A week after its breakup with Sega Europe, the newly-independent Relic Entertainment is laying off some of its staff. Per external development producer Robyn Smale, 41 staffers were let go.On LinkedIn, the Vancouver studio attributed its newest reductions to "an increasingly volatile industry. It does not in any way reflect the expertise, passion, or character of any of the impacted employees."Similar cuts took place last week at Gearbox, which was sold off to Take-Two by its previous parent company, Embracer.At least some of these cuts have hit the studio's communication team. "I'm so grateful to have been able to spend nine years in an environment and with people I enjoyed so much," wrote senior comms manager Jamie Chapman."Being sad to leave is as much a blessing as anything else, it's a testament to the people that make Relic what it is, and I'm sure will continue to be."Regarding those affected, Relic said it would "work closely" with them by providing severance, extending benefits, and helping find new work."To those we are saying goodbye to, we are deeply sorry that it has come to this," it concluded. "We thank you for everything you have done for our studio and our projects, and we wish you all the best."Going independent hit both ways in the Relic/Sega relationship. Last week, Sega Europe laid off 240 staffers in response to the split, which also affected the UK-based Creative Assembly.
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Valve has added new discoverability features to Steam for studios. These changes, according to Valve, were made based on explicit feedback provided by developers, some during Gamescom earlier in August.Both changes give studios control of what related items appear on a title's store page. Now, they can choose what studio, franchise, or publisher gets highlighted underneath a written description.For example, PlayStation could opt to put Assassin's Creed Shadows in the "More Like This" tab under Ghost of Tsushima. Conversely, Ubisoft could do the same with God of War (2018) for Assassin's Creed Valhalla.This marks the newest (and final) series of tweaks to Steam for August. Over the past month, the storefront has seen changes to its store page descriptions and player…
Longtime Quantic Dream writer Adam Williams has departed the studio after almost a decade. He already has his next job lined up: he'll be starting his own independent, currently unrevealed studio."I’ve already been in touch with many of you guys at Quantic Dream and Lucasfilm, to thank you for everything on Detroit and Eclipse," he wrote. "It’s been a great adventure."Williams joined in 2015, and served as the lead writer on Detroit: Become Human and Star Wars Eclipse. Quantic Dream was the only developer he worked at up to this point, having previously worked as a writer on UK television.Regarding his new studio, Williams said it consists of "a group of very talented designers and developers. […] We're working on something very innovative, very spe…
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ended its investigation into Apple over the company's in-app payment system, as it "no longer constitutes an administrative priority."The UK regulator first began its examination of how apps were distributed on the UK iOS platform in 2021. At the time, it believed Apple was in potential violation of the Competition Act.In 2022, the CMA proposed and then launched a full investigation into Apple and Google over their alleged mobile market dominance. At the time, it claimed the two companies created a duopoly that limited choice for UK players.Despite this verdict, the CMA affirmed this is not case closed. In fact, it stressed that it would "continue to monitor Apple's conduct on the market," and may open another in…
Arkadium Games has done as other indie developers do and created its own publishing label. Its titular "Publishing Fund 1" will provide $1 million worth of financial support and resources to third-party studios of casual web games.The developer is so confident in what it can provide that it's also guaranteeing partners will have one million game starts in the first 90 days of their game's launch.Development director Dan Butchko noted how the fund builds on its 'Arkadium for Developers' program launched this past April. He added that AFP1 has "even more support for game developers to succeed on browser.""This is the next step in our continuing growth as the leader of the browser-based game sector as we build the world's best gaming platform …
Hybrid developer/publisher Reforged Studios has acquired UK studios Ground Shatter and Extra Mile (or EM Studios) for an undisclosed fee.Reforged, which started up in 2023, touts itself as a studio that acquires other teams to assist them with their games. Per the website, this "helps grow their success in a sustainable way that avoids the 'boom & bust' cycles devs often face on their own."Ground Shatter is best known for Fights in Tight Spaces, and Extra Mile as the co-developer on Revolution Software's Broken Sword series. Reforged called them its first two buys of 2024, and added more acquisitions would be revealed later in the year.
EA Sports College Football 25 isn't just a big hit for EA, it also marked the publisher's first public use of generative AI. And according to Andrew Wilson, the technology was the only way for EA Orlando to reach the full scope of the game.During last week's quarterly earnings call, the EA CEO was asked about genAI being used to bring real-world players (or "star heads") into the game. Previous sports games required 500-1,000 star heads, but College 25 had 11,000.Because of the deal struck for the game to even exist, getting all of the stars was a "top priority," stressed Wilson. "Our teams are incredible and built workflows to facilitate that, but they were amplified and accelerated through AI and machine learning."EA Orlando's workflows a…
EA Sports College Football 25 isn't just a big hit for EA, it also marked the publisher's first public use of generative AI. And according to Andrew Wilson, the technology was the only way for EA Orlando to reach the full scope of the game.During last week's quarterly earnings call, the EA CEO was asked about genAI being used to bring real-world players (or "star heads") into the game. Previous sports games required 500-1,000 star heads, but College 25 had 11,000.Because of the deal struck for the game to even exist, getting all of the stars was a "top priority," stressed Wilson. "Our teams are incredible and built workflows to facilitate that, but they were amplified and accelerated through AI and machine learning."EA Orlando's workflows a…
A new report from Windows Central (spotted by VGC) claims Microsoft is preparing to introduce even more wrinkles to Xbox Game Pass.Ahead of an additional plan and price hike for all tiers in September, it's now claimed a cloud-only subscription is being explored. It's expected to be cheaper and "more approachable" than Game Pass Ultimate, but a specific price range wasn't listed.This plan is allegedly aimed more toward non-Xbox owners, and potentially even players on other consoles. This one might also let players stream titles they already own via Xbox Cloud Gaming.Windows Central further stated the Game Pass Family plan may return. It was tested in various territories in 2022 before it was scrapped, and allowed five people to share a subscription for $25/month.Fi…
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Fantasy roguelike Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn has surpassed 500,000 players, according to publisher Kepler Interactive. Developed by A44 Games, the game released on July 18 for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S (retail and Game Pass).Per Kepler, the game is also on the "Most Popular" lists for Xbox and PC Game Pass in "multiple regions." It's unclear how much its inclusion on the two services make up this milestone.Likewise, its actual commercial performance and Kepler's expectations for it remain in the dark. However, the publisher has previously highlighted player counts for Sifu and Scorn prior to revealing the sales numbers for those games.