Tag: Industry - Page 7
News Sonic Creator Yuji Naka Could Face Over Two Years in Prison
On charges of insider trading
Update: A correction on the below story. It's been reported that Yuji Naka has not yet been officially sentenced. His defence has requested that the jail term be suspended and the fine reduced. A final verdict will be reached on 7th July, 2023. Original Story: Yuji Naka, the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog and face of...
News Here's Why You Need to Tune in to Ubisoft's E3-Style Livestream
Wait, whats that game?
Ubsoft's annual Forward showcase is approaching, taking place on 12 June at 10 am PT / 6 pm BST, and we got a new sizzle reel promising impending gameplay for games we've had our eyes on for a while now. During the French publisher's time in the spotlight, expect to see live updates on games such as Avatar: Frontiers of...
News Activision Boss Bobby Kotick Blames 'Outside Forces' for Firm's Poor Reputation
Bigwig speaks out as acquisition hangs in the balance
Bobby Kotick, the boss at the embattled video game publisher Activision Blizzard, has told Variety that there has never been a “systemic issue with harassment” at the organisation – despite being targeted by the State of California for its alleged “frat boy” culture. In the aftermath of...
News High Hopes for New Studio Founded by The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077 Veteran
Rare optimism
A new studio, headed by Mateusz Kanik, has been announced, called Blank. Kanik was the lead game designer on The Witcher 2, game director on Cyberpunk 2077, and like other developers on the team, a CD Projekt Red veteran of many years. You can see concept art for the studio's first project above, which purports to be a...
Around 30 employees affected
Firaxis, the venerable strategy game studio behind legendary franchises like XCOM (the reboots) and Civilization, has been hit with a round of layoffs. As reported by Axios, as many as 30 employees have been let go from the company, which is owned by parent company Take-Two Interactive and published by 2K Games. After a...
News God of War Art Director Joins Netflix for AAA Project
A new IP from the company
Raf Grassetti, the former art director at God of War team Santa Monica Studio, has today announced he's joining Netflix to help create "a new original IP AAA game". Working with the likes of Joseph Staten (Halo), Jerry Edsall (Shadowrun, Gears 5), and Chacko Sonny (former executive producer of
News Sony Under Fire for Allegedly Abusing Its Dominance in the Industry
Allegedly
Sony has become the target of an antitrust probe by the Romanian Competition Council, which has raised concerns that the firm is abusing its dominant position within the console gaming market. How exactly? According to the RCC, it's because Sony sells video games exclusively through the PlayStation Store and for banning competing...
News Sony Expects to Sell Over 108 Million PS5 Consoles This Generation
Celestially significant forecast
Sony CEO Jim Ryan is feeling bullish about PS5 sales now that the COVID-induced supply slump is over, and the plucky little box can actually be found on store shelves. Already the best-selling console for months, the Sony bigwig says he expects the PS5 to breach 108 million units sold over the course of its lifetime...
News Sony 'Not in Talks' with CD Projekt RED About an Acquisition
Weekend rumour squashed
A CD Projekt RED representative has squashed rumours spread over the weekend that the Cyberpunk 2077 developer is on the verge of being picked up by Sony. A Destiny 2 leaker shared claims of an apparent acquisition along with a Days Gone sequel being greenlit, but neither are true. In response to the claims, Ola Sondej of CD...
News Xbox Wouldn't Shoot Itself in the Foot by Yanking Call of Duty Off PS5, Says EU
PS5 outselling Xbox Series X|S dramatically in Europe
A big point of contention over Microsoft’s stumbling $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard is whether Call of Duty becoming exclusive would negatively impede PlayStation’s ability to compete in the console space. While regulators have, ultimately, determined cloud streaming is a...
Reaction Sony's PS5, PC Live Service Strategy Won't Work If It's All Samey Shooters
PlayStation did nothing to assuage fans' fears
We’ve been one of the few publications defending Sony’s live service strategy because we don’t think the idea is inherently bad. A lot of fans treat the booming Games as a Service segment as a genre, but it’s important to underline that it’s a business model instead. In fact, there’s...
News No Comment on Troubled PS5 Console Exclusive Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
"My favourite question"
If you can cast your mind back to the last time Sony hosted a livestream – and, trust us, we know that was eons ago – you may recall that it started out with confirmation of a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake, which was slated to launch as a console exclusive for PS5. Since then, the project has been hit by a...
