A UK employment tribunal has ordered Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) to pay almost £30,000 ($38,000) in compensation for discriminating against a disabled worker.The studio was taken to tribunal by senior programmer Paul Ah-Thion (the claimant) after rolling out a return-to-office policy that failed to accommodate his needs as a disabled person diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.The claimant was hired by CIG in 2018 and made the company aware of his disability at the beginning of his tenure. Although he initially worked from the company's office in Wilmslow, the COVID-19 pandemic required staff to work remotely.As noted in the Tribunal Judgement sent to Game Developer, upon emerging from the pandemic, the studio opened a new office in Manchester and sought to r…
Sports Interactive, the studio behind the Football Manager series, has struck a deal with the Premier League organization over the next four years worth of games.Starting with the 2024-2025 season, the 20 clubs that make up England's football league will be fully licensed within the games, from player photos to team logos and kits.The sports management series is a football fixture in the UK, and access to the equally important Premier League helps expand the audience for both. For publisher Sega, the multi-year deal could lead to a renewed, potentially longer deal down the line.
Everyone scores when sports games get to l…
Phoenix Labs appears to be executing another round of layoffs, eliminating what may be over 100 employees. Former employees on LinkedIn are reporting the loss of their jobs and stating that all projects in development have been cancelled.Word of the layoffs also comes from Polygon senior reporter Nicole Carpenter, who says some laid-off developers mentioned they were laid off during a mass Zoom call.Phoenix Labs has now confirmed that it laid off employees earlier today. The company wrote in a statement that it did so to "focus on our best-in-class live service titles, Dauntless and Fae Farm, and serving their communities."The company said this restructuring is a "last restore to ensure Phoenix Labs can survive, and thrive in the long term."On LinkedIn, former principal…
Microsoft, the $3 trillion tech company that recently spent $68.7 billion to acquire sprawling conglomerate Activision Blizzard and prior to that nabbed ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion, will likely continue cutting jobs within its first-party Xbox Game Studios to become a leaner operation.That's according to a report from Bloomberg, which claims the company is offering voluntary severance agreements to producers, QA testers, and others at ZeniMax as part of an ongoing cost-cutting program.Microsoft announced it would be laying off 1,900 workers across its video game divisions earlier this year, with those cuts already impacting workers at Bethesda, Blizzard, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, and others.Studio closures within ZeniMax followed those redundancies, with Microsoft closing …
Software developer Yellow recently raised $5 million in seed funding from A16z Games to build out its 3D modeling tool YellowSculpt, which is powered by generative AI.As Yellow explains, the tool lets artists and designers create "clean, animatable, pre-rigged 3D character meshes" in minutes. Its aim is for YellowSculpt to make 3D creation more accessible and help prepare 3D characters to be used in games proper.In its press release, Yellow noted how genAI tools are typically made for 2D art and characters. To founder Mandeep Waraich, YellowSculpt will help 3D artists and also "further our societies" as more people use the tool.A16Z's Jack Soslow gave a similar sentiment, saying Yellow's focus is on "empowering human creativity through AI…[and] making …
Obsidian Entertainment's 2010 game Alpha Protocol has returned from the dead. As of today, the RPG is available on GOG after being delisted five years ago.GOG's announcement notes the game has returned in full form: not only is it playable on modern PCs, it has a licensed soundtrack and full controller support.What's more, the game is on sale for $18 (or the regional equivalent) from now until April 3.Alpha Protocol saw mixed reviews on release and became a cult classic in the years since. Obsidian had plans for a sequel, but publisher Sega nixed those plans due to its poor sales.Expired music licenses led to its delisting in June 2019. As it stands, GOG is the only way to play the game currently, and it's unclear if this means the game will release on digital console s…