Tag: Industry - Page 5
News Warner Bros. Says It's Focused On Transforming Its "Biggest Franchises" Into Live Services
"Always on gameplay" with an extended life cycle
During Warner Bros. Q3 earnings call, the company's CEO David Zaslav has revealed it's focused on transforming its "biggest franchises" from three to four-year releases into "more always on gameplay" experiences through live services, multiplatform releases, and free-to-play extensions. The "goal" is...
News Nintendo Confirms Delay Of New Development Building
Expansion plan knocks it back to 2028
Back in August, there was a report from Nikkei claiming Nintendo's new development building had been delayed due to an "expansion plan". Nintendo didn't officially comment about this at the time, but now within the slides of its latest financial results briefing, it's confirmed construction has been up-scaled...
News Embracer May Soon Be Closing 'Timesplitters' Studio Free Radical Design
Another casualty of Embracer's restructuring
In yet another blow to the gaming industry, VGC has reported that Embracer Group may soon be closing the Nottingham-based UK studio Free Radical Design. The team was reformed back in 2021 to revive the classic FPS franchise Timesplitters, but it looks like that may now be under threat as a result of...
News Assassin's Creed Publisher Ubisoft Axes 124 Jobs
Ubisoft Montreal cuts 98 positions in total
Ubisoft is the latest company to lay off employees, with the French publisher's Montreal studio (Assassin's Creed) reportedly hit the hardest, cutting 98 jobs. In total though, Ubisoft is axing 124 jobs as part of a global company restructure. Some of the positions impacted include administration and IT...
News Nintendo Records Biggest Q1+2 Sales Figures Since Switch Launch
Mario Movie and other projects lend a hand
Nintendo has today published its financial report for Q2 FY2024 and it looks like things have been going really rather well. On top of some meaty sales figures for the likes of Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4 and the Switch console itself, the report finds that Nintendo's sales in the first half of the...
News Here Are The Top Ten Best-Selling Nintendo Switch Games As Of September 2023
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe stays in pole position
Nintendo has today shared its latest financial report for FY2024 and this gives us an updated list of the best-selling Switch games as of 30th September 2023. Unlike the last report, which saw The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sneak into the proceedings, this quarter remains relatively unchanged...
News Sega's First Super Game Making Steady Progress, Still Targeting 2026 Release
Aims to "stand head and shoulders" above normal games
Remember that "Super Game" Sega was working on? Well, according to Sega's latest report, it's still aiming to have it out by "fiscal year ending March 2026". Sega also provided a brief progress update, revealing the team is making "steady headway in development of the Super Game" and goes on to...
News Shinji Mikami And Hideki Kamiya Set To Host Talk On Careers And Future Plans
The start of a new venture?
Shinji Mikami and Hideki Kamiya, who both left their respective companies in 2023, are set to host a joint conversation on their careers and future plans at the Archipel Caravan Festival in Tokyo on December 16, 2023. As reported by VGC, the talk, simply dubbed ‘Shinji Mikami x Hideki Kamiya’, will also see the...
News Atari Acquires Retro Specialist Digital Eclipse
"The future is bright and unwritten"
In what will no doubt prove to be one of the more, shall we say, sensible acquisitions in the games industry, Digital Eclipse has announced that it is officially joining Atari after its stellar work on Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. Founded in 1992, Digital Eclipse is well known for its expertise in the...
News Newly Discovered Nintendo Filing Shows Off "Dual-Screen, Detachable Device"
Sending Switch successor rumours into overdrive (again)
Switch successor rumours have got louder in recent months and now some new Nintendo filings have been discovered. New ideas and designs from Nintendo, which were originally filed by the Japanese video game company on 11th November 2022, have been discovered on the 'World Intellectual Property...
News Capcom Has A "Major" Unannounced Title Scheduled To Arrive Before March 2024
What could it be for?
Capcom shared its latest earning results earlier this week, and as part of this, it's also published a Q&A revealing its intentions to release a "major" unannounced title early next year. As highlighted by fans of the Japanese company, this game will arrive before the end of its current fiscal year, which is set to end in...
News Doug Bowser: Nintendo Has A "Great Relationship" With Microsoft
"We're looking forward to that partnership continuing"
If you were curious to know if there was any bad blood between Nintendo and Microsoft after certain Xbox email leaks, apparently not. In a new interview with Inverse, Nintendo of America's president Doug Bowser insists the creator of Mario maintains a "great relationship with Microsoft" and its...
