Tag: Industry - Page 2
News Take-Two Trademark Dispute "Resolved Amicably" Last Year, Says Remedy
Update: "The legal filing was simply an initial formality"
Update [Thu 18th Jan, 2024 16:00 GMT]: Well, folks, it seems like this very strange "logo dispute" has already been wrapped up. Phew. Remedy has reached out to Game File's Stephen Totilo and provided a statement about the situation, and it's already been sorted (via Push Square). "There...
News Microsoft: ActiBlizz Acquisition Gives Xbox A Chance To Be A "Good Publisher" On All Platforms
"We're excited about that acquisition closing"
Following Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, there's been a lot of debate about Xbox published titles on other platforms, so what's the latest? Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella has told Bloomberg this week how he feels Xbox has a better chance of being a "good publisher" for all platforms...
News Thunderful Announces Restructuring That Will Affect Around 20% Of Workforce
Over-investments are to blame
Thunderful Group has announced a restructuring program that aims to decrease costs and focus more on areas with the best growth and profitability prospects. As reported by GamesIndustry, the restructuring is ultimately expected to affect around 20% of Thunderful's current workforce, with the group hoping to see the...
News Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Nominated For GDC Game Of The Year Award
The winners will be revealed this March
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has received another 'game of the year' nomination. This time it comes from the 2024 Game Developer Choice Awards nominations, with the winners to be revealed this March at GDC 2024. The other finalists for GDC's game of the year award include Baldur's Gate 3, Cocoon,...
News Players Need To Start "Feeling Comfortable" With Not Owning Games, Says Ubisoft Subs Boss
"That's the consumer shift that needs to happen"
Yesterday, Ubisoft launched a rebrand of its subscription service, Ubisoft+ Premium, and brought its Classics package to PC. Clearly, the company sees this as a step into the future of gaming as its director of subscriptions, Philippe Tremblay, told GamesIndustry.biz that players need to become...
News Three More Sega Classics Are Being Revived, It's Claimed
Apparently "10 Sega classics" have been greenlit already
Last year at The Game Awards, Sega dropped one of the most exciting announcements of the show, revealing new games were in development for select classic franchises. In the same announcement, it teased there was even "more" to come. Now, in an update, Insider Gamer claims around "10 Sega...
News Pokémon Developer Game Freak Trademarks 'PAND LAND'
What could it be for?
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet might not be the only project Game Freak has been busy with in recent times. As highlighted by Gematsu, the Japanese developer recently filed logo trademarks for "PAND LAND". Two variations of the logo have been trademarked. According to the source, "PAND LAND" was originally trademarked late last...
News Nintendo Shares Hit Record High, Apparently Thanks To 'Switch 2' Fever
What have you got, 2024?
Nintendo shares have hit a record high of 7,823 yen (roughly $54.14) as of Wednesday, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. While increasing steadily over the last year or so, shares have recently spiked with WSJ citing 'solid earnings' and the expectation of new hardware from the firm to succeed the current Nintendo...
News Sega Sammy Announces 'Sega Fave Corporation' In Organisational Restructure
Amusement machines & toys under one banner
Sega Sammy, the company behind Sega, has announced an organisational restructure which will see the formation of a new corporation known as "Sega Fave". This will combine Sega Corp's amusement machines business with Sega Toys' toy business. According to the official news release, Yukio Sugino will lead...
News Nintendo Reportedly Seeking More Studios To Work On Its IP
It's apparently "deep in conversation" with three teams
With the next generation of Nintendo hardware seemingly on the horizon, it's no surprise the Japanese video game company is potentially seeking new partners, as well as studios, to work on some of its IP going forward. With this in mind, Christopher Dring of GamesIndustry.biz says there are at...
News Unity To Axe 25% Of Its Workforce As Part Of "Company Reset"
Following last year's policy debacle
Last year, the video game software provider Unity copped a lot of backlash when it announced plans to impose a "runtime fee" pricing policy. Now, following the departure of the CEO and president, the latest update reveals Unity will cut "25% of its workforc
News Surgeon Simulator Dev Bossa Studios Confirms One Third Of Its Staff Have Been Let Go
"We tried our very best to avoid being in this position"
Bossa Studios, the UK team behind the Surgeon Simulator series, has been forced to lay off around one-third of its staff at the end of 2023. Co-founder Henrique Olifiers told GamesIndustry.biz it was the result of a "perfect storm of events" and the team tried very hard to "avoid being in...
