve worked with, learned from and shared real moments with. We’re doing everything we can to support them — including finding opportunities within EA, where we’ve had success helping people land in new roles.” Representatives for EA declined to comment. This marks the third round of layoffs EA has made this year. In April, EA reduced its staff by more than 300 employees with approximately one third of the cuts made at developer Respawn, which was making “Titanfall” and one additional project, both of which were in “early-stage incubation,” according to Respawn. The layoffs mainly affected the teams working on games “Apex Legends” and “Star Wars Jedi.” IGN was first to report the news of the new EA layoffs and “Black Panther” game cancellation.

Blumhouse and Meta have announced “Blumhouse Horroverse,” a new immersive horror experience launching in Meta Horizon on May 22. The new world will transport fans into Blumhouse horror franchises including “M3GAN,” “Wolf Man,” “The Black Phone” and “Happy Death Day.”  The official event description reads: “Dare to enter Blumhouse Horrorverse! Hunt victims as M3GAN, Babyface, or Lady Liberty. Role play as villains from ‘M3GAN,’ ‘The Purge,’ and ‘Black Phone’ across thrilling minigames.” Related Stories The “Blumhouse Horrorverse” will feature the “Survival Lockdown” game, in which players can throw a lever assigning everyone in the house a random role: victim or villain. As victims work together to locate missing keycards to end the lockdown, players assigned the “villain” role will embody Blumhouse characters like M3GAN, the Babyface Killer from “Happy Death Day” and Lady Liberty from “The Purge,” to eliminate survivors before they can escape.  Popular on Variety In addition to the centerpiece “Survival Lockdown” game, the “Blumhouse Horrorverse” Meta Quest world will feature a “Wolf Man” mini game, target practice areas based on “The Purge” films and a screening area for “exclusive Blumhouse content.”  The “Blumhouse Horrorverse” is the latest horror experience to join Meta Quest, alongside 29 other titles featured in Meta Quest’s Halfway to Halloween celebration, including “Alien: Rogue Incursion,” “Arizona Sunshine 2,” “Cosmodread,” “Creepy Cabin,” “The Exorcist: Legion VR” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted.” “I’m thrilled to bring ‘Blumhouse Horroverse’ to life in Meta Horizon,” said Sarah Malkin, director of Reality Labs Entertainment Content at Meta. “This immersive experience lets horror fans interact with iconic Blumhouse movies and monsters. What excites me most is giving audiences more of what they love, and a platform to share their passion with others who feel the same way.” “Blumhouse has always looked for new ways to bring fans closer to the stories they love,” said Karen Barragan, Blumhouse chief marketing officer. “‘Horroverse’ is our most immersive experience yet — something that lets people step inside our worlds, connect with other horror fans, and even become the villain. With Meta, we’re not just pushing boundaries — we’re building a space where you don’t just experience horror — you exist inside it.” Fans can RSVP for the “Blumhouse Horrorverse” world, here. The experience will also be available on Meta Horizon’s website and mobile app. Watch the trailer below.

As Memorial Day approaches and National Military Appreciation Month comes to a close, here’s a timely fact: the largest private funder of veteran employment in the United States is a video game. Tied to Activision’s long-running military game franchise “Call of Duty,” the aptly named Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) has placed over 150,000 veterans in jobs since 2009 and has been surpassing the federal government’s placement efforts since 2022, according to the organization’s president, Dan Goldenberg. Related Stories The initiative has raised $48 million through sales of special accessory packs in “Call of Duty” games alone (one of which recently launched in collaboration with real-life vets First Sergeant Korey Staley and Captain Florent “Flo” Groberg), in addition to other donation streams, and “every cent of which is going to putting vets in jobs,” Goldenberg says. Popular on Variety “The ‘Call of Duty’ community has been generous. Activision, as partners, have been incredible. They’ve all kind of come together in this ecosystem,” Goldenberg told Variety. “And one thing I know for sure is we’ve had more measurable social impact than anyone I know of in the gaming industry. I can’t think of another cause where it’s not so much the money raised, it’s the impact out. Others may have raised more money, but we’ve put — including the in-game stuff and other donations and corporate partnerships — close to $100 million against this problem. And as a result, 150,000 vets have jobs, their families are more secure. Meaningful employment is just so core to so many other challenges a vet may encounter. If you have a meaningful job, you probably have health care, you have colleagues, you have purpose.” According to C.O.D.E., it costs $628 per placement of each vet. The average starting salary for vets in these placements is $75,000, and 93% are receiving full-time placement. Goldenberg says the program has seen an 89% retention rate at six months. Additionally, 20% of the program’s veterans placed are women. Launched in 2009 by former Activision chief Bobby Kotick and co-chaired by General James L. Jones beginning in 2012, the Call of Duty Endowment started out a time when the unemployment rate for veterans “was super high,” Goldenberg said. “It stemmed from this very successful gaming franchise that said, ‘We’ve gotten really big, and we owe a lot of our success to the people who inspired us. We’d like to find a good way to give back to them,'” Goldenberg said, adding that “initially, we looked like a lot of corporate foundations writing big checks. But the difference was the discipline that had made Activision and ‘Call of Duty’ so successful was being applied to trying to solve a social problem here.” C.O.D.E. is currently bracing for a higher number of unemployed veterans amid the recent job cuts across government service, a popular sector for vet placement, under the administration of President Donald Trump. But Goldenberg says the techniques the endowment already has in place — methods it has been building on through years of trial and error — will help significantly with this influx. “A lot of it was vetting our partners, and we insisted on a return on our investment,” Goldenberg said. “The difference was, it was a social return. We wanted to see a lot of vets put in jobs. And when we started, we were at parity. Our cost per placement was about the same as the federal government’s efforts.” And with “consistent disciplined vetting and accountability of our grantees on a quarterly basis,” Goldenberg says the Endowment has pulled ahead. “It works. So last year, we placed vets in jobs for 1/15th the cost of placement of the government with much higher quality outcomes in terms of average starting salary, retention rates, and the percentage of those jobs that are for full-time employment,” Goldenberg said. “And I guess the big lesson out of it is the discipline of business can really make a big difference for social cost. That’s been our unequivocal experience. We didn’t go in for brands. We looked for nonprofit partners who we thought for the dollar could accomplish the most social impact, and that’s what we’ve gotten.” As for how the actual “Call of Duty” video games can help vets, a study done by the Entertainment Software Association found that 86% of surveyed U.S. vets said video games provided them with a “healthy outlet for stress and anxiety.” “And not surprisingly, ‘Call of Duty’ is their favorite game,” Goldenberg says of the study’s findings. “When I’ve talked to friends who’ve been forward, when I’ve gone forward, you would think, and people from outside will say, ‘Don’t you get enough of the military thing?’ And no, it’s like a great way for them — especially when we were in active combat, people would come back to the forward operating bases, and they use it to decompress and have fun,” Goldenberg says.

