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.
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 …
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 …
Insider Gaming reports Respawn's Apex Legends will lose 50 contractors based in the UK. EA has reportedly shut down the region's QA team for the popular battle royale.According to the outlet, these cuts are separate from previous cuts in March. The QA team were told their contracts (which expire in a few weeks) wouldn't be renewed, and reportedly, staff actually had to tell their managers and leads the news themselves after the call.The UK team was first formed in 2022 and has been a part of Apex since Season 16. Respawn similarly opened another studio in 2023 based in Wisconsin to also help with development.It's claimed the UK team performed its tasks well, with one source alleging "everything seemed to be heading to a normal renewal." But the cuts are part o…
BAFTA held its awards ceremony for the games of 2023, and to no surprise, Baldur's Gate 3 took the top prize. As with other award shows, it left the night with quite a few wins.Along with Game of the Year, Larian's RPG took home awards for Best Music and Best Narrative. Andrew Wincott, who plays Raphael, also took home an award for Best Supporting Role.Acting-wise, it was Nadji Jeter who won Best Leading Role as Miles Morales in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.Fellow GOTY nominees Alan Wake II and Super Mario Bros. Wonder each won two awards: for Audio and Artistic Achievement, and Family and Multiplayer Game, respectively.Finally, Tango Gameworks' Hi-Fi Rush got a win for Best Animation. The list of winners can be read down below.
GTA+, the monthly subscription service for GTA Online, has gotten its first-ever price hike. Eagle-eyed players (in a now deleted Reddit post) spotted the price has recently gone up from $6/mo to $8/mo on PlayStation and Xbox stores.Checking the GTA+ website, it doesn't appear Rockstar had informed players of the minor price bump beforehand. According to Rockstar Intel, the new price will hit existing players on June 11.Rockstar launched GTA+ in early 2022, and marks the developer's first-ever subscription service. Last year, it began adding older Rockstar games like Bully and Red Dead Redemption to its catalog.Like Xbox Game Pass, subscribers can choose to buy those games outright with a small discount added in.
The source code for 1999's Descent 3 has been uploaded to Github for everyone to use, free of charge.Uploaded by programmer Kevin Bentley, who worked on the game back in the day, the code includes the unreleased 1.5 patch he and Jeff Slutter made years prior. The only thing missing, he continued, were some proprietary video and sound libraries."I have that code if someone wants to help make a converter so the old cutscenes work," said Bentley. "It'll take some effort to stub out that code so it compiles."Bentley also admitted the code "needs to be cleaned up some" and asked for some grace, since it was made by a team "much younger and less experienced back then.""If you're interested in helping maintain it, please send me a messag…
The source code for 1999's Descent 3 has been uploaded to Github for everyone to use, free of charge.Uploaded by programmer Kevin Bentley, who worked on the game back in the day, the code includes the unreleased 1.5 patch he and Jeff Slutter made years prior. The only thing missing, he continued, were some proprietary video and sound libraries."I have that code if someone wants to help make a converter so the old cutscenes work," said Bentley. "It'll take some effort to stub out that code so it compiles."Bentley also admitted the code "needs to be cleaned up some" and asked for some grace, since it was made by a team "much younger and less experienced back then.""If you're interested in helping maintain it, please send me a messag…
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…
Developer Jeremías Babini passed away "unexpectedly" over the weekend, according to collaborator Daniel Benmergui.The Argentinian developer worked with Benmergui on 2023's Storyteller as an artist and co-designer. They first teamed with musician Hernán Rozenwasser on 2017's Fidel Dungeon Rescue."[Jeremías] he poured his humor into every character, every animation, every detail," wrote Benmergui. "He gave life to everything we did."Babini first got into games in 2010 as an animator at social game developer Atommica. In 2012, he worked at Heavy Boat (as an artist) and Ludomancy (art director). Come 2015, he co-found Wonbats in Buenos Aires.At Wonbats, he worked as an art director on a number of Cartoon Network titles. Those games, some of which are …
Velan Studios is in the "early stages" of laying off members of its 121-person staff as part of a company reorganization.On Twitter, the New York developer explained an unnamed external partner abruptly canceled the project it was working on. Within the next 60 days, 46 employees will be let go."This is a rough environment for a lot of indie studios," said Velan, "and like them, we're faced with some very hard choices."
The life and times of Velan Studios
Velan was founded in 2016 by Guha Bala and Karthik Bala, who previously founded Vicarious Visions. Its debut title was Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit for Nintendo, f…