Tag: Industry - Page 6
News Activision's 'AI Slop' Strikes Again as Fake Crash Bandicoot, Guitar Hero Games Appear Online
Users forced into surveys instead of gameplay
If its use of generative AI to produce Call of Duty assets wasn't bad enough, Activision is using the controversial tech to create adverts for fake games based on its IPs. It's been noticed how the publisher is advertising on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram for Crash Bandicoot Brawl,...
News Rockstar Acquires Remaster Dev That Fixed Awful GTA Trilogy
Video Games Deluxe becomes Rockstar Australia
GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games has today confirmed its acquisition of Video Games Deluxe, a team it's been working with over the years to remaster the company's back catalogue of games. The two firms began working together on the PS4 version of L.A. Noire, and was most recently drafted in to fix the GTA...
News New Studio from Visions of Mana Co-Director Opened After NetEase Setback
Sasanqua to focus on small projects first
Kenji Ozawa, the co-director of last year's Visions of Mana, has formed a new development team titled Studio Sasanqua following the closure of Ouka Studios. The latter created Visions of Mana — with Square Enix publishing — but the team itself was owned by NetEase. As part of reported efforts to scale...
News Suicide Squad Bombed So Bad, It Basically Took Wonder Woman and Monolith Down with It
MultiVersus didn't help, either
Last year's Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was a flop of colossal proportions for publisher Warner Bros. Interactive — but we're only just now seeing the extent of the damage that its significant commercial shortcomings caused. Earlier this week, news broke that Warner Bros. had effectively taken a...
News Palworld Maker Shuts Up Shop So Staff Can Enjoy Monster Hunter Wilds in Peace
That's one way to do it
Palworld developer Pocketpair has closed its office today, allowing staff to enjoy Monster Hunter Wilds in peace. The studio’s official X (or Twitter) account shared a memo which was sent to employees ahead of 28th February, joking that a number of staff already planned to take a sick day. “Regarding 28th February, we...
News 'Most of the Devs' Reportedly Laid Off from The Callisto Protocol Studio Striking Distance
Krafton declined to provide specific numbers
Striking Distance Studios has been hit with another round of layoffs, parent company Krafton has confirmed, claiming that the studio remains operational and that these further cuts will not impact any in-development projects. The publisher provided a statement to PC Gamer confirming the layoffs, as...
News Fans Are Fuming Warner Bros Patented the Nemesis System But Isn't Using It
We'll all remember that
Wonder Woman was the third game by Monolith expected to use the Nemesis System. The feature – first introduced in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – powers emergent storylines in each individual playthrough, giving antagonists unique personalities which changes how they respond to your actions in the world. The studio...
News Ex-PS Studios Boss Shuhei Yoshida Is Eager for an Invitation to Nintendo HQ
"I've never been"
Shuhei Yoshida has officially left Sony after an awesome 31-year career with the company, and while he hasn’t retired from games entirely, he’s enjoying his new-found freedom. Recently, we’ve heard him speaking candidly on a slew of different podcasts. And in an interview with Japanese publication Gamer.ne.jp, he revealed...
"I love that we can give our studios that opportunity"
More “long-standing, flagship” Xbox franchises will release on PS5, according to first-party boss Craig Duncan, who was speaking as part of an official podcast earlier this week. During the broadcast, the ex-Rare head took the opportunity to announce a delay to Playground Games’ upcoming...
News Steam Deck's Install Base Estimated to Be About a Third of PS Vita
But context is required
Depending on which podcasts you listen to, you may be forgiven for thinking the Steam Deck is the most important platform on the planet. But new market research from IDC estimates the handheld has shipped around four million units since launch, putting it at about a third of the PS Vita’s lifetime total. There is crucial...
News Warner Bros Games Closes Multiple Studios, Wonder Woman Cancelled
Middle-earth series, MultiVerse devs close up shop
The video game industry's grim march continues, with word coming down that publisher Warner Bros. Games has shuttered multiple studios: Monolith Productions (Middle-earth: Shadow of War), Player First Games (MultiVersus), and Warner Bros Games San Diego, which focused on free-to-play mobile games...
News Quantic Dream Responds to Recent Layoffs at Parent Company NetEase
NetEase "hasn't wavered in its global expansion plans"
Quantic Dream, the developer behind Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human (amongst others), has responded to the recent round of layoffs at NetEase as the publisher pulls back from its Western video game endeavours. A wholly-owned subsidiary of NetEase, and having spent years working on Star Wars...
