Tag: Industry - Page 41
News Sony's PhyreEngine Adds Support for Nintendo Switch
Fanning the flames
Sony’s game development toolset PhyreEngine appears to have added support for the Nintendo Switch, judging by documentation in the system’s recently released Dragon Quest Builders demo. It’s not a massive surprise, of course, as the software already supports the Xbox One, iOS, and Android – in addition to the family of...
News Jim Ryan Promoted to Deputy President of Sony Interactive Entertainment
Congratulations
Jim Ryan is one of a few Sony suits you'll recognise from previous press conferences. He's been with the company since 1994, and was made president of SIE Europe in 2011. He was also made head of global sales and marketing in 2016, and helped launch the PS4 Pro and PlayStation VR. His hard work seems to have paid off, as he's...
News Former DriveClub, Motorstorm Devs Working on Sci-Fi Title as Wushu Studios
New frontier
Some potentially exciting news for you here: former DriveClub and Motorstorm leads are heading up a brand new Liverpool-based development team -- and they're working on an all-new sci-fi property. Named Wushu Studios, the outfit's still in the process of hiring talent and expanding, but it probably won't be too long until we hear...
News Quantic Dream 'Surprised' by Allegations About Studio Culture
Update: French developer releases official statement
Quantic Dream once again finds itself in the centre of a whirlwind, as three separate French reports have called into question the culture of the studio and its management. Publications such as Le Monde, Canard PC, and
News Crash Bandicoot Outsells Destiny 2 at UK Retail in 2017
Woah!
A brand new set of figures concerning last year's sales of physical games in the UK has emerged, courtesy of gamesindustry.biz. In a comprehensive breakdown of the UK games market for 2017, it's revealed that physical sales were down by 0.4%, but revenue increased by 2.1% to £792m. Perhaps most interestingly, however, is the list of the top...
News Sony Boss John Kodera's Twitter Account May Have Been Fake
Update: Shuhei Yoshida confirms
A new Twitter account for incoming PlayStation president John Kodera appeared this week, retweeting corporate intel like PlayStation 4 sales figures and such. It was promptly followed by various Sony employees, lending legitimacy to the handle. However, as of this morning it’s been suspended, suggesting it may have...
Weirdness This Is What CES 2018 Looks Like When the Power Goes Out
Lights out
If you’ve ever been to an electronics convention before, you’ll know that they’re filled with loud music and flashing lights. What happens, then, when the power goes out? Well, that’s exactly what occurred at CES 2018 in Las Vegas earlier today, where parts of the South and Central Halls were plunged into darkness. Honestly,...
News SIE CEO John Kodera Says not to Worry About First Party Games Going the Service Route
Phew
Back when Andy House left his role as President of Sony Interactive Entertainment, there were concerns that his replacement, John Kodera, was a little too keen on microtransactions. In a conference call a few months ago, it was discussed that PlayStation would look into the possibility of adding more in-game purchases to future titles, a...
News Insomniac Games Weighs in on the Dangers of the Vocal Minority
Blah blah blah
We all know that the Internet can be an exhausting place to exist. There are opinions everywhere you turn, and it can be difficult to determine your own views as a result. What, then, do you do when you’re a developer and forums are aflame with complaints and criticisms about your latest game? In an interesting interview with Games...
News Gaming Hardware Company Mad Catz Returns
Just a scratch
You may remember that, about 9 months ago, Mad Catz filed for bankruptcy and shut down. The company was a large player in the gaming peripheral world, with arcade sticks, controllers, and much more to its name. Fortunately, it has made a miraculous recovery, and under the name Mad Catz Global Limited, is set to release an all new line...
News Platinum Games' Next Title Could've Been a Princess Clothing Making Game
Studio exploring options going forward
When you think of Platinum Games, you think of fast, fluid action titles and flamboyant style. However, in a recent interview with Game Informer, head of development Atsushi Inaba spoke about the studio's search for new projects, and among them were some unexpected possibilities. When asked about where the...
News Jet Set Radio Evo Pitched to SEGA, Sony Loved Concept
But project went no further
Would you turn that radio down, we’re trying to tell you about a Jet Set Radio pitch that SEGA passed on. Over the course of the weekend, Austin-based developer Dinosaur Games has revealed a “visual proof of concept” for a title named Jet Set Radio Evo, which it pitched to the Japanese publisher at the Game...
News Deus Ex Developer Eidos Montreal Moving Towards Online Experiences
Marvel-ous
The developer behind the most recent Deus Ex games, Eidos Montreal, has today released a new vision statement outlining the studio’s direction moving forward. Going against the grain of its own recent history, studio head David Anfossi says that “online experiences” will be a key part of the company's future. Here’s what he had to...
