Gaming in city Seattle. Reviews, Walkthroughs, News

Take-Two is reportedly planning to shut down Private Division studios Roll7 and Intercept Games as part of recently announced restructuring.

Seattle-based Pokemon GO support studio Very Very Spaceship was hit with layoffs, shortly after developing the controversial avatars for the game's Rediscover GO update. Although the Pokemon GO update aimed to improve features and visuals in the game, many players in the community were upset with the direction that was taken with the revamped avatars.

In the midst of its “cost reduction program,” Take-Two Interactive appears to plan to shutter two of its subsidiary studios, Intercept and Roll7. This is also in the midst of a wider layoff of about 5% of its staff, approximately 600 staffers according to some estimates, and some shut-downs of internal projects.

Take-Two Interactive recently joined the ever-growing list of video game companies implementing layoffs, with the company announcing that it was cutting 5% of its workforce (roughly 600 jobs) as part of a wider cost-saving initiative that would also see projects being cancelled. Unfortunately, it seems one publishing label operating under the company has been hit the hardest.

Take-Two publishing label Private Division has reportedly laid off the “vast majority” of its teams in Seattle, New York, Las Vegas and Munich.

Take-Two will shut down OlliOlli World and Rollerdrome studio Roll7 as well as Kerbal Space Program team Intercept Games as it looks to cut five per cent of its workforce. The news was revealed by Bloomberg after the outlet obtained documentation indicating Roll7 will close and offer severance agreements to staff. Meanwhile, a notice has been filed with the Washington State Employment Security Department to close a Seattle office, where Intercept Games is based.

Bloomberg reports that Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive will close two game studios as part of a recently announced plan to lay off 5% of its workforce.

More details have emerged about the ongoing layoffs at Take-Two Interactive, with reports suggesting the publisher has shut down two indie-size studios.

This one's a bummer. Mega-publisher Take-Two Interactive is shuttering Rollerdrome studio Roll7 and Kerbal Space Program 2 team Intercept Games, according to paperwork seen by Bloomberg.

Take-Two Interactive Software will shut down Private Division subsidiary studios Roll7 and Intercept Games, according to a Bloomberg report by Jason Schreier.

Intercept Games is among the many casualties of Take-Two Interactive's layoffs, as its parent company is laying off 70 people from the developer behind the Kerbal Space Program 2.

Last month, GTA 6 publishers Take-Two Interactive announced plans to "rationalize" their "pipeline" by laying off five per cent of their workforce - around 580 people - and cancelling various games. As part of that, they're reportedly now doing away with 70 positions at their Seattle offices - Seattle being the home of the Take-Two-owned Intercept Games, the current developers of space sim Kerbal Space Program 2.

The future of Kerbal Space Program 2 studio Intercept Games appears uncertain amid ongoing restructuring at owner Take-Two Interactive.

Intercept Games is reportedly shutting down as Take-Two enacts their cost-reduction plan and layoffs across the company, with the Kerbal Space Program 2 developer’s continued existence now in doubt. Despite this, Take-Two has pledged to continue providing support and updates for the game’s PC Early Access release.

Take-Two Interactive recently announced that it was laying off 5 percent of its staff as part of a wider cost-saving initiative, and it seems like those cuts are also going to entail the shuttering of an entire studio- specifically, Intercept Games, the team behind Kerbal Space Program 2.

Take-Two appears to be preparing to close its Seattle office this summer, likely as part of the recently announced layoffs across the company.

Apple has assembled a team of AI specialists from Google to establish a clandestine research hub in Zurich, as reported by the Financial Times. This covert European facility is dedicated to the development of advanced AI models and products. Analysis of LinkedIn profiles indicates that Apple has recruited 36 professionals from Google since 2018, coinciding with the appointment of John Giannandrea, formerly of Google, as Apple's top AI executive.

From the Green Bay Packers’ Jamaal Williams and the Seattle Seahawks’ John Reid to the New Orleans Saints’ Cameron Jordan and more, the NFL is packed with players who are just as passionate about anime and manga as they are about football.

Xbox Game Pass members can play Another Crab's Treasure as part of their subscription starting today, April 25. This day-one addition to the Xbox Game Pass library arrives in the form of a colorful action RPG with an important message about environmental preservation.

