Tag: Industry - Page 44
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...
News Single Player Games Are Really Struggling Right Now
Dark times for offline play
Are you the kind of person that prefers your games to be single player focused? Do you dislike this whole service-based initiative that many publishers appear to have adopted? Hard luck. In the wake of layoffs at Agents of Mayhem developer Volition, NPD analyst Mat Piscatella has been chatting with Games Beat about the...
News Agents of Mayhem Developer Volition Struck by Layoffs
Deep Silver supposedly unhappy with sales
Volition, the developer behind Agents of Mayhem but best known for the Saints Row series, has been struck by a round of layoffs. News comes courtesy of Kotaku sources, though owner Deep Silver has yet to comment on the situation. Reports suggest that more than 30 people have been made redundant, from a team...
News Sony Doesn't See Much Potential in Portable Platforms
Game over
Don’t hold your breath for a new portable PlayStation platform, as Sony has suggested that it doesn’t see much potential in the handheld market. Speaking with Bloomberg, group president Andrew House explained that the company doesn’t see a “huge opportunity” for the sector outside of Asia, and that it’s focusing on living room...
News Everybody's Gone to the Rapture at UK Studio The Chinese Room
Developer going dark for the time being
The Chinese Room has not officially closed, but it no longer has any staff aside from husband and wife directors Dan Pinchbeck and Jessica Curry. The studio – perhaps best known for Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture – has decided to “go dark” for the immediate future, as it figures out what it’s...
News Assassin's Creed Origins Up for Golden Joysticks Game of the Year Despite Not Being Out Yet
Mario Odyssey, too
Voting for this year's Golden Joystick Awards has opened, giving us a look at the nominees for the upcoming event. Unsurprisingly, the likes of Horizon: Zero Dawn and Persona 5 are contenders for multiple awards, but what's really caught our attention is the fact that two unreleased games are up for the...
News Square Enix Wants to Focus More on Multiplayer and Service Games Going Forward
This'll go down well
"Gone are the days in which single-player games were of primary status and multiplayer games secondary. Lately, multiplayer games have taken the lead, and it is standard for games to be designed for long-term play," reads Square Enix's 2017 annual report. "We will also endeavor to develop games designed not to be played once...
News Uncharted, The Last of Us Director Bruce Straley Departs Naughty Dog
Woof
He’s been on sabbatical for a year, but Naughty Dog veteran Bruce Straley will not be returning to the kennel. After spending 18 years at the Californian company, The Last of Us and Uncharted director has called time on his tenure at the award-winning studio. There’s no word on what he’ll do next, but we’re sure that we’ll be hearing...
News Sony Reveals TGS 2017 PS4 Software Lineup
Monster Hunter! Yakuza! Gran Turismo!
Sony’s booth at TGS 2017 will only be dwarfed by those belonging to Japan’s biggest smartphone success stories – but that’s the state of the industry overseas these days. Nevertheless, the platform holder has booked out plenty of space to showcase a slew of PlayStation 4 titles, including local...
News Uncharted 4 Was Almost An Entirely Different Game
Book reveals title's turbulent tale
Do you remember the very early days of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End? There was a mass exodus at developer Naughty Dog, with franchise director Amy Hennig being the most notable departure. Rumour had it that the sequel was in dire straits, and The Last of Us creators Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley were ushered in...
Gamescom 2017 PS4 Crime Thriller Hidden Agenda Wins Another Award
Assassin's Creed Origins voted best PS4 game
Supermassive Games’ smartphone-powered crime thriller Hidden Agenda is quietly starting to scoop up a sizeable number of awards, having netted the casual game gong at Gamescom 2017 – upon landing a similar statue at E3 2017. In truth, this was a lean year for PlayStation 4 winners at the German...
News Naughty Dog Is Hiring, Like, Everyone for The Last of Us: Part II
Studio on enormous recruitment spree
Looks like The Last of Us: Part II is about to enter full production, as Naughty Dog is hiring for… Well, a frightening number of new positions. The award-winning developer’s looking for everything from artists to programmers to designers to animators to… Well, you get the picture. You can find out more...
