Following yesterday's Xbox showcase, Phil Spencer touched on the layoffs that occurred in May across Bethesda subsidiaries such as Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin.Talking to IGN's Ryan McCaffrey, the Microsoft Gaming head acknowledged those reductions and closures as "very hard" on those affected. At the same time, he stressed that he must "run a sustainable business inside the company and grow," and made a tough call."Sometimes I have to make hard decisions that frankly are not decisions I love," he explained, "but decisions that somebody needs to go make."Spencer went on to explain that he's kept silent on the matter out of respect for those now laid off staff. While ensuring the "right thing" is being done with those emp…
Update (6/11/24): Timbre Games, a subsidiary under Sumo Group, has been closed down entirely.Now ex-employees from the studio broke the news on LinkedIn, with lead talent partner Jaclyn Adair revealing 80 people have been affected."We stood up for our beliefs and values and quickly made our mark on the industry," she wrote. "We had fun together and connected deeply. We were not without our growing pains, but we faced them head-on, transparently, together."Timbre was spun up in 2021, and served as an extension of Pipeworks Studios. Led by EA alum Joe Nickolls, the Vancouver studio was aiming to make action and simulation gamesOf Timbre and other studio closures, Adair said they "only serve short-term investments, and will, in the long term, degrade the quality and a…
During its recent Worldwide Development Conference, Apple unveiled a new update to its Game Porting Toolkit 2 program. With the update, developers have an easier (and faster) time in porting their games over to Mac, iPad, and iPhone.In its blog, Apple noted the update has the features most requested by developers. Along with improved compatibility with Windows games, the update lets developers unify their code and shaders across devices.Making games for Mac can sometimes be tricky, a friction Apple aims to reduce. GPT 2 saves "precious [development] time," it said, whether the project is an actual port or a game already being made for Apple devices.As such, "advanced" games can now be released on Mac at greater ease. Under this update, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown i…
Discussions between SAG-AFTRA and game publishers are still ongoing, with the key sticking point concerning AI and its relation to voice acting. And it's indicated that if things aren't resolved by the middle or end of summer, a strike is happening.Talking to GamesIndustry, chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and voice actor Sarah Elmaleh (Hi-Fi Rush) explained there's a line "very clearly drawn in the sand" about the Interactive Media Agreement and AI.Other proposals have been resolved in the near year since bargaining began, but Elmaleh says things have "narrowed" to AI. Everything depends on "whether the bargaining group is willing to extend protections comprehensively to all members and performers within SAG-AFTRA."Some of the companies…
Cyberpunk 2077 and its Phantom Liberty expansion were incredibly successful for CD Projekt. The Polish developer saw 226.8 million PLN in revenue, up 30 percent from 2023's start.In the financial results for 2024's first quarter, the sci-fi RPG made an estimated 146.2 million PLN (around $37.38 million). Most of its product and service sales (186.22 million PLN) this quarter were from Cyberpunk. By comparison, The Witcher 3 and its two expansions comprised only 28.23 million PLN.CD Projekt is very proud of Cyberpunk 2077's reception shift: it opened its earnings report by revealing it has an "Overwhelmingly Positive" Steam consensus. Its ratings have shot up from 78 percent at launch to 95 percent as of May 10.
Amazon has agreed to publish a new triple-A open-world driving title from the team behind the Forza Horizon series. The retailer-turned-game-company has signed a deal with Maverick Games to help bring the title to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S.Maverick was established in 2022 by a group of core Forza Horizon developers, including former Playground Games studio head and creative director Mike Brown.When breaking cover last year, the Maverick team described their debut project as an "ultra-high quality title" that would enable players to "take risks" and "be curious." Providing more flavor in a post on the Amazon Games website, Brown claims the studio is working on a driving game with humanity."To become a game that people genuinely love, then th…
Amazon has agreed to publish a new triple-A open-world driving title from the team behind the Forza Horizon series. The retailer-turned-game-company has signed a deal with Maverick Games to help bring the title to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S.Maverick was established in 2022 by a group of core Forza Horizon developers, including former Playground Games studio head and creative director Mike Brown.When breaking cover last year, the Maverick team described their debut project as an "ultra-high quality title" that would enable players to "take risks" and "be curious." Providing more flavor in a post on the Amazon Games website, Brown claims the studio is working on a driving game with humanity."To become a game that people genuinely love, then th…
Sony made 900 layoffs across PlayStation Studios to ensure it had room for future growth.That's according to Hideaki Nishino, SVP of platform experience at SIE and future Platform Business Group CEO, who was asked whether investors should be concerned about the relentless spate of layoffs and studio closures during a recent business segment meeting.In response, Nishino said the job cuts were a reaction to a "dynamically changing" industry and claimed Sony had to make some layoffs so it can reinvest in an "appropriate way.""We are observing the industry is dynamically changing. Technology, innovation, and also the dynamics of customer behavior. We look forward to investing in the future as well," said Nishino."We want to grow and invest in an appropri…
Fallout 76 has reached a new milestone in the form of 20 million players. The shared world shooter's success comes after it grew to 17 million players back last December.As with other games in the series, its success can be owed to renewed interest thanks to Prime Video's Fallout show. In mid-April, basically every game in the series had a big surge of players; for 76, the show gave it its highest-ever peak of Steam players.Even before the show, though, Fallout 76 had turned itself around significantly from its crunch-heavy, tumultuous launch in 2018. As it stands, it's done a significant job in keeping the series around until an eventual new game comes around.
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…
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…
Over a year after launch, the PlayStation VR2 is finally getting PC support. Sony's releasing an adapter on August 7 that players can use to buy and play Steam games (like Fallout 4 VR or Half-Life Alyx) using the VR device.Along with the $60 adapter, players will need a separate DisplayPort cable compatible with DisplayPort 1.4, plus a Steam account and PC that meets Sony's minimum requirements.Because the PSVR2 was tailor made for the PlayStation 5, Sony noted key features will be absent on PC, like headset and haptic feedback and eye tracking. But other "high-fidelity and sensory immersion features" made the cut, such as finger touch detection and see-through view.The PSVR2's PC support was first reported back in February, with Sony saying it was testing ways fo…