Developers that have worked on Skyrim, The Last Of Us and Dragon Age have formed a brand new games company, NEARStudios. Led by Heather Cerlan and Jason Richardson, the Maryland-based studio has begun work on its first game, Hawthorn. A co-op sandbox RPG that combines element of village sims with the nostalgic adventure stories of …
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 …
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 …
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 …
GamesIndustry reports Xbox Game Studios will have a leadership shakeup with the departure of studio head Alan Hartman. Hartman, who previously led Forza developer Turn 10, took on the role last year, and will retire from the company at the end of November. Craig Duncan, current leader of Rare Ltd, will take over for Hartman. …
Sony has lost a more than decade-old lawsuit against UK peripheral firm Datel, with The European Court of Justice ruling in favor of the Action Replay manufacturer. The lawsuit dates all the way back to 2012, when Sony filed a lawsuit against Datel in German courts over the use of its Action Replay cheating device …
British company Antstream laid off a “small amount” of staff working on its retro game platform, Antstream Arcade. In a statement to GamesIndustry, Antstream attributed the reductions to a “strategic shift in focus internally.” The statement came days after former PR manager Diane Hutchinson and UI designer Robyn Jamieson revealed they were impacted. “This decision …
Devolver Digital is committing to licensed games with a new indie label, Big Fan Games. The label will be responsible for publishing game adaptations of movies, TV shows, and comic books. Per GamesIndustry, Devolver subsidiary Good Shepherd will oversee the nascent publisher. Devolver acquired Good Shepherd—the team responsible for publishing Hellboy Web of the Wyrd …
Update (10/16/2024): Uematsu clarified that his previous video for Fantasian: Neo Dimension was a “misunderstanding,” and that he is retiring from full-time composing for games. He explained that he will “cut back a bit on my video game music work. […] The time commitment for composing [an entire soundtrack] would be too long.” Uematsu reiterated …
Paradox Interactive deputy CEO Mattias Lilja feels the publisher’s recent struggles are the result of overconfidence and claims the company needs to return to its roots. The Swedish company has made a number of high-profile missteps over the past year. In June, Paradox scrapped Life by You and shuttered developer Paradox Tectonic, resulting in a …