News Hideki Kamiya Hopes To Return To The Video Game Industry In 2024
"I want to get a job making games"
Last year, the famous Japanese video game developer Hideki Kamiya decided to leave PlatinumGames, mentioning at the time how he felt the company was heading in a different direction from his own beliefs as a developer. If you're wondering what's next for the developer of series like Bayonetta, he's now provided an...
News Mario's New Voice Actor Reflects On 2023, Thanks Fans For Their Support
"I have lived a lifetime's worth of dreams"
One of the biggest reveals last year was the new voice of Mario. In case you missed it - it's Kevin Afghani, who has now officially replaced Charles Martinet and is also voicing other characters in the series like Luigi and Wario. At the time, Kevin thanked Nintendo, and now to wrap up the previous year,...
News Square Enix To Be "Aggressive In Applying" AI Going Forwards
Must... Consume... Content
Ah, what a lovely way to kick off 2024, eh? Square Enix's President Takashi Kiryu has revealed that the company will be "aggressive in applying" AI in its content development and publishing divisions in the future after he praised the technology in a New Year's Letter (thanks, VGC). Published on January 1st, 2024, the...
News Shigeru Miyamoto Isn't Really Thinking About Retiring
His focus is on Nintendo's future
Japanese video game creator Shigeru Miyamoto isn't getting any younger, so what exactly are his plans regarding retirement? The Guardian recently asked the Nintendo legend if he was "ever tempted" to call time on his outstanding career and although he's been at the company since its arcade era, he's apparently got...
News Suda51 Says Grasshopper Manufacture Is Hard At Work On Its "New Title"
2024 will also include a remaster
Earlier this year, Goichi "Suda51" Suda and his video game company Grasshopper Manufacture revealed a Shadows of the Damned Remaster was in development. Suda51 also teased not long after this how it would "probably" be playable on handheld devices as well. Now, speaking to 4Gamer.net about Grasshopper's plans for...
News Masahiro Sakurai On His Future: "I'm Still Creating Games For The Time Being"
The Smash Bros. creator shares an update
There has been quite a bit of conversation about the future of the legendary video game developer and Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai calling time on his career, and even he's spoken about this himself previously. Now, in the latest upload on his YouTube channel, Sakurai has briefly mentioned how he's...
News Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Wins Another 'Game Of The Year' Award
Congratulations, Nintendo
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has won all sorts of awards since its arrival earlier this year, and now to top it off it's taken out EDGE's 'Game of the Year' award. The outlet placed it ahead of games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Along with this, Tears of the Kingdom also took out best Nintendo game,...
News Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Director Makes 2023 'Variety500' List
Shuntaro Furukawa & Doug Bowser also featured
Nintendo is made up of all sorts of talented individuals but one person who probably deserves a little more respect is Hidemaro Fujibayashi. He's been a director on the series since 2001 and was most recently credited on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. With this in mind, he's now been...
News Activision Blizzard's Bobby Kotick Will Step Down Later This Month
While ex-Nintendo employee Jill Braff will lead ZeniMax/Bethesda
Following Microsoft's acquisition of Activision-Blizzard earlier this year (finally, right?), it's been announced that Bobby Kotick will step down from his role as CEO on December 29th, 2023 (thanks, Eurogamer). Kotick became CEO of Activision all the way back in 1991 and was integral...
News Metacritic Reveals "The Worst Video Games Of 2023"
Gollum takes out the top spot
It's that time of year again when the aggregate review website Metacritic rounds up the best and worst games of the year, according to their Metascore. Today, the focus is on the "worst video games of 2023" - covering the lowest-scoring games released across any platform between 1st January 2023 up until 31st December...
News Bandai Namco Announces New Dev Studio For Commissioned Projects
Nintendo appears to be a big part of the plans
Update [Wed 20th Dec, 2023 00:55 GMT]: New job listings for Bandai Namco Studio 2 & Studio S have reportedly surfaced on the official company website. One, in particular, is believed to be linked to a Nintendo project that first made headlines in April last year. It could supposedly be a...
News Nintendo Switch "Lifetime US Unit Sales" Surpass Xbox 360
"Switch trails only Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2"
The Nintendo Switch has smashed all sorts of records in 2023 and it turns out it's just done it again in recent times. As highlighted by Circana (formerly NPD) industry analyst Mat Piscatella, the hybrid hardware managed to surpass "lifetime US unit sales" of Microsoft's Xbox 360 in November,...
News TimeSplitters Dev Free Radical Has Shut Down As Staff Share "Last Day" Messages
"It's sad to say goodbye like this"
Without even an official announcement, it looks like Embracer Group has shut down UK game studio Free Radical Design, the team behind the TimeSplitters series of video games. Staff at the Nottingham-based developer have been sharing their thoughts, goodbyes, and happy memories on Twitter (spotted via Game...
