Tag: Industry - Page 35
News Yager Development Won't Be Working on Dead Island 2 Anymore
Get back in that grave
Dead Island 2 has seen its fair share of development troubles, but things are now coming to a temporary close, as publisher Deep Silver has announced that it's cutting ties with German developer Yager Development. No specific reasons were given, but it's easy to infer that the title's quality was a big problem. "With Dead...
News Ubisoft's Jade Raymond Joins EA, Forms Motive Studios
Motive, means, and opportunity
Jade Raymond, the producer on the original Assassin's Creed and the former managing director of Ubisoft Toronto, has joined Electronic Arts. The industry veteran will be building a new studio under the publisher's umbrella named Motive Studios, which will be based in Montreal, Canada. It'll start by supporting Visceral...
News PlayStation Pays Its Respects to Nintendo's Satoru Iwata
Rest in peace
There are days for debate and discussion – and then there are days for respect and reflection. Nintendo confirmed the premature passing of CEO Satoru Iwata overnight, and while he spent his entire career at the House of Mario, his incredible influence can be felt across the entire industry at large. As a consequence, many of...
News As H1Z1's Servers Come Back Online, Lizard Squad Continues Harassment
Now offering money for someone to deface CEO's father's grave
After the ridiculous drama that went down this week, Daybreak Game Company is starting to get its games' servers back online. Although PlanetSide 2 is still unplayable for many, H1Z1 appears to be back in working order. However, there's a lot more than video games going on right now. John...
News Kojima Productions Has Disbanded, Says Solid Snake Voice Actor
The End
It's been a while since we heard anything from Kojima Productions, but according to a not-so cryptic tweet made by Akio Otsuka – the Japanese voice actor for Solid Snake – the developer has officially been disbanded. Writing on Twitter, the veteran larynx lender posted a heartfelt goodbye to the studio that turned him into a star among...
News This Kid Clearly Wishes He'd Won a PS4 at Comic Con
Yay
When companies give away consoles, they do so with the intention of building positive press. Microsoft is on the showfloor at the San Diego Comic Con this weekend, handing out Xbox Ones among various other prizes. But while this winner may have gifted the Redmond firm a viral video, it's not quite the Nintendo 64 sequel that the organisation may...
News PS4 Doubles the Competition When it Comes to Ubisoft Game Sales
A French favourite
Without an early 2015 blockbuster release, Ubisoft's revenue has taken a hit this year. According to the publisher's latest financial report ending the 30th June, sales have declined by 73 per cent year-on-year. Despite the drop, though, the PlayStation 4 has proven to be the popular choice when it comes to the French company's...
News SEGA: We Want to Win Back Gamers' Trust
Quality over quantity
SEGA's reputation as a game publisher has been all but completely tarnished over the past ten or so years, thanks to a slew of lacklustre Sonic the Hedgehog sequels and an astoundingly poor job at importing Japanese hits to the Western market. The company seems to be trying to turn things around, though. In an interview with...
News Sony: Reclaiming Japanese Gamers Is a Focus for Us
The PS4 is showing some "upward swing," says Yoshida
Numbers don't lie: the demand for video games and video game consoles in Japan has dropped significantly over the past few years. But while much of the market is turning its attention to the mobile industry, Sony is trying to breathe life into the PlayStation 4 with new games. That's what Shuhei...
News Sony 'Really Wanted' That Call of Duty: Black Ops III Deal with Activision
Destiny deal helped as well
Whether you realise it or not, Sony teaming up with Activision for Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a big deal. It marks the end of a partnership between Xbox and Activision that lasted nearly an entire console generation, it probably cost Sony a fortune, and – while it won't necessarily guarantee the Japanese giant the...
News Sony: PlayStation TV Is Hard to Explain
Live and learn
PlayStation TV was always an odd product; it was very niche in its capabilities, but never did anything particularly well. It's no surprise, then, that the peripheral sold rather poorly. Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony's Worldwide Studios, seems to agree with us. "It didn't capture the consumers' imaginations," the executive...
News Sony: We Aren't Making Vita Games Because of Consumer Expectations
Say what?
Don't hold your breath for any big budget PlayStation Vita games. Sony stopped seriously supporting the handheld long ago, but its executives are getting to a point where they're so blunt it hurts. Speaking to Game Informer, Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida said that the real reason the Vita isn't being supported is because...