EA's upcoming game could let players explore Wakanda in a way no other Marvel game has. Very little has been revealed surrounding the title since its announcement in July 2023 other than the fact it is being developed by a new AAA development studio based in Seattle, Cliffhanger Games, which consists of a team of,,, and veterans.

EA's Black Panther game will be open world.

The recently announced Black Panther game in development at EA may be open world, judging from a new job listing posted for the title. Given the amount of open world fatigue some gamers have experienced in recent years, this aspect of Black Panther could prove divisive if done poorly.

A professional Call of Duty player has been permanently banned for using game-breaking tools to unlock camos and skins on their account. Player Abuzah revealed the news of the ban online, admitting to using illegal tools to unlock items in the game. This news comes as Activision and Call of Duty developers turn up the heat on cheaters and boosters.

It's been nearly eight years since I wrote about Fallout Cascadia, a total conversion mod for Bethesda's Fallout 4 game. I nearly forgot about it, which is understandable since the last showcase video the modding team pushed on YouTube was dated July 2021.

AI roundup: Microsoft is planning to make a huge investment in Japan to accelerate the country's AI development. Additionally, the investment will also aid Japan in building strong cybersecurity defence to combat enemy countries. In other news, President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged Amazon and Nvidia to fund an AI research program. Know more about such AI news of today. 

It’s been quite a roller coaster for Battlefield 2042, which launched in an embarrassing state back in 2021, but managed to scratch and claw its way back to a solid place one update at a time. Well, it seems the Battlefield 2042 story is finally coming to an end, as EA and DICE have announced major support for the game will cease at the end the currently-in-progress Season 7. Maintenance updates and reruns of past events will still happen, but no more major seasonal content is coming.

Dead Space remake and Star Wars: Squadrons studio Motive is joining Electronic Arts’ wider Battlefield development team.

Apple has entered into a partnership with Shutterstock, a stock photos and videos library, to utilize its data for training its artificial intelligence (AI) models. The agreement suggests that Apple is making strides towards developing its proprietary foundation model. Despite previous speculations regarding the integration of Google's Gemini AI and Baidu's Ernie Bot (in China) into the iPhone 16 series for AI functionalities, it seems Apple's long-term strategy involves incorporating its own native AI model.

Another entry in the SOCOM franchise might be in the works, with a mention of one such possible project recently being spotted in one actor's resume. However, that evidence appears shaky at best, in part because the said actor had passed away some time ago.

After a controversial reveal that saw tickets sell out almost immediately, Ravensburger has announced it’s opening up over 1,500 new spaces for its inaugural Disney Lorcana Challenge competitive events.

A person suspected of sending death threats to Nintendo has reportedly been arrested by Japanese police.

A person suspected of being responsible for threats that led to the cancellation of Nintendo Live 2024 has reportedly been arrested by Japanese police.

The Last of Us' first season wrapped up in 2023, but another is already in production, adapting the second game. Interestingly, Pedro Pascal (Joel Miller) reportedly finished filming this week. If you know, you know.

One of the most wholesome stories about Stardew Valley's 1.6 update launch was that the developer behind the farming sim's most beloved modding project, Stardew Valley Expanded, helped make it happen. And yet that might not have come to be if FlashShifter hadn't fallen on hard times after an unfortunate brush with car theft.

MLB The Show 24 may not be the best-looking sports game on the market anymore, but San Diego Studio continues to lead the field by pushing the boundaries of the genre overall. This year’s release may feel largely familiar when you’re at the plate, but the expansion of narrative-based experiences in the Storylines section demonstrates how the first-party developer is evolving elsewhere.

The latest version of the Major League Baseball video game, , is out now with some new features to set it apart from last year's version,. Every year, the simulation game launches a new version, tweaking player rosters based on what is happening in the real world, as well as making updates to the virtual baseball experience to keep things fresh. For 2024's release, features Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays as its cover star.

This week’s TV is a sort of choose-your-IP-adaptation adventure: The X-Men of the ’90s returns, complete with nostalgic animation vibes, in X-Men ’97. If you’re looking for an alternate-timeline version of a classic video game (and a kind of silly one at that), there’s the finale of Halo season 2.

The former director of a new Battlefield game has criticised EA, after he recently left the company and saw the studio he co-founded closed.

At GDC, Valve alum Chet Faliszek (far right) and Riot vet Dr Kimberly Voll (right) revealed that they had set up a new Seattle-based studio, Stray Bombay. This new venture is focusing on co-op games and is backed by both VC firm Upfront Ventures and League of Legends maker Riot Games.

