Game Developer News, Tips, Tricks, Ideas

Come January 1, 2024, Paradox Interactive will no longer own Harebrained Schemes. The two companies will end their five-year relationship in what's said to be a "mutual agreement" from both parties regarding "each party’s strategic and creative priorities."

Later this week, Super Mario Bros. Wonder will release for the Nintendo Switch. It's notably the first 2D entry in the series since 2012's New Super Mario Bros. U, and the key staff on Wonder saw this new game as an opportunity to revitalize the 2D subsection of the franchise. 

F1 Manager, Elite Dangerous, and Planet Zoo developer Frontier Developments has sanctioned layoffs as part of an organizational review.

Something Wicked Games' stable of notable ex-Bethesda developers is gaining a new member. Will Shen, former design director on Starfield and veteran of Bethesda going all the way back to Fallout 3, is joining the all-remote studio as the lead content designer of Wyrdsong.

Netflix's aims for getting further into the game market involves adding Grand Theft Auto onto its game platform. According to the Wall Street Journal, a licensing deal with Rockstar will allow the streamer to release a title from the popular open-world crime series onto its titular service.

Epic Games has launched Epic First Run, an opt-in exclusive program that allows third-party developers and publishers to capture 100 percent of revenue generated during their first six months on the Epic Games Store.

Bethesda's head of publishing Pete Hines has announced his retirement.

Peter Molyneux is returning to game development, and the Fable series, with a new title currently named Project MOAT. On X, the longtime game designer/director revealed the upcoming game would be set in Albion, the primary setting of the Fable games. 

A new Bloomberg report reveals CD Projekt Red employed AI to recreate the voice of an actor that passed away after the game's release. Speaking to the outlet, CDPR said it reproduced the performance of Miłogost Reczek (who plays V's confidante and Ripper doc Viktor Vektor) for the recently released Phantom Liberty expansion. 

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has explained that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will remain with the publisher "through the end of 2023."

Ubisoft now holds the cloud streaming rights for Call of Duty and all other Activision Blizzard titles releasing over the next 15 years.

Swedish publisher Fragbite Group has added indie developer Fall Damage to its portfolio. At an upfront purchase priced at SEK 20 million (or $1.818 million), Fragbite has acquired "all outstanding shares" of the studio, which is expected to complete within the next two weeks. 

Video game voice actor Ken Lally has died at the age of 52 on Tuesday, October 10. At time of writing, the circumstances of his passing haven't been revealed, but it was confirmed by actor Eva La Dare, who worked with him on Capcom's Resident Evil 5.

An alleged former employee at developer Harebrained Schemes revealed a majority of the studio's staff was laid off over the summer. On ResetEra, that worker claims the studio cut "80 percent or so" of its workforce in July, months ahead of the developer's newest release, The Lamplighters League. 

Months after acquiring the rights to the Bubsy games, Atari has put out a call to any indie developer with a pitch for the long dormant series. 

Going forward, Valve says Counter-Strike 2 will only be playable on hardware that supports Linux and 64-bit Windows. The developer revealed support for Mac and older hardware like DirectX has been discontinued. 

An extensive climate impact report published by Saltsea Chronicles developer Die Gute Fabrik (DGF) shows how the project's near four-year production cycle affected this little blue dot we call home.

The Lamplighters League has only been out for over a week, and Paradox Interactive already considers it a financial loss. On the company's website, the publisher said it would be writing down the game at 248 million Swedish Krona, or $22 million.

Microsoft has released a new version of its $69 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. Per Bloomberg, the adjusted deal has been made to appease the European Commission (EU) and ensure the Xbox maker doesn't get investigated a second time. 

Devolver Digital reckons there's something in the water down under. The publisher has signed a platter of Australian productions in recent years–including Cult of the Lamb, Phantom Abyss, and The Plucky Squire–and was back in town for Melbourne International Games Week to see about adding to that portfolio.