News Xbox Boss Wants Nintendo Fans To Feel "100% Part Of The Call Of Duty Nation"
"The goal is 100% parity across all platforms"
After a lot of courtroom drama, Microsoft last week announced it had officially acquired Activision Blizzard as well as mobile giant King. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has now appeared on the Official Xbox Podcast to discuss the acquisition and Call of Duty has once again come up in conversation. Phil...
News Bethesda Veteran Pete Hines Announces Retirement After 24 Years
"It feels like the time is right"
There's some big news coming out of Elder Scrolls and Fallout creator Bethesda, with the head of publishing Pete Hines calling time on his long-running career at the company. After 24 years of leadership, Hines is retiring and will begin an "exciting new chapter" of his life to explore other interests and passions...
News It's Over, Microsoft Has Officially Acquired Activision Blizzard
It's done, says Mr. Frodo
Well, that's that, folks. After Microsoft initially announced its intention to acquire gaming giant Activision Blizzard on January 18th, 2022, it's only bloomin' gone and closed the deal. The news comes after the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approved the proposed acquisition following Microsoft's amendment...
News Disney Boss Reportedly Being Urged To Acquire A Major Game Publisher
To become a "gaming giant"
Disney executives are reportedly encouraging CEO Bob Iger to consider expanding Disney from a "gaming license" to a "gaming giant". In a report published by Bloomberg (via VGC), it seems that all is not happy at the House of Mouse, with reports of discontent following comm
News Unity's CEO And President Retires After Policy Debacle
Firm seeking new permanent replacement
In the wake of Unity's highly controversial policy regarding runtime fees, which it has now altered based on community backlash, its CEO and President John Riccitiello has now stepped down. In addition, he has also stepped down from his position on the board of directors as chairman. As reported by...
News Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Tops Another 'Greatest Games' List
Based on the "past 30 years" of video game history
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has already won a stack of awards and been praised as one of the best games of all time, and now it's topped another list. The publication Edge Magazine recently celebrated its 30th anniversary, and as part of this, it ran its biggest poll ever, where...
News Telltale Games Confirms Layoffs, With 'Most Of' The Studio Reportedly Gone
Sigh...
In what has increasingly proved to be a turbulent year for the video game industry, with layoffs reported at studios such as Epic Games, Crystal Dynamics, and Team17, the latest to add to the pile is Telltale Games. The first indication of trouble ca
Random Making "Miyamoto Happy" Isn't The Goal Of Development, According To Pikmin 4's Creators
"I hope people don't take this the wrong way"
Shigeru Miyamoto is perhaps the most legendary figure in all of gaming and over the years we've heard plenty of stories about how he's often changed the course of development, or come up with a ground-breaking idea that's changed the industry forever. Although he is a living legend, Pikmin 4 chief and...
News Multiple Job Losses Expected At Team17 As It Splits With CEO Michael Pattison
QA team likely to be heavily affected
Team17 has confirmed that it will be commencing a company restructure that will likely result in multiple job losses. In addition, it has also announced an 'amicable' split with CEO Michael Pattison. This comes following recent reports of significant layoffs at Epic Games. As reported by Eurogamer and
News Epic Insists "Mediatonic's Work On Fall Guys Continues To Be A Company Priority"
16% of Epic's workforce has been axed
Epic Games this week laid off 16% of its workforce, with Bloomberg's Jason Schreier suggesting the Fall Guys developer Mediatonic had been "hit very hard". This allegedly followed with claims elsewhere online that the entire UK-based team had been cut. Apparently, this is not the case. In a statement to our...
News Wipeout-Style Racer 'BallisticNG' Cancelled For Switch Following Unity's Policy Changes
Developer announces cancellation
Back in 2021 we were excited to see that the Wipeout-style sci-fi racer BallisticNG would be speeding onto Switch in the future. Well, a couple of years down the line, developer Neognosis has announced that the Switch port is now cancelled as a result of last week's controversial policy changes from Unity (thanks,...
News Capcom Would 'Gracefully Decline' An Acquisition Offer From Microsoft
No sale for you!
With Microsoft's gargantuan acquisition of Activision-Blizzard nearing its close after the UK's CMA provisionally approved the revised deal, many are wondering who might be next on the tech corporation's shopping list (and no, it's probably not Nintendo). Indeed, one prime target for acquisition at the moment might well be Resident...
News Unity Reveals New Pricing Model For Runtime Fee Policy
"Thank you for giving us hard feedback"
It only took just over a week for Unity to make changes to its brand new Runtime Fee policy, but that's exactly what it has done. Announcing the changes in an open letter published today on the Unity Blog (shared on social media), the revamped model includes some pretty sweeping changes from the initial...