News Ubisoft's Open World PS5 Star Wars May Not Be in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
A New Hope
Ubisoft's rather mysterious upcoming open-world Star Wars game could be closer than first anticipated. Announced at the start of 2021, the title (developed by Ubisoft Massive, of The Division fame) is reportedly staying on target for an early 2024 release date. That's according to Kotaku, which cites two sources familiar with the French...
News God of War's Talented Art Director Is Departing Sony After a Decade
"Sony has played an integral role in shaping my career"
Santa Monica Studio’s influential art director for the past decade, the uber-talented Raf Grasetti, is sealing away his Paintbrushes of Chaos and waving a fond farewell to Sony. The incredibly capable artist, who contributed profoundly to God of War’s revival and its recent sequel Ragnarok,...
News Jim Ryan: Japanese Market Still Very Important to Sony
It's the "birthplace" of PlayStation
PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has reinforced Sony's commitment to the Japanese gaming market in a new interview with Famitsu, where he states it continues to be an important region for the company. Ryan explains (via Google Translate): "The Japanese market has been and will continue to be one of the most important...
News Publisher Take-Two Claims It's 'Not Seeing Pushback' From Players on $70 Price Tag
Can't be looking too hard
Publisher Take-Two claims that it isn't seeing much pushback from players to the $70 price tag many AAA video games are increasingly found wearing at launch. This tells us, at the very least, that they must not be checking the Push Square comments section of related articles! In an earnings call (transcribed by
News Days Gone Dev Can't Wait to Show You Its First PS5 Exclusive
Anticipation levels rising
Bend Studio, the first-party developer behind Days Gone and Syphon Filter (not to mention Bubsy 3D), is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Bend is currently hard at work on its next project (of which relatively little is known) and took to Twitter to tease it. Perhaps we could hear more about it at the
News Take-Two to Ship 16 Games in Coming Fiscal Year, Including 'New IP' from 'Premier Studio'
All of the games
Take-Two appears to have some mighty big ambitions, with 16 games planned for release over the fiscal year to come, including "new IP" from a "premier studio". Tantalising! In a press release, the company revealed its intentions, which include releasing three "immersive core" games. This includes inevitable cash cows NBA 2K24 and...
News Ahead of PS Showcase, An Army of Sony Staffers Visit Death Stranding 2 Dev
What mysteries await?
A veritable armada of Sony staffers has descended upon Kojima Productions, with the surreal studio nestled deep in the historical redlight district of Roppongi in downtown Tokyo. There, members of XDEV, SIE's marketing team, and other various members of Sony's corporate structure got to mug for the camera (with that epic statue...
News SEGA Could Join Sony in Raising Its Game Prices to $70
Gotta go high
Sony caused a stir near the start of this console generation when it announced that (most) of its first-party PS5 titles would be priced at $70 going forward, instead of the $60 tag that's been a staple of the market for so many years. Despite some controversy, the Japanese giant hasn't backed down, and as a result, other publishers...
News UK's Regulator Responds to European Commission's Decision to Pass Xbox's Activision Buyout
"The CMA stands by its decision"
With the European Commission’s decision to pass Microsoft’s unprecedented $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard today, it was inevitable that the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority would be asked to comment. Unsurprisingly, the division – which made the unexpected move to block the acquisition a few...
News Microsoft's $69 Billion Activision Deal Approved by the EU Commission
Issues on cloud gaming answered
The European Commission has today confirmed its approved Microsoft's proposed $69 billion purchase of Call of Duty maker Activision. Having addressed concerns in the cloud gaming space, the EU Commission rules Microsoft's 10-year commitments to "represent a significant improvement for cloud gaming as compared to the...
News Square Enix Wants to Release More Higher Quality Games, Starting with Final Fantasy 16
Japanese publisher has big ambitions
Square Enix tends to be unpredictable as a publisher. Take this year alone, for example: it released the highly promoted Forspoken to middling reviews, and then barely lifted a finger to advertise the critically acclaimed Octopath Traveler 2. Meanwhile, last year it dropped a ton of titles on Nintendo Switch,...
News Not Even Sony's Been Able to Avoid the Enormous Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Hype
Have fun up there
There’s no real point beating around the figurative Hyrulian bush we suppose: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the biggest game on the planet, and it’ll probably remain that way until a little superhero sequel called Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 swings by later in the year. Sony, and the rest of the industry knows that,...
