Starting today, LinkedIn users can play a trio of games created by its News team, via computer or mobile app.Per VP Dan Roth, the "thinking-oriented games" were made to offer users a break and connect them to other players. Beyond fostering new connections (that could lead to jobs), Roth hopes the games spark a "healthy bit of competition" in the community.LinkedIn joins the New York Times and Spotify in non-traditional platforms launching browser and app-based games for mass appeal. Its games can only be played once per day, and players can see who among their connections is also playing.The three games—Queens, Pinpoint, and Crossclimb—will have their stats revealed in a weekly newsletter. Each game is a LinkedIn take on a well-known casual game: Pinpoint is a word…

Game publisher Modern Wolf has cut six jobs, according to those at the company.These reductions seem to have primarily affected the marketing and community departments, along with the production and art. Per ex-brand head George Willard, the cuts were made as part of a larger "company restructuring" at Modern Wolf."Whilst we've known about this potential outcome for a short while, the news still feels like a gut punch," he wrote. "It's been a great joy being able to help bring your games to market and as many players as possible."In Willard's post (and others), he specifically names his fellow affected coworkers, along with a short blurb advocating for why they should be hired. As for himself, he and Modern Wolf's senior comms manager Sophi…

Marvel: Contest of Champions is turning 10 this year, and to celebrate, it's going to other, more "alternative" app stores.Developer Kabam is teaming with distributor Flexion Games to put the mobile fighting game on the Amazon App Store, ONEstore Korea, and others on April 29. Later this year, it'll launch on Samsung Gaming Hub, OneStore Global, and DT Games Hub.Since launch, Contest has been only on iOS and Android, so more app stores means the game's reach can further expand.

New audiences for Marvel: Contest of Champions

"This collaboration will help us reach new audiences…on even more app stores," said Kabam CEO SeungWon Lee. &…

El Paso, Elsewhere from developer Strange Scaffold and Xalavier Nelson Jr. is making the slow-motion jump to film.Per Deadline, Atlanta actor LaKeither Stanfield has been tapped to star in and produce the adaptation. Filmmakers Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Colin Stark are also producing the movie, the former, through his Di Bonaventura Pictures banner.The third-person shooter released last year as a love letter to PlayStation 2 action games of old, namely the Max Payne series. Stanfield will play James Savage, a detective tasked with stopping his vampire ex Janet from destroying the world.At the time of its release, El Paso, Elsewhere garnered solid reviews and was nominated for Best Indie Game at the DICE and New York Game Awards.On Twitter, Nelson Jr. confirmed the news by stating, in all …

The Apple Arcade will live for as long as Apple wants…which is hopefully a long time.Talking to The Guardian, senior director Alex Rofman said there's no plans to gut the platform. Back in February, a MobileGamer report claimed developers were frustrated with the company's lack of transparency, and believed the Arcade was on its way out.Rofman pushed back against those claims, saying games "are more important to Apple now than [ever]. Arcade is an outlet for indie studios with creative, innovative ideas. That is still important to us and always will be."Regarding those alleging smaller payouts, Rofman acknowledged bonuses depend on a game's player count. Bluntly, he said "not every game in a catalogue of more than 200 titles [will] grow its player base month…

The numbers for the Fallout franchise keep going up after the recent launch of Prime Video's show. Yesterday (April 23), Bethesda revealed that Fallout 76 hit 1 million players in a single day.The milestone covers the shared world shooter's player base across PC, Xbox (both One and Series X|S), and PlayStation 4 and 5, illuminating just how much the game's numbers have grown in light of the show's success.In the last several days, Fallout 76 has repeatedly topped its Steam player count and has a new peak at 73,368 players at the time of writing.Additionally, the greater Fallout franchise reached nearly 5 million players that same day (although it probably helps that right now, most entries in the series are currently on sale).A specific game wasn't highlighted as a…

Experimental sandbox Garry's Mod has entered the crosshairs of Nintendo's litigation team after 20 years.Developer Facepunch Studios said the Switch maker has filed takedown notices that will require it to purge certain Nintendo-related content from the Steam Workshop.At the time of writing, broad searches for terms like 'Mario' and 'Zelda' surface a number of user created Garry's Mod add-ons including character models, level cosmetics, and more.Although it's not uncommon for Nintendo to protect its various intellectual properties in this way—the timing of the takedowns feels notable because people have been creating Garry's Mod content for around two decades.That means Facepunch Studios has to trawl through 20 years' worth of uploads in …

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.

PowerWash Simulator dev FuturLab acquired by Miniclip

Benjamin Parker September 10, 2024 0

FuturLab has become a subsidiary of mobile publisher Miniclip. The PowerWash Simulator studio says the deal was finalized in March, and will help "bring Miniclip into the console/PC space."Current CEO Kirsty Rigden will continue to run FuturLab, and the studio says its games will "still be our own visions and our operations will remain the same."However, Rigden also asserted the extra layer of job security "[allows] us to bring you many more, great games in the years to come." PowerWash Simuator left Early Access in July 2022, and within months, garnered critical acclaim and 3 million players. With a gradual rollout on additional systems (and going on subscription services), its success caught Miniclip's eye."The success of PowerWash has catapulted …