Month: October 2024

Mad Crusader will spend the next two years investing $30 million in double-A games, the transmedia company revealed.Spread across four investment rounds, the money will go specifically toward concepts made by the first 10 graduates from its World Builders incubation program. The funding will help those concepts grow into "commercial products with franchise potential."In other words, if a developer thinks its project has what it takes to grow beyond games, as so many others have done recently, Mad Crusader wants to help get it off the ground.The original (and remote) online program ran from October 2023 to this past May. Graduates and investors maintain an equity stake in the product, along with an equity share in Mad Crusader's game development holding.In that same press rel…

As previously announced last week, Squid Shock Games has launched a Patreon campaign to continue post-launch support on its debut title, Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus.The restructuring of publisher Humble Games in late July has resulted in Squid Shock missing "critical post-launch support" like updates and console patches. With the studio's future uncertain, it will rely on crowdfunding for the time being."We've explored every possible option to deliver the future content we had planned," explained Squid Shock, "and decided to create a Patreon for those who would like to support us."There are six tiers that range from $1 to $100/mo. Benefits range from early access to development updates, build demos and beta tests, to being listed in the game's c…

Update (7/23/24): In a statement provided to Game Developer, Humble said its game publishing label is "undergoing restructuring" rather than fully shutting down. This restructure "involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects.""We are acutely aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and deeply empathize with everyone affected. Our team's contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we started publishing in 2017."Ongoing and future projects are said to be unaffected, and the restructure has "no impact" on Humble Bundle's operations. It affirmed that it was &quot…

Last week's sudden restructuring of Humble Games has affected various developers, including Squid Shock Games.The creator of Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus revealed it's been dealt a "critical blow," particular with the game's console ports. It and QA support were linked to its deal with Humble deal, which has now hampered post-launch support."[Humble's news] took us completely by surprise," said Squid Shock, "and we are now in a difficult situation when it comes to updating the console ports."Shortly after news of the restructuring, Humble assured that this wouldn't affect the deals it had in place with studios like Squid Shock and Coral Island creator Starway Games.The latter put out a statement last week affirming it too was in a rough …

Three months after Koei Tecmo filed a lawsuit against mobile studio Youzu, the two developers have reached an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed fee.At the time of the April suit, the Japanese developer claimed Youzu had repeatedly infringed on its copyright. Music and in-game assets from its games had allegedly been used to promote Youzu titles like Dynasty Origins and Sengoku Legend: Uprising.It was further claimed the Singaporean developer "continuously used" materials without asking permission. Despite a "voluntary promise" to Koei Tecmo to stop what it was doing, Youzu continued using the music and assets.Koei Tecmo stressed that these actions "damage our intellectual property’s value and lead to misconceptions by users and our partners that we are r…

NetherRealm is shutting down mobile title Mortal Kombat: Onslaught and removing it from storefronts.The collectible-RPG was pitched as a mobile exclusive featuring a brand new Mortal Kombat story. It only launched in October 2023 so will have survived for just over a year.The game will officially shut down on October 21, 2024. It will be removed from the App Store and Google Play on October 7, with in-game purchases being disabled on October 8. "Players can enjoy the game until 10/21/24. It has been an honor creating this game for our Kommunity," concludes a brief statement on X.The news is patricianly notable because it follows reports that NetherRealm and parent company Warner Bros. Games have laid off a number of mobile developers.Last week, multiple former NetherRealm employe…

As OpenAI is getting more focus from regulators like the FTC, Microsoft and Apple are both distancing themselves from the ChatGPT maker.Per Ars Technica, both tech giants have elected not to join OpenAI's board after previously signing their allegiance. The former accepted an observer role in November 2023 as Sam Altman was ousted (and returned) from OpenAI.Notably, this comes almost a full year after the FTC launched its investigation into the generative AI company. At the time, it believed ChatGPT potentially violated consumer protection laws and harmed consumers.The exit of both companies means OpenAI no longer has any observers on the board. On Microsoft and Apple's side, this absolves them of any potential (and further) antitrust attention from regulators.In a letter obtaine…