Author: Noah Walker

The response to Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox is apparently strong enough that Square Enix is considering a more balanced multiplatform approach.Speaking with Eurogamer, producer Naoki Yoshida said the MMO's arrival on Xbox Series X|S in March had a "pretty good" reaction. With communities growing on the platform, the publisher is looking to "further deepen" its relationship with Xbox."Now we are moving towards the policy of releasing our games on a multiplatform basis," said Yoshida. "We want to release more Square Enix games on Xbox, and there will be more of our titles released on Xbox. I hope players will look forward to future things to come on the platform."His comments build on similar ones made by CEO Takashi Kiryu in late July, shortly after Octopath Traveler II's release on the console; Kiryu said it would put games on Xbox "when possible."

Square Enix and Xbox need each other

Last year, documents accidentally leaked by Microsoft revealed it had considered acquiring Square Enix…

With a few weeks to go before a new tier is introduced to Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft has released a blog detailing how the service's Standard plan will work for subscribers beginning on September 12.Standard will run $15/mo, and its biggest change is the loss of day one access to first-party games. According to Microsoft, those titles may potentially join the Standard tier "at a future date," ranging up to a full year or later from its arrival, depending on the game.With that wording, the implication appears to be that some first-party titles may not be available to Standard subscribers period, which would theoretically incentivize trading up to another plan that did have those games.

"More choice" for Game Pass players

The new tier was made "to give players more choice" in prices and plans. Since it's currently relegated to Xbox consoles, it's intended as a halfway point between Game Pass Core ($10/mo) and Game Pass Ultimate ($20/mo).Notably, Game Pass Standard will launch ahead of Call of…

As the game industry is becoming embroiled in the current and potential use of generative AI, Unity CEO Matt Bromberg is "less focused" on it at the moment.Speaking with VentureBeat, he said the engine maker is prioritizing "how we can help customers make games more efficiently and less expensively." While he believes genAI can help with that, there's bigger concerns than the controversial technology."Unity is agnostic to the derivation of the 3D asset. It can be created in AI," he said. "When you make games, you ingest your assets into the engine and then you start building. We’re interested in that moment and everything that comes after."Companies like EA and Microsoft have touted the potential of generative AI as a much-needed assist to game development. Bromberg shares that same belief, clearly, but he also figures that making games will always be the process' biggest "pain point."In theory, pre-made engines like Unity and Godot can reduce that friction, genAI or no. He believes the former is "uniquely positioned" to help by obfuscating engine complexity and the larger development process.However, he didn&#…

The week of financial earnings reports continues with Roblox Corp. Like last year, it had a "strong" second quarter (which wrapped on June 30, 2024) with increases in key areas.Revenue-wise, the company touted $893.5 million and bookings of $955.2 million, up respectively by 31 percent and 22 percent from the previous year. Net cash from operational activities was $151.4 million, up significantly from last year's Q2 by 433 percent.In terms of player metrics, the number of daily active users (DAUs) jumped up by 21 percent to 79.5 million. Unique monthly payers were 16.5 million (a 22 percent increase), and hour engagement grew 24 percent to 17.4 billion.Roblox Corp. founder David Baszucki attributed the growths to "diverse and high quality content. The dynamic Roblox content ecosystem is unique and our platform continues to attract users of all ages from across the globe."

Roblox is still aiming for a safer, more profitable future

Interestingly, Baszucki said the company's future plans involve "investing in our core platform to help our …

Alan Wake and Control developer Remedy Entertainment has named Santtu Kallionpää as its new chief financial officer.Kallionpää previously served as the VP of finance and business at Fazer Confectionary, which styles itself as "Finland's leading producer of chocolates, sweets, and biscuits." The company employs around 2,400 people and says Karl Fazer Milk Chocolate is the "heart" of its business.Remedy CEO Tero Virtala praised Kallionpää consumer business credentials and vast experience "steering strategic projects.""I am delighted to welcome Santtu Kallionpää to Remedy and our core management team. In addition to his financial expertise, he is experienced in consumer business ranging from steering strategic projects to business development and performance management of key operations," said Virtala in a press release. "These are valuable competences and relevant skills for Remedy. Santtu will be a good leader and collaborator with both our game and support teams."Kallionpää will replace former Remedy CFO Terhi Kauppi, who stepped down in June 2024 to "pursue new career opportunities outside of the company." …

