Tag: News

Embracer has concluded the financial portion of its Saber Interactive divestment and confirmed that 4A Games and Zen Studios haven't been included in the deal.The Swedish conglomerate sold notable Saber Interactive assets—including studios like 3D Realms, Slippage, and New World Interactive—to Beacon Interactive earlier this year. Beacon is controlled by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch.In total, Beacon chose to purchase a myriad of assets including multiple studios, 38 ongoing game projects, proprietary engine technology, and numerous game tools. The company also had the option to acquire Metro developer 4A Games and Pinball FX creator Zen Studios as part of the transaction, but has decided not to pursue those deals.Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors said he is "satisfied" with how the divestment shook out and "very glad to see the great teams and assets of 4A Games and Zen Studios remain within Embracer."

4A Games and Zen Studios have big plays for Embracer

"They will be important building blocks in …

Scopely is shifting teams around internally following the cancellation of an unannounced project, prompting some developers within the company to express uncertainty about their role or future.Rumors of changes at the Monopoly Go creator started earlier this week when senior creative director Steve Garvin mentioned that his "cool new game got cancelled," and that he was looking for work.In a statement to Game Developer, a Scopely spokesperson indicated no staff had been laid off at time of writing, and said it intends to move impacted developers to other teams within the studio.

Scopely's statement on the cancellation and affected workers

"We have a robust in-development slate which includes incubation and prototype projects," said Scopely, "and we regularly assess where to focus the efforts of our talented [staff]."Its statement acknowledged the cancellation of an unannounced project, and that it's "begun transitioning the team affected to other parts of the business.&…

Update (9/16/24): Following the Absurd Ventures announcement, Robbins explained that Ascendant will be "going quiet" as Absurd Marin starts on its new project."I'm thrilled to bring our team's experience and expertise to a new game and exciting new company," he wrote.While his statement is vague on Ascendant's future, Robbins said he felt "incredibly lucky" to lead his first studio and release Immortals of Aveum. "To anyone who supported Ascendant and the game," he continued, "I can't thank you enough.""Now we move forward into our next chapter. […] It's been an amazing ride, and now the ride continues!"Original story: Dan Houser's Absurd Ventures has launched its first spinoff studio.Based in San Rafael, California, the Absurd Marin team is comprised of several former staffers from Ascendant Studios, creators of 2023's Immortals of Aveum. Fittingly, that includes former Ascendant CEO Bret Robbins.Per Houser, the new studio is working on a story-based original title. This project is based on a third, unannounced Absurd property, and marks Absurd's second game alongside one based on…

Starbreeze is giving Payday 3 a regime change ahead of its one-year anniversary. The studio recently announced game director Miodrag Kovačević will no longer lead its live-service crime game.According to Starbreeze, Kovačević will "step away from his role…and refocus his efforts as a designer elsewhere in the project."While the studio looks for someone to take on long-term director duties, Payday 3's "creative force" will be temporarily steered by lead producer Andreas Penninger and global brand director Almir Listo.As Listo noted, he and Penninger have been at Starbreeze for 12 years and worked on Payday 2. Discussing the future, Listo said he was "thrilled about the upcoming content we are preparing for you all!"

The tumultuous, ongoing Payday 3 saga

Payday 3 debuted in September last year but has struggled to make headway. The multiplayer shooter faced server issues at launch but still opened to 1.3 million overall players.Months later, Starbreeze said the game had massively underperformed. The situation result…

VR studio nDreams is conducting a round of layoffs that could impact 17.5 percent of employees.The company said a "challenging VR games market" requires a "renewed strategic focus" that will result in job cuts.The UK firm operates four studios and is known for working on titles like Far Cry VR, Fracked, Phantom: Covert Ops, and Synapse. According to the nDreams website, it currently employs over 250 people across a variety of hybrid and fully-remote roles.The downsizing comes less than a year after nDreams was purchased by Swedish conglomerate Aonic for $110 million in what was described as a "landmark" deal.In a statement sent to Game Developer, nDreams CEO Patrick O'Luanaigh said the layoffs are being made with "deep regret" and noted roles could be trimmed at all levels "including senior leadership.""We are working tirelessly to support our team with the respect and care they deserve throughout this challenging process, including all our efforts to comprehensively assist those whose positions may be impacted to move into new roles within nDreams or elsewhere," he added."Having been fully-focused on VR developm…

Palworld developer Pocketpair said the game will not transition to free-to-play.Last week, translated comments surfaced from CEO Takuro Mizobe, wherein he talked about the game's future. At the time, he claimed the studio was debating whether or not to change to a live-service, free-to-play model.Plenty of games have launched as a paid title, then converted into a free game years later. It can revitalize a game's community and open up more revenue opportunities.