With “A Minecraft Movie” in striking distance of the billion-dollar mark at the global box office, there’s no better time to check in on the state of the video game industry, with an emphasis on its intersection with Hollywood. Kaare Eriksen, author of a recent Variety Intelligence Platform special report on these subjects, tackles everything on the latest episode of Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast — from the shadow that Trump-era tariffs could cast over Nintendo’s Switch 2 console launch next month to the shift of “Grand Theft Auto 6” to 2026. Related Stories Rockstar Games, publisher of the hugely popular franchise, announced earlier this month that “GTA 6” is now set to release on May 26, 2026. Many publishers behind big games expected this year were reportedly reluctant to commit to release dates until they knew for sure “GTA 6” is locked down to one. Popular on Variety Listen to the podcast here:   “The immediate upside is the sheer reality that now some publishers can breathe a bit easy and schedule games for the fall,” said Eriksen. Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’s “A Minecraft Movie,” starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, has done well enough to become the second-best gaming adaptation ever at the box office, which will certainly whet appetites among film execs to capitalize on other gaming properties. “If there’s going to be any kind of ramifications of a ‘Minecraft’ movie doing so well, it is going to be studios obviously salivating for the chance to take some IP, whether it’s ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ ‘Call of Duty,’ or even Fortnite and Roblox, and try to figure out a way to do movies around those if it means they could potentially bring out that big of an audience,” said Eriksen. “Strictly Business” is Variety’s weekly podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes debut every Wednesday and can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play, SoundCloud and more.

Mattel has partnered with Uken Games, an independent Canadian game studio, to develop “Mattel Match: Toybox Unlocked,” a free-to-play match game that “brings together all of Mattel’s iconic brands in a brand-new digital experience.” The new game marks the first IP crossover mobile game from Mattel, and was developed as part of Mattel’s 80th anniversary celebration campaign. Related Stories “Toybox Unlocked” features Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, UNO, Thomas & Friends and Masters of the Universe and more Mattel franchises in a leveled puzzle adventure that challenges players to match characters, toys and items from across Mattel’s titles before time runs out.  “For the first time ever, Mattel is uniting its beloved brands in a single mobile game with ‘Mattel Match: Toybox Unlocked,’ offering fans an exciting, new way to engage with the characters and stories they love,” Mattel’s head of business development and digital gaming Erika Winterholler said. “Our team has really enjoyed working with Uken Games to imagine and create this unique, interconnected world on mobile and can’t wait to have it join our growing portfolio of digital entertainment titles.”  Popular on Variety “Uken is delighted to partner with Mattel on this iconic mobile match game that seamlessly brings together your favorite Mattel brands with this unique & challenging gameplay style,” added Uken Games co-CEO. “I cannot wait to see players filling up their digital toy boxes with their favorite Barbie, Hot Wheels, and UNO toys among the many others the game will feature.”   “Mattel Match: Toybox Unlocked” is currently soft launching in the Philippines and Canada, with additional regions rolling out ahead of its official wide launch later this year.