News Persona Maker Atlus Finally Found Europe on a Map
There is a God
Atlus fans have had it rough in Europe over the past few years. Persona 5 did just about make it out on time here – primarily thanks to a publishing partnership that the Japanese company signed with Deep Silver – but past releases from the firm have been notorious for their setbacks in the old world. And that’s if they even made...
Gamescom 2017 Sony Looking to Market PS4 to a New Audience
"The core gamer audience is bought in"
Sony wants the PlayStation 4 to appeal to a wider audience now that it’s successfully sold 60 million units. Talking about its new PlayLink line – where the games are controlled using a smartphone rather than a more traditional DualShock 4 – bigwig Jim Ryan believes that appealing to a new market outside...
Soapbox Pixel Art Is Prolific, and That's Pretty Great
Stephen loves modern gaming's diverse art styles
Video games have been around for a while now. We’ve now reached a position where children who played, and were inspired by, games such as Pac-Man, DOOM, or Super Mario Bros are now making games of their own. Chris Davis, creator of The Escapists, puts it like this: “I also happen to be a big...
News NieR: Automata May Very Well Have Saved Platinum Games
2B's bubble butt cushions company to safety
Platinum Games is no stranger to bombas, with practically every title that it’s developed flopping at some point or other. But you may remember that not too long ago, the studio was put in a difficult position: Xbox One exclusive Scalebound was cancelled, and NieR: Automata didn’t look like it was...
Soapbox Why Is Sound So Underappreciated in Games?
Sammy wants you to open your ears
It’s always about the graphics, isn’t it? Video games are, by their very nature, a visual medium – and we tend to judge technical progress by the number of polygons or pixels being displayed on screen. We analyse in deep detail the lighting, the resolution – heck, the rise of Digital Foundry means that even...
"We had no idea it'd be this popular"
We’re going trumpet our own horn a little bit here: we told you time and time again that Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy was going to be huge. But it seems even Activision didn’t predict the PlayStation 4 remake’s, ahem, N. Sane success – with CEO Eric Hirshberg admitting during an earnings call that the...
News Four Years After Launch, Grand Theft Auto Online Just Had Its Best Quarter
Gangster's paradise
Grand Theft Auto Online enjoyed its best ever quarter in the period spanning 1st April to 30th June – despite the game being almost four years old. Take-Two confirmed the tidbit during an earnings call earlier today, where it revealed that the mode smashed “sales expectations and was the single largest contributor to...
News Ubisoft Games Are Selling Way Better on PS4 Than on Other Platforms
PS4 share sees a jump over 2016
Ubisoft games have always performed well on the PlayStation 4, and going by the publisher's latest financial report, that fact's not going to change anytime soon. In this quarter of 2016, 31 per cent of Ubisoft's game sales were on PS4 -- an already big share that's actually jumped this year. Sony's console accounted...
News Gaming Greats Pay Respects to George A. Romero
Filmmaker passes away aged 77
George A. Romero, the legendary director behind the Living Dead series of movies, has passed away. The veteran – who appeared as a character in Call of Duty: Black Ops – is considered by many to be the father of the zombie genre, and his enormous influence can be felt all over the video game industry. It’s not...
News E3 2017's Game Critics Awards Miss Some Heavy Hitters
Best of the rest
The nominees for the E3 2017 Game Critics Awards are in – and they’re missing a significant number of games. So the thing here is that the media had to be able to play at least five minutes of a title for it to be eligible, meaning that the likes of God of War, Spider-Man, Monster Hunter: World, Shadow of the Colossus, and...
News Industry Is Better When Nintendo Is Strong, Says Sony
Platform holder doesn't think it'll be easy for Xbox One X
Sony’s weighed in once again on the early success of the Nintendo Switch, stressing that it believes the increased presence in the space is a “good thing”. PlayStation Europe president Jim Ryan spoke earnestly about the positive reception the hybrid hardware has received, noting that...
