Creative Assembly Says it “May” be Hit with Layoffs Following HYENAS Cancellation

Zen Studios has become the latest studio owned by Embracer Group to be hit with layoffs.

The game industry annus horribilis continued today with an announcement from Elite Dangerous studio Frontier Developments, which said that it is implementing a hiring freeze, cutting costs, and laying off an unknown number of employees.

Hands up: who remembers Hogs of War? Published by Infogrames late in the PS1's life, this was a 3D, military-themed, turn-based strategy game, only instead of human soldiers, it was pigs at war with each other. Playing a little bit like a 3D Worms (before Worms 3D existed), it secured cult hit status thanks to its silly British humour and fun multiplayer battles. If you're among those who fondly remember this oddball title, you're in luck — it's coming back.

Today was a big day for artificial intelligence, where major strides were made in the development of this emerging technology. Google today announced that it will give its customers, who use generative AI tools, protection against copyright infringement lawsuits. The company also added that for seven of its products, it will also give legal protection. In other news, CD Projekt SA revealed that it used AI to recreate the voice of a deceased voice actor for the game Cyberpunk 2077. This and more in today's AI roundup. Let us take a closer look.

British Esports, a not-for-profit national body which promotes esports in the United Kingdom, has released a new statement addressing “questions and concerns” raised over its partnership with the Saudi Esports Federation, which was announced earlier this week.

Unless the FTC's Lina Khan runs in at the last minute to physically tackle Bobby Kotick before he can sign anything, it's looking very likely that Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard will close in the very near future. I mean very near, you understand, as in possibly this Friday, pending word from the UK market regulator. But if you think that heralds the imminent arrival of games like Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo 4 on Microsoft's Game Pass service, Activision has news for you: It doesn't.

Hyenas from Creative Assembly was reportedly Sega's most expensive game to date before it was cancelled.

The Call of Duty franchise celebrates twenty years later this month (the first entry launched on October 29th, 2033). GamesBeat recently had the chance to interview Activision president Rob Kostich about the company's largest IP, arguably the biggest in all of triple-A gaming alongside Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto.

Creative Assembly’s Hyenas - the recently cancelled extraction shooter about space Robin Hoods - was supposedly publisher Sega’s biggest budget game ever. New details about the game’s development claim that a lack of direction, slow progress, and an engine change turned the once hopeful “Super Game” into the canned FPS that it sadly is today.

The surprising revelation that Jim Ryan will retire as Sony Interactive Entertainment’s President and CEO at the end of March 2024 has been, perhaps predictably, met with glee from most corners of the wider video game world. In addition to courting controversy on a number of occasions, the British executive’s tenure has largely been marred by a change in corporate goals: an emphasis on games as a service which has yet to really bear fruit, a lack of engagement with enthusiasts, and a blank slate of upcoming first-party releases.

Fortnite is to increase the price of its in-game currency V-Bucks in a number of countries, including the US and across Europe. While publisher Epic Games attributed the decision to economic factors - citing previous “pricing alignment” in countries including the UK over the summer - the move will follow hundreds of job losses at the company, partially as the result of lower than expected revenue for their immensely popular battle royale shooter.

Epic Games has said Mediatonic’s work on Fall Guys remains a “company priority” following reports that the UK studio had been hit hard by layoffs.