“Grand Theft Auto” publisher Take-Two Interactive is planning to sell off $1 billion of its common stock. In addition to the public offering, which was announced Tuesday, the video game giant will give underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $150 million of shares. The offering is subject to market conditions. Per the company, “Take-Two intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of outstanding debt and future acquisitions.” Related Stories Take-Two, which is the parent company to Rockstar Games, 2K and Zynga, saw its shares drop nearly 3% in after-hours trading Tuesday upon news of the stock sale. Popular on Variety The public offering announcement comes less than a week out from Take-Two reporting its latest earnings results, which included a writedown of more than $3 billion. That was on the heels of the publisher revealing on May 2 that its highly anticipated Rockstar Games-developed “Grand Theft Auto 6” would be shifting from a planned fall 2025 release to a May 26, 2026 launch. Speaking with Variety last week about the earnings results and anticipation for the company’s fiscal 2026 (which runs April 1, 2025-March 31, 2026), Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick said “obviously, the net bookings that are expected for Fiscal ’26 are lower without the release of ‘GTA 6,’ that goes without saying,” adding: “But we haven’t actually parsed what the specific effect is, although analysts have speculated.” “I think the key point to bear in mind is, once again, we’re setting a record, which is what we said we would do,” Zelnick said. “We certainly expect growth in Fiscal ’27. This company is in extraordinarily sound shape and well positioned both for the challenges and opportunities ahead.”

SAG-AFTRA is objecting to the use of AI to recreate the late James Earl Jones’ bass intonations of Darth Vader in Epic Games’ “Fortnite.” The actors union said Epic-owned Llama Productions “chose to replace the work of human performers with AI technology” for the Star Wars-themed Fortnite Battle Royale mini-season that launched last week. “Unfortunately, they did so without providing any notice of their intent to do this and without bargaining with us over appropriate terms.” As such, SAG-AFTRA filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against Llama Productions. Related Stories Reps for Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Popular on Variety Jones, who died in 2024 at 93, had signed off an agreement to allow his archival voice recordings to be used to recreate his younger voice from the Star Wars films for future Lucasfilm projects. In addition, Jones’ family had granted permission for the use of his voice in “Fortnite,” according to Disney, Lucasfilm and Epic Games. “James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it,” his family said in a statement. “We hope that this collaboration with ‘Fortnite’ will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character.” But SAG-AFTRA said “Fortnite’s” use of Jones’ AI-generated voice was not cleared by the union. In its statement, the union said, “We celebrate the right of our members and their estates to control the use of their digital replicas and welcome the use of new technologies to allow new generations to share in the enjoyment of those legacies and renowned roles. However, we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games.” Actors repped by SAG-AFTRA have been on strike against several game companies (including Epic’s Llama Productions) since July 16, 2024. In their “best, last and final” offer on a new contract sent to SAG-AFTRA last week, the game companies made concessions with respect to AI. The most significant of these was the removal of a one-time payment option for unlimited pre-generated content per game; with that change, performers who consent to the use of an AI-generated digital replica would receive compensation for that use comparable to what they would have received had they directly provided services. Last week, Darth Vader returned to “Fortnite” as a Battle Royale boss, letting players scheme with the ultimate Sith Lord and speak with him using conversational AI. “Be the first to recruit him and your whole team will be able to take turns talking to the Dark Lord,” Epic said in a May 16 blog post. In “Fortnite,” when players talk to the Darth Vader character, Epic Games “securely processes the voice audio to generate Vader’s responses, but audio and transcriptions of the conversation are not stored,” according to Disney.

SAG-AFTRA is objecting to the use of AI to recreate the late James Earl Jones’ bass intonations of Darth Vader in Epic Games’ “Fortnite.” The actors union said Epic-owned Llama Productions “chose to replace the work of human performers with AI technology” for the Star Wars-themed Fortnite Battle Royale mini-season that launched last week. “Unfortunately, they did so without providing any notice of their intent to do this and without bargaining with us over appropriate terms.” As such, SAG-AFTRA filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against Llama Productions. Related Stories Reps for Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Popular on Variety Jones, who died in 2024 at 93, had signed off an agreement to allow his archival voice recordings to be used to recreate his younger voice from the Star Wars films for future Lucasfilm projects. In addition, Jones’ family had granted permission for the use of his voice in “Fortnite,” according to Disney, Lucasfilm and Epic Games. “James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it,” his family said in a statement. “We hope that this collaboration with ‘Fortnite’ will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character.” But SAG-AFTRA said “Fortnite’s” use of Jones’ AI-generated voice was not cleared by the union. In its statement, the union said, “We celebrate the right of our members and their estates to control the use of their digital replicas and welcome the use of new technologies to allow new generations to share in the enjoyment of those legacies and renowned roles. However, we must protect our right to bargain terms and conditions around uses of voice that replace the work of our members, including those who previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games.” Voice actors repped by SAG-AFTRA have been on strike against several game companies (including Epic’s Llama Productions) since July 16, 2024. In their “best, last and final” offer on a new contract sent to SAG-AFTRA last week, the game companies made concessions with respect to AI. The most significant of these was the removal of a one-time payment option for unlimited pre-generated content per game; with that change, performers who consent to the use of an AI-generated digital replica would receive compensation for that use comparable to what they would have received had they directly provided services. Last week, Darth Vader returned to “Fortnite” as a Battle Royale boss, letting players scheme with the ultimate Sith Lord and speak with him using conversational AI. “Be the first to recruit him and your whole team will be able to take turns talking to the Dark Lord,” Epic said in a May 16 blog post. In “Fortnite,” when players talk to the Darth Vader character, Epic Games “securely processes the voice audio to generate Vader’s responses, but audio and transcriptions of the conversation are not stored,” according to Disney.