News The Game Awards 2017 Watched by a Mind-Boggling 11.5 Million
Wow
Proof that perseverance almost always pays off: Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards 2017 was watched by a mind-boggling 11.5 million people – legitimising the ceremony, and painting a positive future for the event. The best news is that it was actually excellent this year, with a perfect balance of awards, reveals, and industry tributes. Hats...
News Sony: We Can't Ignore the Nintendo Switch
Manufacturer remaining on its toes
It’s going to take a little more time before we’re able to determine just how big the Nintendo Switch is going to be, but one thing’s for sure: it’s no Wii U. The hybrid will likely end up lapping the Big N’s last effort several times over, and that’s got the PlayStation division on its toes. Speaking...
News Geoff Keighley Teases at Least 15 World Premieres for The Game Awards
Hype machine
Geoff Keighley's in full hype train mode as we race towards The Game Awards 2017. The big man has let slip that the production will play host to at least 15 world premieres, across both the pre-show and the main event. During a quick question and answer session, Keighley said that The Game Awards has "three or four things in the...
News Nearly 80,000 People Have Signed a Petition to Revoke EA's Star Wars License
It's a conspiracy
Petitions never, ever work in the video game industry, but with nearly 80,000 people signing a petition to take the Star Wars game license away from Electronic Arts, it's clear that many consumers want to send a message to the controversial company following their antics of the past few weeks. EA's relationship with its customers...
News Doritos Wanted Geoff Keighley to Host The Game Awards as the Doritos Pope
Seriously
In the lighter days prior to the GamerGate scandal, there was an image of Geoff Keighley that went viral. It showed the journalist-turned-presenter sitting uncomfortably, surrounded by Doritos, Mtn Dew, and various bits of Halo paraphernalia. Fans, as they’re wont to do, had a little fun with the picture, and thus the Doritos Pope was...
News EA: Battlefront 2 Scandal a Great Learning Experience, Not Giving Up on Microtransactions
"You don't want Darth Vader in pink"
The past few weeks have not deterred EA from pursuing the “notion of microtransactions”, although the company’s clearly been humbled by the controversy surrounding Star Wars Battlefront 2 – a scandal which it has described as a “great learning experience”. For those of you who’ve been living under a...
News Sony: We Announced Some PS4 Games Too Early
Company candid about perceived errors
Perhaps one of the most vocal criticisms aimed at Sony is that it announces games too early. While we’re yet to see any real big cancellations from the company since the heady days of The Getaway 3, it has been at the helm of some laughably late projects – the brilliant but embarrassingly overdue The Last...
News UK Gambling Commission Has Its Say on the Loot Box Saga
Not gambling but not necessarily okay
Belgium’s already declared loot boxes to be a form of gambling, and indicated that it wants to take its ruling to Europe in order to prohibit the sale of random in-app purchases. Now the UK Gambling Commission has weighed in on the sticky subject matter, stating that while it doesn’t believe the...
News Retrace the Steps Leading to EA's Star Wars Loot Box Scandal
Andrew Wilson's ultimate dream
Most of the videos about Star Wars Battlefront 2 and loot boxes are basically just ‘Tubers screaming obscenities into Blue Yeti microphones, but this one by Skill Up is ten times more damning: it includes actual research. The 25 minute clip is a little on the long side, but it packs some fascinating info, retracing...
News Creative Assembly Embarks on Its Biggest Ever Multiformat Project
But unlikely to be more Alien
UK developer Creative Assembly, best known for Alien Isolation and a wealth of strategy games, is hiring for what’s being described as the “biggest multiplatform project [the developer] has ever undertaken”. Word comes way of a “studio insider”, quoted by the reliable PCGamesN. Apparently, the game is a new...
News Belgium Reckons Loot Boxes Are Gambling, Wants Them Banned in Europe
Declares the mix of gaming and gambling dangerous
Just another reason to pull the plug on Brexit: Belgium’s Gaming Commission has declared loot boxes to be a form of gambling – and it wants to ban them across Europe. News comes courtesy of VTM (via PC Gamer), with the verdict of a recent investigation determining that loot boxes are indeed a...
News Analyst: Gamers Are Overreacting Over Star Wars, Publishers Should Increase Prices
A different perspective
Well, here’s a take you won’t be hearing on next week’s Jimquisition: KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Evan Wingren believes that gamers are overreacting over Star Wars Battlefront 2’s microtransaction saga – and that publishers should increase the price of their software as they’re undercharging. We sure hope he...