News Here Are the Dates for E3 2016
Prep time
Have you enjoyed watching trailers, reading impressions, and debating video games all week? Good! Now that this year's E3 has come to a close, you can get ready to do it all over again in 2016. Next year's expo will, as always, be at the Los Angeles Convention Centre, and will take place from 14th June to the 16th. Thanks to Geoff Keighley...
News Take-Two Isn't Interested in Yearly Releases, Says CEO
Strauss Zelnick strikes again
Strauss Zelnick is back. Yes, the mythical CEO of Take-Two Interactive is starring in yet another Push Square article. We've been through our fair share of ups and downs over the past few weeks: from the executive denying that Grand Theft Auto V was ever supposed to get story mode DLC to his saying that the
E3 2015 Ready at Dawn Ditching PS4 for Oculus Rift Exclusive
Moving on
Remember that recent Ready at Dawn interview where the Californian company referenced an unannounced piece of hardware? We suspect that it was talking about the Oculus Rift, as it's currently working on an exclusive for the device. The Order: 1886 developer was listed alongside PlayStation alumni Insomniac Games during the virtual reality...
News Dying Light, Mortal Kombat X, and The Witcher 3 Push Warner Bros to the Top Publisher Spot
Batman: Arkham Knight should keep the momentum going
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment is taking the spot of top dog in the first half of 2015, according to The NPD Group. Thanks to the likes of Dying Light, Mortal Kombat X, and the more recent The Witcher 3, the company has risen to be the top-grossing US gaming software publisher of 2015 thus...
Soapbox Why So Many E3 2015 Announcements Are Being Spoiled
Sammy Barker likes surprises, but reckons early reveals make sense
I never tentatively tore the corners of my Christmas presents in order to get a sneaky first look inside. I had friends who claimed to know the contents of all of the gifts nestling beneath their fake fir trees, but I always preferred to wait. In fact, as I got older I tended to...
News The Order: 1886 Maker Is Planning a Multiplatform Future
Developer wants to build, own, and publish its own IPs in the future
The Order: 1886 was met with a mixed reception, and seeing as we haven't heard a whisper about its sales, we're guessing that it flopped at retail, too. It's not an enormous surprise, then, that developer Ready at Dawn now wants to release games on more than the PlayStation 4...
News Take-Two Boss Says PS4 Hasn't Hit Its Full Potential
Greatness awaits
Things are only going to get better for the PlayStation 4 – or at least that's what Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick had to say at the 43rd Annual Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference in New York this past week. "We have yet to see entirely what the technology can allow," the executive said, talking about Sony's new gaming...
News Konami's Really Sorry You Don't Like Its Mobile First Future
But it's going ahead anyway
Konami's finally broken silence on the turmoil that's very publicly taken place inside the organisation of late. As part of an enormous, grovelling statement sent to IGN, it apologised for the anxiety which "conjecture" surrounding its future has caused, and stressed that it will continue to create console games – even...
News Sony Admits PS4 First-Party Lineup Is Looking a Little Sparse This Year
Firm's working hard with third-parties to fill the gap
Sony understands the importance of PlayStation 4 exclusives as it highlighted them in its investor relations presentation earlier today – but president Andrew House is well aware of the fact that the platform holder's first-party lineup is looking a little light this year. "Our first-party...
News Sony's Success Strategy Involves More PS4 Exclusives
A pleasant reminder
Sony, by and large, is starting to turn around its fortunes under the leadership of former PlayStation president Kaz Hirai. While it's still got some way to go, it's a much leaner organisation these days – and it's getting closer and closer to turning a profit. The
News It Looks Like Digital Is the Future for Capcom
Publisher expects digital sales to take off
The digital versus retail discussion has been dragging on for years now, but Japanese publisher Capcom is expecting to see an undeniable turn towards the former in the near future. The company reckons that digital sales will count for the majority of its overall unit sales in the fiscal year ending March...
News Japanese Game Sales Hit a Whole New Low Last Week
The beginning of the end
Japan may be responsible for our love affair with video games, but the country is quickly going off the consoles that it helped to popularise. You may remember the dire Media Create figures that we posted earlier in the week – well, they are worse than you think. Much worse. According to the organisation, last week's...
News So, Looks Like Sony's Already Working on the PS5
A whole new world
While the PlayStation 4 is likely to be around for many years yet, we'd expect Sony to be starting to think about the future right about now. It's already set out its stall with the likes of PlayStation Now, but with Internet infrastructure not quite up to speed, we suspect that there'll be at least one more traditional console...