News Embracer Group: More "Tough Decisions" To Come As Crystal Dynamics Suffers Layoffs
Embracer's restructuring continues
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics is the latest subsidiary of Embracer Group to be hit with cuts, with the studio announcing yesterday on Twitter that ten staff had to be let go "due to an internal restructuring". And, at Embracer's annual general meeting (which you can watch on YouTube), CEO Lars Wingefors...
News Mythforce Developer Hit By Layoffs As Embracer Continues To Restructure
26 employees affected
Embracer Group is continuing its efforts to restructure its organisation, this time resulting in multiple job losses at developer Beamdog, which was acquired by Aspyr / Embracer last year. As reported by GameDeveloper (thanks, Eurogamer), a total of 26 employees at the MythForce developer were let go according to multiple...
Soapbox Nintendo, "THE Prime Asset" In Xbox's Content Quest? It's Only Natural
But it ain't happening
The FTC case examining Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, depending on your perspective, is either the gift that keeps on giving or an eye-scrapingly dull, never-ending saga. Still, you can't deny that it's turned up some tasty behind-the-scenes morsels to chew on, giving gamers a fascinating glimpse of the...
News Internal Xbox Email Details Desire To Acquire Nintendo
“THE prime asset for us in Gaming”
An internal email from Xbox's Phil Spencer in 2020 has revealed that the company was (and potentially still is) considering Nintendo as a potential acquisition. Revealed as part of a deluge of leaked, unredacted documents from the FTC Vs. Microsoft case in the United States (the original of which appears to...
News Unity Apologies For Its 'Runtime Fee' Policy, Promises To Make 'Changes'
"We have heard you"
Well, that didn't take long. It seems the highly vocal reaction from game developers and the community at large has forced Unity's hand after the company announced plans for its new 'runtime fee' policy. The policy, which would effectively charge developers every time a game utilising the Unity engine is installed (after...
Round Up Developers React To Unity's New 'Runtime Fee' Policy
They ain't pleased
Unity recently announced plans to charge developers a fee each time a game utilising the Unity engine is installed via its new 'runtime fee' policy. While there are caveats to the policy in terms of its structure (there are minimum revenue and total install numbers to consider, for example), there's no doubt that this will...
News Unity To Charge Developers A Fee Each Time A Game Is Installed Next Year
Game developers are not happy with the news
Unity has announced plans to charge developers a fee each time a video game using the Unity engine is installed. Unity Plus is also being retired for new subscribers, starting today. In a blog post released today (spotted via Game Developer), Unity revealed the 'Unity Runtime Fee'. This new model be...
News Embracer Group Reportedly Looking To Sell Borderlands Dev Gearbox Entertainment
Update: More reports surface
Update: Bloomberg has corroborated Reuters' report from earlier today. Reporter Jason Schreier shared that Bloomberg has seen an email written by Gearbox's Chief Communications Officer, which notes that there are "many options under consideration". The letter reportedly says "The base case is that Gearbox remains a...
Poll Hasn't Nintendo Always Been An 'Entertainment' Company?
Let Mii entertain you
The times are a-changin' for Nintendo, it seems. Nobody would doubt that the company has been video game-focused for the past few decades, but with theme parks, movies, and mobile apps popping up all over the place, it seems that the Big-N is moving in a slightly different direction. This was echoed by Nintendo of America...
News ReedPop Will No Longer Organise E3 As ESA Looks To Reinvent Future Shows
The parting was a "mutual decision"
PAX organiser ReedPop is parting ways with the Entertainment Software Association and will no longer be the production company behind future E3 events (thanks, gamesindustry.biz). While plans for E3 2024 have not been cancelled for the time being, the ESA has informed the Los Angeles Convention Centre — the...
News Sega & Atlus Airing Special Broadcast At The Tokyo Game Show This Month
Update: Here's the games lineup for TGS 2023
Update [Tue 5th Sep, 2023 05:05 BST]: Sega and Atlus have now shared a lineup of the games they'll be showing at TGS 2023. Here's the full rundown (via Gematsu) which will feature playable demos, trailers, live stream spotlights and more. As a reminder, the special broadcast stream will take place later...
News Nintendo's New Employee Retention Rate Is 98.8% In Japan
That's well above the average of other companies
Being able to work with some of the biggest IPs in the world like Mario and Zelda is probably a dream for many aspiring game developers, but how many people actually stick with a career at the video game giant Nintendo? According to new data from Biz Journal (via a translation by Tokyo Game Life),...
