Wed.Jan 31, 2024

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How Memory Shards help players find secrets in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Game Developer

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has a simple-but-brilliant mechanic to help players remember hidden locations on the game's massive map.

Mechanics 301
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Sega of America to lay off 61 employees

GamesIndustry.biz

Update : The Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega reacted on social media , confirming this is related to the previously announced plan to "phase out" temporary workers by February 2024. The union said they had been in discussion since November to negotiate the situation, but confirmed the 61 layoffs. "Through our union efforts, we’ve been able to more than double the number of saved jobs, and to offer severance to our temp workers," the union said.

Media 140
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Trending Sources

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Wayfinder dev Airship Syndicate lays off 12 employees

Game Developer

Months after gaining full control of its free-to-play game Wayfinder, Airship Syndicate is letting some of its staff go.

Dev 308
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Xbox revenues up 49% following Activision Blizzard acquisition

GamesIndustry.biz

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox The fruits of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition have been shown in its financial results for the previous quarter, with Xbox revenues showing year-on-year growth of 49%. The company brought the Call of Duty publisher into the fold when the $68.7 billion deal was completed in October , adding hundreds of games and millions of users to its gaming business – although this also increased its operating expens

Games 133
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Palworld becomes Game Pass' biggest third-party launch at 7 million Xbox players

Game Developer

It may not have the full scope of its Steam equivalent, but Palworld's Xbox version is making an impression with Game Pass players.

Games 259
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Analysis • Palworld by Pocketpair: the equal-opportunity offender

PreMortem.Games

The hottest game these weeks is Palworld by Japanese developer Pocketpair. It’s an open-world survival craft game where you tame monsters and put them to work. And it has earned more than $200 million in its first five days. Not bad for a $7.6 million development budget. But the game stands out for a few reasons beyond its initial monetary success. To start, Palworld borrows blatantly from existing hit titles and intellectual property.

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GameSpot lays off portion of staff

GamesIndustry.biz

Fandom-owned outlet GameSpot has endured a round of layoffs today, as reported by multiple current and now-former employees on social media. The employees' posts give little detail as to the scope or focus of the layoffs, saying only that "some" people were let go. A Fandom representative told GamesIndustry.biz that the company would not be providing a statement.

Media 127
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Austin Wintory, Troy Baker celebrate iconic game music in GDC 2024 Main Stage concert

Game Developer

The hills are alive with the sound of this year's GDC Main Stage: An instrumental concert showcasing incredible video game scores of the past year (and years past), conducted by composer Austin Wintory and co-hosted by actor and singer-songwriter Troy Baker.

Games 206
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What can developers learn from the Palworld vs Pokémon debate?

GamesIndustry.biz

There are a lot of people who think Palworld has more than a passing resemblance to Pokémon. Social media posts and Reddit threads have been dedicated to comparisons between Game Freak's decades-old characters and those of this month's multi-million selling survival game , with the term 'Pokémon with guns' established as the unofficial tagline for developer Pocketpair's new IP.

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Mojang and Toca Boca veterans form Roro to create "digital dollhouse"

Game Developer

"No rules, no goals, no anxiety inducing social features. Play with rewarding tools that allow you to express yourself.

Feature 244
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Developing Overwatch 2's Samoan hero

GamesIndustry.biz

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox Video games don't have many Samoan characters that come to mind. However, Blizzard Entertainment added to that list with Mauga, Overwatch 2's 39th hero. He is not only another character from a little-known background, but he's also one of the few Oceania characters in AAA title.

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Street Fighter 6 and Resident Evil 4 still drive Capcom's financial growth

Game Developer

Capcom's success streak in 2023 continued, thanks to new entries in its two flagship franchises.

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SF6 and RE4 continue to drive Capcom results

GamesIndustry.biz

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox Capcom has released its results through the first nine months of its fiscal year, which continues to be a successful one for the publisher.

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Sega of America is laying off 61 workers based in Irvine

Game Developer

The company has filed two WARN notices that indicate the job cuts will take place in March.

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Mobile studio Order of Meta raises $3.3 million

GamesIndustry.biz

Finnish mobile developer Order of Meta has raised $3.3 million in seed funding. As reported by Pocket Gamer , the funds will go towards development and launch of its debut title, extraction shooter Cargo Hunters, due this year. The funding round was led by GEM Capital, with contributions from Korea Investment Partners, Play Ventures, and The Games Fund.

Mobile 112
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Microsoft delivers over $7B in gaming revenue during Q2, barely mentions almost 2,000 layoffs

Game Developer

"Great content is key to our growth.

Content 344
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Roughly half of Devolver's Artificer studio laid off

GamesIndustry.biz

Kotaku is reporting that Polish studio Artificer laid off roughly half of its team today, or around 25 people. The studio's last game was the turn-based tactics title Showgunners, which launched on Steam in May and holds a "Very Positive" review average. Kotaku reports that further cuts are expected, with another 10-12 of the remaining developers sticking around "for a few months" to finish up work on Artificer's next game, at which point they too will be laid off.