News Sony Steps Up PS5 Shipments in an Effort to Avoid Shortages Amid US Tariff Uncertainty
And other hardware products
In its latest earnings report, Sony has stated some of its planned changes in response to the USA's new tariff policies. The White House has recently introduced a 10 per cent tariff on goods imported from China, described by President Trump as an "opening salvo", with many inferring that harsher levies may follow. This...
News PS5 Maker Faces Lawsuit Over So-Called 'Sony Tax' on Digital Games
Company accused of behaving like a monopolist
Sony has been accused in the Netherlands of having a monopoly over the price of digital games on its PS Store. In what could become a headache for the company, a class action lawsuit claims that it’s violating Dutch and European competition laws by not allowing third-party retailers to sell digital...
News Xbox Plots a Catalogue of AI Games, And It'll Probably Use Tech on PS5
Nadella impressed with Microsoft's new model
In case you missed the news last week, Xbox has been training its artificial intelligence technology on Ninja Theory flop Bleeding Edge, in an effort to eventually make games using generative AI. The company’s failed to communicate a compelling use case for the project it’s naming Muse, but it’s...
News Sony Is Now the Second Largest Company in Japan by Market Cap
Big in Japan
Known as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo when first founded in 1946, the company we now know (and occasionally even love) as Sony, or more appropriately, Sony Group Corporation, has come a very long way, indeed. Not even the costly efforts of some of its top executives to torch money in the name of live service can keep the firm down; it seems the...
News Yakuza Creator's Next Game Will Be Sent to Die As NetEase Implodes
Not good news
Back when Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi left SEGA and signed up with NetEase, it was expected he’d have the resources required to make the next big thing. After all, the Chinese juggernaut was on an outrageous spending spree, with money seemingly no object at all. Now it sounds like his next game will be sent out to die...
News Sony Clarifies the Difference Between First-Party, Second-Party, and So On
Now you know
There’s been a raging debate about the meaning of first-party, second-party, and so on among gaming enthusiasts for eons. For the longest time, it was assumed first-party games were those published by the platform holder and made by internally owned studios, while second-party titles were those titles still published by the platform...
News Space Marine 2 Dev Partners with Hasbro, Working on 'Tentpole IP'
Cluedo, perhaps, or My Little Pony?
Family-friendly toy company Hasbro has partnered with Saber Interactive, developer of one of 2024's most violently grimdark, gore-drenched games in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. The two will work together to bring to life one of Hasbro's "tentpole IPs", which does present some intriguing possibilities...
News Phil Spencer Posits Generative AI Tech Preserving Old Games, Called 'Idiotic' by Expert
Muse technology "not a solution" for game preservation
This week, Microsoft unveiled its latest venture into generative AI technology, and it's getting a mixed reaction, you could say. Called Muse, the tech is a first-of-its-kind AI model that's able to replicate a game based upon video footage and player control inputs. Microsoft's AI research...
News PS5's Secret to Growth in China: Make Local Devs Successful Worldwide
Special sauce
One part of the PlayStation puzzle that’s so often overlooked is how brilliant Sony has been at unlocking new markets. The platform holder’s success is built on reaching territories that its competitors don’t necessarily bother with, and it’s maintained that energy with the PS5 with initiatives like China Hero Project, India...
News Sony Hits Back Hard at Bungie Lead's $200 Million Lawsuit
Fighting words
Just before Christmas, one-time Bungie lead and director of Destiny 2 and Marathon, Chris Barrett, filed a lawsuit against Sony Interactive Entertainment, suing the firm for over $200 million. Sony has substantively replied for the first time, presumably getting its legal ducks in a row behind the scenes, and has come out swinging...
News Bad Handling of Demon's Souls PS3 Meant Sony Missed Out on Dark Souls Publishing
Dev disappointed with how it was treated
The way Sony — and former executive Shuhei Yoshida in particular — handled the PS3 release of Demon's Souls is fairly well documented at this point, with Yoshida claiming he didn't understand the game at the time and calling it "crap". The original effort went on to spawn the massively successful Dark...
News Sony Japan Studio Closed Because AA Market 'Disappeared', Says Shu Yoshida
No place for Puppeteer, Gravity Rush
The former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has said that one of the main contributing factors behind the closure of Sony's Japan Studio was the disappearance of the AA market. Speaking on the Sacred Symbols+ podcast (via VGC), Yoshida said that one of his failures during his tenure as the Head of Worldwide...
News Yoshida: I Played The Last of Us Online and It Was Great
Exec suggests teams aren't being forced to make live service
One of the biggest bummers of this entire generation was the cancellation of The Last of Us Online, or Factions as it’s perhaps better known. Naughty Dog announced it was working on a standalone version of its popular The Last of Us multiplayer prior to the release of The Last of Us:...
