Microsoft has denied a report coming from Digital Spy claiming that the company planned on canning the Xbox One's ability to double as a development kit for developers who want to create games for Xbox One. The report is based on comments made by the Xbox Advanced Technology Group's Martin Fuller, who said the company has no plans to implement the previously announced feature.

Real-money in gaming technology company Gamblit Gaming has announced partnerships with Shanda Games International Europe, Gamiker and Flexball. All three companies will eventually utilize Gamblit Gaming’s mobile platform technology to let companies to add real money gaming mechanics to any mobile or PC game.

Occasional GamePolitics contributor and co-host of Super Podcast Action Committee E. Zachary Knight has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for his RPG-flavored collectible token game, Demon's Hex. EZK and his brother Willis Knight are developing the game through their tiny indie game studio Divine Knight Gaming.

Oddworld Inhabitants co-founder Lorne Lanning explained why he left the video games industry in 2005 to focus on creating animated films and shorts, and what lured him back into the business of making games this year. The biggest reason that Lanning waited so long? According to this interview, he was basically waiting for the rights to his games to revert back to his company.

Former Epic game designer Cliff Bleszinski and Guerrilla Games co-founder Arjan Brussee have formed a new studio in North Carolina called Boss Key Productions. Last week Bleszinski said he would be returning to the world of game development after a two-year break. Cliff Bleszinski left Epic two years ago.

A Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign is underway for GamesCon, a dedicated PC & video game expo for the city of Toronto. Organizers who hope to answer the question (assuming they hit their goal by the campaign's end) "where Canada's version of the E3 Expo?" with the answer, "GamesCon."

Here's more on what GamesCon will be if everything goes according to plan:

Jennifer Ann’s Group continues to use the medium of video games to promote awareness on the dangers of teen dating violence. Today the nonprofit organization announced the winners of its seventh annual "Life. Love. Game Design Challenge" - as well as the results of its first-ever game jam to create a game that championed its cause of stopping teen violence.

Wizards of the Coast has teamed up with 14 video game luminaries to create special cards for the upcoming collectible trading card game Magic 2015 – Duels of the Planeswalkers and the Magic 2015 – Core. The specially designed cards are from George Fan (Plants vs. Zombies), Notch (Minecraft), and Rob Pardo (World of Warcraft), Richard Garriott (Ultima series), and others.

Fox News is being ribbed by Bioshock Infinite developer Ken Levine for a logo it used on a recent broadcast about U.S. immigration and border patrol policy. The logo for the segment called "Defending the Homeland" seems to be styled after the logo for Levine's BioShock Infinite. Kotaku first pointed out the similarities yesterday.

Independent game development studio Airtight Games has confirmed via Twitter that it has officially gone out of business, but it did not provide any particular details on why the Redmond, Washington-based studio closed. Yesterday reports surfaced that the studios office were locked and a sign on the door indicated that the equipment inside the building was for sale.

A recent visit to the Redmond, Washington offices of Airtight Games by GeekWire revealed a startling find: the company seems to have gone out of business. According to the GeekWire report, the publication visited the offices yesterday to find it closed and a sign on the door advertising a "blow out sale" on the equipment inside.

Subsequent attempts to reach the studio have gone unanswered. In April the studio laid off 14 employees as part of what it called "necessary restructuring."

While the Ouya "All-Access" pass might have delighted owners of the Android-powered micro-console, some developers were not happy about the promotion. The company unveiled the All-Access Pass which for a one-off payment of $59.99 granted users access to over 800 games available for the platform for a 12 month period.

Orcs Must Die! developer Robot Entertainment thinks that toxic players are an important part of a game's chance at having longevity. In an interview with Polygon, Orcs Must Die! Unchained designer Jerome K. Jones says that toxic players are an asset that should be leveraged by game developers.

Bioshock series creator Ken Levine says there is so much violence in video games because that type of content is technically simple to create and it's perceived that it is the kind of content that consumers really want. Speaking to NPR, Levine offered the following when asked about the topic of violence in video games:

Former Gears of War and Unreal Tournament designer Cliff Bleszinski is done with his hiatus from developing games. The former Epic Games designer announced via Twitter that he will soon be back doing what he loves the most: making games!

"I'm officially coming out of retirement to make video games again," Bleszinski tweeted. "Stay tuned here for details in the next 7 days!"

"It's going to be a blast to finally tell the story of what brought me back. :)," he added in another tweet.