News Well, May As Well Get the E3 2018 Tag Started, Right?
Next year's show dated
The industry’s barely had time to put a full-stop on E3 2017, but already it’s time to turn our attention to E3 2018. Good god! Anyway, the Entertainment Software Association – the group responsible for organising the annual show – has confirmed that next year’s event will take place between 12th June and 14th June,...
Reaction Curtain Closes on Ill-Tempered E3 2017
Forgettable show has been feisty
Well, this one won’t live long in the memory, will it? E3 2017 has been fine, but it’s been far from vintage, and we’re struggling to think of any one announcement or theme that we’ll remember in the days to come – yet alone years. In fact, if there’s any one defining feature that’s really stood out,...
Report Konami Still Freakin' Hates Hideo Kojima
The publisher's not happy
Hell hath no fury like Konami scorned, apparently. A report in Japanese newspaper Nikkei has revealed that the ongoing feud between the Japanese publisher and Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima is ongoing – despite him having left the company years ago following the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Back then...
News Sony: We're Not Frightened of Xbox Scorpio
Company won't be losing any sleep
Sony’s been busy conducting interviews with some of the biggest publications in the industry, and it’s inevitably been asked about Project Scorpio – the upcoming PS4 Pro-esque upgrade for the Xbox One, which is scheduled to release later this year. And it’s admitted that, while it’s eager to see what...
News Sony: We See PS4 and Nintendo Switch Sitting Side-by-Side
Manufacturer thinks console's a “great success for Nintendo”
Sony’s been running a lot of interviews ahead of E3 2017 this week, and PlayStation America boss Shawn Layden’s been chatting a little bit about the Nintendo Switch, which has gotten off to a strong start since its release in early March. Speaking with TIME, the suit said that the...
News PS4 Is Still Crushing the Competition, Especially in Europe
Sony shares new numbers
The PlayStation 4 is still well on track to being one of the most successful consoles that Sony has ever launched. Over the last few years, the current-gen machine has shown now signs of slowing down, and fresh comments from PlayStation bosses Shawn Layden and Jim Ryan only nail that point home. In an interview...
News Ubisoft Has a New Logo and a Pretentious Explanation for It
French swirl
Ubisoft’s got a new logo that’s… Virtually identical to the old one. The purple swirl that you may have become accustomed to seeing at the start of Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, or Far Cry is now a transparent white swirl. The font’s different, too, so there’s that. But why all this change? Here’s what the publisher had...
News PlayStation Chief Shawn Layden Doesn't Enjoy Gaming Exec Fame
Meme streak
They get turned into superheroes in GIFs and some even idolise them, but it’s important to remember that gaming executives are exactly that: gaming executives. They’re hired to make difficult (and, honestly, often boring) business decisions – not act like rock stars. And in a wide-ranging interview with Polygon, current PlayStation...
News Microsoft's Mixer Could End Up Being Beamed to PlayStation
Twitch must be twitching in its boots
Microsoft wants to switch Twitch users to its own Mixer platform, and it’s open to bringing the app to PlayStation if that will help its cause. For those of you who don’t know, the streaming site formerly known as Beam is basically an alternative to more popular games broadcasting destinations – it’s the...
Soapbox Why Did Sony Ditch Two of the Best Games of the Year?
Sammy's worried about Sony's portfolio
PlayStation’s enjoying one of the most prolific periods in its history. The start to 2017 has seen the release of several high-profile first-party games, like Gravity Rush 2 and Horizon: Zero Dawn. But being a glass half-empty kinda guy, I feel it could have been even better: what the heck happened with What...
News PSN Surges to 70 Million Monthly Active Users
Have some MAU
Sales numbers are important, but engagement metrics are just as meaningful in this social media age. Sony has revealed, then, that the PlayStation Network currently has 70 million monthly active users. To be clear, this statistic is not restricted to paying PlayStation Plus subscribers – it accounts for anyone who’s logged in to...
