Gaming
Paladins’ Season 5 Now Live with New Champion, Augments to Main Mode, and New Bundles
Paladins starts the year with a bang with today’s Season 5 Update – the biggest one in recent years. Hi-Rez is aiming for 2022 to be the best year yet for their free-to-play fantasy shooter, especially focusing on making the new player experience more welcoming.
To kick off the new competitive Season, the Season 5 Update is teeming with all sorts of new content. It features the new Champion VII – pronounced ‘Seven’ – the 2022 Season Pass, the Abyss Hunter Academy Event Pass, changes to core gameplay mechanics, free progression rewards, and more! Major improvements to Siege, Paladins’ most popular mode, will be deployed later during this Update with a special patch.
Extensive details are available on these Patch Notes and here is the Season 5 lore video.
New Champion: VII
Paladins’ 53rd character, VII, is out today as the first Champion in 2022.
For true justice to prevail, the Realm needs more than pious Judges. They need VII, the Executioner and Hand of the Outer Tribunal. Unburdened by the trappings of mercy, he ensures that judgements cast are judgements kept.
All about ambushing his opponents, VII can grapple onto walls and use the terrain to his advantage to get the drop on enemies. His weapon mode can be changed on the fly, swapping between automatic fire, burst fire, and unloading the entire clip.
Always nifty, VII is able to dodge-roll out of danger, leaving behind an explosive trap. And as he pronounces the Decree 77 during his ultimate, he makes targeted enemies run away in sheer terror – a rare skill for a Flank Champion.
VII can be unlocked just by playing Paladins. Upon release, he boasts six skins of alternative colors, including two unlocked for free through progression, and two included in the new 2022 Season Pass.
Siege: Beyond
Throughout 2022, Paladins players will get to play three augmentations to Siege, the most popular and most competitive mode. Sure to freshen things up, these iterations – called Schisms – will begin later during this Season 5 Update, with the launch of Siege: Beyond.
This first Schism will feature a brand-new item shop made of one universal track, plus three focused tracks – Support, Tank, and Damage. At any given stage, players choose between three available items instead of the entire selection, making the shop easier for new players to learn. At the same time, with a total of twelve stages of items to choose from and new types of items, it allows for greater strategic depth and deeper customization of Champions according to different play styles.
This first Siege: Beyond Schism will last for about four months. During each Schism, designers will be scrutinizing player sentiment in order to accordingly expand on the changes or revert them. And Siege players who want to stick to their guns need not worry, as Siege: Core will remain available in parallel.
Ranked & Commendation Rewards
Paladins’ Season 4 rewards have just been sent to eligible players. Those who reached Gold in Ranked play have received a Loading Frame based on their highest rank, while another exclusive Loading Frame was granted to everyone who managed to be commended 500 times by their teammates during the past Season.
And now that Season 5 has started, players will receive the Epic Will.0 Willo skin as soon as they win 75 Ranked games.
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eSports
eWear launches aim.one – the world’s first functional gaming wear for esports athletes and gaming-fans
From hoodies to short-sleeved jerseys: the entire collection has been developed to meet the specific needs of gamers – uncompromising, highest-quality and thought-out down to the last detail.
“There is the right functional clothing for every sport – for soccer, tennis, golf… Gaming used to have this gap. Not anymore!”, say the founders.
The debut collection features 4 products and thus offers the right piece for all gamers: hoodie, longsleeve, shirt and pants. Each combines innovative functionality with comfort and style. Smart gadgets – including special ventilation zones, padding and other features to promote reaction, focus and grip – make this clothing a real support in the game.
Developed from the ground up specifically for playing at a PC, “aim.one is for everyone who wants to take their gaming to the next level – from high-end eSports pros to hobby gamers,” say the founders. “With this collection, gamers finally get their own clothing tailored to their passion!”
The product launch will take place via Kickstarter on the 5th of August!
Until launch, Gamers can unlock MVP status for only a €/$1 donation. This grants up to 35% discount during the campaign — plus a free nickname print on their apparel.
The post eWear launches aim.one – the world’s first functional gaming wear for esports athletes and gaming-fans appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Central Europe
Number of companies and employees in German games industry falls for first time in years
After years of growth, the number of companies and employees in the German games industry declined in 2025. This was announced today by game – The German Games Industry Association on the basis of data from gamesmap.de in cooperation with Goldmedia. According to the data, the number of companies in Germany that develop and/or publish games has dropped by 4 per cent within the past year, to 910. The boom in start-ups in the games sector, which was set in motion by the introduction of the German Federal Games Funding Programme in 2020, has now completely subsided. Last year’s figures already indicated a clear slowdown. This decline was due in particular to the consolidation of the global games market and the unreliable availability of games funding to date in Germany.
