Tag: Industry - Page 19
News Kojima Productions Hiring Up for New Project
What's Kojima up to this time?
Kojima Productions is working on something new. That's it. That's the article. After the launch of Death Stranding on PlayStation 4 and the subsequent PC port, it seems work has finally begun on the next project from Hideo Kojima and his team. What kind of game is the Tokyo-based studio making next? Unfortunately,...
News Ni no Kuni Dev Level-5 Reportedly All But Ceases NA Operations
Game releases outside Japan no longer certain
GamesIndustry.biz reports that Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom developer Level-5 has reduced its North American presence to a skeleton crew. According to sources close to the website and familiar with the situation, both Level-5 International America and Level-5 Abby began laying off the majority of its...
News Rockstar Acquires Ruffian Games, Rebrands Rockstar Dundee
Rockin' out
In a move that’s almost sure to guarantee more Grand Theft Auto Online content, Rockstar Games has acquired Ruffian Games, the developer of Crackdown 2. As is standard procedure for the juggernaut label, it’s rebranded the studio Rockstar Dundee – and you can see confirmation of that courtesy of a Companies House listing on the UK...
News Concrete Genie Dev Hiring for 'New and Exciting' PS5 Adventure
Genie in a bottle
PixelOpus is one of PlayStation’s more creative first-party teams, with the studio’s relatively recent Concrete Genie being a particular standout on the PlayStation 4. And it looks like it’s gearing up for a new next-gen project, with creative director Dominic Robilliard revealing on LinkedIn that the developer is expanding...
News Bethesda Acquisition Will Not Impact PlayStation Immediately, Believes Pachter
Starfield could still come to PS5
A week and a bit later, and we’ve all just about recovered from Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda. Discussion has turned back to the PlayStation 5 and its roster of games, but analysts are still attempting to diagnose the effects of the buyout. And speaking with GamingBolt, Wedbush Securities’ Michael...
News The Last of Us 2, Ghost of Tsushima Among Top Nominees in Golden Joystick Awards 2020
Make your votes count
The Golden Joystick Awards are upon us once again. The industry's biggest community-voted awards ceremony returns for another year, and there's a real mix in each category this time around. Both The Last of Us: Part II and Ghost of Tsushima are among the most nominated games, appearing in four categories each. Funnily enough,...
News Sony Launches SIE Blog for Behind-the-Scenes Insight into PlayStation
Corporate puff pieces
Sony has launched a new SIE-themed blog page to accompany its existing PlayStation Blog. The corporate website aims to provide readers with a “view into the company behind PlayStation”. The first post explains: “We’ll share the latest company news, stories about the people behind the products and experiences you love,...
News Gamers Will Happily Pay $70 for PS5 Games, Argues Analyst
Market demand is market demand
The rise in PlayStation 5 game prices has been a sticky topic since it was announced, but NPD’s Mat Piscatella has argued that gamers will “happily pay” the boosted price point. Speaking as part of the Virtual Economy podcast, the analyst argued that he believes the increase can be ascribed to market demand, as...
News Microsoft Ponders More Video Game Company Acquisitions
It'll all end in tears
Microsoft has bottomless pockets, and in the aftermath of its Bethesda acquisition, it looks to be reaching deep. The worry, of course, is that things could escalate both dramatically and rapidly – with other publishers potentially purchased by giants like Google, Tencent, Apple, and the aforementioned Redmond juggernaut...
News Rayman Creator Michel Ancel Retires from Games, PS4 Exclusive WiLD Going Super Well
Beyond Good & Evil 2 also still in development
Industry icon Michel Ancel has officially retired from game development after more than 30 years in the industry. The Rayman creator confirmed the news on Instagram, explaining that he’ll be focusing full-time on his other passion: wild life. “My new project takes place in the real world and...
News Bungie Outright Denies Microsoft Acquisition Speculation
"This is false"
Jeff Grubb has been the story of the summer, which perhaps says a lot about Sony and Microsoft’s own next-gen marketing strategies. The Venture Beat journalist has popped up in approximately one billion articles this year, providing insider teases on internal industry affairs. The latest rumour, which Eurogamer.net has since...
News Media Molecule Co-Founder Alex Evans to Take a Break from Game Development
Mind-blowing new things for Dreams on the way
Alex Evans, one of the co-founders of Guildford-based developer Media Molecule, has announced that he’s stepping away from being a “Dreams developer” to a “Dreams fan” – and is taking a break from the games industry. In a series of candid Twitter posts, the former Bullfrog and Lionhead...