News The Story of Kaz Hirai, Sony's Oddball CEO, Is Worth Reading
The suit who saved Sony
Sony was a bruised behemoth when Kaz Hirai took the helm in 2012; the company is now on the verge of recording its best-ever financial performance since all the way back in 1998. The former PlayStation president has completely transformed the juggernaut’s fortunes, then – but what is the secret to his success? A brilliant...
News Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards Return on the 7th December
Will you be watching?
The big man himself, Geoff Keighly, is back again next month with 2017's instalment of The Game Awards. Keighley's been putting together and hosting these award shows for a good few years now, spotlighting the best games and developers of the last 12 months. The shows themselves are a little too gaudy for some people's tastes,...
News EA Pondering Subscription-Based Services Instead of Traditional Game Releases
And it won't be the only one
Mega publishers like EA are always planning for the future, and CEO Andrew Wilson says that the company is looking at various rather interesting business models going forward. Speaking to Bloomberg, the exec ponders whether we'll eventually see subscription-based gaming instead of more traditional models like annual...
News PS5 Is Still At Least Two Years Away, Says Ubisoft
Next-gen chatter begins
You won’t be playing on a PlayStation 5 until at least 2019, according to Ubisoft. In an investors call earlier this week, CEO Yves Guillemot declared that he believes new consoles are “a minimum of two years” away. We’d always assumed Sony would release a new system in 2019, too – but we’re actually starting to...
News Telltale Culls a Quarter of Its Staff As It Refocuses on Quality
The staff will remember that
Telltale has cut a quarter of its staff, amounting to about 90 of its full-time employees. The cuts come as the company begins a “comprehensive restructuring” that it hopes will make it “more competitive as a developer and publisher of ground-breaking story-driven gaming experiences”. Basically, it wants to make...
News Microsoft May Bring First-Party Franchises to PlayStation in the Future
Halo, goodbye?
Microsoft already publishes multiformat games with Minecraft, but as the organisation increasingly looks to expand the reach of its services and subscriptions, there could come a time when it releases franchises like Halo and Gears of War on PlayStation platforms. That’s according to boss Phil Spencer, who’s revealed in an...
News Hob, Torchlight Developer Runic Games Is No More
Hob gone
Torchlight developer Runic Games has been shuttered by parent company Perfect World Entertainment – and there’s a pun in there somewhere which probably isn’t appropriate to use. Anyway, the studio most recently released the likeable – but, ultimately, overlooked – Hob on the PlayStation 4. It is, however, no more. “I'm sorry to...
News Digital Game Sales are Now a Huge Factor in the UK, and Charts Really Need to Track Them
Even for AAA games
More and more people are opting to buy games digitally in the UK, and the shift towards purchasing titles from online marketplaces such as the PlayStation Store is happening faster than most predicted. According to data that Games Industry has obtained, we're seeing a huge increase in users buying AAA games digitally rather than...
News Housemarque Canning Coin-Op After Commercial Flops
Arcade is dead
Housemarque is renowned for its arcade games, but the Finnish developer is moving on from the kind of coin-op experiences you’d typically associate with the company. Writing on its website, CEO Ilari Kuittinen explains that despite high reviews for releases like Nex Machina and Resogun, the studio’s games don’t sell in...
News Sounds Like PlayStation's New Boss Is a Fan of Microtransactions
Exploring in-game purchases for exclusives
Uh oh! PlayStation president Andrew House departed recently and has been replaced with John Kodera, a Sony veteran whose previous roles include running Sony Network Entertainment. He’s largely a services guy, which bodes well for future expansion of the oft-maligned PlayStation Network – but it also...
News PS4 Has Shipped 67.5 Million Units, Sony Increases Forecast
Expects PS4 to match PS3's install base in half the time
Sony has shipped a dizzying 67.5 million PlayStation 4 consoles as of 30th September, the manufacturer’s latest financial results reveal. The organisation moved an impressive 4.2 million units in the quarter spanning 1st July to 30th September, meaning that it’s once again up...
News GameStop's Power Pass Lets You Effectively Rent Used Games
$60 for six months and all the games you want
With more and more gamers flocking to digital storefronts, US mega-retailer GameStop is locked in a battle to remain relevant. Its latest solution? The newly leaked Power Pass: a $60 six month subscription that will give you access to an unlimited selection of pre-owned games. You’ll be able to swap...