News Capcom: PS4 Remasters to Represent Key Part of Our Catalogue
Gulp
We hope that you're not fed up of re-releases, as put upon publisher Capcom has revealed that PlayStation 4 remasters are set to represent a significant part of its business moving forwards. The iconic Japanese company recently found significant success by porting Resident Evil – itself based upon the GameCube overhaul of Shinji Mikami's...
News Sony's Seemingly Forming a Fresh First-Party Studio for Project Morpheus
Time for something completely different
Project Morpheus certainly has plenty of promise, but if it stands any chance of succeeding, it will need Sony's full support. The organisation must provide the peripheral with a steady stream of bespoke software, so it's perhaps a good thing that it's seemingly creating a new first-party studio to do just...
News Metal Gear Solid May End Up Being a Mobile Franchise, Says Konami
"Mobile is the future of gaming"
We sincerely hope that you haven't used up all of your hate on Konami over the last couple of months, because we've got a corker for you this afternoon. Translated by NeoGAF member HGH, the Japanese company's new CEO reckons that "mobile is where the future of gaming lies". Surely you can see where this is going?...
News PS3 Owners, It's Time to Upgrade to the PS4
Ubisoft's moving on
There are still lots of people clinging to the fact that the PlayStation 3 has a much larger install base than the PlayStation 4, but the reality is that there are many, many more active users on Sony's super machine. Ubisoft thinks so anyway, as it's ditching development on last-gen systems – well, aside from the odd casual...
News Sucker Punch Powers Up with Motion Capture Studio
Watching your every move
Sony first-party Sucker Punch has taken another step towards PlayStation production powerhouse status, as it's just added the finishing touches to its own internal motion capture studio. Billy Harper, who's the Character and Cinematic Supervisor at the company, revealed the tidbit on Twitter, after taking photographs of the...
News Good Lord, Activision Made $1.28 Billion in 2015's First Quarter
Time to buy another yacht
We're used to seeing plenty of big numbers when it comes to the games industry these days, but this latest figure from mega publisher Activision Blizzard will likely have rival companies turning green with envy. The firm's reported that it earned $1.28 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2015, ending 31st March...
News Lost Planet 3 and Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z Developer Spark Unlimited Closes its Doors
Studio survived for over a decade
It's another rather sad story of studio closure today, as Spark Unlimited, the developer behind the uninspired but solid Lost Planet 3 and the critically panned Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, has shut up shop. The studio told Polygon that some of its team "have decided to move on to other things". Spark Unlimited was...
News PS4 Sales Push Past 22.3 Million as Sony Plans Profits
Holding out for a Hirai
Hacking scandals and closures caused Sony to sink to yet another $1.1 billion loss for the fiscal year that ended on 31st March, but the organisation is finally planning a profit for the 12 months ahead. The company expects to make a cool $1.2 billion for the coming business term, and while iPhone cameras take centre stage, i
News Ubisoft's Donating $100,000 to Nepal After Quake
"Far Cry 4 was heavily inspired by Nepal and its people"
So often we report on shady business practices here on Push Square, but it's nice to know that companies like Ubisoft still have a heart. Following the devastating earthquake in Nepal at the weekend, Far Cry 4 developer Ubisoft Montreal has pledged a whopping $100,000 to aid with support in...
Soapbox You Should Stop Pre-Ordering Games
Sammy Barker's against this scary trend
We've got a problem, readers – and it pertains to pre-ordering games. I never used to be opposed to this practice: I'd regularly drop a fiver at my local GAME on titles that I was looking forward to, and would waltz home happily with a receipt and a pre-order pack – the DVD that came with Metal Gear Solid...
News Not Everyone Thinks Sony's Resting on Its Laurels with PS4
"Sony is working non-stop"
We suppose that it was inevitable: the PlayStation 4 is the undisputed market leader right now, so of course cynics are heralding the return of the evil Sony of old. To be fair, the organisation's not perfect – Shovel Knight couldn't even release on time, for starters. But, as far as we're concerned, there's absolutely...
News Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel Developer Shuts Up Shop
Caught in a Claptrap
Ah, the brutal realities of AAA game development: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was a generally well received entry in Gearbox's lootin', shootin' series – but the developer no longer exists. Kotaku broke the news courtesy of an anonymous source, but publisher 2K Games has since confirmed the closure. "We can confirm that we...