News For Real This Time, AT&T Won't Be Selling Warner Bros Games
Jokers
AT&T, you may recall, put Warner Bros Games up for sale as it attempts to clear some long-standing debt. The organisation then put out a memo suggesting that studios like Rocksteady and NetherRealm were no longer up for sale, before online speculation suggested that the developers were in fact still available for $4 billion. Now a
News PlayStation Returns to Facebook, Instagram After Two Month Hiatus
Back to life
PlayStation has resumed activity on Facebook and Instagram after a two month hiatus from the platforms. Sony boycotted sponsored and non-sponsored posts on the platform after adding its voice to the #StopHateForProfit campaign, which was also backed by other juggernauts like Coca-Cola, Ford, and Starbucks. The companies want Facebook to...
News Don't Panic, But More PlayStation Exclusives Will Come to PC
Keep calm and carry on
Sony will continue to explore the expansion of its first-party titles to the PC, as it looks to “promote further growth in our profitability”. The tidbit shouldn’t come as a major surprise after the recent release of Horizon Zero Dawn on Steam, but it’s unlikely to sit particularly well with long-time fans who feel...
News PlayStation Wants to Acquire Firms with Abundant Creativity to Enhance First-Party Portfolio
Going for the kill
Sony believes that first-party games are the cornerstone of its PlayStation business, as it continues to create valuable intellectual property that it believes it can profit off for years to come. As such, it intends to invest in its stable of studios, improving the work environment and personnel with the goal being to create more...
News Activision Bumping PS5 Price Points Beginning with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Pay more
It’ll cost you $69.99 to grab a Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War cross-gen bundle, meaning that you’ll be able to play the game on the PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation 4. But the reason for that increase is because Activision is charging $69.99 for standard next-gen copies of the game, exactly the same as NBA 2K21 confirmed
News The Sinking City Removed from PS Store As Frogwares Fights Further Legal Battles
That sinking feeling
Frogwares doesn’t appear to be having much luck with its publishers. Those of you with particularly potent memories may recall the Ukrainian developer falling victim to some policy changes at Focus Home Interactive, which meant that it had to remove various Sherlock Holmes games from the PlayStation Store in order to reclaim...
News GTA's Legendary Radio Host Lazlow Jones Has Left Rockstar
Fame or Shame
Should we ever actually get another Grand Theft Auto game, it’s going to have a very different vibe to its predecessors. Key creative personnel Dan Houser and Leslie Benzies have already left the company, and now Lazlow Jones has joined them. You’ll probably know the name from the various radio shows that appear in the series, but...
News Metro Dev Just One of Eight More THQ Nordic, Embracer Group Purchases
Insurgency: Sandstorm team too
Whose back at it again? It's THQ Nordic and parent company Embracer Group, of course. The twosome has become known for snapping up studios at an impressively fast pace over the past couple of years, but it appears to have truly outdone itself today. Embracer Group has just announced the acquisition of eight more...
News AT&T Attaches $1 Billion Price Tag to Crunchyroll as Sony Seeks to Complete Anime Empire
Big business
AT&T has attached a $1 billion price-tag to anime streaming service Crunchyroll, with Sony Pictures Entertainment believed to be a potential buyer. The Japanese giant already owns rival Funimation, but is looking to dominate the anime sector. Earlier reports from The Information suggested AT&T was seeking $1.5 billion for the...
News PlayStation Facebook, Instagram Hiatus Rumbles On
Not posted in over a month now
Update: It's now been almost six weeks since PlayStation last posted to its Facebook and Instagram pages, suggesting its boycott has officially been extended. It's unclear when it will next update its social media accounts. Curiously, Sony's primary accounts have been updating again, as have divisions like Sony Music...
News Street Fighter Development Passed to New Generation as Yoshinori Ono Quits
Thanks for the memories
Street Fighter will be led by a “new generation” of developers, as flamboyant franchise boss Yoshinori Ono has quit Capcom after almost 30 years. The announcement comes amid rumours that Street Fighter 6 was planned for release in 2021, but the project was purportedly not progressing and is now allegedly scheduled for...
News Relax, Warner Bros Games Is No Longer for Sale
Not bad, man
Warner Bros’ parent company AT&T appears to have taken a dramatic U-turn and decided to take its gaming division off the market. There was speculation that the giant was shopping studios like NetherRealm and Rocksteady around, as it attempted to offload its interactive entertainment business in order to clear some outstanding...