Netflix began streaming new episodes of the popular British preschool series “Peppa Pig” in the U.S. today — and will offer the “World of Peppa Pig” gaming app within the streamer to go with it. The move is one of Netflix’s splashiest to date when it comes to building out not just its video game offering, but specifically its kids and pre-K titles. “When we think about the overall kids game strategy, there’s taking from what we know from film and television and what they’ve learned with kids, which is about focusing on familiarity and focusing on things that kids already know and love,” Netflix kids gaming chief Lisa Burgess told Variety. “And we’ve also seen hints of that with our games portfolio, too. If you focus on bringing things that are familiar over onto our service, it helps our members to understand what we’re offering. So from from the highest level of what kinds of games do we want to select? We want to go after things that are big IP, beloved IP, a connection to Netflix — and Peppa falls to the top of many of those things, big IP, beloved on our service. And then ‘World of Peppa Pig’ has been a great game for many years. And so when we were thinking about all the opportunities, it was one of the very top ones that we wanted to go after.” Related Stories Per Netflix, the “World of Peppa Pig” app will offer users activities including puzzles, mini-games (spot-the-difference, dress-up games and memory challenges) and coloring books. Popular on Variety Burgess describes the “World of Peppa Pig” games as “very approachable” for a two year old and of interest to kids up to eight year olds, with the “sweet spot” being children ages two to five. “It’s less about the age spectrum and more about how much have they been exposed to games before in the past,” Burgess said. “Overall, the strategy is focusing on things that are familiar, and so that familiarity can be an IP, and not necessarily an IP tied with a game,” Burgess said. “And kids at this age are very IP driven. They want to play with their favorite character like that’s their best friend. And so they want nothing more than to be able to engage with those characters. There are a lot of great kids games that are out there right now, ‘World of Peppa Pig’ was one of them. And so I do think we want to think about our strategy of, what is the value add of us being able to bring some of those other great games onto our service that add value for our members? And then in the other dimension, what about IPs that exist but don’t have great gaming experiences around them for kids? And how do we actually build up good experiences and great gaming experiences for that?” Example: On Monday, Netflix announced it had acquired the streaming rights to powerhouse PBS Kids series “Sesame Street” and would be developing video games for both “Sesame Street” and “Sesame Street Mecha Builders.” “A the high level, it’s all about familiar, big IP,” Burgess said. “Some will be existing games that are already built, and some will be games that we’re building up from the ground up, based on big IP.” To date, Netflix says kids and family viewing represents 15% of its total viewership, and the streamer weeks to make its kids gaming offering “an extension of the safe environment parents already trust” that’s included with that subscription. As Netflix builds out its overall games lineup, it’s also laying the groundwork for keeping a user interested in its offering from pre-K through adulthood by having titles targeted to subscribers in each age demographic. “It’s the million-dollar question: how do you actually facilitate through that journey?” Burgess said. “And with kids, there comes a certain point in time where they no longer want to sit at the kids table. And so you cannot design experiences that are labeled for kids, because they’re not going to want to do that anymore. And so finding that line of, how do you start introducing kids to things that are safe and accessible, but not necessarily just for kids, that are more like for all ages?” Burgess says Netflix is able to use its existing data from kids profiles and family viewing habits to adjust the flow from kids games to more adult games the same way it feeds new content to children as they get older. “For every place possible, we’re going to try and take those learnings and apply them to games,” Burgess said, adding: “but we have a lot that we need to do on the overall journey and discovery experience and it’s something that we’re thinking about as we’re scaling out the portfolio of games for kids, and as that diversity gets bigger.”

