Helldivers 2 will soon require PC players to link their Steam account to the PlayStation Network.On the game's Steam page, developer Arrowhead says new players will have to make a free PSN account (if they don't already have one) and link it starting on Monday, May 6. Current players will have to do so by June 4.When the game launched and became suddenly popular, account linking was made "temporarily optional." Arrowhead and Sony had what it called a "grace period" for Steam users to play it without linking.That time is now over, and Arrowhead said this "plays a critical role in protecting our players" from griefing and abuse.
Helldivers…
Video games' transmedia prospects just grew with a new deal between Story Kitchen and Dreamworks Animation.Per Deadline, the Kung Fu Panda studio has a first-look option on any game-based animated movie Story Kitchen works on. It falls to the production company to "secure exciting, iconic video game IP" to be adapted.Already, Story Kitchen is working on a live-action Dredge film and Vampire Survivors animated series. They aren't included in this, but still speak to the studio's ability to find properties ripe for adaptation.No specific projects are being made currently, but Deadline said the announcements are coming. Story Kitchen's noted projects as of late include an adaptation of It Takes Two for Amazon, Lionsgate's Streets of Rage movie, and Netflix&#…
DeepWell co-founder and chief creative officer Mike Wilson, who you might know best as the co-founder of Devolver Digital, has left the therapeutic game publisher after two years.Wilson broke the news on Linkedin and said he felt "compelled" to let his industry colleagues know he departed in late 2023 and wasn't involved with the development or launch of DeepWell's latest title."I left DeepWell late 2023, along with almost all of the games industry colleagues I brought to that company, and have absolutely nothing to do with the game they released today on the Quest store (which they called Zengeance) and which my colleagues also asked to have their names removed from," he wrote."I still have high hopes and strong beliefs for the power of games and other d…
Triple-A cohort Prytania Media has continued its spate of studio closures by shuttering Dawon Entertainment.Dawon only opened its doors in August 2023 but in a post on Linkedin announced it will shut down on May 10, 2024."We derived tremendous joy from working together on a delightful project, motivated by a vision of what mobile games could look like in India and abroad. We still believe we would have changed the world," reads the statement."But keep an eye out! Our developers still might. They are some of the most skilled and grounded people in the industry. If you have any open roles that they may be a fit for, please reach out."Prytania described Dawon as its first "emerging–markets studio." The company was based in Bangalore, India, and led by award-win…
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) released a statement regarding the recent layoffs at Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and other Microsoft subsidiaries.In it, the worker-led organization said the layoffs "highlight the need for [game developers] to organize." With layoffs becoming so common, the CWA noted unions at Sega of America and ZeniMax (which was unaffected) can help establish some saftey measures.The CWA's had a stable relationship with Microsoft since the publisher stayed neutral as QA teams at Blizzard and ZeniMax were unionizing. It even put support behind Microsoft when the FTC tried stopping the Xbox maker from acquiring Activision Blizzard.
Developers whose games were going to be delisted by Adult Swim Games are reportedly receiving full ownership from Warner Bros.Both Owen Deery and Landon Podbielski revealed WB gave them the rights and store listings to their respective games.In March, they and other developers said WB would retire the ASG label within 60 days (as in, right now). A "universal decision" back then meant published titles would be delisted, and developers wouldn't (and couldn't) just have the rights reverted to them.
Duck Game and Small Radios Big Televisions back to their creators
"[Small Radios Big Televisions] will not be 'retired,'" said Deery. "Owne…
Developers whose games were going to be delisted by Adult Swim Games are reportedly receiving full ownership from Warner Bros.Both Owen Deery and Landon Podbielski revealed WB gave them the rights and store listings to their respective games.In March, they and other developers said WB would retire the ASG label within 60 days (as in, right now). A "universal decision" back then meant published titles would be delisted, and developers wouldn't (and couldn't) just have the rights reverted to them.
Duck Game and Small Radios Big Televisions back to their creators
"[Small Radios Big Televisions] will not be 'retired,'" said Deery. "Owne…
Microsoft has shared its fiscal report for the third-quarter ended March 31, 2024, and Activision Blizzard is doing some heavy lifting where the company's video game operations are concerned.Consolidated revenue in the More Personal Computing segment—which houses (among other things) Microsoft's video game business—increased by 17 percent year-on-year to $15.6 billion.Digging deeper, Xbox content and services revenue increased by 62 percent year-on-year, but that upswing was driven by 61 points of net impact from the company's Activision Blizzard merger.Gaming revenue increased by 51 percent year-on-year, with Microsoft attributing that surge to the perviously mentioned "growth" in Xbox content and services. Xbox hardware revenue, however, decreased by 31 perc…
Tencent's had an ownership in Alan Wake creator Remedy since 2021, and that stake has now grown to nearly five times that original amount.Per Remedy's newest filing, the tech giant's indirect shareholding value grew to 14.8 percent of Remedy's shares and voting rights as of April 24, 2024. Prior to that, the value was at 5.01 percent.Back in 2021, the stake was justified by Tencent being impressed with Remedy's output. That sentiment has likely grown with the recent success of Alan Wake 2 and Control's ongoing fortune.Tencent previously put stake into non-Chinese studios like FromSoftware and Visual Arts. It hasn't made plays towards full ownership for the former, though it's now a majority owner of Dying Light creator Techland.
In just under four days, Another Crab's Treasure has sold 100,000 copies across PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.Aggro Crab's newest title opened last week with 30,000 copies in just under 24 hours. A majority of those sales, according to a reply by the developer, are courtesy of Steam, though it's currently knocked out of the platform's top 10 bestsellers list."From the bottom of our little hearts, thank you for the best game launch we've ever had," wrote the developer. "Aggro Crab no longer slept on?? New era?!?!"Player-wise, it's shored up a little over 4,700 players as an all-time peak, which was hit over the weekend. Thus far, Aggro Crab hasn't disclosed its player numbers, particularly on Xbox, which had a …
In just under four days, Another Crab's Treasure has sold 100,000 copies across PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.Aggro Crab's newest title opened last week with 30,000 copies in just under 24 hours. A majority of those sales, according to a reply by the developer, are courtesy of Steam, though it's currently knocked out of the platform's top 10 bestsellers list."From the bottom of our little hearts, thank you for the best game launch we've ever had," wrote the developer. "Aggro Crab no longer slept on?? New era?!?!"Player-wise, it's shored up a little over 4,700 players as an all-time peak, which was hit over the weekend. Thus far, Aggro Crab hasn't disclosed its player numbers, particularly on Xbox, which had a …
"When people first interact with [Balatro], it feels so much more like you're actaully playing with playing cards. It lets them interface with some mechanics without [calling it] some cheap, dumb card game.–Balatro creator LocalThunk
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