News CD Projekt Red Staffing Up for Studio's First Original Game
"Project Hadar needs an extraordinary crew"
CD Projekt Red currently has quite a few irons in the fire. The Witcher IV has been officially announced, and then there's the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077; more than enough for any studio to worry about, we would have thought. But then there's the mysterious Project Hadar, which will mark the
News Embattled Publisher Embracer's Sales Tumble 22%
A lot riding on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's continued success
Embracer Group has released its latest financial results for the nine months ending 31st December 2024, and while not the total bloodbath we witnessed this time last year, the Swedish monolith still has a long way to go to return to some semblance of normality. It's important to note...
News Layoffs Confirmed at Liquid Swords, Avalanche Founder's New Studio
Following pledge to implement a "sustainable work model"
Liquid Swords, a studio started by Christofer Sundberg, who previously founded Avalanche Studios (Just Cause, Mad Max), has confirmed a round of layoffs following a financial review. The company cited "the present challenges of the video game industry" as the reason for the redundancies. The...
News Funko Fusion Developer Reportedly Struck with Layoffs Following Disastrous Launch
10:10 Games loses around 20 people
Last year saw the release of Funko Fusion, an action adventure based on the popular vinyl figures that line the walls where video games used to be in places like GAME. While the collectable Funko Pop! figures continue to be popular, depicting hundreds if not thousands of characters from modern pop culture, the...
News Sony's Latest State of Play Set a New Viewership Record for a PS5, PS4 Livestream
Peaks at over two million concurrent viewers
Despite pretty strong criticism since its inception, Sony’s been gradually growing its State of Play brand. And according to Streams Charts, its latest livestream set a new record for the series, peaking at over two million concurrent viewers. This data takes into account co-streamers across YouTube...
News Xbox Boss Says He's Given Up Trying to Convince PS5 Players to Switch Systems
"Let's just allow more people to play"
Talkative Xbox executive Phil Spencer says he’s given up trying to convince PS5 owners to switch to Microsoft’s machine, as his company increasingly becomes multiformat. “I’m not trying to move [PS5 players] over to Xbox anymore,” he told the XboxEra podcast. “We’re all so invested in where our...
News Ubisoft Revenue, Net Bookings Decline 31%
These are not happy numbers
All eyes are on Ubisoft, one of the biggest publishers in the industry, as it finds itself in something of a fiscal pickle. The French firm has released its financial results for the nine months ending 31st December 2024, and they don't paint a pretty picture. Now more than ever, Ubisoft seems to be counting on the...
News Paradox Interactive Adds Jagged Alliance 3 Dev to Its Strategic Arsenal
A.I.M. is back online
Probably the largest publisher of admittedly niche strategy games in the industry, Paradox Interactive has acquired all shares in Bulgarian developer Haemimont Games, perhaps best known as the developer of Tropico 5 and, more recently, the revival of the mercenary tactical series with Jagged Alliance 3. In a press release,...
News Liege-Lord Embracer Pleased with Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's Continued Success
Fuedal obligations
We hadn't heard from the once-flailing Embracer Group in a minute, but with the success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, developer Warhorse Studios' liege-lord has come forth to take the glory and gold due it by feudal right, as the parent company of its publisher, Deep Silver. Nearing two million sales in just two weeks, Embracer...
News PS5, PS4 Attracted the Most Players in PlayStation History in December
That's impressive
More people played PS5 and PS4 in December 2024 than they have since Sony started tracking the data. An incredible 129 million players logged in during the month, an increase of 5% year-over-year. What does this tell us? Well, despite the constant doom and gloom around home consoles, it means more people are playing PlayStation...
News Sony Reiterates Major PS5 First-Party Games Will Launch in 2025, Anticipates High Performance
A good year ahead
Sony enjoyed a record-breaking holiday with PS5, but it believes business could improve even further as it edges towards a new fiscal year. As part of its financial presentation, it reiterated that major first-party titles Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yotei are slated to release this year. <related...
News Crysis 4 Put on Ice as Crytek Announces Significant Layoffs
An actual crisis
It's not looking good for Crysis 4, folks. Developer Crytek has just announced layoffs that will impact 15% of its 400-strong workforce, and it turns out that the long-awaited sequel has been "on hold" since last year. The company's statement on its current situation is rather frank. It outlines "unfavourable marketing dynamics",...
News Korean Dev Shift Up Had a Record Breaking 2024, Powered by Stellar Blade
Plans to increase workforce
Rising developer Shift Up had an outstanding 2024, powered by the success of PS5 console exclusive Stellar Blade. In its first financial results since going public, the outfit announced it achieved record revenue in Fiscal Year 24, registering ₩219.8 billion (~$151 million). That’s an increase of over 30%...
