Sat.May 04, 2024 - Fri.May 10, 2024

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Report: Xbox bracing for more cuts after studio-hoarder Microsoft claims it's spread too thin

Game Developer

Microsoft has spent billions on studio acquisitions but appears to be crumbling under its own weight.

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Microsoft's mystifying mismanagement | This Week in Business

GamesIndustry.biz

This Week in Business is our weekly recap column , a collection of stats and quotes from recent stories presented with a dash of opinion (sometimes more than a dash) and intended to shed light on various trends. Check every Friday for a new entry. The big news this week was Microsoft taking an axe to the ZeniMax studio system , shutting down Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Redfall studio Arkane Austin, and Mighty Doom maker Alpha Dog Studios.

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Biomorph by Lucid Dream Studio innovates the Metroidvania genre 

PreMortem.Games

In Biomorph , players can assume the shape and skills of defeated enemies, employing their powers to combat other monsters or traverse uncharted territories. This unique ability, previously unseen in Metroidvania games, represents a significant innovation for the genre that the creators at Canadian indie game company Lucid Dreams Studio so love. “In the team, everyone is a fan of Metroidvania”, says Brand Manager Rayanne Berriche of Lucid Dreams Studio.

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Accelerate Generative AI Inference Performance with NVIDIA TensorRT Model Optimizer, Now Publicly Available

Nvidia

In the fast-evolving landscape of generative AI, the demand for accelerated inference speed remains a pressing concern. With the exponential growth in model. In the fast-evolving landscape of generative AI, the demand for accelerated inference speed remains a pressing concern. With the exponential growth in model size and complexity, the need to swiftly produce results to serve numerous users simultaneously continues to grow.

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Microsoft closes Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks and Alpha Dog Studios

Game Developer

The developers behind Redfall, Hi-Fi Rush, and Mighty Doom are being shut down.

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Fallout 4 rules the roost in April | UK Monthly Charts

GamesIndustry.biz

Fallout 4 was comfortably the best-selling game of April in the UK, according to the latest GSD data. It was a quiet month for game releases last month. In the UK, 2.23 million games were sold, which is a drop of over 7% over the year before. However, it's worth noting that April 2023 featured the launches of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Dead Island 2, which boosted the market last year.

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Solo dev Matthieu Houllier lets you take a paper plane on an adventure in Paper Sky

PreMortem.Games

French solo dev Matthieu Houllier , operating under the name Brute Force , has been making games by himself for five years. In that time he has released the 3D platform game Crumble. “It did way above what I anticipated and allowed me to live off of gamedev”, he says. Now, the sky’s the limit for Houllier as he is working on his second project Paper Sky , a game ‘that combines the thrill of an adventure game with the mechanics of a paper plane simulator’ The Kickstarter campaig

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Steam suddenly banned in Vietnam

Game Developer

Valve's platform has been inaccessible in Vietnam for a few days now, but it's anyone's guess as to why, or if it'll return.

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Nintendo: No Switch 2 before April 2025

GamesIndustry.biz

Nintendo has suggested that the successor to the Switch will not arrive before March 31, 2025, indicating an April release at the very earliest. In the Q&A transcript of this week's earnings call — translated by GamesIndustry.biz — Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa told investors: "The sales forecasts for this period do not include sales of the Nintendo Switch successor device.

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Hollow Home by Ukrainian studio Twigames tells the story of how the war affects everyday life

PreMortem.Games

As the Ukraine war enters its third year, the impact on the lives of everyday people is profound. The persistent threat of violent outbreaks and bombings draws a heavy toll on the mental well-being of those striving to navigate their daily lives in such dire circumstances. With the game Hollow Home , Ukrainian indie studio Twigames shows what it means to live in an occupied city.

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Lexip and Overload PR proudly sponsoring this year’s MCV/DEVELOP Awards

Game Development News

We have another award sponsor to announce ahead of this year’s MCV/DEVELOP Awards. Actually, make that two: top gaming accessories brand Lexip and equally lofty PR outfit Overload PR.