News Deviation Games' PS5 Exclusive Project Doesn't Appear to Be Progressing Well
Layoffs hit Sony partner hard
Deviation Games was one of a flurry of new studios Sony signed exclusivity arrangements with earlier in the generation, but while the likes of Haven Studios and Firewalk have since been officially acquired by the Japanese giant,
News Sorry, But the Drama Over Xbox's Activision Buyout Ain't Over Yet
Mentally prepare yourselves for next week
The UK’s unexpected decision to block Microsoft’s bonkers $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard provided us with a temporary reprieve from the corporate skulduggery that’s dominated the industry this past year, but the bees nest will be poked again next week when the European Commission is expected...
News Capcom's Crazy Win Streak Continues as Publisher Confirms Record-High Profit
And record-high game sales
There's simply no stopping Capcom. The Japanese publisher has just revealed its financial results for the fiscal year, and it's basically doing the best it's ever done. This is the company's sixth consecutive year of record-high profit, which is crazy to think about. It's gone from strength to strength to strength ever...
News Sony Will Help Fund Indie Games in India as Hero Project Expands
Submissions open now
Sony has announced its indie-focused Hero Project is expanding to India following its successes in China. Teams in the country can submit their projects now, and if chosen, they shall receive mentorship, access to Sony's internal resources, recoupable development funding, marketing opportunities, and the chance for PlayStation...
News Former PlayStation Boss Saddened by PixelOpus Studio Closure
Shawn Layden shares his disappointment
Former Sony Worldwide Studios head Shawn Layden has voiced his disappointment over the closure of Concrete Genie developer PixelOpus. The first-party developer will be shuttered on 2nd June 2023, to which Layden responded: "This is a deep cut. So loved working with this team and watching them level up to...
News Publisher PLAION Plans to Voltron Deep Silver, Prime Matter, Ravenscourt into Single Entity
Plans proceed apace
PLAION, the publisher formerly known as Koch Media, is restructuring, or as they put it, "simplifying our publishing operations". This will result in subsidiary publisher Deep Silver and developers Prime Matter and Ravenscourt merging, with the aim being to produce fewer titles at a higher quality. The move will result in...
News Concrete Genie Developer PixelOpus Is Shutting Down
First-party dev gone
Concrete Genie team PixelOpus, which is a first-party developer part of PlayStation Studios, has put out a tweet saying it's being closed down. The post reads: "Dear friends, our PixelOpus adventure has come to an end. As we look to new futures, we wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to the millions of passionate players who...
News Horizon Forbidden West Dev to Reveal Studio's Future at UK Event
Eyes on the horizon
Fresh off the release of Horizon Forbidden West's excellent Burning Shores expansion, the future is looking bright for the Amsterdam-based Guerrilla Games. A spokesperson for the company has been selected to give the keynote at this year's Develop: Brighton conference. Representatives from PlayStation Studios, Sumo Digital,...
News Xbox Boss Admits Microsoft Can't 'Outconsole' PS5
Phil Spencer chimes in on current trends
In a rather eye-opening interview with Kinda Funny Games, Xbox boss Phil Spencer basically admits that Microsoft's gaming arm can't directly compete with Sony and Nintendo. It's fairly common knowledge that in the current generation of consoles, the PS5 is comfortably outselling the Xbox Series X|S, but it's...
News Returnal Dev Has Expanded Workforce for Next PS5 Project
Game is King
Housemarque, the Finnish developer behind titles like Returnal and Resogun, is PlayStation Studio's resident arcade expert. Since joining the first-party family, it seems the company has grown to 110 people, with that number likely to increase as it gears up for whatever comes next (though they aren't in the habit of making sequels)...
News $70 Games Could Be Hurting PS5, PS4 Sales, But There's More to the Story
Pony up
As we approach the PS5's third birthday, it seems like Sony's console has been going from strength to strength lately. There are reports that conflict with that assessment, however, and as an unbiased pillar of PlayStation coverage, we thought it only fair to present a different side of the s
News UK's Activision Buyout Block Forbids Microsoft from Trying Again for 10 Years
Time-out
Microsoft's effort to acquire Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard was already starting to look quite dire, but an appeals process is currently underway, we're told. If unsuccessful, however, Microsoft will apparently need to wait a full decade before it will be able to try again. Over on
News PlayStation Beats Nintendo, Xbox to Another Sales Milestone
500 million home consoles sold
Already enjoying a particularly lucrative financial quarter, Sony has crossed another sales milestone, becoming the first console manufacturer to sell 500 million home consoles. Obviously, that removes handhelds from the equation (sorry, Nintendo, that means most of your 833 million isn't eligible), so PSP and PS Vita...