News Sega Plans To Revive Even "More" Legacy Franchises
This is "just the start" of its initiative
Arguably one of the biggest highlights of this year's Game Awards show was Sega's announcement it would be reimaging five classic IP including Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe, Shinobi and Streets of Rage. In case you missed it, there is apparently even "more" to come according to the official...
News Geoff Keighley Agrees Music Was Played "Too Fast" For TGA Winners This Year
"It's something to address going forward"
The Game Awards 2023 was a huge success for Geoff Keighley this year, but he has received some feedback about the show's treatment of winners, asking them to wrap up their speeches before some of them even got underway. Nintendo's very own Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma was seemingly on the receiving...
News The Game Awards GOTY For 2023 Is Baldur's Gate 3
Here is the full list of winners
The Game Awards has just wrapped and Larian's epic role-playing game Baldur's Gate 3 won Game of the Year. It was up against Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Resident Evil 4, Super Mario Bros. Wonder and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Baldur's Gate 3 also took out multiple other awards on the night.
News Sega Announces New Games In Development For Classic Franchises
Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, Golden Axe & more!
Update [Fri 8th Dec, 2023 01:50 GMT]: Sega dropped a bombshell at this year's Game Awards confirming it's reviving five of its classic franchises for a new generation. This includes Jet Set Radio, Shinobi, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Crazy Taxi and there's apparently "more" to come! No platforms or...
News Geoff Keighley Reminds Everyone To Get Their Votes In For The Game Awards
"It is going to be a great showcase"
We're so close to The Game Awards now and although the show's creator and host Geoff Keighley is an incredibly busy man, he's taken time out of his action-packed schedule to share one last update on how everything is going. In his latest video (shared via X), he can be seen standing on the actual set of this...
News 'Armello' Developer League Of Geeks Lays Off Over Half Its Staff
"We are so very sorry"
League of Geeks, the developer behind the acclaimed Switch game Armello, has announced that over 50% of its staff have been made redundant. In total, 31 people have been laid off following "unprecedented withdrawal of funding opportunities" within the industry, along with rising operation costs and poor Early Access sales. As...
News Geoff Keighley Reveals "Hype Trailer" For The Game Awards 2023
A mash-up of the year's best
The Game Awards 2023 are right around the corner and, just like clockwork, host and Mr Games himself, Geoff Keighley, has revealed this year's "hype trailer" to get us all, well, hyped. As is usually the case, Keighley takes to the editor's seat to showcase some of the year's best games (according to TGA, that is), over...
News The New Sims Game Is Using Animal Crossing's Multiplayer As A Source Of Inspiration
"It is such a good example"
Animal Crossing: New Horizons took the social simulation to new heights when it launched exclusively on the Switch in 2020, and it's apparently become a source of inspiration for the team at Maxis, who is currently working on the next entry in The Sims series (codenamed "Project Rene"). Speaking on a
Random Valve's Gabe Newell On Game Delays: "Late Is Just For A Little While, Suck Is Forever"
That sounds familiar...
In Valve's new documentary celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Half-Life series, the company's co-founder Gabe Newell has shared his own thoughts about the differences between a delayed game and a rushed release. He summed it up as "late is just for a little while, suck is forever" when touching on the challenges Valve...
News Aspyr Claims The Star Wars: KOTOR 2 DLC Was Cancelled Due To A 'Third Party'
Developer is looking to have a lawsuit dismissed
Earlier this year, it was reported that disgruntled fans had filed a class action lawsuit against developer Aspyr after the latter announced it would be cancelling the 'Restored Content' DLC for STAR WARS: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords on Switch. According to a new article from
News Persona Developer Atlus Is Raising Its Average Employee Salary By 15%
New graduates will also benefit
Atlus, the developer behind the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei franchises, has announced that it is raising the average annual salary for its employees by 15%. In a stark contrast to the seemingly endless lay-offs hitting the industry of late, new graduates at Atlus will see their starting salary rise by 300,000 yen...
News Nintendo Thanks Everyone For The Support Ahead Of The Game Awards
It's honoured Mario & Zelda are in the running for GOTY
Earlier this week, The Game Awards revealed the nominees for each category and Super Mario Bros. Wonder and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are both in the running for Game of the Year. Nintendo has now officially responded to this on its social media accounts, mentioning how...
News Zelda: TOTK And Mario Wonder Land GOTY Nominations At The Game Awards 2023
Both games collect 5 noms each
The nominations have been officially announced for Geoff Keighley's night of razzle-dazzle, The Game Awards, which this year will take place on 7th December. Of course, the category on everyone's mind is the prestigious Game of the Year, which this time sees two Nintendo games in the running for top prize. Yes, both...
