Inside GDC 2024: How Annual Video Game Conference Has Pivoted Programming Amid Industrywide Layoffs

The Saturday Night Live cold open took a break from politics to riff on March Madness — more specifically how the women’s tournament has been a lot more exciting than the men’s competition.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Neal Freyman and Toby Howell’s “Morning Brew Daily” is coming to indie streamer Nebula in a deal that will see media company Morning Brew launch four news-focused channels on the platform. Beginning Monday, Nebula subscribers will have access to Morning Brew, “Morning Brew Daily,” “Good Work” and “Maxinomics.” Here are the descriptions for the respective channels, per Nebula: As part of the recent reveal of its upcoming slate, creator-owned platform Nebula announced plans for “Nebula News.” According to Nebula, the addition of Morning Brew’s content “signals the first of many channel expansions.” “Devin was integral behind the scenes to the development of Nebula’s early successes, so he has a better understanding than most of what we’re building and why,” Nebula CEO Dave Wiskus said.

Will Smith is sharing his thoughts about money.

Rudie Obias editor If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Back in October 2023, Microsoft acquired the game studio Activision-Blizzard with an eye towards growing Xbox‘s exclusive game library. And now, “Diablo IV” is the first major Activision-Blizzard game to hit Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s premium cloud gaming subscription service.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Selena Gomez is finally leaving her house. Following four seasons of her pandemic-born HBO Max show “Selena + Chef,” shot entirely in her own kitchen, the “Only Murders in the Building” star will join chefs in their own environment, rather than over Zoom, for the debut of her new series “Selena + Restaurant” May 2.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. and Legendary are hoping for a monster-sized opening weekend for “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” and are tapping every method possible to pull in moviegoers, including partnering with Roblox to grab the attention of its young audience so that they will sway their parents to take them to the theater. Over the past two weeks, Warner Bros.

The beloved home of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, Clarence House is one of the smaller regal residences and something of a hidden gem. Nestled in the heart of London on The Mall, it is an oasis of calm amid the busy streets of Westminster, with secluded gardens in the shadow of neighbouring St James’s Palace.The house, built in 1825-27, was designed by architect John Nash for Prince William Henry, the Duke of Clarence – later King William IV.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Advertisers plan to increase spend on in-video-game advertising by 40% this year, according to a new study, with total ad spend set to reach $8.5 billion in 2024 and increase to $11.5 billion by 2027. In IAB‘s “Changing the Game: How Games Advertising Powers Performance” report, which was revealed Tuesday, 86% of advertisers surveyed said gaming ad spend is “brand safe” and 85% are confident in their ability to measure the reach of games advertising.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer A video game based on HBO’s dark teen drama “Euphoria” is a key suggestion from this year’s edition of Fandom‘s Inside Entertainment study, which highlights the “entertainment and gaming tug of war.” Per the user-contented-centric entertainment platform’s 2024 survey, which was released Monday, drama is potentially the top “untapped” genre for gaming companies, as drama fans who play video games prefer these genres: role-playing (RPG): 73%, adventure: 72%, simulation: 62%, sandbox/open world: 62%, puzzle: 60%. “What do we know about ‘Euphoria’ and why was it such a big hit? Obviously, you have an amazing cast, storyline — but what is the story? And it was a really interesting take on the genre at the time, because if you think about the other shows that were coming out, they are a lot more positive than ‘Euphoria,'” Fandom’s director of sales research and insights Ally Saraniti told Variety.

The Prince and Princess of Wales' helicopter was pictured departing from the Windsor Estate on Saturday, 23 March with it being thought that the family of five are taking a well-earned break at Anmer Hall in Norfolk. Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis broke up from school for the Easter holidays on Friday, 22 March - the same day that Kate bravely revealed she had been diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy treatment.The home, which was given to the couple by Queen Elizabeth II after their wedding in 2011, is thought to be their favourite residence to escape to - and is somewhere where they have a wide circle of close friends.

It's the clash between the old Northern Quarter and the new.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer “We Were Dangerous” is a surprisingly funny film for a movie that’s central conflict is the sterilization of a group of young women on the fringes of society in 1950s New Zealand. Knowing the project, which debuted at SXSW in Austin March 8, is executive-produced by from Taika Waititi and Carthew Neal’s Piki Films certainly informs how the film approaches its troubling topic — much like the production company’s Holocaust-set “Jojo Rabbit” — with such levity, the majority of the credit for the heartfelt tone goes to a trio of women: writer Maddie Dai, director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu and producer Morgan Waru.

Children of the Sun developer René Rother, major publisher Devolver Digital liked his game, even if it didn’t like his “shit” pitch.“I didn’t plan any of this at all,” Rother told NME. “When I realised, ‘Oh, I maybe have a game,’ I just sent an email to Devolver.

Katcy Stephan SPOILER ALERT: This review discusses minor plot details and gameplay elements from “Rise of the Ronin.” “Rise of the Ronin,” the latest release from “Nioh” developer Team Ninja, is one of the most highly-anticipated game releases of the year, promising a high-octane role-playing story combining eastern and western combat styles. From its announcement, “Rise of the Ronin” drew inevitable comparisons to Sucker Punch’s critically-acclaimed 2020 release “Ghost of Tsushima.” It’s understandable: although “Ronin” takes place about 600 years after “Ghost,” both follow samurai warriors in Japan as they swing their swords in an action-adventure open world.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Epic Games‘ “Fortnite” will now allow creators to build their own Lego Islands in the game using Lego templates, props, consumables and items. There are four different templates currently available to get players started using Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) and Fortnite Creative. “Fortnite” creators who choose to publish their own Lego Islands and are signed up for the Fortnite Island Creator Program will be eligible for payouts.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer A Marvel video game, “1943: Rise of Hydra,” is set for 2025 release. The title, which hails from Skydance New Media and Marvel Games, will focus on characters Captain America and Black Panther (who at that time was King T’Chanda, also known as Azzuri) in World War II.

The creators of Game of Thrones, David Benioff and DB Weiss, have made a brand-new series and it’s about to land on Netflix.The show, 3 Body Problem, is a sci-fi, fantasy series, and is set to be a hugely popular with viewers. All 8 hour-long episodes will land on Thursday 21 March. Should you not have a Netflix subscription or wish to sign up for one, OK! has found a way to watch the series free of charge.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Former Activision Blizzard executive Chris Paulson has been named Skybound Games‘ executive vice president and general manager of games publishing. In his new role, Paulson will lead commercial strategy and go-to-market efforts for Skybound’s ambitious slate of games, including a new “secret project” Skybound revealed in connection with Paulson’s hiring announcement Monday.

Kate Middleton will explain her health condition soon, according to a new report.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer A new independent gaming studio led by vets of “Doom” developer id Software has launched with initial seed funding from Sisu Game Ventures. Named emptyvessel, the gaming studio will focus on developing AAA video games.