News Activision Poised to Pocket a Cool $3 Billion if Xbox Buyout Breaks Down
Must be funny
Microsoft’s unfathomable $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard is hanging by a thread after the deal was blocked by UK regulators earlier this week. In the aftermath of the decision, the trillion dollar tech titan immediately went on a rampage, piling pressure on the government by
Soapbox I No Longer Think Subscriptions Like PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass Are the Future of Gaming
Sammy weighs in on the subscription debate
In this job, there are clear and obvious trends that dominate the discussion, sometimes for years at a time. I’ve been running Push Square for well over a decade now, and I’m lucky enough to have reported on many of the defining moments that have engaged enthusiasts: there was the battle for motion...
News Granblue Fantasy Juggernaut Cygames Opens US, EU Arms Ahead of Big Game Releases
Sky's the limit
Cygames, the hugely successful Japanese company behind runaway mobile hit Granblue Fantasy and its various spinoffs, is expanding. It's been clear for a while now that Cygames wants to become a more globally recognised outfit, and to help it realise its ambitions outside of Japan, it's now established Cygames America and Cygames...
News 38.4 Million PS5 Systems Sold as Sony Records Its Best Q4 Results
6.3 million PS5 consoles shipped
Sony has managed to beat its own lofty PS5 sales estimations to record a total of 6.3 million PS5 console shipments in the Q4 period of fiscal year 2022. In terms of revenue, this makes it Sony's best-ever fourth quarter earnings, beating out the same period recorded last year. The company was always bullish with...
News Activision Blizzard's Player Numbers Have Taken a Tumble
Numbers, like hips, don't lie
Monthly active users for Activision and Blizzard games have taken a tumble, dropping to levels last seen before the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 or Warzone 2.0. A still-monstrous 98 million players logged on in March 2023 (mostly playing COD), which is down from some 111 million in December 2022. It was...
News Elden Ring's FromSoftware Wants to Release New and Exciting Games More Frequently
Now cometh the age of the stars
In what is undoubtedly the story of the day, developer FromSoftware has revealed its intention to release exciting new games more frequently. Now that sounds like something we can all get behind! The Japanese studio, renowned for the complexity and depth of the worlds it creates, is currently hard at work on multiple...
News Microsoft Goes Scorched Earth Over UK's Activision Buyout Block
"Darkest day in our four decades in Britain"
Microsoft already tried the charm offensive to get its unfathomable $69 billion buyout of Activision Blizzard past regulators – and now the deal has been blocked by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), it’s just plain gone on the offensive. In an eye-popping interview with the BBC,
News Activision Blizzard Boss Bobby Kotick Warns Billion Dollar Buyout Saga Ain't Over
"This is far from the final word"
After a shock upset at the eleventh hour, the UK's CMA has blocked Microsoft's attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard, stunning pundits and analysts alike as the deal was generally expected to be given the go-ahead. An internal email from Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick
News Microsoft Dealt Major Blow as UK Blocks Activision Buyout
Didn't see that one coming
In a dramatic twist that we frankly never saw coming, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has blocked Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard after months of investigations and deliberations. Microsoft's industry-shaking $69 billion buyout of the colossal publisher has, predictably, been the subject of...
News AI Can Be a Tool for More Efficient Game Development, Says Sony Veteran
Shuhei Yoshida is positive on AI
There's a big old debate going on around artificial intelligence right now, and it won't be going away any time soon. AI technology is advancing so quickly that it's becoming difficult to imagine a future where it doesn't play an important role in creative processes — and that could be especially true of game...
Let it end
The bell tolls for Call of Duty on PlayStation, as a (pay-walled) Financial Times report indicates the CMA's long-awaited decision regarding Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of publisher Activision Blizzard could come down as soon as tomorrow, and in the Xbox parent company's favour. There really isn't too much more to say;
News A Future Dominated by Service Games Would Be 'Boring', Says PlayStation's Shuhei Yoshida
A legend speaks
In a new interview with The Guardian, living PlayStation legend Shuhei Yoshida has spoken about the importance of creative diversity in games. At 59 years old, the Japanese veteran has seen it all over the life of Sony's gaming brand, but still finds himself saying "the games industry will never cease to be a fun place". Yoshida,...
News Sounds Like PlayStation Has Grand Plans for Guerrilla's 'Ambitious' Decima Engine
More PS Studios games to use it?
One of the main reasons Horizon Zero Dawn took so long to make is because Guerrilla Games created a brand new engine with which to build it. Known as the Decima Engine, it's only been put to use on a few games so far (that we know of), but the results speak for themselves. In addition to Aloy's debut and the sequel,...