Fortnite players can channel their inner dark side as James Earl Jones‘ Darth Vader returns to the game. Players will be able to recruit the Sith Lord and be able to talk to him, he will respond with the help of AI. Epic Games and Disney have brought Jones back with the permission of his family. According to a release, the family said, “James Earl felt that the voice of Darth Vader was inseparable from the story of Star Wars, and he always wanted fans of all ages to continue to experience it. We hope that this collaboration with Fortnite will allow both longtime fans of Darth Vader and newer generations to share in the enjoyment of this iconic character.” Related Stories Jones, who died in 2024, had previously announced he was stepping away from the role. But before he died, he signed off on archival voice recordings being used by young filmmakers, who plan to utilize artificial intelligence synthetic speech technology to recreate Jones’ younger voice from his previous films for future Lucasfilm projects. Popular on Variety The company recurited the assistance of Respeecher, a Ukrainian startup that uses AI technology to craft new conversations from revitalized old voice recordings. Respeecher’s relationship with Lucasfilm began with the Disney+ series “The Book of Boba Fett,” for which they recreated the voice of young Luke Skywalker. The two also teamed for the voice performance of Darth Vader on the series “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” In the game, Darth Vader will be a boss in battle royale. “Ask him all your pressing questions about the Force, the Galactic Empire… or you know, a good strat for the last Storm circle,” reads the official post on Fortnite’s site. “The Sith Lord has opinions.” It continued, “Darth Vader wouldn’t be nearly as sinister without the legendary performance of James Earl Jones, who voiced Vader in the ‘Star Wars’ films.”  However, the addition of Darth Vader has not come without glitches. Gamers have already created amusing video content with one gamer and Twitch streamer making the Dark Lord swear. A gamer called Loserthug has him saying “Fuck.” Epic Games was swift to respond and said they have “pushed a hotfix immediately and this shouldn’t happen again.”

Magic: the Gathering has unveiled three new cards from its upcoming “Final Fantasy” set and Variety has the exclusive first look at the preview images from Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast. The three new cards part of the collection made in collaboration with “Final Fantasy” game developer Square Enix include: The Strahl (an overlay of Smuggler’s Copter), Luka Stadium (Strixhaven Stadium), and Tidus, Zanarkand Fayth (Thrasios, Triton Hero). The will be released with the rest of the set on June 13, which is now available for preorder. Related Stories “The Strahl, a.k.a. Smuggler’s Copter. During the previews, we showed you Balthier and Fran, and they care about vehicles, that’s kind of their mechanic,” principal designer and set design lead for Magic’s “Final Fantasy” collection Gavin Verhey told Variety. “And the Strahl is their ship, and we wanted to get the Strahl somewhere in the set. But it wasn’t really making sense with what the main set was trying to do, we couldn’t quite get it in there. But we thought, let’s put it on this bonus sheet, so that way you can have Balthier and Fran and the Strahl side by side with each other, interacting. So that was kind of a fun little nod for us. Smuggler’s Copter, of course, is a Magic card with a lot of pedigree. So that’s pretty cool.” Popular on Variety Wizards of the Coast/Square Enix “Gavin was so polite when he was like, people were trying to find a place in the main set — that was me,” principal game designer Dillon Deveney said. “Every day I was like, ‘I think we have to have this somewhere. It’s so iconic to ‘Final Fantasy.’ People love these sky pirates in the game, they do this legendary shit. And so eventually, Gavin was like, I think I found the perfect spot on the bonus sheet and then it could be Smuggler’s Copter. And honestly, it’s even better at this point in time that we found that connection back to Magic. Smuggler’s Copter is obviously a very famous card in Magic history, but also just the flavor of Smuggler’s Copter being, in the original set, for a pair of sky pirates. I was just like beside myself. You found my dream, Gavin.” Wizards of the Coast/Square Enix “Thrasios is a really fun example of a card that we really collaborated with Square Enix on,” Verhey said. “We were working out what cards we might want to use, and we sent Square Enix over an initial list of some ideas to show them. And they were really excited about Thrasios, right? I want to really emphasize, it’s not just us going to them, they love Magic tons and tons. And we have weekly calls with them where they play tons of Magic, tells about what they think about Magic. And when we were over there playing with them and hanging out at the Square Enix offices doing work, after hours, we’ll play a commander or play Magic together. So they love cards, too. And we mentioned Thrasios, they got really excited. So OK — we love it, they love it, let’s put it in the set.” Wizards of the Coast/Square Enix “So this was just all encompassing passion of, ‘Final Fantasy X’ is my favorite game of the series, my personal favorite game,” senior game designer Daniel Holt said. “Everybody asked, ‘Is there going to be Blitzball? Is there going to be the laughing scene?’ etc. But Blitzball just kept coming up over and over on ‘Fantasy 10,’ which, you will get some of that in the commander deck. But a lot of fans, once they learned we were doing this collaboration, were like, ‘What about Strixhaven Stadium as Blitzball stadium?’ People asked for this specifically, and I designed the original Strixhaven Stadium, too. So I designed this card. We got to apply it to my favorite game with this overlay. And it goes in the deck because it uses counters, so like Tidus in the deck and everything, it’ll just slot right into the deck. It was just a perfect fit in every way possible.” Releasing June 13, Magic: The Gathering’s “Final Fantasy” collection will include cards based on the sixteen mainline games in the video game franchise. Per MTG’s description for the collection, “Cast powerful spells, call upon classic summons, and even visit your favorite locations on the back of a chocobo. Countless elements from the games are here for you to weave together your own story!” “Magic has existed in Japan since 1995,” executive producer Zakeel Gordon said. “We’ve had a lot of positive market signals and excitement from our Japanese community for distribution and retailers for this IP. There are a couple of special promotions that we will be doing in Japan as a celebration of this moment. So as a whole, I would say it’s obviously very good for Japan, but more than anything, it’s just trying to lean into the authenticity of what it represents to that market — what the history is with respect to video gaming culture in that region, and making our players globally excited.”

