Konami’s PlayStation 5 and PC remake of Silent Hill 2 sold over one million copies within days of its launch. The first mainline entry in the series in 12 years, Bloober Team’s remake of the 2001 classic has received solid reviews since launch. Is it profitable for Bloober or Konami? That is unclear; the former …
Throne of Liberty nets over 3 million players in launch week
NCSoft and Amazon Games’ Throne of Liberty earned over 3 million players within its first week, the companies revealed. The MMORPG released on Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 1. Collectively, that player count translated to 24 million hours of playtime. Amazon’s MMO launches For some comparison, Amazon’s 2022 MMO Lost Ark …
It Takes Two sales top 20 million copies as Hazelight teases next project
Sales for It Takes Two have now exceeded 20 million copies, revealed Hazelight Studios. The co-op (and relationship-focused) adventure game had sold 16 million copies as of this past March, and has continually grown since its launch in 2021. Hazelight thanked “every one of the millions upon millions who have enjoyed their time with Cody …
Using minimalism to channel the fear of the unknown in FAITH: The Unholy Trinity
FAITH: The Unholy Trinity sees the aftermath of a botched exorcism lead down some terrifying paths filled with disturbing creatures. The limited ZX Spectrum visuals might incline some to think the game’s monsters aren’t all that scary, but through clever use of mood, voice, color, and rotoscoped animations, the game draws up feelings of looking …
Mad Mushroom cofounder Asmongold to ‘step away’ from company after anti-Muslim remarks
Streamer-affiliated publisher Mad Mushroom has announced that cofounder “Asmongold” (real name: “Zack,” last name withheld) will be stepping away from the company following an anti-Muslim rant this week that led to him being temporarily banned on streaming platform Twitch. The company shared the news in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter). “As an indie …
The UK subsidiary of Inflexion Games is closing down
After four years of development on Nightingale, the UK subsidiary of Inflexion Games is being shut down. Taking to LinkedIn, Jon Newman—the Audio Director at Inflexion—announced that the support studio is no more. “It is with a heavy heart that I am sharing the sad news that the UK subsidiary of Inflexion Games is closing, …
Deep Dive: Refreshing the Crusader Kings III tutorial mode through optimized UX
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 the starkly stylish art direction of Bloodless, how …
Devs can now access code optimization tool Rider for free
The popular integrated development environment, Rider, has now gone free to use for hobbyists. The code editor from JetBrains is compatible with Godot, Unity and Unreal and now offers users a free non-commercial license, opening it up to teachers and hobbyist game developers. Initially envisioned as a tool for .Net development, Rider’s integrated development environment …
AI NPC chat is like VR: probably cool but certainly niche
Oscar Barda, Blogger March 25, 2024 7 Min Read In my view, the “who hasn’t dreamt of having a real conversation with an NPC” discourse should remind us of the famed “who hasn’t dreamt of living inside their game” discussions we’ve had about VR in the 2010s. It’s a technologist’s dream, but not something anyone …
Epic Games will reduce royalty fees for devs with simultaneous EGS launches
Developers making their games with Unreal Engine could pay less in royalty fees if their title hits the Epic Games Store the same day as (or earlier than) other storefronts. Epic Games unveiled a new Launch Everywhere program that promises a reduced royalty fee of 3.5 percent (down from the original 5 percent) for simultaneous …