Tag: Industry
News Damning PlayStation Studios Rumour Debunked After Live Service PS5 Game Cancellations
Devs did know about them
Earlier today, a follow-up story to last week's PlayStation Studios cancellations started doing the rounds online, claiming that the developers of these cancelled projects — Bluepoint Games and Bend Studio — only heard the news at the same time as everyone else. If true, the whispers painted a rather damning picture of...
News Days Gone Dev Says It Still Plans to Create 'Cool Sh*t' for PS5 After Live Service Cancellation
Cruisin' for a bruisin'
PS5 fans have been left bemused by the news that Bend Studio was working on a live service game, which was cancelled as part of an internal review recently. Early last year, a job listing noted that the Oregon-based o
Random Tekken 8 Boss Katsuhiro Harada Is Hashtag Open to Work
He isn't leaving Bandai Namco, just wants to meet new people
Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada has temporarily turned some heads with early indications that he could be back on the job market, a prospect likely to make most interviewees sweat. Updating his LinkedIn profile image with the hashtag #opentowork, Harada really just wants to meet new...
News Games Workshop Reportedly Cancels Mysterious Fantasy Warhammer RPG
Double-edged sword
Like 40,000's God-Emperor of Mankind, fantasy's Elector-Count of Reikland, Karl Franz, gives with one hand and takes with the other. Following the success of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and news that IP holder Games Workshop was looking for the next big hit, it seems an in-development RPG set in the grimdark fantasy version...
News Would You Pay $100 for GTA 6?
Some of the games industry hopes so
There is apparently "hope" within the games industry that Rockstar Games will increase the price of Grand Theft Auto 6 to as much as $100 so that other developers can feel justified in raising the cost of their own games. Documented in a report from analyst Matthew Ball of Epyllion (via VGC), it's claimed that GTA...
News Dragon Age: The Veilguard Director Is Leaving BioWare
Having served an 18-year career at EA
Dragon Age: The Veilguard game director Corinne Busche is leaving BioWare after an 18-year career at EA, with two of them in the position on the RPG project, Eurogamer reports. It is understood the developer hasn't been affected by any layoffs elsewhere; this is simply Busche moving on in the coming weeks...
News Now Sadly Passed, the Legendary David Lynch Directed One of PlayStation's Strangest Adverts
Rest in peace
David Lynch, the renowned film director and writer, has passed away aged 78. Known for his influential works like Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, The Elephant Man, and so many more, Lynch leaves behind an extraordinary, inimitable legacy that has had an enormous impact on movies, TV, and games. Notably, he also wrote and directed one...
News Ubisoft Might Relinquish Some of Its IP to a New Venture to Boost Publisher's Value
New-bisoft
According to a new report, Ubisoft stakeholders Tencent and the Guillemot family are considering starting up a new venture and migrating some of the publisher's IP across. Word comes from Bloomberg in a paywalled story that cites people familiar with the situation. Apparently, the two entities are weighing up the possibility of starting...
News After 31 Years, the Legendary Shuhei Yoshida Bids Farewell to PlayStation
Big Shus to fill
Shuhei Yoshida, a beloved PlayStation figurehead, has now concluded his time with the company. After a run of 31 years, he's been a part of Sony's video game brand since its very inception, climbing the ladder to become one of the most important and recognisable people in the business. He announced he would be leaving PlayStation...
News Video Game Industry 'Doesn't Want a Game Pass', Says Market Analyst
Subscription services falling short of expectations
Video game subscription services sounded like such a sure thing even just a few years ago that we can't help but feel for the firms that have invested so heavily in them. Sony has PS Plus, but it's meant to supplement the existing order, not supplant it. Speaking of heavily invested, tech economic...
News Sony Patents Predictive AI Button Presses, So You Don't Have To
PlayStation may, someday, Push Square for you
Sony has filed a patent that, as likely as not, will never see the light of day. Known by the wonderfully evocative name, Sony Patent WO2025010132 "TIMED INPUT/ACTION RELEASE", the speculative tech aims to streamline the "timed release of user commands" by using AI to determine your next button press...
News Square Enix Vows to Deny Toxic Fans Its Wonderful Games, Services
"We reserve our right to refrain from providing products and services"
Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix has unveiled a new customer harassment policy and is seemingly intent on taking a no-nonsense stance in the face of rising fan toxicity. Spotted by VGC, the policy comes as various Final Fantasy voice actors have been forced to speak out...
News Godfall Team Counterplay Games Has Seemingly Shut Down
Developer has been "disbanded"
Counterplay Games, the developer behind PS5 launch game Godfall, appears to have closed according to fresh LinkedIn posts reporting on layoffs and closures within the gaming industry. It's reported Counterplay Games has closed along with Toadman Interactive and Freejam, with the former best known for Immortal:...
