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…
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…
Generative AI developer Series Entertainment has purchased mobile studio Pixelberry from Nexon for an undisclosed fee.Best known for mobile games like Choices! and High School Story, Pixelberry was deemed "category leader in the interactive fiction genre" by Series co-founder Pany Haritatos. Under its guidance, Series hopes to evolve the studio to "the next level.""We love story-based games and Choices! has long been a leader in the genre," he continued. "We will [add] bigger books, new interactive features, and ever-improving story quality, all designed to deliver the things the Choices community wants.For Pixelberry, this means using its new parent company's Rho engine. The proprietary engine has been touted by Series as the first "AI-native, …
Nearly a full month after the launch of its debut game, Venture to the Vine, Studio Cut to Bits has conducted layoffs.Per co-founder Masao Kobayashi, the Montreal studio lost most of its 10-person staff today, himself concluded. The cuts were due to "financial reasons," though it's unclear if these issues were longstanding or connected to Venture's launch."After 5 years of hard work on Venture to the Vile and the studio, it's hard to know what to say," he wrote.Cut to Bits was founded in late 2019 by Kobayashi and fellow co-founders Tommy Sagala and Paul Green. The three were previously Ubisoft alums who worked on titles like Far Cry 5 and Far Cry 6, and Rainbow Six Siege.At time of writing, it's unclear if Kobayashi was the only higher-up to be let …
Come September 3, development on Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem will be officially over. The dungeon crawler first released on PC in early 2020, and came to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in March 2023.Wolcen Studio confirmed the news on its website, adding that the game will lose multiplayer functionality on that same day. The single-player mode will still be playable, sold at a "permanently reduced price" to accommodate for what's being lost.The developer explained that "foundational hurdles" prevent future improvements to the action-RPG, which it says can't happen without a "complete technology overhaul." As such, it'll apply what it's learned toward new projects guided by its first game."We've learned a lot from developing and supporting…