Tag: Industry - Page 22
News Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk Remake Developer Merged into Blizzard, No Longer a Lead Studio
"Fully dedicated to existing games"
Vicarious Visions, the studio behind Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Tony Hawks' Pro Skater 1 + 2 — both excellent remakes — has today been merged into the Blizzard side of Activision Blizzard. From this point forward, the developer will be "fully dedicated to existing Blizzard games and initiatives". This...
News Naughty Dog 'Making Something Very Cool' as Hiring Spree Advertised
A new IP? The Last of Us 3?
Want to work for Naughty Dog? Join the queue because we have to imagine the developer will be inundated with CVs for the open positions it has to offer as part of its next big project. Shared by the team's official Twitter account and then retweeted by Neil Druckmann, lots of different production sectors are hiring staff,...
News EA Primed to Purchase Codemasters as Take-Two Withdraws Offer
Need for even more speed
Just before the end of 2020, a bidding war began for Codemasters, the big, racing-focused publisher and developer. Take-Two Interactive put in an offer to acquire the company, but a few weeks later, Electronic Arts made a significantly larger bid. Now, it looks like the latter has strong-armed the former out of the deal...
News Remothered Dev Recruits Top Talent for New, Next-Gen IP
Horizon Zero Dawn writer included
Remember last year's Remothered: Broken Porcelain? We'd rather not, but it's just about all we have to go on as far as Stormind Games is concerned. The Italian studio has now confirmed its development efforts have shifted towards a new IP for next-gen consoles and has picked up some top talent along the way. The...
News The Name Lucasfilm Games Will Accompany Star Wars Games Moving Forward
New year, new name
The Star Wars licence is now firmly back in the mainstream following Disney's acquisition and a new movie trilogy, and the games haven't been bad lately either. With the franchise in good shape, it seems the powers that be are preparing for the future, and that includes a new label for all software going forward. Lucasfilm Games...
News Epic Acquires Rad Game Tools, Creators of Oodle Compression Technology
More middleware
Epic Games has been on a middleware shopping spree of late, and it’s just added Rad Game Tools to its collection of software services. You’ll no doubt be familiar with the organisation for its Bink Video program, which was a hallmark of the PlayStation 2 era. However, the company also created the Oodle texture compression...
News Bloodborne, Demon's Souls PS5 Producer Leaves Sony Japan Studio
To keep making new IPs
Bloodborne, Demon's Souls, and Soul Sacrifice producer Terujuki Toriyama has announced he will be leaving Sony Japan Studio at the end of December. He departs for a new company with the aim of "creating new game IPs". The news follows shortly after Silent Hill veteran Keiichiro Toyama confirmed he also left the company along...
News The Game Awards Viewership Up 83% Year-Over-Year, Peaked at 8.3 Million Concurrents
Staggering numbers
The Game Awards attracted over 83 million livestreams in its 2020 incarnation, although we’re still trying to figure out exactly what that metric entails. According to creator Geoff Keighley, viewership was up an impressive 83 per cent year-over-year, and perhaps most impressive of all, it peaked at 8.3 million concurrents. To...
News Sony Commits to Safer Gaming Environments Alongside Xbox and Nintendo
Respect and safety at its core
Sony has today committed to a partnership alongside Microsoft and Nintendo to provide users with safer gaming environments as more and more games share the same communities online via cross-play compatibility. Detailed in an Xbox Wire news post, the three companies believe that "all players deserve to have fantastic...
News EA Speeds Past Take-Two's Bid for Codemasters with Huge Counter Offer
The race is over?
In a surprising twist, Electronic Arts is now set to acquire Codemasters. Last month, news came out that Take-Two Interactive had proposed an offer to purchase the hugely successful racing game specialists. If it all went through, the 2K Sports publisher would buy out Codies for roughly $973 million in cash and shares. However,...
News Neil Druckmann to Continue Writing and Directing at Naughty Dog as Co-President
Top dog
Update: Newly minted Naughty Dog Co-President Neil Druckmann has commented on his promoted role at the company. He said that he'll continue "writing and directing" at the studio while "helping to mentor the next wave of creators". He also congratulated Alison Mori and Christian Gyrling in their new roles as Vice President. We can't wait...
News Veteran Mass Effect and Dragon Age Producers Leave BioWare
New games still in development
In news that's sure to set tongues wagging, veteran BioWare employees Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah have announced that they're retiring from the company. This is actually the second time that Hudson has left BioWare. After spearheading the Mass Effect trilogy, his first departure came in 2014, but he returned to the...
News Silent Hill, Gravity Rush Veterans Leave Sony Japan Studio to Form New Team
Bokeh Game Studio is its name
Silent Hill, Gravity Rush, and Forbidden Siren creator Keiichiro Toyama has left Sony Japan Studio to team up with two other Japanese development veterans and create their own independent development house. He is joined by Kazunobu Sato, who was a producer for The Last Guardian
News Veteran Sony Bend Directors Depart After Decades
They've gone
Two veteran Sony Bend directors dating all the way back to the Syphon Filter days have departed the first-party studio. John Garvin, who’s written every single one of the developer’s games, announced on Twitter that he actually left over a year ago, but this is the first time he’s commented on his decision. In a series of...
News Sony's Secret San Diego Studio Probably Hasn't Closed
Uncharted territory
Update: All the attention on John Baustita's Twitter account earlier today prompted him to come out and make a comment. In a follow-up message, he explained that he left Sony's unannounced San Diego studio due to "personal circumstances", and as far as he's aware the team still exists: Now we wait for the platform holder to...
News Embracer Group Just Casually Bought Another 13 Developers
Flying Wild Hog the most high profile
Whilst we're sat at the dining table eating our breakfast in the morning, we like to imagine the CEO of Embracer Group was up and ready to go three hours before us preparing plans to buy yet another developer. And they do this every single day of the week. Yes, the company that THQ Nordic and Koch Media both...
News Games Journalist Alanah Pearce Joins Sony Santa Monica
New recruits
Alanah Pearce, an ex-IGN games journalist who most recently worked for Rooster Teeth, has joined Sony Santa Monica as a writer. The Australian scribe – who has a massive social media following, including a YouTube channel with over 500k subscribers – announced the news on Twitter earlier today. “I’m finally allowed to
News Bethesda's 'Will They, Won't They' Relationship with PS5 Rumbles On
"No intentions of pulling all Bethesda content"
Microsoft hasn’t completed its acquisition of Bethesda yet, but there’s only one question fans wanted answered: will future games come to the PlayStation 5? To be fair to the Redmond firm, it probably genuinely doesn’t know right now, but there’s been conflicting information emerging from...
News Devastating Capcom Ransomware Attack Exposes Game Details, Employee Data
New Ace Attorney collection leaked
Capcom has confirmed that it’s been subject to a devastating ransomware attack, which has exposed game details, employee data, and much more. As part of a press release published earlier today, the Japanese publisher explained that it’s been the victim of a “customised ransomware attack”, with upwards of...
News Looks Like Codemasters Will Be Acquired by Take-Two
Deal to go through early next year
We knew that talks were taking place between Codemasters and Take-Two, but now it looks like the acquisition will be going through. According to a VGC report, the DIRT 5 developer has reached an agreement with the 2K Games parent, and will be acquired early next year in a deal valued at around £750 million ($98
News Codemasters in Talks with Take-Two Over Takeover
F1 2K21?
Codemasters, the legendary British publisher behind the recently released DIRT 5, has confirmed that it’s in talks with Take-Two over a possible takeover. Video Games Chronicle reports that an internal statement revealed conversations were taking place between the firm and 2K Games’ parent company. The figure currently being thrown...
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...