“Fortnite” has gone offline worldwide on iOS devices after Apple blocked the online video game’s release submission. The video game’s social media pages put out the following statement: “Apple has blocked our ‘Fortnite’ submission so we cannot release to the US App Store or to the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. Now, sadly, ‘Fortnite’ on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.” In August 2020, Apple officially booted “Fortnite” and other Epic Games titles off the App Store, suspending the games company’s developer account after Epic filed an antitrust lawsuit against the tech giant. Epic’s lawsuit against Apple argued that the tech company acts as a monopoly, taking a 30% cut on all in-app purchases while banning outside payment methods. Related Stories News broke at the end of April that “Fortnite” would be returning to the App Store after a court found that Apple willfully violated the court order in the Epic Games v. Apple suit. “For the reasons set forth herein, the Court finds Apple in willful violation of this Court’s 2021 Injunction which issued to restrain and prohibit Apple’s anticompetitive conduct and anticompetitive pricing. Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with competition will not be tolerated,” Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said in the documents. Popular on Variety An Apple spokesperson shared the following statement with Variety after the ruling: “We strongly disagree with the decision. We will comply with the court’s order and we will appeal.” While “Fortnite” was expected to return to the App Store, Epic Games says Apple did not approve its submission in time. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted on X on May 15: “We don’t have an update on our ‘Fortnite’ submission to the App Store. Apple has neither accepted nor rejected it. So the Friday update to Fortnite is now in jeopardy.”

Take-Two Interactive reported its latest earnings Thursday, which included a writedown of more than $3 billion. But despite that hit, the biggest news for the company still came out nearly two weeks ahead of the financial results: the publisher’s highly anticipated Rockstar Games-developed “Grand Theft Auto 6” would be shifting from a planned fall 2025 release to a May 26, 2026 launch. The choice, which was announced May 2, was made before Take-Two revealed these full fiscal 2025 results (which ran April 1, 2024 -March 31, 2025) and projections for its Fiscal 2026, but the company has not disclosed exactly at what point Rockstar decided “GTA 6” would need to be moved. As of February, the company had still been publicly eyeing that fall window. Related Stories “So we don’t talk about when we make decisions around here,” Take-Two chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick told Variety Thursday ahead of the company’s earnings call. “And obviously, the net bookings that are expected for Fiscal ’26 are lower without the release of ‘GTA 6,’ that goes without saying. But we haven’t actually parsed what the specific felt is, although analysts have speculated. I think the key point to bear in mind is, once again, we’re setting a record, which is what we said we would do. We certainly expect growth in Fiscal ’27. This company is in extraordinarily sound shape and well positioned both for the challenges and opportunities ahead.” Popular on Variety Wall Street forecast a loss of earnings per share (EPS) of 5 cents on $1.55 billion in revenue for Take-Two’s January-March results, according to analyst consensus data provided by LSEG. On Thursday, Take-Two reported $1.58 billion in net bookings. GAAP net loss was $3.78 billion, or $21.08 per share. That loss included a writedown of $3.55 billion, though Take-Two did not disclose which division within the company accounted for that large hit and declined to comment when asked. For the year-long period between April 1, 2025-March 31, 2026, Take-Two is projecting net bookings between $5.9 to $6 billion. Regarding the potential pricing for “GTA 6,” as well as the rest of Take-Two’s games moving forward, Zelnick said he’s not letting recent moves made by competitors affect what Take-Two decides to do. “Well it’s true that some of our competitors have talked about higher prices and variable pricing. The rubric that informs our decision making is that we need and want to deliver way more value than whatever we charge consumers,” Zelnick said. “We think the consumer experiences the intersection of the thing itself. How great is the property with how much you pay for it? I think you know that anecdotally about yourself. We all feel that way. So we’re very mindful that it’s our job to deliver enormous value to consumers. We think we do just that.” More to come…