News Job Listing Confirms Sony Has Established an Internal AAA Studio in LA
Secret studios
A job listing for a senior project producer confirmed an open secret: that Sony has established at least one new AAA studio in LA. There are reportedly several groups that this could ultimately be, but the smart money seems to suggest that this is likely the team led by Jason Blundell (of Call of Duty Zombies fame), who left Deviation...
News Ubisoft 'Deeply Disturbed' by Abuse Allegations at Assassin's Creed Shadows Support Studio
"We strongly condemn all forms of abuse"
Ubisoft has responded to a video report from YouTube channel People Make Games that claims mental and physical abuse has taken place at an Assassin's Creed Shadows support studio in Indonesia, named Brandoville. In the video, it's reported Brandoville commissioner Kwan Cherry Lai abused employee Christa...
News Industry Journalist Says Xbox Game Pass Does Increase Premium Sales, But Mainly on PS5
High tide lifts multi-platform ships
Former GamesIndustry.biz journalist Christopher Dring (now contributing to VGC again, you love to see it) says that one of the unexpected upsides to Xbox's Game Pass subscription service, at least for Sony, is that certain additions to the service can have a "strong impact" on PlayStation sales. In an industry...
News Ex-Annapurna Staff Reportedly Snap Up Private Division's Portfolio
After Take-Two sold label to investment firm
Following its exodus last year, the former staff of Annapurna Interactive have reportedly reassembled as a new company and taken control of indie label Private Division’s entire portfolio. The latter was itself sold by Take-Two last year. If true, the complicated corporate story would effectively see...
News Suicide Squad Dev Rocksteady Suffers More Layoffs as PS5 Game Hits PS Plus
Anything but steady
It's been revealed that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League developer Rocksteady — previously of Batman: Arkham fame — was hit with another round of layoffs just before the end of 2024. The news comes via Eurogamer, who spoke to "half a dozen" anonymous staff affected by these most recent redundancies. As was the case...
News Gaming Colossus Tencent Added to US Blacklist, Accused of Ties to Chinese Military
Tencent says it's a "misunderstanding"
Tencent, the juggernaut Chinese tech and gaming conglomerate, has been placed on a blacklist by the US Department of Defense. Being on said blacklist doesn't impose sanctions or stop companies trading in the US, but it's designed to deter other companies from doing business with the blacklisted entities. The...
News Sony Is Betting Big on the Global Growth of Anime
Giant wants to dominate rapidly expanding industry
Following its substantial investment into Kadokawa late last year, it’s no real surprise to see Sony doubling down on the global growth of anime content. During its CES 2025 press conference, however, it put that ambition on stage. A long presentation saw Aniplex president Atsuhiro Iwakami and...
News GameStop Shutters Large Number of US Stores with Usual Tact
Roaring Kitty waiting in the wings
Doomed to repeat the same cycle, many GameStop stores have been shuttered across the U.S., and the crypto vultures are already circling. Over the past few days, a steady stream of reports of unofficial layoffs have been shared in the GameStop subreddit, with more every hour. The company has yet to make an official...
News Naughty Dog Sold to Sony to Avoid Being 'Crushed' by Cost of Game Dev
Things are much better these days
Acquired by Sony in 2001 for an undisclosed sum, Naughty Dog is today considered the crown jewel among PlayStation's first-party studio family (although Insomniac has certainly been putting in work of late). In a LinkedIn post (thanks, Eurogamer), co-founder A
News Unsurprisingly, GTA 6 Projected to Make a Staggering Amount of Money
Dollar dollar bills, y’all
Rockstar's anticipated next entry in its legendary series, GTA 6, is expected to make an obscene amount of cash. Considering that its predecessor, GTA 5, sold more than 200 million units across its lifespan, it's not surprising that analysts expect the sequel to make $3.2 billion in its first year of sales alone. Add an...
News Consoles Here to Stay, PS5 to Be Supported into Next-Gen, Says PlayStation CEO
The Console Wars will be fought by future generations
If you were concerned that consoles were dying, you may rest easy, at least for the foreseeable future. PlayStation co-CEO Hideaki Nishino says that, despite the bet on cloud gaming finally appearing to pay off, hardware such as consoles, controllers, and screens aren't going away anytime soon...
News Kojima Productions Output Affected By Ongoing Actors Strike
Physint casting will hopefully resume in 2025
Hideo Kojima's apparent fusion of filmmaking and game development, Physint, is just one of the casualties of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes, which, incredibly, began in August 2024 and will continue in 2025. Kojima is hopeful casting can resume this year, and OD, which the auteur is developing for Xbox...
