A reliable Resident Evil leaker has reported that Resident Evil 9 will take place within a fictional rural town on an island, a setting that would be pretty unique for the series.
02.05.2024 - 13:49 / polygon.com / Space / Will
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.
The two studios are London-based Roll7, developer of the much-loved OlliOlli skating games, and Intercept Games, a Seattle outfit formed by Take-Two to make Kerbal Space Program 2.
Both studios were part of Take-Two’s boutique publishing label Private Division. It seems Private Division, probably best known for publishing Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds, will be heavily impacted in the Take-Two layoffs. GamesIndustry.biz reports that the “vast majority” of Private Division staff in Seattle, New York, Las Vegas, and Munich have been laid off.
Roll7 broke through with old-school skateboarding game OlliOlli in 2013. It was acquired by Private Division in 2021 ahead of the releases of OlliOlli World and competitive skater-shooter Rollerdrome in 2022.
Randomly just thinking about when we won a BAFTA last year ❤️ https://t.co/mEEa8mploK
Intercept Games was formed by Private Division in 2020 to take over development of Kerbal Space Program 2from original developer Star Theory Games. Star Theory subsequently shut down. Reports that Intercept Games was to follow suit began to circulate on Wednesday after Take-Two filed a notice in Washington State that it would close an office in Seattle, affecting 70 workers.
In a statement supplied to GamesIndustry.biz and other outlets, Private Division did not confirm the studio closures, but said that it “continues to make updates to Kerbal Space Program 2,” which is currently in early access. It also pointed to the releases of No Rest for the Wickedand upcoming cozy Lord of the Rings game Tales of the Shire. It said Take-Two was “not providing additional details” on its cost reduction program, other than to say it was “rationalizing its pipeline and eliminating several projects in development and streamlining its organizational structure.”
Take-Two announced its reorganization on April 16, saying it would shed 5% of staff, roughly 580 employees. The news came shortly after the publisher agreed to purchase Borderlands studio Gearbox Entertainment from Embracer for $480 million. The company is also preparing to release Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 6in 2025.
A reliable Resident Evil leaker has reported that Resident Evil 9 will take place within a fictional rural town on an island, a setting that would be pretty unique for the series.
God of War Ragnarök will reportedly be announced for PC soon.
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced a number of their studios were being shuttered, including Arkane Austin (Prey, Redfall), Tango Gameworks (The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush), and Alpha Dog Games, while Roundhouse Studios will be absorbed into ZeniMax Online Studios to work on The Elder Scrolls Online. This follows nearly 1,900 layoffs earlier in the year, largely from Microsoft’s newly-acquired Activision Blizzard teams. Unfortunately, it seems this isn’t the end of the pain.
Xbox Game Pass subscribers are reportedly in for a treat as a fantastic Soulslike RPG may soon make its debut on the platform. As a part of its promise to consumers, Microsoft goes to great lengths to ensure that its service is always stocked with dozens upon dozens of games old and new and during the quieter months of the industry, it's often a good idea to provide users an opportunity to play any games they may have missed. Given the amount of excellent games released in 2023, it makes sense that folks may have slept on this RPG.
Early Access title Kerbal Space Program 2 is currently being review bombed on Steam, after the game's developer, Intercept Games, was closed down by Take-Two. The closure has naturally led to questions surrounding the future of Kerbal Space Program 2, which first entered Early Access in February 2023.
Despite having the best-selling game of all time in Grand Theft Auto V, and GTA VI on the way, mega publisher Take-Two Interactive have been going through some belt-tightening, recently cutting 5 percent of its workforce and canceling some projects. When the news of the cuts were first announced, we didn’t know exactly who was impacted or which games had been canned, but we may now have a better idea.
Take-Two is closing two game studios under their Private Division label, with Kerbal Space Program 2 developer Intercept Games shutting down (as we already knew) and OlliOlli and Rollerdrome studio Roll7 following them into the twilight.
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.
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.
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.