Valve will now require Steam developers to use SMS verification. Starting Tuesday, October 24, developers will need a phone number associated with their account before publishing new versions of their game or adding new users to the account. 

PlayStation Plus' Premium subscribers will get access to cloud streaming by the end of October. 

Almost a full month after delaying its online shooter xDefiant, Ubisoft has pushed back its release date again. The developer revealed the game has been indefinitely delayed in order to fix a number of issues recently revealed during a public test.

A new Bloomberg report reveals Disney executives are looking to get further into games. Their solution? Acquire Electronic Arts. 

Sony has confirmed the existence of a new PlayStation 5 model and a detachable disc drive for the console. Like previous PlayStation systems, the upcoming PS5 will be slimmer than its original iterations and eventually become the "main" PS5 system after inventory for the original models runs out.

Summerfall Studios' debut title Stray Gods is a roleplaying musical where choices matter. It's only been a few weeks since the game debuted, but since then, Summerfall has been inundated with praise for crafting a vibrant mythical adventure about hope, self-discovery, and forging your own path.

Unity CEO John Riccitiello is departing Unity. The company has announced that the longtime game industry executive is stepping down as president and CEO of the 3D engine developer. According to Unity, James M. Whitehurst will assume the role of interim CEO and president of the company.

Humble Bundle has suddenly revealed it will be ending its games service. After Tuesday, November 7, the titular subscription will end its offering of monthly games to subscribers. 

German outlet Game Two is reporting on allegations of a toxic work culture at Daedalic Entertainment, specifically surrounding Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Nearly three dozen past and present employees told the outlet claim the project suffered from the alleged environment and mismanagement at the studio. 

Four years ago, in 2019, cozy games were on the rise but not yet quite as saturated as they are today. It was the year the original concept for Paleo Pines, and Lucky the Parasaurolophus, was created by Jordan Bradley as part of a game jam. And when this concept was shared on Twitter it clearly struck a chord with many people at the time. A game about cute dinos? Sign us up! The whole Italic Pig team loved it, so we took the concept into production.

Game Developer Deep Dives are an ongoing series with the goal of shedding light on specific design, art, or technical features within a video game in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions aren’t really that simple at all.

Black Salt Games' eldritch fishing adventure Dredge has sold over 1 million copies since launching in March 2023.

Game developers from CD Projekt and other Polish studios have unionized through the Polish Gamedev Workers Union (PGWU).

It appears that Virtuos Studios has closed down Calypte, a San Francisco-based subsidiary of the worldwide development services provider that had only been in business since September 2022.

Microsoft's $68.7 billion acquisition of Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher Activision Blizzard might be coming to a particularly spooky conclusion. Sources close to the deal have told The Verge that the long, knock-down drag-out process might conclude on Friday October 13.

Ever wonder what it takes to get your game featured on the front page of Steam? Valve is finally ready to share answers. In a new video hosted by Steam business team representative Erik Peterson, the company breaks down the difference between algorithmic and curated sections of the Steam Store, providing guidance on how developers can make themselves visible to players who might want to check out their game.

A week after laying off almost 900 employees, Epic Games announced that it's increasing the price to use Unreal Engine—just not for the game development community.

As reported today by IGN, a former HR manager at Destiny developer Bungie is suing the studio for wrongful termination and retaliation. The manager in question alleges that she was laid off when she brought a case of potential racial discrimination to her own supervisor. The plaintiff, Ingrid Alm, was reportedly asked to investigate the only black employee on his 50-person team. The employee apparently told Alm that he felt unfairly singled out.

A week after the cancellation of Creative Assembly's Hyenas, a new video has dug into what went wrong with the extraction shooter. Sources speaking to YouTuber Volound (and further corroborated by VGC) claim the failed game was plagued with several development woes.

Seven of the 50 employees laid off by BioWare are suing their former employer. The ex-staffers claim the Edmonton studio has refused to pay adequate severance to those affected by the late August reductions. 

