Square Enix is reportedly preparing to lay off employees in its American and United Kingdom offices. According to Video Games Chronicle's Andy Robinson, who spoke with sources familiar with the plans, Square Enix President Takashi Kiryu shared the news with employees earlier today.Kiryu informed workers that it would be dismissing employees working in publishing, information technology, and the Square Enix Indie Collective in the month ahead. Employees in the United States may be ousted as early as June 2024, while UK employees will benefit from the legally-required one-month consultancy period.A spokesperson for Square Enix confirmed the news to Game Developer. "After several months of analysis and discussion among our leadership team, we have made the difficult decision to rest…

Tim Bender, co-founder of Manor Lords publisher Hooded Horse, claims that publishers across the industry should eliminate recoup terms and clauses to ensure developers are getting a fairer deal.During a wide-ranging interview with Game Developer (more on that soon), we asked Bender what developers should be wary of when negotiating publishing deals. He claims one of the biggest red flags you can encounter is the presence of recoup clauses that deny "critical cash flow" post-launch.Although he understands why recoup terms are still commonplace—he claims the idea of using them has simply become "ingrained" in the industry—he believes publishers should seriously reconsider leveraging terms that place developers at risk."If we went by what I thought was fair, it wo…

Ubisoft's free-to-play spinoff of Tom Clancy's The Division 2 is no more. The company's full-year 2023-2024 financial results stated that The Division Heartland was canceled as part of its "cost reduction" plan, and resources from that game will be distributed to develop the upcoming XDefiant and upcoming Rainbow Six Projects.No other information was offered on the cancellation. The game was in development at Ubisoft's North Carolina-based branch Red Storm Entertainment. This would be the fourth project Ubisoft has publicly canceled since the beginning of 2023.The Division Heartland was meant to bring the looting-and-shooting of the Division franchise to a games-as-a-service (GaaS) model. The Division 2 is arguably already a "live service" game, with…

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…

Update (05/17/24): Singularity 6 has told Game Developer it has laid off 36 staffers to navigate through a "tough economic period." The studio said it will continue supporting Palia following the job cuts."Unfortunately we have had to restructure and reduce the size of our team as we stay focused on supporting Palia and serving our community long term. We had to let 36 of our colleagues go yesterday, in an effort to navigate this tough economic period," reads a statement issued by a company spokesperson."We thank our departing team for all their work; we are committed to providing the best assistance and transition we can. We hope the industry will provide homes for these talented colleagues."Original story: According to reporting by Polygon's Nicole Carp…

Update (5/3/24): Per a new press release from Madfinger, Grey Zone Warfare has now reached over 500,000 sales. DLC editions have surpassed 250,000 units."This incredible achievement would not have been possible without the unwavering support of dedicated players, press, and creators, and we are overflowing with gratitude," wrote Madfinger."As we celebrate this milestone, we are reminded of the journey that brought us here and the exciting and challenging road ahead. We remain committed to delivering engaging content, listening to player feedback, and continuing to push the boundaries of what Gray Zone Warfare can offer."Original story: Tactical MMO shooter Gray Zone Warfare has topped 400,000 sales after two days in early access.Madfinger Games' first-person shoote…

Change is coming to Beat Saber this year in the form of dropped support for the original Meta Quest. Come November 2, the VR rhythm game will leave the headset behind.Put plainly, Oculus wants to "focus our efforts in the right direction." With the game also on PC and the two PlayStation VR devices, something had to give.On its website, Oculus assured that players will still be able to play it on that device, but multiplayer will stop entirely. Leaderboards, it added, "might" be shut off later down the line.Oculus further told players they can bring the game and any DLC they paid for to other VR headsets like the Meta Quest 2, 3, or Pro. The process is automatic, and nothing needs to be done on their end.

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

Emily Scott September 19, 2024 0

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 …