UK studio Splash Damage has confirmed a small number of employees are at risk of being laid off.The Outcasters and Transformers: Reactivate developer confirmed the news in a statement to GamesIndustry.biz and said a "small number of roles" are at risk of redundancy.
Operations roles at risk at Splash Damage
"Following a recent business review, we have reached a point where we must adapt our structure to better suit the needs of our current and future games. Despite every effort to avoid it, this unfortunately means that a small number of roles across the studio are potentially at risk of redundancy," it said."These roles…
Valve is expanding its Steam charts, with a brand new one focused on the most-played games on its Steam Deck handheld.The list will updated on a daily basis, and cover additional metrics such as weekly, monthly, and yearly numbers. However, it doesn't feature specific numbers, so you'll still have to go to SteamDB for that information.Before this, Valve would reveal the top-played Steam Deck games on a monthly basis. The new list builds upon that, and expands on it by revealing the top 100 games rather than the top 20.
Who's on Steam's new charts, and what does that mean?
At time of writing, Elden Ring i…
Forza Horizon 4 is going back in the garage on December 15.Playground Games revealed that its 2018 racing sim will be delisted from the Microsoft Store, Steam, and Xbox Game Pass on that date. The developer attributed it to "licensing and agreements with our partners."The last game in the series to be delisted was Forza Motorsport 7 in 2021, and for this sub-series specifically, Forza Horizon 3 the year prior. In the former case, that loss was similarly due to expiring licenses.After August 22, players will no longer be able to access the Forza Horizon 4's in-game playlists. As of today, June 25, the game's DLC has already been delisted.As with other delisted games, players who own the game will still be able to redownload and play it after December 15. Its offline and …
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…
Update (7/2/2024): Surgent Studios confirmed it laid off over a dozen of its staff. In its statement, it acknowledged the industry's "difficult time," and said it'd prioritize helping those affected by the reductions."I am so proud of what the team have acheieved over the course of these four years," wrote Surgent founder Abubakar Salim. "So to be delivering this news today really sucks. I know we're not alone here, but that doesn't make it easier."The studio added that its current plans involve further support for Tales of Kenzera: Zau and "looking to the future with our next creative projects."Original story: It looks like Tales of Kenzera: Zau developer Surgent Studios is making layoffs.Three former employees impacted by the cu…
Keywords is set to be acquired by Swedish investment firm EQT at an enterprise value of £2.2 billion ($2.8 billion).The prolific game service provider—which assists with development, art production, localization, QA, marketing, and more—confirmed the deal will value each Keywords share at £24.50 in cash."The boards of Bidco (EQT) and Keywords Studios are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Keywords Studios by Bidco," reads a statement posted on the London Stock Exchange. "The Acquisition is to be effected by means of a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act."The acquisition values the entire issued and to be issued ordin…
Negotiations between the ZeniMax Workers Union and Microsoft have led to all employees under the ZeniMax banner getting to take Juneteenth off as an additional vacation day.The CWA-backed union added that contractors transitioning to full-time work will also benefit from Juneteeth as a paid day off after the agreement becomes ratified. Furthermore, Christmas Eve has also been reinstated as a paid holiday for union members."Recognizing Juneteenth as a holiday was a priority for our union members," wrote ZWU member Veronica Martinez. "That’s what having a union is all about: taking collective action to improve our workplace."Now that it has Juneteenth off, staff at ZeniMax's Austin office will hold a celebration on June 19. Additionally, ZWU members in Rockville, M…
Pieces Interactive, the Embracer-owned studio behind the recent Alone in the Dark remake, has seemingly shut down.The studio shared an image on social media and its website that reads "Pieces Interactive: 2007–2024. Thanks for playing with us."One former employees appeared to confirmed the closure on Linkedin. "Hello everyone! Unfortunately Pieces Interactive is closing down, so I'm looking for new opportunities," wrote former character artist, Gustav Pethrus.Pieces released over 10 titles on PC, console and mobile including Puzzlegeddon, Fret Nice, Robo Surf, and Kill to Collect. It also worked on multiple expansions for Titan Quest. The company's latest release was Alone in the Dark.The Swedish studio was formed in 2007 and acquired by Embracer in 2017 for…
A new report from The Verge reveals Xbox's current marketing chief Jerret West will be leaving on June 30. Afterwards, he'll be working at Roblox as its chief marketing officer and marketing expansion head.The outlet obtained a memo revealing the changes to hit the marketing departments after West's exit. Per Xbox head Phil Spencer in that memo, there'll be an "expanded" game marketing team led by integrated marketing VP Kirsten Ward.Currently, West leads marketing strategy for Xbox games, hardware, and Game Pass. He previously worked at the studio from 2003-2011, and after a seven-year Netflix stint, returned in 2019 to lead marketing for the Xbox Series X|S.His leave comes a few months after the exit of corporate VP Kareem Choudhry in early April. Like West,…
Downloads for the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy on Netflix have reached 30.3 million, per a new report from MobileGamer using data from AppMagic.The remastered collection of classic GTA games launched on Netflix's mobile game platform in late 2023. Back in January, the streamer called the trilogy its biggest game launch to date, with MobileGamer then alleging 18 million downloads.As is the case with January, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the most downloaded of the three at a reported 20.5 million downloads. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto 3 trail behind at 6.5 million and 3.3 million respectively.Platform-wise, iOS was the dominant between it and Android. San Andreas was again the most downloaded at 18.5 million vs. Android's 4.7 million. A wide gulf between iOS an…