Playdate maker Panic isn't a startup, despite what you might think. The 30-person company has been around for 25 years but is often viewed as a fledgling go-getter that has just burst onto the scene.During his GDC 2024 talk, Panic co-founder Cabel Sasser dissected the company's origins through the lens of Playdate, and posited that Panic is often billed as a startup because it practices something called "slowbiz.""Let me explain what that means. We're a different kind of tech company. We're playing the long game. We gradually level up year after year. We never had investors. We never had shareholders. I think when you have shareholders, they're kind of used as a scapegoat for your bad decisions," he says."We have no one to scapegoat. Every …
2023 and 2024 have seen significant layoffs across the game industry. Studios of all sizes have been affected, and 18,000 layoffs are estimated to have hit since 2023.According to Omdia analyst Liam Deane, the layoffs are such where companies aren't as bothered by them anymore. In fact, he speculated studios are less image-conscious about them now than in previous years."Companies become less worried about the risk of losing talent to the competition," he said in a chat with Game Developer. "Making cuts two years ago would have made you look bad to investors; now it's just part of an industry-wide trend."A survey from Game Developer Collective revealed 44 percent of participants experienced layoffs at their company in 2023. Before 2024 is over, it'll easi…
Disney Games has added five new members to its executive leadership team. Two wholly new hires with Blizzard and Blizzard experience have joined as three longtime Disney and Marvel staffers were promoted.Ray Gresko, a co-lead on development for Overwatch and Diablo 3, has been brought on as Disney Games VP. Chiefly, he'll team with Epic Games on the pair's previously announced $1.5 billion collaboration.Interestingly, Gresko's hiring is a semi-homecoming. He began in the industry at Lucasfilm working as a programmer on Star Wars: Dark Forces and its sequel.Marvel Games leader Jay Ong will now lead Disney's global games licensing business. At Marvel, he helped launch Marvel Snap and the recent Marvel's Spider-Man games, and he'll now support all franchises unde…
"[My junior staff] have progressed so much…but they also don't have something they can point at and say 'here is the game I shipped'."–Free Radical founder Steve Ellis on the new studio's younger staffLate last year, Embracer closed down Free Radical Design. The studio had been resurrected in 2021 specifically to make a new Timesplitters game, which died with its developer, again.Speaking with GamesIndustry, two-time studio director Steve Ellis recalled how he sought out Plaion (then Koch Media) in 2018 once he learned it had the TimeSplitters rights. He suggested a new game, and proceeded to build a prototype with a small team.Normally when a dormant franchise is getting revived, it starts with a remaster of the older games, as we've seen with Dead Sp…
A new report from the Verge claims Microsoft is working on an AI-powered chatbot for Xbox. This "Virtual Support Agent" (as Xbox puts it) will be an "embodied AI character" that effectively serves as customer support, like chatbots on other websites.It's said the VSA is part of a larger AI push inside of Xbox. Along with the generative AI design tools unveiled last November, Microsoft reportedly wants to incorporate the technology into its art and game testing pipelines, among other areas.Beyond answering questions from Xbox users, the VSA is said to be able to process game refunds from the website. Microsoft's reportedly expanded the test pool, suggesting it'll be available for all Xbox users in the near future.The Verge further claims it's being te…
Limit Break, the mentorship scheme for underrepresented and marginalized groups in the UK game industry, has opened applications for its 2024 program.Now in its sixth year, Limit Break hopes to continue connecting people from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds with experienced industry mentors who can help nurture their talent and creativity.The organization was founded in 2019 with 100 members but has significantly expanded over the years, engaging with more than 1,300 mentors and mentees in 2023 alone."The free program offers a unique opportunity for participants to forge connections, exchange knowledge, and support their professional growth," explains a press release."Through a structured six-month mentorship, mentees from diverse backgrounds and disciplines ar…
"I think that we are really focusing on the learning – the curriculum, if you want – and really bringing people on and empowering them to be professionals."–Roblox Studio head Stefano Corazza
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Palia developer Singularity 6 has laid off 35 percent of its workforce less than a month after the multiplayer community sim launched on Steam.The LA studio confirmed the news in a statement to IGN and said the layoffs were the result of an internal evaluation designed to assess what resources it needed to "deliver the highest-quality gameplay service for long-term stability.""Following Palia's release on Steam, we evaluated the support needed to deliver the highest-quality gameplay service for long-term stability. We made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce, which impacted around 35 percent of our talented and hardworking team members," explained the studio."We value their contributions and are committed to supporting them throughout this process, …
Crossfire and Lost Ark developer Smilegate has closed its Barcelona studio.News of the closure has spread on Linkedin (thanks VGC) after multiple former employees explained the studio has been laid to rest."Well our journey at Smilegate Barcelona has come to an end," wrote Edouard Albert, formerly a producer at the Spanish studio."Today marked the last day of Smilegate Barcelona, as the studio is closing its doors," added former lead level designer Myles Kerwin. "And as the Battleship metaphor implies, 2023-2024 has been shaky, and every new batch of layoffs, or studio closures, no matter how big or small, has been felt by all of us in the industry, leading to a climate of nervousness and uncertainty. And so I am joining this group who has been affected directly.&q…
Crumbling conglomerate Embracer Group has sold key Gearbox Software assets to Take-Two Interactive Software in a deal worth $460 million.The divested assets include studios like Gearbox Software, Gearbox Montreal, Gearbox Studio Quebec. Take-Two will also acquire major franchises such as Borderlands, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Homeworld, Risk of Rain, Brothers in Arms, and Duke Nukem.Embracer will retain ownership of Gearbox Publishing San Francisco (formerly known as Perfect World Entertainment), including the publishing rights to the Remnant franchise, Hyper Light Breaker, and other "notable" unannounced releases. Lost Boys Interactive, Captured Dimensions, and Cryptic Studios, including projects such as Neverwinter Online and Star Trek Online, will also be staying put.The d…