Feature Meet the Man Who's Helping Students Publish PS4, Vita Games
"I want my students to be the next big indie developers"
With the emphasis on exclusives, marketing deals, and services, we rarely take the time to think about gaming at a grass roots level. Trailers and reviews command the majority of our traffic here at Push Square, so it's perhaps easy to overlook all of the effort that goes into schools and...
News Metal Gear Solid Voice Actress Backs Away from Kojima Comments
Burke's feeling like a burk
Hideo Kojima has been fired – at least, that was Metal Gear Solid voice actress Donna Burke's read of the situation last week. Konami has since said that her comments were inaccurate, and, writing on Facebook, the Ground Zeroes performer agreed. "I should be more accurate," she said, no doubt with a drawn
News Konami Fired Hideo Kojima, According to Voice Actress
!
Veteran video game visionary Hideo Kojima was fired by Konami, according to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes actress Donna Burke. Reports earlier in the year revealed that the legendary developer would leave the Japanese publisher once Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was finished – but there was still the slightest possibility that his...
News This Teacher Makes a Great Argument About Children Playing Mature Games
"Younger teachers like me grew up with games"
Last week, you may have seen that there was a bit of a kerfuffle after an alliance of teachers were reportedly cracking down on children playing mature rated games. In a bid to get their stance across, they pointed out that they could potentially contact the police or child social care specialists, and...
News Some UK Schools Are Cracking Down on Children Playing More Mature Games
No more GTA for little Timmy
In an effort to crack down on children playing games that aren't suitable, a group of head teachers in the UK are warning parents that they're entitled to contact the police or child social care if they're found to have access to inappropriate titles. The Nantwich Education Partnership covers numerous schools in...
News DriveClub Developer Evolution Studios to Lose Around Half of Workforce
Dark days
Evolution Studios will lose around 55 team members, sources have told Eurogamer.net. It was announced last week that the Runcorn-based outfit would be struck by layoffs, but now we have an idea of just how hard. The developer, which is currently supporting PlayStation 4 exclusive DriveClub, is roughly 100 staffers strong, so this will...
Soapbox Has It Just Been a Bad Week for Games, Or Is This Simply a Sign of the Times?
Sammy Barker reckons that the industry’s in one big scrap
You've got to take the rough with the smooth – but these past few days have been more rugged than Vin Diesel's right-angled jaw. It's not been a vintage week for the games industry, with Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima seemingly being pushed out of Konami, first-party developer...
News Konami's Recruiting a New Team to Build a Fresh Metal Gear Series
Not like this
Read between the corporate double speak and it's becoming increasingly clear that Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima has been targeted by a tranquiliser gun, bundled into a cardboard box, and put out with the trash. Following yesterday's rumours regarding an internal power struggle, publisher Konami has now revealed its intention t
Feature The Seven Deadly Sins of Game Design
You should know better
Frustration is an emotion that none of us want to feel, especially when we're playing video games. The problem is, of course, that frustration is always lurking just around the corner, unless you're like the gaming equivalent of the most meditative monk in the world – in which case, we salute your patience and understanding...
News DriveClub Developer Waylaid by Layoffs
Studio to focus on Season Pass and PlayStation Plus Edition
As has been rumoured for the past couple of days, DriveClub developer Evolution Studios has been struck by a round of layoffs. The studio best known for the MotorStorm series was purchased by Sony in 2007, but has had to weather some nasty storms in recent years. Long-term readers will...
Rumour Konami Power Struggle Leads to Hideo Kojima Craziness
War never changes
Just as we were going to press with our report on suggestions that Hideo Kojima has parted company with Konami, our friends at GameSpot posted a slightly more speculative article regarding the inner-happenings at the Japanese publisher. According to the site – via an anonymous source – a power struggle between the organisat
News Has Metal Gear Solid Maker Hideo Kojima Quit Konami?
!
The web has gone utterly bonkers today – and not just because Push Square has been offline for the majority of it. While we were playing office charades waiting for our server rack to be fixed, Konami was busy removing references to acclaimed video game veteran Hideo Kojima from virtually every asset under its umbrella. Seriously, it's almost as...
News Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo Are Working Together to Stop DDoS Attacks
Console camaraderie
We may all have different gaming preferences, but we can probably all agree that DDoS attacks suck. Whether it's the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live that goes down, seeing services get targeted by code junkies for their own selfish entertainment is never nice; at the end of the day, we all just want to enjoy our games –...