Arma III maker Bohemia Interactive has managed to raise $50,000 for the Red Cross with DLC that started out as an April Fool's Day joke. Bohemia Interactive announced that its Arma III's April Fools' Day joke that became content add-on has brought in 1m Czech koruna, around $50,000 USD, for the Czech Red Cross.

Bohemia and also briefly discussed the success of the military shooter franchise's new approach to DLC.

The Boston Festival of Indie Games announced today that over 200 independently-developed games have been submitted for this year's Tabletop and Video Game Showcases. The Boston Festival of Indie Games is an annual event celebrating indie games. It is open to the public and will take place at the Johnson Athletic Center at MIT in Cambridge, MA on Sept. 13.

Gamasutra reports that one of the biggest game publishers in China, China Mobile Games and Entertainment Group has laid off several executives following allegations of bribery. The company laid off nine executives from their positions earlier this week, including President Shuling Ying.

Ironclad Games and publisher Stardock Entertainment are free to use the word "rebellion" in the name of its latest real-time strategy game (Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion) because it is protected by the First Amendment, a U.S. judge ruled last month. The news of the ruling was revealed by Ironclad co-owner Blair Fraser in a forum post celebrating the victory - as reported on by Polygon.

Last month, ZeniMax filed a lawsuit against Oculus, accusing the virtual reality headsets maker of illegally misappropriating their trade secrets in an extensive legal complaint.

Today, Oculus VR filed a response to the lawsuit saying that ZeniMax's lawsuit was "silly" and "money-grabbing."

Oddworld Inhabitants founder Lorne Lanning says that the biggest problem facing the video games industry is Net Neutrality. Speaking to GII, Lanning said that all of the progress made in the industry over the last few years could be undone by its own apathy towards preserving a free and open internet.

A recent survey of its members by the International Game Developers Association finds that 56 percent of its members are in favor of unions for game developers. The association that represents game developers today announced the result of its Developers Satisfaction Survey from earlier this year, which found that more than half of respondents were in favor of unionization.

Crysis series and CryEngine middleware developer Crytek has denied a report in German publication Gamestar alleging that the company is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. The GameStar report alleges that the Frankfurt, Germany based company was in serious financial trouble after its Xbox One launch title Ryse failed.

CD Projekt Red has issued a warning concerning the leak of sensitive internal development documents for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that the developer says will ruin the plot for anyone foolhardy enough to look at them prior to the game's release. The developer says that the leaked documents expose key information, including the ending to the game. The documents appeared on 4Chan and Reddit over the weekend.

League of Legends developer Riot Games is offering newly hired staff 10 percent of their salary if they want to quit. The goal of this incentive (dubbed the "Queue Dodge") to walk away from working at Riot is to weed out those new hires who are not happy with their current situation and to retain those who are passionate about developing the popular MOBA title, according to the developer.

Ubisoft announced that its upcoming World War I adventure game, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, will feature documentary footage. The game's developer Ubisoft Montpellier reportedly worked closely with the creators of the documentary series Apocalypse, World War I in making the adventure game.

MOCAtv (the video channel for the Museum of Contemporary Art) has released "Art in Video Games Los Angeles" episodes one and two. Art in Video Games Los Angeles focuses on gaming culture and artists in Los Angeles and offers interviews with important industry veterans like Stephanie Barish, Tracy Fullerton, Richard Lemarchand, and Sam Roberts. Profiled in later episodes are the new school of game artists like Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen (Journey), Ian Dallas (The Unfinished Swan), and Mark Essen (Nidhogg).

Teen dating violence prevention group Jennifer Ann’s Group announced today that artists, game designers, and developers in Atlanta and Moscow will take part in the 2014 Jennifer Ann’s Group Game Jam the weekend of June 20th – 22nd, 2014. The 2014 Jennifer Ann’s Group Game Jam charges participants with creating games that help teenagers deal with emotional health, wellness issues, and issues related to teen dating violence.

An interesting article from Gamasutra explores whether traditional games journalism is slowly being damaged by the advent of the YouTube video game personality. The article, "Is YouTube killing the traditional games press?" goes directly to game developers to ask them if having their videogames played or highlighted by a popular YouTube personality has had an actual impact on sales.

Goat Simulator developer Coffee Stain Studios and Escape Goat series developer MagicalTimeBean have launched an initiative to benefit charity organization Heifer International to bring animals to poverty-stricken communities in the world.