Dredge is an eldritch fishing adventure that succeeds in feeling both serene and deeply unnerving thanks to some smart design choices by developer Black Salt Games. Taking to the stage at GCAP 2023 to explain how the team achieved that feat, the studio's 3D art director Michael Bastiaens says they intentionally sought to make Dredge "unsettling" rather than leaning into full-blown "jump scare" horror.

Double Fine's director of development Kevin Johnson has spent the best part of two decades working as a producer at major studios including EA and Telltale Games. During that time, he's learned a thing or two about what it takes to support a team working in the perennial pressure cooker that is game development while also undertaking a journey of personal growth.

After a 16-year run, developer Puny Human revealed it'll be closing its doors. 

Game developer Dang is closing its doors. On X, the studio revealed it "was not able to find funding for our next project, and we are out of money."

Layoffs have reportedly hit the staff over at Naughty Dog. A new report from Kotaku alleges the Last of Us developer has cut at least 25 contractor jobs. 

Deities. Romance. Murder. Musical Numbers. If you're someone who finds those words even remotely titillating, then Stray Gods is the roleplaying musical for you. Summerfall Studios' melodic adventure asks players to change their fate by harnessing the powers of musical persuasion to unravel the mystery behind the Last Muse Calliope's death.

Sergiy Galyonkin, the director of publishing strategy for Epic Games, is leaving the company after eight years. 

Hatoful Boyfriend's original creator Hato Moa has alleged Epic Games hasn't paid her royalties in the past two years. On X, Moa revealed she's received "no payment" for the visual novel since Epic purchased Mediatonic back in 2021.

The original Frostpunk was a compelling blend of a city-builder and a survival game, all wrapped in a story about keeping a community alive during a global ice age. Unlike other city-builders focusing on cause and effect, however, Frostpunk's world offers no respite—either make things work or see the citizens slowly succumb to the elements and internal turmoil. This unorthodox, survivalist take on a city-builder presented a harrowing story of surviving the apocalypse, all defined by your actions.

12 years after its release, The Binding of Isaac will soon be getting online multiplayer. 

Minecraft Dungeons has reached 25 million players in the three years since its launch in 2020. In a blog looking back on the game, Mojang revealed the milestone for it and Double Eleven's Minecraft spinoff.

According to the Wall Street Journal, France's competition authority conducted a raid on NVIDIA's offices in the country earlier this week. The agency itself revealed it raided "a company suspected of having implemented anticompetitive practices in the graphics cards sector."

Polyphony Digital announced Gran Turismo Sport is going offline on January 31, 2024. After that date, the game's online services (and accompanying features or items) will no longer be playable. 

As Epic Games announced a set of mass layoffs yesterday, Ubisoft quietly conducted some of its own. Six members in the community and social media teams were let go, a spokesperson confirmed to Polygon.

Staff at licensed game developer Workinman Interative have unanimously voted to unionize. The union is made up of around 20 project managers, artists, and assistants. 

Along with laying off hundreds of employees, Epic Games remains embroiled in a years-long legal battle with Apple. Recently, the Unreal Engine creator filed a writ of certiorari asking the US Supreme Court to review its lower court ruling made during the antitrust case between the two developers. 

Sony Interactive President Jim Ryan—the man who's led Sony's PlayStation division since 2019, is stepping down from his role as president and retiring from the company.

Following on the heels of multiplayer shooter Hyenas' cancelation earlier today, Creative Assembly confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that it has made the "incredibly difficult decision to begin a redundancy consultation" that "may, unfortunately, result in job losses."

Sega has canceled upcoming multiplayer shooter Hyenas and some other unannounced titles in a bid to improve profitability.

Seeing Remedy Entertainment's cult favorite horror game Alan Wake make a comeback is a strange feeling. Arriving 13 years after the original, Alan Wake 2 sees the return of the titular protagonist who can rewrite reality, all while evading the creeping dark forces that's always one step behind him.