Three times since 2020, there have been months-long suspensions placed on funding applications. Despite the newly registered drop, the number of companies has risen by 46 per cent overall since the initial start of the games funding programme in 2020. Of the 910 present companies, 454 work exclusively in game development and 52 exclusively as publishers. The remaining 404 companies are active in both the development and publishing of games.
‘Last year was another very difficult one for the German games industry,’ says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game. ‘Germany’s international competitiveness was further decreased by the ongoing flip-flopping of the games funding policy, which ran right into the consolidation wave that swept the global games sector. Fortunately, the new federal government has already taken the necessary steps to level the playing field for companies in this country. The future funding budget is to be increased and thus adjusted to actual needs, and applications can be submitted from August onwards. These are crucial growth impulses that are urgently needed. The additional funds will not only give companies more planning security, but also time to implement additional tax breaks for games, as set out in the coalition agreement between the CDU, CSU and SPD. The improved conditions will finally give games companies a boost, which will hopefully soon be reflected in more start-ups and the creation of new jobs.’
The number of employees at games companies in Germany has also declined over the last year. Whereas game developers and publishers employed 12,408 workers in 2024, the current figure stands at just 12,134 – a drop of 2 per cent. As with the number of companies, the employee numbers had previously shown strong growth since the introduction of the games funding programme at the federal level: a rise of 23 per cent from 2020 to 2024. The recent decline indicates that the current conditions for the games industry, which offer limited scope for planning due to the repeated funding application stoppages and significant current funding restrictions, are having an impact on the job market. A year ago, there were still more companies with ongoing projects that were internationally competitive thanks to funding at levels comparable to those in other countries – financing that had stabilised Germany’s game sector, despite the global consolidation wave and a lack of funding certainty for the industry here. The game industry secures a total of over 30,000 jobs in Germany. In addition to jobs in development and publishing, these include, for example, skilled professionals in educational institutions, the media and the public and commercial sectors.
About the data
The data is drawn from a survey carried out by Goldmedia on the basis of entries on gamesmap.de. It was conducted on behalf of game – The German Games Industry Association for the period ending on 12 May 2025.
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METABORA, a global casual game developer and blockchain project operator, has announced a strategic partnership with LINE NEXT Inc. Through this partnership, METABORA will distribute Web3 games via the LINE Messenger–based Dapp Portal, expanding its reach in the Web3 gaming space.
The Dapp Portal is a platform built on the KAIA ecosystem that offers Mini Dapps (decentralised applications) directly within the LINE Messenger app. Users can enjoy a variety of Mini Dapps—ranging from games to social features—without needing to install separate applications. Since its launch in January this year, the platform has garnered significant attention, surpassing 100 million cumulative users.
Through this new partnership, METABORA and LINE NEXT will work closely to accelerate the growth of the Mini Dapp’s gaming ecosystem. Leveraging its network of development partners and global experience in game development and publishing, METABORA will supply Web3 games to the Dapp Portal. LINE NEXT will expand accessibility to Web3 games and support marketing of these games through its platform.
As part of the collaboration, METABORA will also expand the utility of its BORA token within the LINE Messenger–based Mini Dapp ecosystem. The company plans to implement a payment infrastructure that enables users to purchase in-game items currently planned for upcoming titles to be released under the BORA brand. Additionally, METABORA will apply Gas Abstraction technology, allowing users to make in-app purchases with BORA without needing KAIA tokens to cover gas fees. This feature is expected to be fully implemented in the second half of the year.
By expanding the utility of the BORA token, METABORA aims to elevate its value beyond the confines of the BORA Chain, laying the groundwork for broader integration across the Web3 ecosystem.
In addition, METABORA and LINE NEXT plan to continue their collaboration by researching and developing infrastructure to support the use of stable coins such as USDT, further enhancing the Web3 gaming experience within the LINE ecosystem centered on the Dapp Portal.
Lim Youngjun, Co-CEO of METABORA, said: “We’re pleased to partner with LINE NEXT, a company making remarkable strides in the global Web3 gaming market with its vast user base. Through our strong network of development partners, we will carefully select and bring high-quality games to the Dapp Portal, working together to create a leading example of Web3 gaming reaching a mainstream audience.”
Kim Woosuk, CSO at LINE NEXT, said: “Through this partnership with METABORA, we look forward to creating a major success case for Mini Dapp. Moving forward, we will continue working closely together across multiple fronts, including enabling USDT stablecoin support to improve game onboarding and the overall user payment environment.”
The post METABORA Partners with LINE NEXT appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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