News Microsoft Says Single Player Games Are Becoming Complicated
It's complicated, man
Sony’s portfolio is flooded with primarily single player experiences, but as part of a wider discussion regarding the future of solitary releases, Xbox Publishing boss Shannon Loftis believes the economics are becoming increasingly complicated. Speaking with GameSpot, she noted how gamers’ insatiable demand for better...
News NeoGAF Veterans Flock to New Forum Named ResetEra
A fresh start
A group of intrepid ex-NeoGAF posters have banded together to create a new forum named ResetEra, and already it’s recruited over 7,000 members – despite registration being invite only for the time being. The site – which has been founded by some of the forum’s most popular users – is promising a new beginning for enthusiasts,...
News Ninja Theory's Hellblade Has Exceeded Sales Expectations
But hasn't broken even yet
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice may not be the best game of the year, but it’s certainly one of the most memorable. Ninja Theory’s tale of mental illness was harrowing and hard to parse – but it was effective in using the medium to convey a very specific state of mind. So it’s refreshing to hear that it’s...
News Gaming Forum NeoGAF Returns as Site Owner Responds to Allegations
"It'll be a process"
For several days the hardcore gaming forum NeoGAF has been inaccessible, but the site is now operational once more. This follows allegations of sexual misconduct against its owner Tyler 'Evilore' Malka, which resulted in a mass walkout of moderators and a significant number of banned accounts before the site was taken offline...
News EA Moving to More Monetisable Open World Games
Some spent up to $15,000 on Mass Effect multiplayer cards
EA wants to release more games with “monetisable” open worlds, ex-BioWare staffer Manveer Heir has hinted in a 90-minute interview with Waypoint published over the weekend. The comments come in the wake of Visceral Games’ closure, where a statement from bigwig Patrick Soderlund seemed...
News Enthusiast Forum NeoGAF Offline Amid Allegations Against Owner
Believe
Hardcore video game community NeoGAF imploded over the weekend after allegations against the site’s owner went viral. A Facebook post appearing to accuse Tyler ‘Evilore’ Malka of sexual misconduct emerged on Saturday, prompting a moderator exodus as threads on the subject were shutdown. A statement was apparently being prepared but...
Poll Do You Think Single Player Games Are Really In Danger of Dying Out?
A dark future?
There was a big ruckus earlier this week when it was revealed that EA had shut down Visceral Games -- the developer behind the once fantastic Dead Space series. The studio was working on a single player Star Wars title -- that one that's been in development for what seems like an eternity -- and EA said in a statement that it had...
News EA Flings Dead Space Developer Visceral into Outer-Space
Studio shut down and Star Wars back to the drawing board
Visceral Games, the Californian developer best known for the Dead Space franchise, has been shut down. The studio most recently released Battlefield Hardline, which was met with mixed reviews. It’s since been working on an original Star Wars title helmed by Uncharted director Amy Hennig,...
News Naughty Dog Responds to Sexual Harassment Allegations
"We have not found any evidence"
Over the course of the weekend, former Naughty Dog employee David Ballard publicly stated that he was a victim of sexual harassment during his tenure at the developer. He claimed that he was harassed by a “lead” in late 2015, and after sharing his complaints with Sony’s HR department, he alleges that he was...
News Ratings Board Rules That Loot Boxes in Games Aren't a Form of Gambling
Lucky roll
Loot boxes are a hot topic right now, with Middle-earth: Shadow of War and its unnecessary microtransaction push at the very centre of the debate. One argument that we've seen spring up numerous times, especially over the last few weeks, is that loot boxes are essentially a form of gambling -- and more should be done to regulate them in...
News Xbox Boss Isn't Optimistic About Sony Changing Its Cross-Platform Play Policy
What's new?
It's time to talk about cross-platform play again! Yay! The conversation that simply never seems to end, the topic has once again been brought forward off the back of comments made by Xbox boss Phil Spencer. Talking to GameSpot, the chatty exec reveals that he doesn't hold out much hope when it comes to Sony changing its stance on the...
Poll Where Do You Stand on Microtransactions?
The big debate
In-game purchases, otherwise known as microtransactions, have been around for years. Originally associated with free-to-play titles in which you could spend real money to buy various bits and pieces, microtransactions have inevitably wormed their way into more traditional games. Like we say, this has been going on for years, but...
News PlayStation Chief Andrew House Leaves Sony After Over 25 Years
John Kodera steps up
Surprise! Andrew House has stepped down from his position as PlayStation president, with his deputy John Kodera taking the reins. The sudden change brings an end to a 25-plus year career at Sony, though the bearded businessman will hang around as director and chairman for a few more months before finally setting off into the...