Shipyard Games, a Finnish developer best known for the mobile game Go City, has quietly closed after a seven-year run.Per PocketGamer, the studio had previously disclosed the news back in May through its Discord. At the time, co-founder/CEO Andreas Wedenberg called it a "critical" situation, saying the company had run out of money and that its current investor had ended support.The investor, Supercell, put a $2.9 million minority stake into the Helsinki developer back in 2017. At the time, Shipyard had only been a few months old, and it's unclear when or why Supercell put its wallet away.Shipyard's most recent (and final) release was Wizards & Kingdoms Go, which Wedenberg acknowledged really only had "1-2 weeks" worth of content in its early state. With the studio gone, the game will receive no more updates and eventually go offline."We sincerely appreciate so much all of your help. […] We are very sorry we could not finish the game you all deserve," he concluded, "but unfortunately often dreams need money to become true, and we ran out of it."…

FromSoftware's intense action hit Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon has found a healthy audience. In a post on X today, the series account noted the sales milestone:"#ARMOREDCORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON has sold over 3 million units! Thank you to all Ravens, new and old, who have braved the fires and flown on borrowed wings."The game launched in August 2023 to strong reviews and high expectations, given the developer's pedigree (Elden Ring, Sekiro, Dark Souls) and cultural cache.

In the shadow (of the Erdtree)

While Armored Core VI's sales are impressive, the title can't (and almost certainly wasn't expected to) compete with FromSoftware's mega-hit Elden Ring, which boasted sales of over five million for its DLC (Shadow of the Erdtree) in three days alone late last month. The title had sold over 25 million copies and players at that point.At time of writing, there is no official word whether the mech action title will receive any DLC.…

Defunct publisher Adult Swim games has published "sunset statements" on a number of its indie games' Steam pages, noting "Adult Swim is no longer able to continue as publisher for this game and the developer is not available to take over as publisher at this time."As spotted by GamesIndustry.biz, the near-identical statements were posted to the pages for Super House of Dead Ninjas, Traverser, Mega Coin Squad, and Zenzizenzic on Tuesday, and in at least one case, the developer was not actually contacted for a potential rights transfer, with Bitmap Bureau LTD (which made Super House of Dead Ninjas under a different name, MegaDev) taking to X to note they would like to keep the game going.

The interest is still there for some Adult Swim-affiliated developers

"Well, we're still active (under a new name), and more than willing to keep Super House Of Dead Ninjas alive!" the post said. In a reply, the developer said, "We sold the IP to Adult Swim back in the day, but we&#x…

British publisher Kwalee has acquired a 3.58 percent stake in Devolver Digital.The company said the equity investment is part of a "broader strategy for balanced growth" and described Devolver as a "fantastic brand" with "category defining games.""The investment in Devolver fits with Kwalee's broader growth strategy to expand beyond its heritage in hyper casual mobile gaming to achieve more balanced growth. The minority investment in Devolver increases Kwalee's exposure to the PC/console segment, one of its four target verticals," reads a press release."Kwalee's own entry into the PC/console market is relatively new, with its latest launch Robobeat rated 'overwhelmingly positive' on Steam, receiving 97 percent positive reviews. Kwalee has over ten promising PC/console games in the pipeline including The Precinct, The Spirit of the Samurai and In Sink."Kwalee was able to make the investment after Devolver undertook an equity placing of £7.9 million ($10 million) through the issue of 23.9 million new shares of common stock. Those shares represented 5.4 percent of the issued and outstanding share capital of De…

Palworld developer Pocketpair has partnered with Sony Music and Aniplex to form joint venture Palworld Entertainment.The trio hope to "expand and develop new businesses associated with the hit game," which attracted over 25 million players worldwide within one month of its early access launch."The joint venture will be responsible for developing the reach of the intellectual property and for expanding commercial business endeavors, including the global licensing and merchandising activities associated with Palworld, outside of the interactive game," reads a press release."[Our] efforts will begin with the development of exclusive merchandise based on the game—which will debut and sell at the Pocketpair booth during Bilibili World 2024."Aniplex is a Japanese entertainment and media company known for producing and distributing anime movies and shows, selling merchandise, and even publishing video games. It is also asubsidiary of the Sony Group.

More Palworld in more places

Palworld Entertainment hopes its various domestic and licensing operati…