Jean-Karlo writes the This Week in Games column, which covers weekly developments across the games industry. Recent columns address China-based studios at Gamescom Opening Night Live, the School Days US release, and Sony's move to digital-only games.
Jean-Karlo writes the This Week in Games column, a recurring industry roundup. Across three recent entries, the column tracks platform strategy, regional competition, and niche releases, all framed as the current state of the games business.
The July 3 column addressed Sony's announcement that it will cease production of physical games by January 2028, citing consumer preference. Sony also revealed plans to close PlayStation Stores for PS3 and PS Vita by early 2027, with some regions losing access as soon as August 2026. The moves drew widespread industry criticism, and the column treated the simultaneous digital pivot and legacy store closures as an unresolved tension between corporate efficiency and consumer access, particularly for regions with poor broadband.
A week later, the July 10 column reported that the visual novel School Days is receiving an official US release and an English dub. It also covered Anime Expo highlights, including Shift-Up's Nikke stall and the Doro mascot, and mentioned Microsoft's studio closures.
The September 8 column moved to Gamescom's Opening Night Live, where China-based developers took many of the biggest announcement slots. HoYoVerse teased Nodusfall, a dark fantasy co-op action game with no platforms specified, and showed Petit Planet, a life sim with a final beta open for sign-ups that includes mobile platforms. The column's argument is that China-based developers now compete in the same spaces as the traditional triple-A industry while keeping mobile in mind even for their largest announcements.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself
sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every
fact links the story it came from.
Sep 8
The column covers Gamescom's Opening Night Live, where China-based developers took many of the splashiest announcement slots. HoYoVerse led with a tease for Nodusfall, a dark fantasy co-op action game with no platforms specified. The company also showed Petit Planet, an Animal Crossing-esque life sim with a final beta open for sign-ups that explicitly includes mobile platforms, and offered a demo of Honkai Nexus Anima on the show floor.
Jul 10
The latest This Week in Games column from Anime News Network reports on School Days' upcoming US release and English dub, along with highlights from Anime Expo including Shift-Up's Nikke stall and the Doro mascot, and mentions of Microsoft's studio closures.
Jul 3
Sony has announced it will cease production of physical games by January 2028, citing consumer preference. The same day, it revealed plans to close PlayStation Stores for PS3 and PS Vita by early 2027, with some regions losing access as soon as August 2026. The moves have drawn widespread industry criticism.