Stardew Valley is about to make it easier to get pets to move out of the way. This quality-of-life improvement will be part of the 1.6 update that is scheduled to reach Stardew Valley in a few days' time.

The Battlefield franchise isn’t having the best of time as of late when it comes to their team – after having just lost Marcus Lehto last month, the company has now lost another creative Director. Craig Morrison joined the Battlefield franchise team back in August 2021 as a Creative Director, and later became the Studio Creative Director in December 2022. So Morrison has had a pretty good time it seems during his employment with the company.

Former Bungie composer Marty O'Donnell has announced his intention to run as the Republican Party candidate in Nevada’s third congressional district in the 2024 House of Representatives elections.

One attentive The Last of Us 2 player was recently intrigued to learn that a phone number featured in the early hours of Naughty Dog's hit action adventure uses a Washington area code matching the game's setting. Their discovery adds to the ever-expanding list of examples underlining the immaculate attention to detail that went into the making of The Last of Us 2.

The sprawling open world action/adventure game Ghost of Tsushima is basically the only big PlayStation franchise other than Gran Turismo that hasn't made it to PC yet. Uncharted, The Last of Us, God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Horizon have all been ported to PC. What's most puzzling is that even more recent games have been ported; for instance, Horizon Forbidden West, released in February 2022 for PlayStation consoles, will launch later this month on PC. Ghost of Tsushima, on the other hand, launched in July 2020.

EA is the latest game company to announce layoffs, with 5% of its workforce to be made redundant. From the most recent headcount EA provided – 13,400 in March 2023 – that would amount to around 670 people.

Electronic Arts has announced a restructuring plan that will see it lay off approximately 5% of its global workforce.

EA has confirmed they are closing Ridgeline Games.

EA is the latest game company to announce layoffs, with 5% of its workforce to be made redundant. From the most recent headcount EA provided – 13,400 in March 2023 – that would amount to around 670 people.

Electronics Arts (EA) has confirmed plans to lay off around five percent of its staff, move away from developing future licensed games it doesn't think will be successful, and begin “winding down Ridgeline as a standalone studio.”

In yet another chapter of the seemingly unending layoff news, Electronic Arts (EA) announced it's laying off 5% of its employees, amounting to around 670 people.

Electronic Arts has closed Ridgeline Games, the studio formed in 2021 to work on a future Battlefield single-player game.

Electronic Arts has announced that it’s laying off roughly 670 people, and as you might imagine, a number of studios owned by the company are set to be impacted. One of the more severe cases is Ridgeline Games, which is being shuttered entirely. This follows the studio’s head and narrative director Marcus Lehto recently announcing his departure.

A grim year for the video game industry just got grimmer, as EA has plans to cut 670 workers - approximately 5% of its workforce - in a major business shakeup that will include sunsetting existing games and canceling licensed IP.

Marcus Lehto has confirmed that he’s left his position as game director on a new Battlefield title.

Battlefield game director Marcus Lehto has confirmed that he left EA following reports that he recently exited the company.

Ridgeline Games, a relatively new development studio owned by publishing giant Electronic Arts, has lost one of its founders. This comes after one of the studio's key figures also left in January and joined another game company.

Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto was enlisted by Electronic Arts in 2021 to lead a new studio in Seattle and work on narrative-driven campaigns for the Battlefield series, and the following year, that studio was formally unveiled as Ridgeline Games, and confirmed to be in charge of “expanding the narrative, storytelling, and character development opportunities in the Battlefield series.”

Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto has left the EA studio he founded to work on the next generation of Battlefield games.

Halo co-creator and Battlefield game director Marcus Letho has left EA.

Withering Rooms, a 2.5D horror RPG, has been announced for PC and consoles with a release date set for April 2nd, 2024. It’s the debut game from Seattle-based studio, Moonless Formless, and will also be getting a physical PS5 launch in May courtesy of Perp Games.

Withering Rooms, a 2.5D horror RPG, has been announced for PC and consoles with a release date set for April 2nd, 2024. It’s the debut game from Seattle-based studio, Moonless Formless, and will also be getting a physical PS5 launch in May courtesy of Perp Games.