News Saints Row & Red Faction Developer Volition Shuts Down After 30 Years
Embracer Group had to make a "difficult decision"
Update: Following on its LinkedIn note yesterday, Volition has now shared an additional message on Twitter. The heartfelt message acknowledges the studio's remarkable time in the industry, and thanks the fans for always being there — even when they haven't loved what the company has worked on...
News GameDriver Is Now An "Official Nintendo Middleware Tools Provider"
Enhancing game development on Switch
California software developer GameDriver has announced it's now an official Nintendo middleware tools provider. Developers working on Switch games will now be able to utilise GameDriver's automated testing solutions to optimise game development and the quality assurance process. This also gives Switch developers...
News EA Dev BioWare "Eliminating" Approximately 50 Jobs In Shift Towards More Agile & Focused Studio
"An extremely difficult day for everyone at BioWare"
The Electronic Arts developer BioWare - known for famous RPG series such as Baldur's Gate, STAR WARS: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect - has announced it is "eliminating approximately 50 roles" at the studio. In order to match the changing needs, it will shift towards a "more agile and...
Guide Gamescom 2023 Opening Night Live: Everything You Need To Know - Date, Time, Where To Stream
Deep breath, Geoff
We're approaching the end of August and, just like clockwork, Geoff Keighley is gearing up to serve us another steaming bowl of gaming news directly from the not-E3 of Europe, Gamescom 2023. As ever, the event this year will be held in Cologne, Germany, getting off to the races with a meaty Opening Night Live showcase to close...
Random Xbox Legend Major Nelson Visits Nintendo
Fans are already speculating...
Last month, Xbox's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb announced he would be departing Microsoft and team Xbox after 20 years at the company. In his parting message on social media to more than one million followers, the senior director of corporate communications mentioned how he needed to "take a step back and work on the...
News Bandai Namco Has Multiple "Major Titles" Planned For The Remainder Of 2023
Baten Kaitos and more are on the way
Bandai Namco has shown strong support for the Switch and multiple other platforms this generation, and it's set to continue this in the second half of 2023. In its latest financial report, it's mentioned how it plans to release a number of "major titles" in this half of the year. One game, in particular,...
News Geoff Keighley: This Year's Gamescom ONL Is "Less About Announcing Brand New Projects"
Temper your expectations
Gamescom 'Opening Night Live' is taking place next week on 22nd August, and ahead of the event, the show's host Geoff Keighley shared some insight. Speaking to our friends at VGC, Geoff mentioned how this year's show would be "less about announcing brand new projects" and more focused on updates for previously announced...
News Metroid Dread Developer Has "Two Large Undisclosed Titles" In The Works
What could they be for?
Developer MercurySteam - best known on the Switch for the release of the highly rated platformer Metroid Dread - reportedly has two "unannounced" projects in development. This information comes from Nordisk Games, which owns a "minority stake" in the Spanish-based developer. It's mentioned in the company's latest financial...
News Baldur's Gate 3 Surpasses Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom As 2023's Highest-Rated Game "So Far"
Critics are raving about Larian Studios' new RPG
It appears The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom finally has some serious competition that could potentially take the 'Game of the Year' crown. As highlighted by VGC, Larian Studios' latest PC release Baldur's Gate 3
News Nintendo's New Development Building Reportedly Delayed Due To "Expansion Plan"
"Expected to be completed in 2028 or later"
Last April, Nintendo announced it had acquired new land next to its Kyoto, Japan headquarters for a new development building. In an update from Nikkei, it seems the building will no longer hit its completion goal date of 2027, with the building now expected to be finished by "2028 or later". The delay is...
News Take-Two CEO On Backward Compatibility: "Give Consumers What They Want"
Will Nintendo be on board for Switch 2?
In a recent discussion with GamesIndustry.biz, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick voiced his opinions on whether a feature like backward compatibility has the potential to harm software sales on future systems, stating that if the feature is possible, then it should be implemented. This follows a recent report from...
News It's "More Difficult Than Ever" To Collaborate With Nintendo, Claims Picross Developer Jupiter
"It’s been really hard to get them to say yes"
Nintendo has a great track record with its development partners, but not everyone has necessarily found it to be an easy process. Jupiter Corporation - the Japanese developer behind the Picross series on the Switch - recently revealed the difficulties of working with the video game giant. Speaking to...
News Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption Logo Update Reignites Remaster Rumours
Update: It's official
Update [Mon 7th Aug, 2023 15:30 BST]: And it's official: <related ids="153666"> Original Story: After the troubled release of the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy on multiple platforms including the Nintendo Switch, it looks like Rockstar Games could potentially be remastering another one of its older titles. It seems the...