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EA reports annual net revenues of $7.56 billion amid layoff spree

Game Developer

EA boss Andrew Wilson claimed the company has built "strong momentum" just months after cutting 5 percent of jobs.

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Devolver co-founder says large-scale game dev "crushing under its own weight a little bit"

GamesIndustry.biz

It's been a difficult stretch for the industry, so when we speak with Devolver Digital co-founder Nigel Lowrie at the Game Developers Conference, our first question is fairly open-ended: What is happening? Lowrie mentions the well-established impact of the industry's pandemic boost receding, but believes there have been compounding factors impacting different aspects of the industry as well.

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How Singularity 6’s ‘Palia’ Conquered Cross-Regional Gaming with Amazon EKS and Karpenter

AWS Games

Introduction Developing an online multiplayer game capable of supporting thousands of concurrent players is an incredibly complex endeavor. For Singularity 6 (S6) , creators of the hit game “Palia,” which released across platforms in 2023 and 2024—their developers needed to craft an immersive and captivating gaming experience while managing the vast resources and infrastructure required to keep the game’s services running smoothly.

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Voting for the MCV/DEVELOP Awards ends Monday – last chance to decide the winners!

Game Development News

The headline pretty much says it all; that if for some bizarre reason you’ve been holding back on voting in this year’s MCV/DEVELOP Awards, time is running out.

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Lightforge Games laying off 'majority' of development team

Game Developer

The studio said it has struggled to secure funding for its debut project and is now pausing development.

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What do studio closures mean for Xbox strategy? | Opinion

GamesIndustry.biz

The news that Xbox was going to buy Bethesda caught me by surprise. And not just because of the sheer size of the $7.5bn acquisition. It surprised me because it hadn’t matched what Xbox had been telling us. I’d interviewed Xbox senior management several times over the proceeding 18 months, and when it came to acquisitions, they were talking about the need for games that would appeal to PC players, and gamers in countries like Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe, South America and so on.

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The Curious Case of Playable Ads and Traditional Marketing Strategies

Deconstructor of Fun

Guest post by Orkuncan Aydin , COO at Playable Factory — Playable Factory's team leads the way with experience from over 2000 playable ads, working with over 160 top game publishers and brands. These ads have significantly improved engagement, CPM and ROAS. Playable Factory offers a suite of products that empower users throughout the ad development process, including tools for ad creation, customization and detailed performance analysis.

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Cloud Game Development Solutions for Your Team

Perforce

Build and maintain your games in the cloud with ease. Discover cloud game development solutions that offer scalability, flexibility, and stability.

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Why does EA think in-game ads are better business than a Mandalorian game?

Game Developer

Chasing in-game advertising while canning games like Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars first-person shooter seems downright bananas.

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Activision to pay $23.4m for patent infringement

GamesIndustry.biz

A jury has ruled that Activision Blizzard will pay tech incubator Acceleration Bay $23.4 million for patent infringement. As reported by Law.com , the May 3 ruling comes after the incubator began its legal action back in 2015. The case filed in the US District Court for the District of Delaware claims that patents for networking and broadcasting were used in Activision's multiplayer title.

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This Thing Of Ours out soon

Indie DB

After years of hard work, we're happy to announce that This Thing Of Ours is officially coming out on May 11th 2024!

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How to Achieve Enterprise Continuous Testing With Perforce

Perforce

Enterprise continuous testing is more achievable than ever with Perforce. This blog will show you how.

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EA boss thinks ads in triple-A games would be 'meaningful' growth driver

Game Developer

Wilson wants EA to be 'thoughtful' with how it puts ads in its games, but can that be done when ads are already interruptive?

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Brazil adopts breakthrough Legal Framework for Games

GamesIndustry.biz

Brazil has officially adopted a new law redefining video games in the country and establishing guidelines to guarantee and regulate its industry's future growth. The bill was approved on May 3 by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after two years of debates and lobbying from games trade body Abragames, regional associations, and studios in the country.

