Elijah Turner

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…

Gameloft Romania is shuttering its Cluj studio and laying off 136 employees.The company confirmed the news in a statement issued to Game Developer and explained the closure follows a review of its production capacities."As a company, we need to constantly review our production capacities. After careful consideration and in response to the ever-changing market conditions we are facing, it has become necessary to implement a reduction in workforce. Unfortunately, this leads us to close our Cluj studio and to let go the 136 employees of the office," said a Gameloft Romania spokesperson."This decision has not been taken lightly, and we understand the impact it may have on affected employees. We will be working with them, on a case-by-case basis, to find the best way to handle th…

The Nintendo Switch has topped 141.3 million sales in seven years, according to Nintendo's own estimates. The milestone further cements the Switch's place as Nintendo's best-selling home console of all time.The handheld-home-console hybrid will need to shift a few more units to eclipse the 154 million lifetime sales amassed by the Nintendo DS, currently the best-selling console in the company's long history.Nintendo has diversified its Switch lineup since launching the original model in March 2017, adding a more affordable variant called the Switch Lite and a premium offering called the OLED Model to its roster.

Switch successor speculation

A new report from Eurogamer alleges GAME, a UK store specializing in video games, is currently undergoing layoffs across its stores.While the specific number of impacted workers is unclear, the outlet claims staff were told redundancies are on the horizon. Going forward, remaining workers who aren't managers will all run on zero-hour contracts.Under that agreement, employers don't have to give an employer a minimum (or promised) set of working hours per week. In turn, the contracted workers are only paid for the time done, rather than being assured a regular, secure salary.Sources talking to Eurogamer indicated they were already aware the contracts would be in play. Those impacted by the cuts will be contacted by phone call or email.

Embracer freezes acquisition drive as its restructure program comes to an end

Elijah Turner September 9, 2024 0

Nearly a year later and having just sold off Gearbox to Take-Two, Embracer has ended its monumental restructuring efforts.CEO Lars Wingefors confirmed its status during a recent investors call (spotted by RockPaperShotgun). The program first started in mid-June 2023 following the collapse of a $2 billion deal reportedly planned with Savvy Games.Said program resulted in nearly 1,400 jobs being cut over a six-month period. Studios like Eidos Montreal and Nimble Giant lost staff, while projects were canceled and other developers like Volition and Free Radical got closed entirely.More recently, Embracer has sold off studios to other publishers as a means to make money. Saber Interactive, 3D Realms, and Slipgate (among others) were recently sold to a private firm for a deal valued at $247 milli…