News Warner Bros. Says It's Focused On Transforming Its "Biggest Franchises" Into Live Services
"Always on gameplay" with an extended life cycle
During Warner Bros. Q3 earnings call, the company's CEO David Zaslav has revealed it's focused on transforming its "biggest franchises" from three to four-year releases into "more always on gameplay" experiences through live services, multiplatform releases, and free-to-play extensions. The "goal" is...
News Nintendo Confirms Delay Of New Development Building
Expansion plan knocks it back to 2028
Back in August, there was a report from Nikkei claiming Nintendo's new development building had been delayed due to an "expansion plan". Nintendo didn't officially comment about this at the time, but now within the slides of its latest financial results briefing, it's confirmed construction has been up-scaled...
News Embracer May Soon Be Closing 'Timesplitters' Studio Free Radical Design
Another casualty of Embracer's restructuring
In yet another blow to the gaming industry, VGC has reported that Embracer Group may soon be closing the Nottingham-based UK studio Free Radical Design. The team was reformed back in 2021 to revive the classic FPS franchise Timesplitters, but it looks like that may now be under threat as a result of...
News Assassin's Creed Publisher Ubisoft Axes 124 Jobs
Ubisoft Montreal cuts 98 positions in total
Ubisoft is the latest company to lay off employees, with the French publisher's Montreal studio (Assassin's Creed) reportedly hit the hardest, cutting 98 jobs. In total though, Ubisoft is axing 124 jobs as part of a global company restructure. Some of the positions impacted include administration and IT...
News Nintendo Records Biggest Q1+2 Sales Figures Since Switch Launch
Mario Movie and other projects lend a hand
Nintendo has today published its financial report for Q2 FY2024 and it looks like things have been going really rather well. On top of some meaty sales figures for the likes of Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4 and the Switch console itself, the report finds that Nintendo's sales in the first half of the...
News Here Are The Top Ten Best-Selling Nintendo Switch Games As Of September 2023
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe stays in pole position
Nintendo has today shared its latest financial report for FY2024 and this gives us an updated list of the best-selling Switch games as of 30th September 2023. Unlike the last report, which saw The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sneak into the proceedings, this quarter remains relatively unchanged...
News Sega's First Super Game Making Steady Progress, Still Targeting 2026 Release
Aims to "stand head and shoulders" above normal games
Remember that "Super Game" Sega was working on? Well, according to Sega's latest report, it's still aiming to have it out by "fiscal year ending March 2026". Sega also provided a brief progress update, revealing the team is making "steady headway in development of the Super Game" and goes on to...
News Shinji Mikami And Hideki Kamiya Set To Host Talk On Careers And Future Plans
The start of a new venture?
Shinji Mikami and Hideki Kamiya, who both left their respective companies in 2023, are set to host a joint conversation on their careers and future plans at the Archipel Caravan Festival in Tokyo on December 16, 2023. As reported by VGC, the talk, simply dubbed ‘Shinji Mikami x Hideki Kamiya’, will also see the...
News Atari Acquires Retro Specialist Digital Eclipse
"The future is bright and unwritten"
In what will no doubt prove to be one of the more, shall we say, sensible acquisitions in the games industry, Digital Eclipse has announced that it is officially joining Atari after its stellar work on Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. Founded in 1992, Digital Eclipse is well known for its expertise in the...
News Newly Discovered Nintendo Filing Shows Off "Dual-Screen, Detachable Device"
Sending Switch successor rumours into overdrive (again)
Switch successor rumours have got louder in recent months and now some new Nintendo filings have been discovered. New ideas and designs from Nintendo, which were originally filed by the Japanese video game company on 11th November 2022, have been discovered on the 'World Intellectual Property...
News Capcom Has A "Major" Unannounced Title Scheduled To Arrive Before March 2024
What could it be for?
Capcom shared its latest earning results earlier this week, and as part of this, it's also published a Q&A revealing its intentions to release a "major" unannounced title early next year. As highlighted by fans of the Japanese company, this game will arrive before the end of its current fiscal year, which is set to end in...
News Doug Bowser: Nintendo Has A "Great Relationship" With Microsoft
"We're looking forward to that partnership continuing"
If you were curious to know if there was any bad blood between Nintendo and Microsoft after certain Xbox email leaks, apparently not. In a new interview with Inverse, Nintendo of America's president Doug Bowser insists the creator of Mario maintains a "great relationship with Microsoft" and its...