Last week saw the formations of wall-to-wall unions within Blizzard and ZeniMax, which represent some of the biggest moves in the game industry's current unionization drive.On the newest Game Developer Podcast episode, Bethesda's Autumn Mitchell touched on several benefits won by union negotiators during discussions with Microsoft. One such benefit is "recall rights," wherein companies are required to offer to bring back employees they laid off if they need to refill their role two or three years after they're dismissed from the company.Mitchell explained that she'd seen these terms in other tech industry contracts, and their inclusion is a boon for employees and employer alike. "We're talking about eliminating that 'revolving door' at least to some degree," she said, alluding to the fact that high turnover obliterates institutional knowledge.In other words, the industry's swaths of layoffs could potentially be alleviated by studios having a fast method to re-hire new talent after their finances are stabilized.Fellow Bethesda developer Chris Lusco highlighted other unionization gains, such as converting some freelancers to…
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The upcoming Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra will be published by Plaion, a major subsidiary owned by Embracer.Under a partnership with developer Skydance Games, Plaion has the worldwide publishing rights for the 2025 action-adventure title. It marks a major get for the publisher and its parent company, both of which saw multiple layoffs and closures in 2023 and 2024.Following the dissolution of a $2 billion deal with the Savvy Games Group, Embracer went through a devastating restructuring period that's seen plenty of cancelled projects.Securing publishing rights for a Marvel game doesn't balance the scales of that scuttled deal. But it shows Embracer is at a point where it can move beyond killing off what it can to save money.It's also a notable change for Skydance, which has typically self-published its previous titles like Arashi: Castles of Sin and Archangel.As of this past March, Embracer's restructuring has ended, and CEO Lars Wingefors said the company's future involves making and releasing good games.Plaion was impacted by some of that restructuring, and CEO Klemens Kundratitz called this Skydance deal "a testament to [our] ongoing mission to become…
Capcom said it has "outperformed" expectations during the quarter ended June 30, 2024, despite net sales and operating income tumbling year-over-year.According to the publisher's latest fiscal report, net sales decreased by 32.5 percent year-on-year to 29.5 billion yen ($190.5 million) and operating income fell by 46.4 percent to 12.8 billion yen ($82.6 million).Ordinary income dropped by 47.9 percent year-over-year to 13.4 billion yen, and net income attributable to owners of the parent dipped by 45.1 percent to 9.9 billion yen.
Capcom says it's still on track
Capcom said those numbers "outperformed" its plan for all business segments during the quarter, and noted it remains on track to achieve its full-year earnings forecast."During the three months ended June 30, 2024, sales in Capcom's core Digital Contents business centered on releases of existing titles on additional platforms and catalog sales of major titles released in previous fiscal years because the launch timing of new titles will be concen…
Korean publisher NCSoft has sunk $3.5 million into Swedish studio Moon Rover Games.Moon Rover will use the cash to finance the development of a cooperative shooter "built on emergent gameplay systems.""This investment represents a milestone in the history of Moon Rover Games. It will enable us to combine the experience and ambitions of our team with the vast knowledge of NCSoft in the development and operations of online games, to bring new gameplay experiences to players around the world," said Moon Rover CEO, Julien Wera.
Far Cry, Battlefield, and Halo vets onboard at Moon Rover
Moon Rover was formed in 2023 by a team of EA and Ubisoft veterans with experience working on franchises like Far Cry, Battlefield, The Division, Halo, and Mirror's Edge. The studio's debut project is codenamed 'Project Aldous' and is billed as an "original IP for PC and consoles."NCSoft, known for developing and publishing titles like Guild Wars 2 and Blade & Soul, said Moon Rover's &qu…
BioWare was suspiciously coy when asked whether it was considering releasing a standalone character creator for Dragon Age: The Veilguard before the game’s full release on 31st October.
When asked at a preview event whether it was under consideration, the game’s co-director Corinne Busche replied, “It’s a much requested feature; we’re TBD on that but it would be pretty stinking cool.” The question itself was asked by Outside Xbox’s charming Andy Farrant.
I was at that preview event and I played the new Dragon Age game all day, and you can read whether I think The Veilguard is any good, and what I learnt talking to BioWare about it, elsewhere on the site.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Preview – Bioware Is Back!
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Activision Blizzard is making Call of Duty open-source with a free data set of its original Warzone map, Caldera.Released in OpenUSD for non-commercial use, aspiring developers and educators have access to a near-complete version of the map's geometry. The data set also features random time samples that show how players moved around the map.The Caldera map was retired last year so developers could focus on Warzone 2.0. Making it open-source "broadens access to production data," said chief tech officer Natalya Tatarchuk, and "gives back" to the game industry's research community.As for why it was chosen, software engineer Michael Vance explained they wanted a map that showcased "the scale and complexity of our current design philosophy.""One of our goals is to…let researchers test their approaches in real-world scenarios, which will help accelerate the development of new solutions," Tatarchuk continued. "We believe Caldera’s release will be an impactful and material benefit to that effort."
All…
The upcoming Fallout: London mod for Fallout 4 won't be compatible with the Epic Games Store version of Bethesa's RPG at launch.Speaking to VG247, a spokesperson for GOG revealed players who bought the game on the EGS will be unable to access the mod. This issue appears to be specific solely to the EGS, while Steam players can play it by downgrading their version of Fallout 4 to before Bethesda's next-gen update.A version rollback option isn't typically required when developers choose storefronts. But this situation highlights why the feature should be considered, particularly for games with lively communities.Folon and GOG are currently working on the Steam version's downgrade. The same feature is impossible to bring to Epic's storefront, which doesn't support update rollbacks.
Fallout London's saga has mutated out of control
Mod team Folon has been working on Fallout London for years, and it was originally set to release this past April. But just as the mod hit the finish line, a funny thing happened: Bethesda put …
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 …
The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and YouTuber Youna Kang (aka CodeMiko) are challenging the US Patent Office. The two parties recently filed an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court over a new requirement for trademark registration.As described in the press release, the new rule calls for applicants to provide their home addresses. Odin Law & Media, a firm representing Kang and the IGDA, argued this rule "unnecessarily exposes applicants," particularly those in the game industry.
Indies and all work-from-home devs at possible risk
Beyond YouTubers who make revenue working with developers through streaming or sponsored deals, the USPTO's rule also affects indie studios. Many operate on a work-from-home basis, meaning this rule could them vulnerable to harassment if a hack occurs.Privacy concerns have become even more pronounced in the wake of events such as Bungie's case against a harasser targeting its staff, along with an upcoming trial for a Splatoon player accused of previously se…
Developer Echo Chunk, a studio focusing on AI-powered games, has raised $1.4 million in a pre-seed funding round. That money will go towards its debut title Echo Chess, and other projects it's working on that'll use the technology.Included in that funding was a16z Speedrun, Zynga founder Mark Pincus, and Roblox Corp's AI head Stef Corazza. Echo Chunk founder Sami Ramly commended all funders, saying they "understood our passion for AI’s role in the co-creation process of the future."Echo Chess is a free-to-play title with daily puzzles and sees players become the chess piece they just captured on the board. It went viral after its launch in April, and Ramly described it to VentureBeat as "a collaboration between humans and AI."
GenAI in game dev still on shaky ground
Generative AI in games is still controversial, though some developers have figured out how to use the technology. Last week, developer Volley also raised seed money, which it plans to use for its own projects made with generative AI.The idea…