The Apple Vision Pro can turn into your best friend onboard a boring flight, as demonstrated by a Microsoft executive. During an excruciatingly long journey lasting 16 hours from Seattle to Dubai, the AR headset owner revealed that you can transform your entire cabin into an entertainment hub. However, the software giant’s executive does point out some caveats of using the bulky contraption for extended periods, with additional details discussed here.

With the release of Grounded II: Making The Last of Us Part II, fans have been given a unique insight into the challenges and triumphs developer Naughty Dog encountered while creating its violent sequel, The Last of Us Part II. One of the biggest genuine surprises was a few almost throwaway lines, revealing that the cinematic adventure originally began life as a purely melee open-world game, one heavily inspired by FromSoftware's own grim epic, 2015's Bloodborne.

Indie developer Threshold Games has shut down after announcing its closure last week.

Mike McCain has made a return to Seattle-based developer Harebrained Schemes.

The Seattle portion of 's story feels like a small open world where Ellie and Dina can explore the destroyed metropolis for supplies by learning every code to areas locked by gates. The long highway and compact buildings create a large space to track down various items. However, the only clue to reaching these spots is through a hidden area somewhere in the city.

The indie studio behind Another Crab's Treasure has been broken into for the third time, with two happening in the same week. 

The Last of Us 2 Remastered's director commentary has revealed a very different ending for the Naughty Dog sequel, and I'm so glad it didn't turn out this way.

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered released last week, giving players a native-PS5 version of Ellie and Abby's harrowing experiences.

is deeply narrative-driven, and near-constant dialogue throughout the game results in very fleshed out characters. From old favorites like Joel, to new leads like Abby, has a knack for delivering compelling quotes. The story's stakes are high and the game's characters are incredibly complex. With such a dire post-pandemic world and a cinematic flair, it's unsurprising that is filled with memorable lines.

is a bit of a misnomer. It certainly ups the visuals from the original 2020 release of, but it also provides a fair amount of new content. The most significant is No Return, a roguelike game mode, but it also includes three Lost Levels, galleries of concept art, new skins for characters and weapons, a developer commentary track for the main game, and a few more odds and ends. Developer commentary piques interest, and its implementation in the campaign is middling, but the Lost Levels, which also include it, are a revelation.

The Last of Us Part 2 is a game full of sadness and tragedy, with a few tender and heartwarming moments sprinkled throughout to give the more dramatic and emotional scenes more punch. One of these moments is when players get a brief glimpse of what a normal life could've looked like for Ellie and Dina, having players explore and maintain a farmhouse following the birth of JJ.

Naughty Dog's is a devastating tale of parallel protagonists. Its inciting incident is a brutal torture sequence, and the game only spirals into more stomach-turning violence from there on. By the time reaches is unflinchingly bloody finale, it's difficult to feel as though something has actually been accomplished after experiencing a narrative that has only plummeted wildly into chaos. 's core tenet seems to be a warning that violence only begets violence, and the game's focus on insatiable revenge only leaves those involved with traumatic uncertainty.

Sony is issuing refunds to those who purchased The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered full price by accident, if they have it on PS4 already.

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered is a strange blend. On one hand, it’s a good excuse to revisit Digital Trends’ 2020 Game of the Year selection. On the other, it’s a bizarre package filled with tone-deaf bonus modes that water down the base game’s own message on cyclical violence. Considering that it’s not as much of a “remaster” as its title implies, I wouldn’t blame most players for skipping it.

With The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered almost among us, it's time to relive the bittersweet story of Ellie and Abby. Whether in preparation for the TV show's return, to collect the new trophies, or just for its own sake, Naughty Dog's longest and most ambitious game is definitely worth revisiting.

When you play as Ellie in , you'll want to pick weapon upgrades that not only improve your chances of survival but transform Ellie into the vengeful warrior of the apocalypse we all want to play as. Ellie has access to six different weapons over the course of the game. While the Silenced Submarine Gun can't be upgraded, the others can be improved to make Ellie as badass as possible.

Naughty Dog's Matthew Gallant has said he doesn't «understand some of the consternation» surrounding The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered's release.

The Last of Us 2 originally featured a horrifying flashback that was cut from the final game.

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered has a new No Return mode that brings the roguelike genre into Naughty Dog’s postapocalyptic franchise for the first time, and with it comes a bevy of unlockable characters, skins, and more that dedicated players are certain to want to unlock for use in-game.