News Ring in the New Year with a Reborn Tango Gameworks Inc
Hi-Fi Rush developer back and better than ever
To avoid becoming jaded, we are choosing to think this year will be different for the video game industry. Never mind that the tens of thousands of layoffs in development and publishing last year are likely to have ongoing and systemic implications for many more to come. We want to focus on a single...
News Unfazed by Concord, Sony Doubles Down on Exploring Service Games
One of these bets has to pay off
Of all the wild stories that crossed our desk in 2024, Concord's chaotic launch and subsequent removal from history after just two weeks stand out. We may never know how much money Firewalk Studios and Sony ultimately sunk into the project (certainly far too much). Still, the days of a first-party multiplayer release...
News SNK's New KOF Studio Will Revolutionise the Legacy of Fatal Fury, Samurai Shodown, More
"The dream match never ends"
SNK has named an internal development unit KOF Studio, and tasked it with “revolutionising” the legacy of its storied fighting game franchises. Said series include the likes of King of Fighters (of course), Samurai Shodown, and Fatal Fury. “SNK fighting games have thrilled and delighted fans worldwide ever since...
News Sony Promises It Hasn't Abandoned the Famous Franchises from Its Past
"We are continually looking at opportunities"
While the history of PlayStation has always been about its continuous reinvention from generation to generation, some enthusiasts have taken umbridge with the platform holder’s apparent reluctance to revisit franchises from its past. This discourse peaked during around the release of Astro Bot; while...
News SEGA Is Pondering a PS Plus-Esque Subscription of Its Own
Could it include a catalogue of classics?
Between titles like Metaphor ReFantazio and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, to name just two, SEGA has had one helluva year. But the company is not done yet: it’s announced a new Virtua Fighter, is bringing back fan favourites likes Crazy Taxi, and even seems to have Sonic the Hedgehog sprinting in a...
News Industry Analyst Argues Either Sony or Microsoft Will Need to Exit the Console Market
Three's a crowd
One of either Sony or Microsoft must exit the console space, argues analyst group DFC Intelligence. That’s because it believes there isn’t “room for more than two major console systems” and it doesn’t expect Nintendo to go anywhere. “Sony or Microsoft will struggle mightily in a distant third place – largely depending...
Random Former IGN China Editor Refutes Game Science Crying Claim
"In fact, I didn’t even see anyone crying at the event"
On Monday, still coming down from the unexpected high of The Game Awards, we alluded to an emotionally charged event that allegedly occurred in the audience. Former IGN and Sony Santa Monica writer Alanah
News Sony Becomes Kadokawa's Biggest Shareholder As Companies Form Alliance
Hopes to further expand publishing of Kadokawa's games
Sony, it seems, will not acquire Kadokawa outright. Instead, the giant Japanese organisations have today announced a strategic capital and business alliance, which will see Sony become Kadokawa’s largest shareholder. The deal, scheduled to go through on 7th January, will see Sony purchase...
News The Game Awards Is Now Allegedly Bigger Than the Super Bowl
Perhaps Fares was correct in regards to the Oscars
Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards, love it or leave it, is a big deal, allegedly the preeminent global entertainment event of our time. That's according to an imposing but useful graph shared by former Nintendo executive
News Former Bungie Director Chris Barrett Suing Sony for Over $200 Million
Turns out being a director at Bungie can be lucrative
Former Destiny 2 and Marathon director Chris Barrett is suing Sony Interactive Entertainment. He claims that his firing for alleged inappropriate behaviour (detailed in a March Bloomberg report) was a pretence to avoid paying the $50 million he was owed under his employment agreement following...
News Black Myth: Wukong Fans Swing at Swen Vincke Speech, Review Bomb Baldur's Gate 3
Astarion catching strays
Before announcing Astro Bot as Game of the Year 2024 at The Game Awards, Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke, also director of last year's winner, Baldur's Gate 3, gave a poignant speech. Vincke predicted that the game that wins 2025's award would be developed by a studio that "didn't have to meet arbitrary sales targets" and...
News Black Myth: Wukong Deserved Astro Bot's Game of the Year Award, Says Game Science CEO
"The Wukong team were crying when they did not win"
While most punters seem surprisingly pleased with Geoff Keighley's latest instalment of The Game Awards (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's robbery aside), it appears at least one executive took home sour grapes in place of a hoped-for statue. Game Science CEO and Black Myth: Wukong
News Elden Ring Dev Doesn't Currently Know What's Happening with Sony Acquisition
"We're not privy to it"
Sony is poised to purchase Kadokawa, the Japanese media conglomerate spanning various businesses across gaming, manga, and anime. One of its most noteworthy subsidiaries is FromSoftware, a longtime PlayStation partner on projects like Demon’s Souls and Bloodborne. In the aftermath of co-op game Elden Ring: Nightreign’s...