The price of mainstream, triple-A video games is $70, but for Capcom president Harushiro Tsujimoto, games are still priced "too low" for his liking. Talking at last week's Tokyo Game Show (according to Nikkei and translated by Kotaku), Tsujimoto believes games should increase in price to reflect how much they cost to make. 

The Meta Quest Store is getting Xbox Cloud Gaming, over a full year after it was originally announced. Come December, the Microsoft cloud platform will allow owners of Meta Quest headsets to play Xbox games in VR. 

Last week, Unity rolled out a new look version of its controversial Runtime Fee in the wake of a seismic backlash from developers who felt the original policy represented an egregious act of betrayal for a myriad of reasons.

The newly launched Phantom Liberty expansion has led to Cyberpunk 2077's highest count of Steam players since its original launch in December 2020. SteamDB shows that within the last 24 hours, the expansion has garnered nearly 246,800 concurrent players. 

In 2021, Strange Scaffold director Xalavier Nelson, Jr. began promoting his next upcoming video game El Paso, Elsewhere with two clear goals: it would bring back the third-person action mechanics that made 2001’s Max Payne a smash hit, and it would ship by the end of 2022.

To my amazement, this month - September 2023 - marks my 40th year in game development. I’m not sure how I’ve survived so long in a business that more typically burns people out in... somewhat less, let’s just say. That said, I have some thoughts about survival and an urge to tell the story of how I today find myself one of the most long-lived veterans still actively involved in making games. There may be a few older geezers still working, I guess, but most of you who want to chime in with an arthritic “But I’ve been doing this longer than you” or “You’re a young whipper-snapper next to me” are probably big deals on the business side - C-suite types. If you’ve worked more than 40 years and are still actually working with teams to make games, let me know. We can hang out and talk about our lumbago.

SAG-AFTRA members have approved a strike authorization vote to enable the union to strike against game companies if deemed necessary.

Starbreeze's Payday 3 released over the weekend, and has already hit 1.3 million unique players. In a new press release, the developer confirmed the milestone covers both PC and consoles (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S), and peaked at a concurrent player count of 218,250. 

Roblox has laid off 30 members of its talent acquisition team after scaling back its recruitment efforts.

A Unity representative claims the company pulled its terms of service (ToS) from Github because "views were so low."

PlatinumGames co-founder Hideki Kamiya is departing the Bayonetta, Nier: Automata, and The Wonderful 101 developer after almost two decades.

Next Up: Read Game Developer's interview with Unity Create President Marc Whitten , discussing the road to the changes below and what Unity has learned from the backlash surrounding the original Runtime Fee policy.

Dave Hunt, a modder for the popular game Garry's Mod best known as "Dav0r", passed away earlier in the month. Members of developer Facepunch Studios confirmed the news on Discord and via social media, reporting that he died of an undisclosed illness. 

UK regulator the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally approved Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

Global development company Virtuos has opened a new studio in Tokyo to strengthen its relationship with Japanese developers.

Ubisoft has made another shakeup for one of its core franchises, as Julian Gerighty is now the executive producer for its Division franchise. After shipping Star Wars Outlaws (as its creative director), he's to oversee the "plethora of projects" for the Tom Clancy branded sub-franchise. 

VIDEOVERSE is a love story set in the world of 2003 computers and gaming consoles. Set in chat rooms and message boards inspired by MSN Messenger and Miiverse, players follow the story of a relationship while trying to keep up with their friends (and foes) online.

Striking Distance CEO and founder Glen Schofield is leaving the studio to "pursue new opportunities."

As part of Ubisoft’s ongoing commitment to grow its globally recognized brands, Ubisoft is happy to announce that Julian Gerighty has been appointed as the new Executive Producer for the billion-dollar brand Tom Clancy’s The Division®. As Executive Producer, Julian Gerighty will oversee all The Division games and products, including Tom Clancy’s The Division 3, led by Massive Entertainment who is actively building a team for the game. This announcement represents Ubisoft’s dedication to the longevity of the brand.