On a train ride out of Gamescom, I chanced on a pair of junior developers scrutinizing their own lanyards, which sported Xsolla’s branding. “Who even IS Xsolla?” one of them asked, as they commented on how they’d seen the branding at all kinds of events over the last year. Ever the eavesdropper, I leaned in …
Gameloft Romania is shuttering its Cluj studio and laying off 136 employees. The company confirmed the news in a statement issued to Game Developer and explained the closure follows a review of its production capacities. “As a company, we need to constantly review our production capacities. After careful consideration and in response to the ever-changing …
Update (10/16/2024): French game development union STJV condemned Don’t Nod’s potential layoffs in a translated statement, calling it “the climax of a series of catastrophic decisions, denounced for a long time by workers’ representatives.” The STJV claims Don’t Nod exhibited “red warning lights” for months, from Jusant and Banishers’ underperformance to the alleged dissolution of the former’s …
Game Developer Deep Dives are an ongoing series with the goal of shedding light on specific design, art, or technical features within a video game in order to show how seemingly simple, fundamental design decisions aren’t really that simple at all. Earlier installments cover topics such as designing combat to match the beat of music …
Bandai Namco will team with developer Rebel Wolves to publish the studio’s debut project, Dawnwalker. The Tekken 8 publisher will put out the fantasy-RPG in both physical and digital formats worldwide. In a statement, Bandai Namco Europe’s business development VP Alberto Gonzalez called the agreement “another key milestone in our content development strategy for the …
EA has made a brisk start to the current financial year (FY25) after exceeding its net bookings guidance for the first quarter. The publisher, which is currently laying off 5 percent of its workforce, delivered Q1 net bookings of $1.26 billion, exceeding its high-end guidance range of $1.25 billion. The company said that surge was …
Miruna Vozaru June 12, 2024 7 Min Read Pharah, one of the heroes in Overwatch, has an emote where she says, “Rocket jump? That sounds dangerous.” Almost thirty years before Pharah said that, in Quake, some players discovered that shooting a rocket into the ground would damage them but also provided a jump boost, allowing …
“Parents are letting children play on Roblox thinking it’s a cute little kids’ game, with no idea what is really happening. If I could wipe one app off the face of the Earth right now, it would be that one—it would be Roblox.”—Safe on Social CEO Kirra Pendergast [Content note: This story contains discussions of …
Mobile publisher Playtika has reached a “definitive agreement” to acquire mobile studio SuperPlay in a deal for an initial $700 million. An additional contingent consideration of up to $1.25 billion could be paid out subject to SuperPlay achieving certain financial targets for 2025, 2026, and 2027 Playtika CEO Robert Antokol described the acquisition as a …
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) may be looking to up its already-established stake in Japanese studios like Nintendo and Koei Tecmo, and begin new investments into others in the region. Per Kyodo News, the fund’s vice chairman Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud recently acknowledged the “possibility” of these backings, but only with …