Palworld just wasn't designed with the free-to-play model in mind

During the interview, Mizobe noted a switch would help "extend [Palworld's] lifespan and make it more stable in terms of profitability." At the same time, he acknowledged how it wasn't built with free-to-play in mind, and switching models could be a challenge unto itself.Pocketpair has now clarified the interview was conducted "months ago," and it's firmly settled on not going free-to-play."Palworld was never designed with that model in mind, and it would require too much work to adapt at this…

Reuters reports tech company IBM won its lawsuit against mobile developer Zynga, which it sued over patent infringement in 2022.Two years ago, IBM claimed the Farmville creator was misusing its "foundational" web technology, including data capture and analytics. The two companies had reportedly been negotiating a license since 2014, but those talks repeatedly fell through.

IBM's other suits

At the time, Zynga was one of many internet companies IBM took legal action against. Earlier this year, a suit against e-commerce site Rakuten was settled, while another against pet goods seller Chewy was dropped entirely.Documents show the federal court found multiple Zynga games fell within the bounds of patent violation. Specific titles listed include the Farmville sequels, Crosswords with Friends, and Wizard of Oz Slots.With the court in its favor, IBM has been awarded $44.9 million in damages. However, Zynga spokesperson Alan Lewis argued those patents were invalid, and said the developer (and its owner Take-Two) plan on appealing the verdict.…

Remedy Entertainment just unveiled FBC: Firebreak at the Xbox October Partner Preview. The studio may be known for creating some of the best single-player games around – Alan Wake 2 and Control being its most recent efforts – but now the team is turning its attention to multiplayer for the first time in its 29-year history. FBC: Firebreak is a three-player co-op shooter set inside The Oldest House from Control. In it, you take on the roles of a fearless first responder from the Federal Bureau of Control, diving into the darkest recesses of The Oldest House to fend off para-natural threats with your friends. It’s a strictly PvE affair, with communications director Thomas Puha promising that Remedy isn’t pitching FBC: Firebreak as an all-consuming live service – but rather something you can dive into at your leisure. “FBC: Firebreak should be easy to get into and quickly understandable, not feel like a second job or that you have to spend an hour setting up your loadouts etc. before you get into a session. This is not that game,” Puha tells Xbox Wire. “It’s a pick-up-and-play experience [about] having fun with your friends when you have the time. That’s no…

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii – Naval Combat Reveal | Xbox Partner Preview October 2024 – YouTube

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Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii has a new gameplay trailer with a release date that’s a week ahead of the previous one.Premiering during the Xbox Partner Showcase for October 2024, the new trailer offers up the first look at actual naval combat gameplay, which I presume is at the heart of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. We’ve known from the cinematics in the reveal trailer, as well as just the premise of the game, that there would be ship combat, but this is our first proper glimpse of it in action.And, well, it looks like Yakuza’s take on Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. The trailer shows fan-favorite Yakuza antihero Goro Majima take the helm of a wooden battleship whose hull, sails, figurehead, and trimming can be customized, and cut through waves with his signature crazed determination for violence. An enemy ship approaches and Majima crashes into it and orders his crew to fire, with plenty of boat drifting to go around. The combat looks a lot faster than, say, Sea of Thieves, and indeed much more in line with Black Flag. The key difference he…

Today’s Xbox Partner Showcase gave us a look at Subnautica 2 – which is, of course, the third game in the Subnautica series. The new, direct sequel is set to launch into early access in 2025, and it’s finally answering fans’ prayers by adding multiplayer.The brief trailer for Subnautica 2 appears to be all cinematics, but it sets the tone for the new game with a brief look at a colorful, inviting coral reef dive followed up by the most terrifying deep sea encounter you can imagine. The big tease here is that we see multiple characters working together, a clear example of the long-awaited addition of cooperative multiplayer for up to four players.Subnautica now officially hits early access in 2025, and it’ll be available day one on Game Pass for Xbox Series X|S and PC. The devs have confirmed that it’ll also be available on PC via Steam and Epic, but there’s no word of a PS5 version just yet.In a new Xbox Wire blog we see a handful of screenshots alongside confirmation that we’ll “traverse beyond Planet 4546B.” Some of this info has already been teased out by publisher Krafton in recent years, though developer Unknown Worlds has had to do some damage control on certain pieces of tha…