Over a month after releasing Alone in the Dark, developer Pieces Interactive appears to be laying off an unknown number of staff.Environment artist Helena Hansen confirmed she was affected, saying her "heart breaks for myself and my coworkers right now." At time of writing, she's the only developer who's confirmed their status.Alone in the Dark released back in March to a mixed reception. The game was previously delayed twice, both to avoid 2023's heavy release cadence and then crunching over the holidays.To date, neither THQNordic (or parent company Embracer) have commented on its sales. What is known is these reductions are isolated to Pieces alone, since Embracer ended its restructuring plans in late March.Recently, Embracer split itself off into three standalon…
Microsoft is laying off an unknown number of Bethesda France workers.Game Developer understands the reductions are part of the 1,900 layoffs that were announced by Microsoft back in January as part of the company's mandate to facilitate sustainable growth.It's unclear how many people are being laid off or which roles have been placed on the chopping block.The news broke earlier this week when a number of Bethesda France streaming partners indicated the entire subsidiary was being shut down and described the move as a "discreet closure."In a post on X, one Bethesda France streamer said their partnership with the Fallout and Elder Scrolls maker was ending after eight "wonderful" years. Several influencers who appeared to share close ties with the Bethesda France…
EA Motive, the studio behind the Dead Space remake and Star Wars: Squadrons, is being tasked with "unlocking the full potential" of the Battlefield franchise.The multi-team studio will be asking a new group of developers led by Dead Space remake leads Philippe Ducharme (executive producer) and Roman Campos-Oriola (creative director) to work on Battlefield alongside the teams at Criterion, DICE, and Ripple Effect.The news comes less than two months after EA laid off 5 percent of its workforce so it could implement a new "ambitious growth strategy" focused on cultivating its own IP.Those cuts resulted in the closure of Battlefield studio Ridgeline Games, which was previously described by EA as an "instrumental" part of the Battlefield family. Ridgeline broke cov…
Project 007, the James Bond game in development at IO Interactive, has added developer Rodrigo Santoro as its mission director.Per associate production director Frederik Villumsen, Santoro will "direct the balancing of story, art and gameplay to design the most amazing Bond missions." His hiring marks the first real piece of news about 007 since IO's initial reveal.Previously, Villumsen was a level designer on the two Crysis sequels and Ryse: Son of Rome for Crytek. He's also served as a lead level designer on Ubisoft's The Division series and last year's Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora."Project 007 got my attention since the day it was announced," wrote Santoro, "and I feel incredibly fortunate to work with the team making the game. I admire how t…
Now that Dead Space's 2023 remake has come and gone, the series…will be put on hold again, actually.Per a recent Bloomberg report, EA Motive has moved on to new projects, and the sci-fi horror series is on ice again. The studio reportedly wanted to create a wholly new entry after the remake, but none of those ideas got the green light to move forward.Earlier this week, Giant Bomb claimed plans for a remake of Dead Space 2 were scrapped so Motive could help whip DICE's Battlefield series into shape. EA swiftly debunked those rumors, telling IGN there was "no validity" to the story.After summer 2023, the Dead Space team moved on to new projects, which at the moment also includes the previously announced Iron Man game.
The UK video game and interactive entertainment sector was valued at £7.82 billion ($9.76 billion) in 2023.That's according to the annual Consumer Games Market Valuation Report from UK trade body Ukie, which explained that figure is an increase of 4.4 percent on the revised valuation of £7.49 billion it slapped on the UK game industry in 2022.Ukie said the latest valuation shows the UK video game market is on a "strong path of growth" in the face of headwinds that have disrupted the industry around the globe. "This increase underlines the video games market's stability and resilience, as well as consumers unrelenting appetite for games and games culture," it added.Ukie CEO Nick Poole claimed the report highlights the "vitality of interactive entertainme…
The UK video game and interactive entertainment sector was valued at £7.82 billion ($9.76 billion) in 2023.That's according to the annual Consumer Games Market Valuation Report from UK trade body Ukie, which explained that figure is an increase of 4.4 percent on the revised valuation of £7.49 billion it slapped on the UK game industry in 2022.Ukie said the latest valuation shows the UK video game market is on a "strong path of growth" in the face of headwinds that have disrupted the industry around the globe. "This increase underlines the video games market's stability and resilience, as well as consumers unrelenting appetite for games and games culture," it added.Ukie CEO Nick Poole claimed the report highlights the "vitality of interactive entertainme…
South Korean publisher Krafton and other investors have sunk $15 million into UK studio Red Rover Interactive to accelerate development on its debut project codenamed 'Coltrane.'The investment comes less than a year after Red Rover broke cover and means the studio has raised around $20 million to date. Tirta Ventures, Overwolf, The Games Fund, Behold Ventures, GEM Capital, Lifelike Capital and Acequia Capital all joined Krafton in the Series A funding round.Commenting on the news, Red Rover CEO Fred Richardson said the company's rapid progress is a result of its commitment to "validation driven development," which has seen the studio loop in its community from the get-go."[This approach] has been a cornerstone of our development philosophy, ensuring we really …
Halo Infinite co-developer Certain Affinity said it'll be laying off 25 members of its US-based staff.Most of those reductions will hit the business operations teams, said CEO Max Hoberman. He notably pointed out this as being the first instance of layoffs at the studio in its 17-year existence.Hoberman attributed the cuts to a funding shortage across the industry that's already hurt (or wholly wiped out) several studios. As a developer who often partners with others, it's been "exceptionally difficult" to get new work or find other funding.He added the current focus is to secure severance and benefits for those affected. Certain Affinity will also make awards under its stock equity plan portable, as a way of helping ex-staff "benefit from the company's s…
Rockstar wants its workers back in the office by April, and it's reportedly to ensure Grand Theft Auto 6 makes its early 2025 launch.A recent Kotaku report alleges the open-world game may get bumped to 2026 in the worst of circumstances. At best, Rockstar higher-ups are hoping for a fall 2025 launch, similar to Grand Theft Auto V (on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) or Red Dead Redemption II.At the time of the RTO announcement, Rockstar claimed it'd boost productivity and ensure security mid-GTA 6 development. Remote workers have felt put out by the mandate, particularly those who were hired during the remote period.Production on the game has reportedly started lagging, though a specific reason wasn't given. Last week, an employee told Aftermath their fears of Rockstar returning …
With Gearbox Software now in Take-Two's hands, Gearbox Publishing San Francisco has been renamed to Arc Games.After last week's $460 million split from Gearbox, Embracer maintained control of the San Franisco publisher.A studio changing its name can also herald some kind of structural change. That's not the case here: in its post, Arc stressed that everything else is business as usual.Meaning, Arc will still publish previously agreed-upon games like Hyper Light Breaker, and continue to be involved in titles such as Star Trek Online and Gunfire Games' Remnant series."It's still the same publishing team since Remnant 1," said series designer Ben Cureton. "This is a name change for our publisher, and it doesn't affect [Gunfire]."