News PS5 Moneyhat Speculation Rumbles On
Huge multiformat titles will be timed exclusives
By far the biggest topic in enthusiast circles right now is just how much software Sony’s willing to moneyhat ahead of the PlayStation 5’s launch. The manufacturer’s already caused “outrage” by securing Spider-Man as an exclusive playable character in Marvel’s Avengers
Random Guerrilla Games Moved into Its New Office, And Raised a Flag in Dramatic Fashion
Forbidden West
You’ve got to love the pomp and ceremony of this. Guerrilla Games has finally moved into its new office space, which is a five floor building in the heart of Amsterdam. In addition to being an iconic piece of architecture, the former Telegraaf complex also houses over 7,300 square meters of floor space, which is more than enough for...
News PlayStation Makes More Money from DLC, Microtransactions Than Anything Else
Ultimate team
Ever wondered why publishers include microtransactions in their games? A breakdown of Sony’s latest financial report, spanning the period April 2020 through June 2020, reveals that a whopping 41 per cent of its revenue was generated by DLC, microtransactions, and other in-game purchases. That’s an eye-watering $2.29 billion. To...
News EA Could Be Considering Warner Bros Gaming Division Buyout
CFO drops a possible hint
If you didn't already know, Warner Bros.' gaming division -- which includes developers such as Rocksteady (Batman Arkham) and NetherRealm (Mortal Kombat, Injustice) -- is up for sale. Priced at around $4 billion, the division certainly doesn't come cheap, and so only a handful of mega publishers have shown interest. As...
News Ori Dev Is Now Making an Action RPG with The Outer Worlds Publisher
High hopes
Private Division, the publisher behind The Outer Worlds and, more recently, Disintegration, has announced that it's partnering with the talented folks behind the Ori games over at Moon Studios. "In partnership with Private Division, Moon Studios is creating a compelling new action RPG," reads the publisher's press release. There isn't...
News Ubisoft Cancelled a Co-Op King Arthur Action RPG Because Ex-Exec Didn't Like the Setting
Not much of a round table
On paper it sounds amazing: a co-op action role-playing game -- not too dissimilar from Monster Hunter -- set in the knightly times of King Arthur. Codenamed 'Avalon', the project was spearheaded by former Dragon Age designer Mike Laidlaw over at Ubisoft Quebec, but when Laidlaw left the developer back in 2019, 'Avalon' was...
News PlayStation Documentary Resurfaces with New Trailer, Finally Arrives in September
From Bedrooms to Billions
Well, this has certainly been a long time coming. From Bedrooms to Billions: The PlayStation Revolution, a documentary all about Sony's impact on the games industry, is very nearly here. We reported on it four years ago, when it was
News PS5 Games Published by Ubisoft Won't Cost More for Now
But no comment beyond Christmas
Ubisoft will not hike the price of its PlayStation 5 games this year, although it’s refrained from commenting on its plans post-2020. 2K Sports recently sent shockwaves through the industry by announcing that it will increase the cost of NBA 2K21 on next-gen consoles, charging $69.99 instead of the established...
News Leyou Technologies Halts Trading Ahead of Possible Sony Takeover
Tencent already in talks
Less than 24 hours after announcing a $250 million cash injection into Fortnite developer Epic Games, Sony may be due another round of business talks. Leyou Technologies, the Hong Kong company that has been linked to a potential acquisition by the Japanese giant,
News Sony Pumps $250 Million into Fortnite Maker Epic Games
Now owns a minority stake in Unreal Engine creator
Sony has invested an eye-watering $250 million into Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite and the Unreal Engine. The transaction makes the Japanese giant a minority shareholder, alongside organisations such as Chinese juggernaut Tencent which purchased a 40 per cent stake in the firm back in 2012...
News God of War Director Prefers PS5 Price Increases Over Microtransaction Hellscape
Cory Barlog weighs in on next-gen costs
PlayStation 5 games could cost more than the PlayStation 4 if NBA 2K21 is anything to go by. The basketball simulation will cost $69.99 on Sony’s next-gen console, compared to the more traditional $59.99 on the company’s current-gen device. And God of War director Cory Barlog believes this is the correct...
News As Microsoft Looks Poised to Discontinue Xbox One, Sony Has a Huge Opportunity with PS4
Entry levels
This year is all about the PlayStation 5 in enthusiast circles, but Sony’s real Top Trump could yet prove the existing PlayStation 4. Despite comments to the contrary from the manufacturer, rumours are rife tha
News PlayStation Fans Are Worried Microsoft Could Buy Warner Bros' Gaming Division
Take Two, EA, and Activision Blizzard also interested
Warner Bros’ gaming division is still very much up for sale, and a new report from The Information reveals that Microsoft has expressed an interest. The Xbox business has been on an acquisition charge for a few years now, gobbling up both close partners and independently owned studios on the...