Passion Paris, part of the international production group Passion Pictures, has added the creative collective Alcyde to its roster of directors. Alcyde was founded by Antoine Charreyron, Florent Auguy and Dorian Marchesin, three visual artists with backgrounds in animation, video games and cinematic storytelling. The trio will contribute to Passion Paris’s work across original series, animated features and commercial projects. Related Stories Florent Auguy began his career as a character designer for major video game titles and contributed to the Oscar-winning animated feature “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” His recent credits include art direction for the series “Batwheels,” the narrative game “Harmony” and the animated series “Urbance.” He has also worked with the game studio Naughty Dog, which develops franchises including “The Last of Us” and “Uncharted.” Popular on Variety Antoine Charreyron brings experience in motion capture, animation and live action. His past work includes cinematics for “Tomb Raider” and “Terminator 3,” as well as directing the animated feature “The Prodigies,” which premiered at Cannes. He also worked on “Batwheels” and has collaborated with artists like 50 Cent and Vin Diesel. Dorian Marchesin has created trailers for games such as “Runeterra” by Riot Games and contributed to Netflix’s “Love, Death & Robots.” His focus lies in building immersive visual environments with emotional depth. Caroline Audebert, Executive Producer at Passion Paris, welcomed the addition, explaining, “[Alcyde’s] respective talents and creative ambition add a special touch that fits perfectly with Passion shows and storytelling across film, series and commercials.” In a joint statement, the members of ALCYDE expressed their enthusiasm for the partnership: “We’re incredibly proud and excited to embark on this journey with Passion Paris. We share a deep commitment to crafting ambitious, visually innovative projects where storytelling, character and emotion are at the heart of everything we create.” The move reflects Passion Paris’s continued interest in expanding its creative capabilities across both original content and commissioned work. Passion Paris is part of the broader Passion Pictures group, which has over two decades of experience in animation and documentary production. The company has received multiple industry accolades, including Academy Awards, Emmys, BAFTAs and honors from Sundance and Cannes.

The video game companies negotiating a new contract with SAG-AFTRA have issued a “best, last and final” offer to the actors union, which removes some key sticking points regarding Generative AI. The topline changes in this final version of a new Interactive Media Agreement (IMA) between the two parties include: removing the unlimited digital replica buyout provision; eliminating the repayment requirement for performers who choose to suspend their consent for developers to create new content using a digital replica during a strike; and stating that developers will not use digital replicas created from non-IMA content in order to circumvent the protections for digital replicas created from IMA-covered content laid out in the proposal. Related Stories The most significant of these revisions is the removal of the one-time payment option for unlimited pre-generated content per game, or what the union has previously described as the “unlimited DR use buyout.” With this change, performers who consent to the use of a digital replica would receive compensation for that use comparable to what they would have received had they directly provided services. Popular on Variety The major video game companies included in negotiations are Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc. and WB Games Inc. The new proposal was sent over by the companies last week, following a previous “best and last” offer issued April 30, which SAG-AFTRA had countered with a proposal May 2. The actors union has been on strike against the companies since July 16, 2024 after 18 months of negotiations on the new IMA. “Last Friday, we responded to SAG-AFTRA’s latest counter with a strong and fair proposal that directly addresses the priorities we understand are essential to reaching a deal to end the strike,” Audrey Cooling, spokesperson for the video game developers party to the IMA, said in a statement Monday. “Specifically, our latest proposal eliminates the unlimited digital replica buyout provision for pre-generated content; eliminates the repayment requirement for performers who choose to suspend their consent for developers to create new content using a digital replica during a strike; and affirms that developers will not use digital replicas created from non-IMA content in order to circumvent the protections for digital replicas created from IMA-covered content laid out in the proposal. Our full proposal not only includes some of the most robust AI protections in a deal of this kind, it also increases wages by 24% over the life of the contract, with a 15% increase in performer compensation immediately upon ratification. We are ready to sign so that performers can return to making great content.” A spokesperson for SAG-AFTRA said in response: “Our negotiating committee will meet with other members who work in video games in an informational meeting tomorrow to discuss the offer and potential next steps.” See the “best, last and final” contract proposal offer from the video game developers to SAG-AFTRA in the document below.

Since launching in May 2015 as a gamer-centric social media platform, Discord has managed to grow exponentially without pivoting to serve customers outside its niche market. With more than 200 million global monthly active users, Discord is doing just fine relying on its current user base, 93% of which play games, per the platform. But as it reaches its 10th birthday, Discord is finding ways to cater its product — which has hosted more than 1.5 billion hours of online gameplay — to a wider audience. Related Stories “Discord is one of these modern communication tools where, when it was built for a specific use case, it kind of eschewed the teaching that something should be very easy to use and optimized for new users and is instead really optimized for the core consumer. And that can be a trade-off,” Discord’s senior vice president of product Peter Sellis told Variety during an interview at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco in March. Popular on Variety “And you probably notice it when onboarding people to Discord that, if those people do not have a friend group to play games together, the Discord experience can be a little tough to understand,” Sellis said. “However, on the flip side of it, when you do have a friend group and you hear their voices while you’re playing and you stream games, you’re like, ‘Wait, this is the coolest thing ever. Like, where has it been all my life?’ And that’s what we hear all the time, especially coming out of the pandemic. So when we think about, who are the next 200 million monthly active users of Discord? Yes, probably a lot of them are people who play multiplayer games with their friends, but don’t use Discord yet, and that’s why you see us doing things like console integrations and getting stronger on mobile — but a lot of them are probably also in some of the concentric circles that are outside of that group.” What Sellis is talking about here is going for more casual gamers, but also consumers of “game adjacent” content. “Some of those things are obvious, like there are many single-player games that are fun to just watch your friend play — ‘Balatro,’ or something like that, and we want to build that experience, because it’s still social and fun to hang out with your friends just like you’re on the couch next to them,” Sellis said. On top of that, Sellis says “there are also things that maybe look and act like a game, but aren’t strictly a game.” “There’s a lot of fandom-oriented communities: fan fiction, very game and IP-adjacent, media and entertainment more broadly, just like content discussions about new seasons and new stuff like that,” Sellis said. “And then also games that are maybe a little bit more atypical. You have a lot of card games, tabletop games with really vibrant communities. You have things like fantasy sports, where Discord can really serve a great purpose.” The focus at Discord still is, and likely always will be, on the “intentional multiplayer gamer,” per Sellis. However, “there are other kinds of people who play games that maybe Discord has not served as well in the past, but it’s a natural tool for them,” the Discord product chief says, adding: “And I look forward to building for more of those use cases, for sure.”