News Ubisoft Hints at New IP for 2018-2019 Release
Four AAA titles to release next financial year
Ubisoft has published its earnings report for the last financial year and outlined its plans for the near future, revealing that – in the financial year starting on 1st April 2018 and ending on 30th April 2019 – the French giant will publish four new AAA games. Three of those will be from...
News Square Enix Makes Shock Decision to Sell Hitman Developer
Wacked
Well, this is a bolt from the blue: Square Enix has announced its intention to sell Hitman developer IO Interactive. The studio – behind one of the best games of the previous year – was believed to be working on a second season of stealth missions, but now the much-loved brand’s future has been put in jeopardy. In a note to investors,...
News Job Simulator Studio Snapped Up by Google
Will continue to support PlayStation VR
Google has bought Owlchemy Labs, the developer behind the excellent PlayStation VR launch title Job Simulator. The news comes shortly after Sony teamed up with the American company to release its tongue-in-cheek virtual reality title at retail. Fortunately, the acquisition will not prevent the developer from...
News EA Axes Mass Effect as BioWare Montreal Is Scaled Down
Reaper what you sow
You should know the saying by now: release a sub-par game and EA’s going to make you pay the price. Not heard that one before? No, us neither, but it sounds like Mass Effect: Andromeda’s mixed reception may have temporarily put a nail in the coffin of the once excellent sci-fi series. The ever-reliable Jason Schreier of...
News Ex-Fable Chief Joins Sony to Lead AAA PlayStation VR Projects
From Lionhead Studios to London Studio
The former chief of Microsoft’s shuttered Lionhead Studios has been headhunted by Sony’s own London Studio to lead the development of AAA PlayStation VR projects. Stuart Whyte, who’ll begin work this coming Monday, has a long and storied history in the industry, having held positions at legendary UK...
News EA Expects Digital to Account for Almost Half of Game Sales Soon
The digital future is coming
You may not like it, but the digital future is coming. While physical still very much has its place – and publishers are doing pretty cool things with their retail products these days – the reality is that purchases on the PlayStation Store are on the rise, and it’s only a matter of time before digital transactions...
Poll Should Sony Allow Early Access Games on PS4?
Pay now, finish later
The terribly named multiplayer phenomenon PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was announced for the PlayStation 4 this week, but the reveal was met with real scepticism. Sony’s policy on Early Access is a bit confused: in 2014 it said it was looking into ways of su
News Ubisoft May Be Taken Over by Vivendi Before the Year Is Out
Money talks
For quite a while now, mega media company Vivendi has slowly but surely been buying up shares in Ubisoft - the French publisher behind the likes of Assassin's Creed and Ghost Recon. Once Vivendi owns 30 per cent of Ubisoft's shares - it currently holds 25 per cent - it'll be required by French law to make the publisher an offer,...
News Sony Shares Surge Ahead of Predicted Best Profit in 20 Years
Holding out for a Hirai
Sony is expected to record its best profit in two decades this week, which has caused the company's shares to surge. The firm's stock closed 3.84 per cent higher in Japan amid chatter that the organisation may be on the verge of reporting its strongest profit since 1998. The organisation recently indicated that its upcoming...
News Square Enix Running Life Is Strange Focus Groups in London and New York
We're totally cereal
It looks like the sun hasn't set on Life Is Strange, as Square Enix has invited fans to focus groups in London and New York next month. Scheduled to take place on 3rd May and 5th May respectively, the sessions will presumably be used to pitch fans on potential sequel ideas – or at least get some feedback on where followers see...
News Days Gone Dev Sony Bend Moving to New Digs After Rapid Expansion
Studio has more than doubled in size
As work on Days Gone continues, Sony Bend is growing at a rapid pace. A report published by Oregon newspaper The Bulletin notes that the infamously low-profile firm is to occupy a new office this fall, as it begins to outgrow its current digs. Apparently, the studio has expanded from 45 to 103 employees recently,...
