Tag: Employment

Takes teaching role

Naughty Dog’s lead game designer Richard Lemarchand has exited the company in order to accept a position at the University of Southern California. The Uncharted man – who played a pivotal part in the franchise’s rise to success – will join the school’s Interactive Media Division. Previous students include...

Another one?

God of War: Ascension may be Sony Santa Monica’s current top priority, but that’s not stopping the studio from staffing up for a new IP. According to a job listing on Gamasutra, the studio is on the lookout for a senior combat designer to help work on an unannounced project. The advertisement asks for experience on both first-person...

Zipped up

SOCOM developer Zipper Interactive has closed, Sony has confirmed. Speculation about the studio’s imminent demise began last weekend, but the firm remained tight-lipped for the majority of the week. However, Sony confirmed the sad news in a statement to Game Informer over night: Sony Computer Entertainment can confirm the closure of...

Fond farewell

Journey developer thatgamecompany is a small studio, so it’s surprising when key members of the team announce their departure for pastures new. Yesterday co-founder Kellee Santiago revealed her intention to move on, and since producer Robin Hunicke has also shut the door behind her. Hunicke – who joined thatgamecompany at the start...

Four zero two

Robert Bowling has announced that he has resigned from his current position as creative strategist of Call of Duty. The hype-man – who has become the face of the biggest gaming brand in the world over the past few years – announced his departure on Twitter overnight. He said: Today, I resign from my position as Creative Strategist...

New horizons

Former God of War director, Cory Barlog, has joined Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics after exiting Just Cause studio Avalanche Games. Barlog, who left Sony Santa Monica after the completion of God of War II, was thought to be fronting a Mad Max title at the studio. It’s unclear whether Barlog will slot into the Tomb Raider team,...

No Nagoshiation

Toshihiro Nagoshi’s hard work on the Yakuza franchise has not gone unnoticed: SEGA’s announced this morning that the Yakuza Studio boss has been promoted to the role of Chief Creative Officer at the publisher. The change comes as part of a wider corporate shuffle at the company, caused by the impending retirement of SEGA Chief...

Yeehaw?

Few would argue if we said that Red Dead Redemption was one of the best games on the PlayStation 3. No doubt there’d be a couple of contrarians complaining about the game’s shoddy middle-third, but aside from a few fleeting flaws the title is a showpiece for open-world game design. So it goes without saying that we’re excited to learn...

The bad news doesn't stop for troubled publisher THQ

Following  a slew of rumours yesterday, and warnings that the company might be delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange, the company has announced that it has cut a whopping 240 jobs. According to a regulatory filing, the redundancies will go into effect before September, with the vast majority to...

Susan Panico, the former US gaffer of the PlayStation Network, has exited Sony according to reports on Venture Beat

Communications director, Patrick Seybold, has since confirmed the news, wishing his former colleague all the best. No reason was given for the departure. It's unknown who will take over Panico's role. Whoever it is will need a strong...

Cast your minds back to June 2011

Back then, SEGA's European development gaffer, Gary Dunn, revealed that the publisher had established a brand new development team in Solihull, Birmingham. (That's just up the road from us: hey guys!) That studio now has a name: Hardlight. The identity was revealed by an eagle-eyed NeoGAF poster who spotted a recruitment post for the West Midlands studio on..

Yesterday, a slew of Tweets by IGDA Mobile SIG chair Kevin Dent alleged that THQ was in grave financial trouble, and that it was cancelling the entirety of its 2014 game line-up while holding out hope for a potential buyer

The rumours were not true. VG247 reached out to THQ's Australian branch — presumably the only one awake at the time — who outright denied the speculation. "THQ has not..

Ubisoft must be getting a taste for what it feels like to lose a creative director

Just two years after the departure of series creator Patrice Desilets in 2010, Assassin's Creed: Revelations' creative director Alexandre Amancio has left Ubisoft Montreal in order to pursue a career at Canadian marketing firm, Cossette. Amancio has been an employee at Ubisoft Montreal for seven years, serving as an..

Sony's affable executive, Kaz Hirai, might be around for a few more rounds of Ridge Racer just yet

Following reports that the cheery gaffer had been promoted to presidential status, the Japanese company has released a statement refuting the claims — stating that "nothing has been determined at this time". Given the comment's wording — and original source Nikkei's penchant for..

Andrew House, Sony Computer Entertainment's new gaffer, has admitted that 2011 was a rough year for the electronics manufacturer

In an interview with The Guardian, House admitted that the hacking incident and Japanese earthquake took its toll on the company — but also resulted in a strong sense of unity between employees. "Yes, it has been a pretty tough year, no question," House..

Ridge Racer's biggest fan, Kazuo Hirai, is set to become the President of Sony, according to reports coming out of Nikkei this evening

It's claimed that Howard Stringer will maintain his position as the company's CEO and chairman, but that Hirai will take over presidential duties as soon as April. Hirai — who made his name rising through the ranks of the PlayStation business — is currently..

EA's Bright Light studio is officially no more

The developer — which was responsible for three of the most recent Harry Potter titles — has been going through a formal consultation process since October. That period is now over, and the developer has closed. Thankfully, many of the employees from the Bright Light studio have been ushered into new positions around EA, with roles at Criterion and..

Following less than stellar sales for uDraw on PlayStation 3 (did you know it had even released?), THQ has announced that it has laid off 30 employees from its Play branch

THQ justified the layoffs by reiterating the "weaker than expected" sales performance of the drawing application, which launched on PS3 last month. “Due to weaker than expected sales of the uDraw Game Tablet, we are..

The above image is a piece of concept art from Square Enix's upcoming Unreal Engine project

You're going to have to imagine the texture pop-in and inconsistent frame-rate for yourself. Squint and its possible. The concept art emerged as part of an employment hub for the recently revealed "massive, original action RPG", where Square Enix is seeking staffers with PlayStation 3 development..