Rare's Sea of Thieves comes to PlayStation 5 at the end of the month, having amassed 40 million players in its lifetime.Per executive producer Joe Neate, the game's "amazing" milestone covers all three versions on Xbox (One and Series X|S), Windows, and Steam. It's unclear how that translates into sales, given its prominence on Xbox Game Pass.In 2020, Microsoft reported that Sea of Thieves had 10 million players and dubbed it the studio's most successful new IP. 40 million is fairly high for a six-year-old game and supports Microsoft's reasoning for taking it to PS5.When Microsoft first unveiled its multiplatform plans in February, Sea of Thieves was described as a "community-driven" title. PlayStation's community can boast some pretty high…

33 people were laid off from Belka Games at the end of April, according to PocketGamer.The social game studio cut 20 percent of its headcount across divisions such as level and narrative design, programming, and community. Lead narrative designer Alexander Pugachev assembled a list of all those let go for potential recruiters to see.In a statement provided to WNHub, Belka explained the reductions were reflective of the company adjusting its business strategy. Going forward, it'll be "more critical" of its games' performance.As spotted by WNHub, data from AppMagic alleges Belka had revenue fall by $5-6 million per month in 2023. By February of this year, its mobile earnings decreased to a reported $4.6 million.CEO Alexander Bogdanov wrote that Belka was "grateful to…

UK's Department for Culture, Media and Sport revealed 22 game developers were awarded a total of £3 million (or $3.73 million) in grants from the country's Game Fund.Per the Department, the funding is part of the UK's efforts to grow its creative industries by £50 billion by 2030. For games, the grants let "high-potential" studios to hire staff and secure publishing deals or private investors.Several of the studios are based in London or England, while others are stationed around Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Dundee.Culture secretary Lucy Frazer noted the grants will "maximize [studios'] potential and turn their ideas into the next best-selling, BAFTA-winning titles."Among those recipients includes the BAFTA-nominated studios Glitchers and Triangular P…

Global developer conference Gamedev.world plans to launch a new fund to help developers in emergent territories flesh out their pre-production and prototype stage projects.The Global Games Fund will launch later this year and offer up to $50,000 in funding to developers outside the Western world. Fundees will also receive additional support in the form of access to industry-leading mentors and sessions covering all aspects of pre-production and development."Like access to knowledge, funding is not fairly distributed around the world, across languages, and across cultures. Living in the West, speaking English, and making games based on Western culture and mythology gives developers structural advantages in attracting publisher funding and investment," reads an explainer."The …

PUBG: Battlegrounds maker Krafton has grabbed a minority stake in Forever Skies developer Far From Home.The South Korean company will look to support Far From Home with the ongoing development of Forever Skies and future projects.Far From Home CEO Andrzej Blumenfeld said the deal further underlines his belief in the strength of the studio's development team and their creative vision. "While we can comfortably fund the operation of our studio through the sales of Forever Skies, the capital injection from Krafton will provide important funding diversification and security for us in the long term," added Blumenfeld."We are pleased that Krafton believes in our vision and wants to support our growth. With this in mind and with the recent announcement of our agreement with So…

Atari has revived the Infogrames publishing label and intends to expand its portfolio "primarily through acquisition."The company has already made good on that pledge after purchasing Totally Reliable Delivery Service from Tinybuild. Infogrames has acquired the game, trademarks, and underlying property from Tinybuild (which previously published the title) for an undisclosed fee.In its heyday, Infogrames was known for developing and distributing titles like Alone in the Dark, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Driver, and Oddworld: Abe's Odysee through its various subsidiaries.The company had a huge influence on the game industry throughout the 80s, 90s, and 00s, making a number of significant acquisitions–including the purchase of Shiny Entertainment, GT Interactive, Hasbro Interactive…

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a nationwide ban on noncompete agreements in the United States in a move that could have a notable impact on the video game industry.Noncompete agreements have been used to prevent workers from changing roles within their industry, prohibiting them from leaving one company to immediately join another.Last year, Game Developer spoke with a number of developers who suggested noncompetes were being used to dictate where and how they ply their trade.During those conversations, we were told noncompetes can be used to intimidate or exert control (often before lawyers are brought into play), and that despite being banned in California—which plays home to a number of major studios—many workers in the region still found language in their contracts t…

Days ago, Embracer's tumultuous saga in games took an odd turn when the company announced it is splitting into three separate entities: Asmodee, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends.Now, CEO Lars Wingefors claims it's all part of a plan to eventually make good games and make money from them.Speaking with GamesIndustry, Wingefors explains the recent partitioning lets the company "better finance our businesses. […] We need to have the optimal structure for those companies to prosper within.Last summer, Embracer underwent a restructuring program that saw multiple layoffs and studio closures to compensate for a failed $2 billion deal. With the program ending a few weeks ago, Wingefors is now admitting the company's current structure was l…

Dredge, the lovecraftian indie darling from New Zealand studio Black Salt Games, is being adapted into a live action motion picture.Variety reports that Black Salt has partnered with production company Story Kitchen to create the movie, which is being pitched as "The Sixth Sense on the water."The production's official logline states the movie will be a "grounded atmospheric cosmic horror blend of HP Lovecraft and Ernest Hemingway.""We are excited to partner with such an experienced studio team to bring the world we created to live action and ignite the imagination of audiences across the globe," said Black Salt Games in a statement sent to Variety.Story Kitchen's founding members have previously worked on notable video game adaptations including both…

Blizzard's new parent company Microsoft has convinced the World of Warcraft maker and NetEase to bury the hatchet so it can bring some of its most popular video games to China.Earlier today, Microsoft announced that Blizzard and NetEase have renewed an agreement to bring "beloved titles" to China, including World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and other games in the Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, and StarCraft universes.Notably, Microsoft has also entered into a "broader collaboration" with NetEase based on a "shared desire to bring new gaming experiences to players across platforms and markets."The news means a litany of Blizzard titles will be returning to the market in mainland China starting this summer. Microsoft explained the renewed publishing deal was th…