News Naughty Dog Condemns Hate Speech As The Last of Us 2 Cast, Developers Receive Death Threats
Content warning
Update: Naughty Dog has spoken out against the tidal wave of hate speech that has surrounded The Last of Us: Part II since launch. On its official Twitter account, the studio said that it encourages critical discussion but that it condemns harassment and threats. Here's the studio's statement in full: Director Neil Druckmann has...
News PlayStation Temporarily Pulls the Plug on Facebook, Instagram Advertising
Organisations ally to put pressure on social network
PlayStation has added its name to a growing number of brands that have temporarily ceased advertising on Facebook, as firms put pressure on the social network to reduce the amount of hate speech appearing on the platform. Juggernauts such as Coca-Cola, Ford, Starbucks, Unilever, and Honda have...
News Sony Considering Bid for Warframe, Brink Developers
Could buy Hong Kong-based holding company
According to Bloomberg, Sony is considering a bid for Hong Kong-based holding company Leyou Technologies, which owns Warframe developer Digital Extremes. The group also lists Brink creator Splash Damage among its subsidiaries, and has a significant stake in support studio Certain Affinity. The multiplayer...
News Sony's Not-So Secret New First-Party Studio Adds More Naughty Dog Talent
Uncharted endeavour
It’s probably the worst kept secret in the industry at the moment, but Sony has a new first-party team based in San Diego, and it’s expected to be working on the Uncharted franchise. As a reminder that the studio continues to recruit talent, Naughty Dog environment artist Zak Oliver – who most recently worked on The Last of...
News Sony Commits to Smaller Games on PS5 and PS4 with PlayStation Indies Initiative
Headed by Shu
Today, Sony has formally announced PlayStation Indies. It's what Shuhei Yoshida has been working on since he left his previous post as president of Worldwide Studios. In his new role as Head of Indies Initiative for PlayStation, everyone's favourite executive has been looking after the industry's little guys, culminating in this new...
"Just being honest," says Spencer
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has given a backhanded compliment to Sony, saying that he thinks the Japanese giant did a “good job” with its recent PlayStation 5 showcase, but believes Microsoft will be able to demonstrate the Xbox Series X’s “hardware advantages” with its speculated July livestream. He added:...
Poll What Is Your Preferred Game Length?
Finding the sweet spot
What is your preferred game length? Obviously, it’s hard to pin a uniform number on this question as it depends on the context; RPGs generally take longer to complete than your average character action game, but at what point do you feel like you’re getting value for money? Do you like your titles to clock in with 50 hour...
News The Order 1886 Dev Ready At Dawn Bought by Facebook
Will become part of Oculus Studios
Ready At Dawn, the developer behind PlayStation 4 exclusive The Order: 1886, has been snapped up by Facebook. As the company explains, the newly acquired group will be "joining the Oculus Studios team". In other words, Ready At Dawn will continue working with the VR platform -- it's already shipped four titles on...
Poll Did You Miss E3 2020 Last Week?
The world turns without convention
Believe it or not, last week should have been E3 2020. The show was cancelled due to coronavirus, of course, but incredibly the global pandemic was the least of its problems. News of a new direction – a so-called “influencer festival” – emerged last year, before PlayStation once again decided to pull out...
News Timed PS5 Exclusives Range from a Few Months to Years
Moneyhats
Sony’s been hinting in interviews for a while that it’s going to go hard with the PlayStation 5, and we saw the first signs of that during the next-gen system’s reveal presentation this week. Perhaps drowned out by the announcements of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Gran Turismo 7 was confirmation that two Bethesda titles,...
News Warner Bros' Gaming Division Appears to Be Up for Sale
Price is $4 billion if you're interested
Warner Bros’ gaming division is more exciting than it’s ever been, with Mortal Kombat at its strongest, a long-awaited Harry Potter game on the horizon, and an unannounced project from Rocksteady in the works. But it seems that parent company AT&T is eager to get out of the business, and has put the...
News Dead Space Writer Teases His Next Game for PS5 Reveal Event
But it's not Dead Space
Things are really starting to heat up, aren't they? A day before Sony's PlayStation 5 game reveal event, rumours and teases are starting to pop up all over the place. Overnight, speculation surrounding Housemarque's next title pointed it towards becoming a PS5 launch game and now the writer behind Dead Space has all but...
News Australia Fines PlayStation $3.5 Million for Refusing Refunds on Digital Purchases
Breaking Australian Consumer Law rights
Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe has been fined $3.5 million AUD after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) charged the company with misleading PlayStation Store customers. The Federal Court of Australia ordered the penalty "for making false and misleading representations on its...