Studios 107
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Unity developers can start building apps for the Apple Vision Pro

Game Developer

Unity has become the first third-party platform to roll out support for Apple's XR headset.

Build 248
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Ensuring Seamless Performance of AI Applications in 2024

Rocket Brush Studio

AI apps demand a unique approach to performance testing that goes beyond traditional methods. QASource's performance testing of AI apps signifies the continuous testing recurrence and collaboration to enhance the responsiveness of AI apps across diverse scenarios.

AI 111
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Destiny 2 director Joe Blackburn is leaving Bungie

Game Developer

The seven-year Destiny 2 developer will leave Bungie for parts currently unknown.

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Mountaintop raises another $30 million

GamesIndustry.biz

Mountaintop today announced its latest round of funding, as the remote-first developer has secured another $30 million to work on its first game. This latest funding follows a $30 million raise of Series A funding and $5.5 million in seed funding , all of which had been secured in 2021. This latest round was led by Zack Zaharis from Anthos Capital, who will join the studio's board of directors, with additional participation from RX3 Growth Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Abstract, Vgames, BoxGrou

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Roblox game Momoguro is being adapted for TV

Game Developer

The popular creation platform is entering the transmedia space with its Baobab Studios' Momoguro RPG franchise.

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Volition alum launch Shapeshifter Games

GamesIndustry.biz

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox A cohort of Volition Games veterans have formed Shapeshifter Games. Matt Madigan will serve as studio head for the new co-development game studio.

Games 101
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VAUDEVILLE PRE-MORTEM

Game Developer

A Retrospective On The Development Of The First AI-Driven Detective Game, Which Is Still Alive And Kicking.

AI 173
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Square Enix dissolves Tokyo RPG Factory

GamesIndustry.biz

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox Square Enix has disbanded Tokyo RPG Factory and absorbed the subsidiary into its larger firm. As reported by Gemastu , per Gamebiz , the publisher will inherit the studio’s assets and liabilities.

Asset 101
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Programming the Agon Light using C/C++

Retro Game Coders

In my review of the Agon Light – a single-board computer based around a Z80 CPU – I mentioned that as well as Z80 assembly, there is a good version of the LLVM C/C++ compiler that the Paul Cawte and some in the community has been working on. Let’s see how far we can get porting my forever-work-in-progress dungeon game to the computer!

Tile 97
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Toca Boca and Mojang alum unveil games studio Roro

GamesIndustry.biz

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox Ex-Mojang Studios and Toca Boca staffers have formed a new game development studio, Roro. It was founded by CEO William Sampson and Robin Flodin, whom is joined by Kristoffer Jelbring.

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"Plastomorphosis" is NOW out

Indie DB

My retro survival horror game "Plastomorphosis" is finally out on Steam! Check it out if you are into an old-school (RE/Silent Hill) horror game.

Horror 77
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Nimble Giant Entertainment reportedly reduces staff by 28

GamesIndustry.biz

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox Nimble Giant Entertainment, an Embracer subsidiary, has reportedly laid off 28 staffers. As reported by Kotaku , per people familiar with the matter, the redundancies follow those made in 2023.

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How to Turn Your Smartphone into a Gaming Console: The Best Gaming Apps

Big Games

Our smartphones have become more than just communication devices- they are now powerful gaming consoles that fit right into our pockets. With an extensive array of games at our fingertips, turning your smartphone into a gaming console is easier than ever. In this guide, we will explore tips to enhance your gaming performance on your phone and delve into the best gaming apps that promise an immersive gaming experience.

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Modification for AudioSource module (including native)

Cocos

Hi @coimbra , I have implement all steps that you given to me but it gives none pitch effect and I think there is something need to do with OpenAL scripts. Like I mention before I added OpenAL API (for pitch control) in : …EnginenativecocosaudiooalsoftAudioEngine-soft.h /.cpp also in …EnginenativecocosaudiooalsoftAudioPlayer.h /.cpp Are there any cpp scripts beside that two scritps that need to handle?

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The Decision of Designing Dark Games

Game Wisdom

The Decision of Designing Dark Games Josh Bycer josh@game-wisdom.com width="560" height="314" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" For this critical thought, I’m having a safe for work discussion on very NSFW games and what does it mean as a designer to create a game that is not suitable for all ages. 0:00 Intro 00:43 … The post The Decision of Designing Dark Games appeared first on Game Wisdom.

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In case of hypothetical rethink, is it possible to change parts of the plot by adding/removing game portions while the development phase already started or every plot related choice must be set in stone from the early stages of production and never altered?

Ask a Game Dev

Generally speaking, the further along in development the content is, the more costly it becomes to change that content. This is because we can't turn back the clock to refund any development time spent building that content, so changing it requires us to throw some amount of work away in order to build the new thing. It's a lot quicker and cheaper to change things while we're in the planning phase than it is when we've already built the environments, animated all the characters, and recorded all

Dev 52
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[From the industry] The Tentacle Zone in Farringdon, London will host a localisation panel and networking evening this February

Game Development News

The Tentacle Zone has lined up a panel of experts, each with a unique background, to offer their insights into this ever-expanding area of game development