News Former SEGA Dev Relic Outlines Future Strategic Planning
Company of Heroes studio still standing
Relic Entertainment, the developer behind the Company of Heroes series and many licensed strategy games, has outlined its plans for the future following an amicable split with parent company SEGA last year. Expect a greater focus on publishing smaller titles, as well as some remasters from its back catalogue...
News Sony Quietly Pulls 'Eslop' Titles in Face of Mounting Pressure
Draining the swamp
Last week, IGN published a report on the increasing amount of "eslop" cluttering up digital storefronts, a cause we here at Push Square were only too willing to throw our own, only slightly less formidable weight behind (at least, as far as the
News SEGA Revenue Declines 8%, Despite a Seemingly Strong Year
Sale of Amplitude Studios, Football Manager 25 blamed
SEGA, a subsidiary of parent company SEGA Sammy Holdings, has published its financial results for the nine months ending 31st December 2024, in which it cancelled Football Manager 25. Despite an 88% increase in profit for its Entertainment Contents Division (attributed in part to the success of...
News Take-Two Boss Says 'Artificial Intelligence Is an Oxymoron'
Strauss Zelnick on AI
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick says that while "the video game business will probably be on the leading, if not bleeding, edge of using AI", the entire concept is an "oxymoron". While the controversial tech is already being used to enhance the development of games, Zelnick says that firm guardrails are already in...
News Embattled US Retailer Trolls Customers for Picking Digital During PSN Outage on PS5, PS4
"Bet y'all want physical games now"
US retailer GameStop – whose entire flagging business model is built around customers buying physical games – took a swipe at customers during the PSN outage this weekend, as it mocked players for overwhelmingly purchasing digital games. “Bet y’all want physical games now,” it said in response to the...
News Wonder Woman Game in Turmoil, Is Still 'Years Away from Release', New Report Claims
Nemesis system removed from the game
The Wonder Woman title in development at Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor developer Monolith Productions is said to be facing significant issues and is in fact still "years away from release", according to a new report from Jason Schreier of Bloomberg. First announced in December 2021, the DC project has struggled...
News Hi-Rez Studio Suffers Significant Layoffs, Drops Everything But Smite 2
One basket
Hi-Rez Studio, the team behind several popular free-to-play online games, is currently going through a round of heavy layoffs. As part of this restructuring, ongoing support for Smite 1, Paladins, and Rogue Company has been shelved in favour of fully prioritising development on Smite 2. "In light of challenging market conditions, Hi-Rez...
News PlayStation to Absorb Dev Tools Division SN Systems
Company was acquired in 2005
SN Systems is not a name that will necessarily be familiar to PlayStation fans, but it’s been creating development tools for Sony since the early 90s, and was acquired by the company in 2005. Despite being a wholly owned subsidiary, it’s remained an independent entity, working exclusively on creating software for...
News Your Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive PS5 Imports Will Not Be Affected by US Postal Service Changes
Play Asia says it's business as usual
In news you’re almost certainly already aware of, the US Postal Service has stopped accepting parcels shipped from mainland China and Hong Kong. This obviously has various consequences for those in the US hoping to import items, but one common concern we’d seen is what this means for physical pre-orders of...
News PlatinumGames Seemingly Spills More Top Bayonetta, Astral Chain Talent
NieR we go again
While the announcement of Ninja Gaiden 4 has given reason to be optimistic about the future of PlatinumGames, the publisher has seemingly spilled more top talent. In a video spotted by VGC, ex-PlatinumGames Vice President and industry veteran Hideki Kamiya appeared to confirm that Yusuke Miyata (Bayonetta 3), Takahisa Taura (
News Sackboy Dev Cancels New IP to Focus on Game Production for Partners
Sumo Digital refocuses business efforts
Sumo Digital, the UK developer behind PS5 launch title Sackboy: A Big Adventure, has announced it is cancelling a new IP it had in the works to focus entirely on game production for external partners. The LittleBigPlanet spin-off is just one example of the work the studio believes is its "core strength and the...
News Report Investigates Why PS5's Store Is Still Drowning in 'Eslop'
'I could make Fart Fart Boobie Fart: The Game'
Stop us if you've heard this one before, but the PS Store is a complete mess, full of low-effort "simulator" games boasting AI-generated artwork and misleading gameplay claims. It's gotten so bad that (we'll say it) more legitimate games are getting bumped from the front page every day, and Sony has...