Reaction The Game Awards' 10th Anniversary Special Was Its Biggest and Best Ever
A Keighley masterclass
We’ve been saying for a few years that The Game Awards is just about the best it can possibly be, but credit where credit’s due, host Geoff Keighley put on a barnstormer last night. There was talk of multiple “holy sh*t” moments prior to the event from those ITK, and we think
News Star Wars: Eclipse, Wonder Woman Comprised of 'Literally Nothing' When Revealed
The waiting game
According to Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, Quantic Dream's Star Wars: Eclipse and Warner Bros. Games' Wonder Woman were comprised of "literally nothing" when announced onstage at The Game Awards 2021. In light of Geoff Keighley's big show, Schreier's reminder is a good one, as it is always possible something just revealed...
News Physical Media Just Can't Catch a Break Right Now
As Blu-ray loses another manufacturer
Korean manufacturer LG has announced that it’s discontinuing the production of all its standalone Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray players, following in the footsteps of Samsung and Oppo. The decision sounds yet another death knell for physical media, which has been on the decline for some years now. In a statement to...
Rumour Kadokawa Employees Eager for Sony Buyout and Change in Management
Tarnished
Sony's potential buyout of Kadokawa — which has been widely reported on over the last few weeks — is apparently being encouraged by Kadokawa employees. That's according to a fresh article by Japanese publication Bunshun (as covered by Automaton). An anonymous "veteran" employee
News Sony Confirms Interest in Buying FromSoftware Parent Company Kadokawa
There it is
In what is essentially an update on previous reports, Sony has now confirmed that it's interested in acquiring fellow Japanese giant Kadokawa — the parent company of FromSoftware. This is a story that's been rumbling on for weeks now, with Kadokawa itself revealing that Sony had sent an "initial letter of intent" back in November. At...
News PS5, PS4 Users Over-Represented in 2024 Pornhub Console Traffic Share
Play has no limits
It's that wonderful time of year again - wrap-up time, when all of the data corporations harvest from their users is presented back to them in a new and occasionally insightful fashion. Case in point, overwhelmingly, PS5, PS4 and yes, some tiny fraction of PS Vita users are responsible for driving the majority of console traffic...
News You Can Get Excited for The Game Awards, Says Reputable Journalist
Bloomberg's Schreier gives hype the green light
Like most big video game events, fans are getting their hopes up ahead of Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards, which airs tomorrow, 12th December. The industry's lovable rogue's gallery of insiders has been fanning the flames ahead of the big night. Now, Bloomberg's ever-reliable Jason Schreier has...
News Outriders Dev People Can Fly Cancels Multiple Projects, Laying Off 120 Staff
Bookending the year with another round of reduncies
Polish development studio People Can Fly, best known for Outriders and Bulletstorm, is scaling back its ambitions in a major way, announcing the cancellation of multiple projects and the elimination of 120 staff positions. This follows the 30 made redundant in January, and the studio now shares the...
News PlayStation Growth Boosts Sony Shares to Record Closing High
Share and share alike
Sony Group's shares have never been higher than they are right now, and that's thanks in large part to its PlayStation division. The corporation's shares are currently worth ¥3,338, beating the previous highest value — ¥3,260, achieved in 2000. This rise in value stems from growth in the gaming segment. PlayStation...
News Developers Not Nailing Down Release Dates Due to GTA 6 Launch Window
They want to stay "far, far away" from GTA 6
Developers aren't willing to commit to release dates that could clash with the Fall 2025 launch window GTA 6 has set up for itself, a new Bloomberg report claims. The outlet states (via Jason Schreier) teams want to wait as long as possible to see whether the next Rockstar game does indeed release at the...
News Former God of War Art Director Returns to PS Studios, Now at Naughty Dog
After brief stint at Netflix
Raf Grassetti, best known for his work on the God of War series at Sony's Santa Monica Studio, has returned to PlayStation. After his work as art director on God of War Ragnarok, Grassetti left the team for a new role at Netflix, where he worked on an unknown new AAA IP for about 17 months. Now, he's back under Sony's...
News Former Blizzard Boss Slams Marvel Rivals, Comparing It to Horizon-Like Light of Motiram
Immitation, flattery, etc
Not everyone enjoyed the full release of Marvel Rivals, it seems, with former Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra comparing the game to Tencent's egregious Horizon rip-off, Light of Motiram. He went so far as to call the popular hero shooter "Overwatch Marvel Rivals" in a since-deleted tweet.