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Forgotten Skies Beta Playtest

Indie DB

We're thrilled to invite you to be a part of our Beta Playtest on Steam, where you can experience hilarious and antertaining gameplay of our upcoming third-person Platformer-Adventure before anyone else!

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Indie Postmortem 2: Geneforge 2 - Infestation. Avoiding Utter Disaster.

The Bottom Feeder

I really hate making screenshots, but sometimes I capture something that looks pretty cool. This is the second part of the design/marketing/release process for our newest indie RPG, Geneforge 2 - Infestation. The first part is here. TL;DR: We’ve been making indie games for a living for 30 years. Here’s how we manage it. Phase 16-18 - Actually Doing PR For Real.

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CI Games sanctions another 30 layoffs in 'final, targeted round of redundancies'

Game Developer

The Lords of the Fallen developer just amassed $60 million in annual revenue to achieve its 'best year' on record.

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Report - ZeniMax on studio closures: "I think we were about to topple over"

GamesIndustry.biz

A ZeniMax executive has reportedly said Xbox's closure of four studios this week was due to a lack of staff and support. As reported by Bloomberg , head of ZeniMax Jill Braff reportedly said during a town hall meeting on Wednesday it was hard to support the studios globally "with a lean central team" and various projects in the works. "I think we were about to topple over,"Braff said.

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Tavern Manager Simulator demo

Indie DB

Hello, Travelers! The demo has been released! Restore your fantasy tavern to its full glory. Repair, improve and expand the establishment. Cook delicious food and keep an eye on the mood of the visitors. Create a unique atmosphere for unforgettable adventures.

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e-on VUE, PlantFactory and PlantCatalog Now FREE

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com e-on VUE, PlantFactory and PlantCatalog Now FREE The e-on software developed VUE, PlantFactory and PlantCatalog CG applications have just been made completely free. VUE is an application for creating virtual worlds and landscapes similar to Gaea or Terragen, while PlantFactory is more akin to SpeedTree. Owner Bentley Systems have decided to cease development on these applications and […] The post e-on VUE, PlantFactory and PlantCatalog Now FREE appeared first on GameFro

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It looks like WB is returning Adult Swim-published games back to devs

Game Developer

Most of the games at risk of being lost forever are now back on Steam (at the very least) and back in their original creators' hands.

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From The Last of Us to Baldur's Gate 3: The success of the Game Music Festival

GamesIndustry.biz

Two years ago, the Game Music Festival was held at London's Royal Festival Hall for the very first time, after five editions in its Polish homeland. At the time, we noted how the venue, which can seat 2,700 people, was well attended , but not full. But the audience gave the two scores performed (Cuphead and both Ori titles) a very warm reception, and the event was undoubtedly a great success.

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The Minesweeper

Indie DB

One private; no guns; just your wits and trusty mine detector. Your mission is to clear a path through the minefields in the Great Desert. In most levels, you will have to find a mine detector to clear the mines, or carefully navigate through the field.

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Make Godot Engine More Organized with TODO Manager

Game From Scratch

GameFromScratch.com Make Godot Engine More Organized with TODO Manager A follow up on our earlier discussion on how to improve the Godot game engine (by making it prettier), today we look at another handy plugin that makes Godot more organized. If you are used to littering your code with TODO or FIXME type comments, this handy add-on helps you […] The post Make Godot Engine More Organized with TODO Manager appeared first on GameFromScratch.com.

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Exploiting Fear to Create Good Horror Games

Game Developer

Developers Jade Jacson, Steve Kirby and Kelvin Moore dive into horror as a genre, why we like to be scared and how game developers can exploit our deepest fears to create a wide range of scares.

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Xbox reportedly shutting down four Bethesda studios

GamesIndustry.biz

Microsoft is shutting down four of the studios it picked up as part of the 2020 Bethesda acquisition, as reported by IGN. The four studios include Arkane Austin, maker of last year's disappointing Redfall , and Tango Gameworks, the studio behind Hi-Fi Rush, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and The Evil Within. Beyond that pair, Mighty Doom developer Alpha Dog Studios and Human Head Software successor Roundhouse Games are also shutting down.

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