Following the announcement of its May 26, 2026, release date, “Grand Theft Auto 6” is sure to drum up speculation as to the big-name musical talent Rockstar Games has enlisted for the highly anticipated video game. Danny Brown is among those wondering. The rapper spoke to Variety before his set at last week’s THPS Fest, a livestreamed event promoting Activision’s upcoming “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4” remake of the classic skate games that drops July 11. The game features music from Brown, as well as Adolescents, Urethane and Lupe Fiasco, who all performed with Brown at the event attended by Hawk himself and many other pro skaters. Popular on Variety Related Stories “I’ve done a lot of things with ‘GTA,’” said Brown, referring to “Grand Theft Auto 5’s” iFruit Radio station, which he curated and hosted. “Hopefully they have me back, last time I was a drunk fool,” he added. One of many in-game radio stations Rockstar curated for the 2013 title, which has sold more than 210 million units to date, iFruit Radio was added to the base game and its online mode in 2019 as part of “The Diamond Casino Heist,” one of many updates to “GTA 5” throughout its decade-plus run across three console generations. Brown also voiced Yung Ancestor, a rapper character in the update. That said, Brown’s relationship with gaming extends far beyond music. “I grew up with video games in my household my entire life,” said Brown. “We would get the console the first day it came out … I always just had any new game that came out that I probably didn’t really know about because [my dad] would read Game Informer and all that kind of shit,” he said. Even with one “GTA” in the bag, getting his music in a “Tony Hawk” game is a big moment for Brown. “That’s a dream of mine, to be honest,” said Brown. “‘Tony Hawk’ always had some of the coolest soundtracks,” Brown added, expressing his admiration for “Pro Skater 2” and “Tony Hawk’s Underground” in particular. “I played ‘Underground’ probably the most … I kind of correlate when I gamed a lot with depression, in some sense, without even knowing it,” he said. During his set for THPS Fest, which was attended by Hawk and many pro skaters, Brown performed a short but well-rounded setlist covering most of his discography, including more explicit songs like “Ain’t It Funny,” which revolves around substance abuse and was cut short during his set. Brown is known for party anthems like “Smokin & Drinkin,” which he also performed, but the Detroit native frequently gets into darker, more somber territory in his music. That was the case with his 2023 album “Quaranta,” but Brown is currently focused on more uplifting material. “I’m out of that phase,” Brown said. “I’m not depressed no more, I’m not an alcoholic, I’ve been two years sober … I want to make music to make people happy,” he said. To that end, Brown said he’s currently mixing a new album, and he also made an appearance at “Brat” producer and hyperpop artist A.G. Cook’s Coachella set in April, dropping new bars on Charli XCX’s “Party 4 U.” Despite keeping busy on the music front, Brown is still gaming. The rapper said he’s currently into JRPGs from developer Atlus, such as the “Persona” series and “Metaphor: ReFantazio,” as well as decades-old MMORPG “RuneScape,” which he started back up recently. Brown also stressed how much he values original music made for such games. “It’s all about the music, especially with me talking about Atlus games … they put so much effort into making the soundtracks,” he said. “Certain games, like ‘Disco Elysium,’ that kind of game brings me comfort with just a soundtrack … I think it plays a huge part, especially nowadays, not more so with licensing the music. And I know that sounds stupid for me because I obviously want my music licensed, but I really love when a game really has [their] own soundtrack,” he added. Brown isn’t alone in his sentiment. The soundtrack to the highly successful RPG “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” topped Billboard’s classical albums chart in May with 18 million streams. Still, gaming’s impact on licensed music can’t be ignored. Global Spotify streams for The Pointer Sisters’ 1986 song “Hot Together,” which was featured in Rockstar’s latest “Grand Theft Auto 6” trailer, skyrocketed 182,000% just two hours after it premiered last week. Luminate, the entertainment data company that powers the Billboard charts, likewise announced a partnership with Epic Games in April that will add music streaming data from Jam Tracks in “Fortnite” to Connect, one of Luminate’s platforms, to better track and observe the transmedia-driven engagement of music featured in the massively popular live service. Variety, Luminate and Billboard are all owned by Penske Media Corporation.