Valve formally revealed Deadlock over the last weekend, and its closed beta hit a new peak of concurrent players not long after.The surprise MOBA shooter has 89,203 players at time of writing. It's just over double the original peak of 44,512 players in August 16.Deadlock's existence has been known for some time, but Valve was insistent on keeping it secret up to this point. That move drew controversy after The Verge wrote about its time with the beta, and banned writer Sean Hollister after bypassing the prompt to not speak on the beta and talking about it.For those curious, the current Deadlock peak is just above the 24-hour peak for Valve's older multiplayer titles like Team Fortess 2 (71,863 players) and Left 4 Dead 2 (27,904 players), plus the all-time peak for the first Left 4 Dead (30,616 players).Notably, it's also the first wholly new project from Valve in some time, and its newest title after last year's Counter-Strike 2 and Half-Life Alyx in 2020.At time of writing, Deadlock is limited to playtesters and whoever they invite. It's unclear when Valve will release a wider, more open beta, or what other platforms the eventual, no-longer-secretive…
Author: Olivia Carter
Take-Two posted its financials for the first quarter of 2024-2025, and the publisher is "steady" as its bigger games loom on the horizon.Both net bookings and net revenue saw slight increases for the quarter ending June 30, 2024. Bookings came to $1.22 billion (up 1 percent from the same period last fiscal year) and revenue grew by 4 percent to $1.34 billion.Primary drivers for both metrics include NBA 2K24, Grand Theft Auto V and Online, and Words With Friends. However, consumer spending for both 2K24 and GTA Online were down compared to previous years.More substantially, Take-Two reported a net loss of $262 million, an increase on the $206 million loss reported this time last year. More losses are anticipated, but CEO Strauss Zelnick expects "sequential" net booking increases for the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years.Looking forward, Zelnick said the company "remains confident in our path forward. […] Our core franchises remain vibrant, and our teams are hard at work on the most ambitious development pipeline in our history."Discussing its upcoming release slate, Take-Two said Grand Theft Auto VI is expected to launch in fall 2025. It was previously repor…
Swedish publisher Paradox is having a rough time. Since the turn of the year, the company has cancelled Life by You, shuttered its Tectonic studio, struggled to rehabilitate Cities Skylines II after a botched launch, and conceded it needs to address ongoing quality issues.Now, the company has indefinitely delayed Prison Architect 2 one month before it was due to launch on September 3. Paradox said it needs more time to "improve both the game's performance and content," but hasn't indicated exactly how long that will take."Our continuous internal reviews and beta test groups have highlighted areas that we need to focus on more, mainly performance and content, which we need to address before launch to ensure that you, the players, get a good experience in the game. We need to raise the quality a bit more to meet the standards we'd like to achieve with this sequel," reads a post on the Paradox forum.Paradox apparently remains "confident" the sequel will deliver the goods when it does eventually land, but said it must ensure the title "lives up to the franchise's legacy" and is released in a state that satisfies both players a…
After nearly 20 years, the Xbox 360 has been fully retired. Its digital storefront, which opened alongside the console's launch in 2005, is now closed.Microsoft previously announced the marketplace would shut down late last year. Players can no longer buy games, DLC, or movies for the console, but anything bought prior to the closure can be re-downloaded to Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S.The end of the marketplace puts a final bow on the console. Throughout its lifetime, the Xbox 360 helped define the Xbox brand, thanks to Xbox Live, the dashboard (and its many evolutions), and key games like 1 vs. 100 and Gears of War.
The 360 gave Xbox more wins than it knew what to do with
How big was the Xbox 360? Call of Duty had a multi-year exclusivity deal for DLC maps stretched across multiple games, a practice that transitioned over to PlayStation and has now led to Microsoft owning the popular franchise.Changes and add-ons like the Xbox Live Arcade, Kinect, Avatars, and New Xbox Experience helped turn the console into a more c…
Within two weeks, the Early Access horror game Murky Divers has sold 100,000 copies after its launch in mid-June.Per publisher Oro Interactive, the underwater co-op title has been a successful debut for it and developer Embers. It's such a get that founder Sam De Boeck said Oro will focus on "catchy, content-creator-focused games."De Boeck specifically noted the publisher's interest in horror. No doubt this is inspired by the success of fellow scary co-op games Content Warning and Lethal Company, both of which have seen commercial and viral success this year.For potential partners, De Boeck said Oro will take a "smaller-than-usual" revenue share. Citing Kowloon Nights' business strategy, Oro will have no recoupment period and revenue goes to the developer first.That last point is particularly noteworthy since not all publishers (big or small) are transparent with where the revenue goes. In May, EA reportedly diverted all of Immortals of Aveum's net revenue to developer Ascendant Studios, but that information was later scrubbed and not mentioned again."[Developers] keep IP and sequel rights, and creative and business decisions are theirs …
Sales for Ironwood Studios' Pacific Drive have exceeded 600,000 copies. The developer revealed the news alongside its release of the game's first post-launch content.Ironwood's debut title first launched back in late February for PlayStaton 5 and PC to strong reviews. CEO and creative director Alex Dracott said the studio was "blown away" by Pacific Drive's new milestone, and thanked players for the response."It is a testament to the hard work of everyone at Ironwood Studios," he wrote. "None of this would be possible without [player] support, and we’re thankful for the chance to continue supporting Pacific Drive and improving their experience."Ahead of the game's release, Game Developer chatted with Dracott on its survival roguelike design. We also got behind the wheel with technical artst Karl Kohlman about the VFX software Houdini and using its pipeline for procedural generation.Months later in May, we spoke with director Seth Rosen about Ironwood's efforts to give a soul to the station wagon players use to get around Olympic Exclusion Zone.…