Tag: Industry - Page 5
News Inti Creates' Gunvolt Series "Has Come To A Close For Now"
Company CEO teases a "completely new project"
If you're eager for more Gunvolt games, you might be waiting a while - with Inti Creates CEO Takuya Aizu revealing the Japanese developer will be taking a break from the series. In response to a fan asking about future Gunvolt projects, Aizu revealed the series had come to a close "for now" while...
Random Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Tops GQ's 100 Greatest Games Of All Time
List compiled by over 200 industry experts
We all know The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a pretty good game, right? Of course it is. But is it the greatest game of all time? Well, according to a recently published article from GQ Magazine, it might well be. Granted, any site can post its own list of the greatest games of all time and you...
News Nintendo Switch Surpasses One Billion Software Sales
Now that's a lot of games
As a part of the latest financial report for the fiscal year ending March 2023, Nintendo has provided updated figures for both its hardware and software sales. While the Switch's hardware numbers started to slow as the console reached 125 million units sold (as of March 2023), the big milestone this time around is on the...
News Splatoon And Link's Awakening Remake Composer Leaves Nintendo After 17 Years
Ryo Nagamatsu joined in 2006
Long-time composer at Nintendo Ryo Nagamatsu has left the company after 17 years to "work a little wider". Announcing the news on Twitter earlier today, the composer and arranger — whose most well-known works include The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Mario Kart 8, Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3, and the Link's...
News Xenoblade Developer Monolith Soft Raises Staff Salaries Across The Company
Future banked
Monolith Soft has revealed that it's increasing all staff salaries for all employees at the company. From April 2023, basic salaries have been increased "in line with rising prices", the developer has announced on its website. The raise affects everyone working at the company, including graduates, who will receive a 22% increase in...
News Nintendo Switch Is Not "Technically Capable" Of Running Call Of Duty Games, Says CMA
Despite Microsoft's confidence otherwise
Yesterday, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard was officially blocked in the UK by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This was accompanied by a 418-page final report that elaborates on how the authority reached its decision. The report outlines several reasons for the block, including...
News Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Acquisition Has Been Officially Blocked In The UK
Is Microsoft's deal with Nintendo in jeopardy?
Microsoft's planned acquisition of publisher Activision Blizzard has been officially blocked in the UK by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The $68.7 billion acquisition was blocked on grounds that it would "alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market, leading to reduced...
News Nintendo Subsidiary Hiring Engineer For "Current And Next-Generation" Platforms
Here we go again...
Nintendo European Research & Development (NERD) is looking to hire a Game Tech Engineer to join the team. However, However, the listing has caught people's eye as the future employee will be targeting both "current and next-generation Nintendo platforms". (Thanks, GoNintendo!) The job seeks someone to fill an engineer and...
News FTC Reportedly Wants Info From Nintendo On Call Of Duty Deal (North America)
A seven hour testimony has been requested
The US Federal Trade Commission is attempting to get more information from Nintendo regarding the 10-year licensing deal it signed with Microsoft to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo platforms. In a report published by TweakTown (via
News Former Rare Director Joel Hochberg Has Passed Away
"Joel changed the course of history"
We've got some sad news on the industry front - with a Miami Herald obituary confirming the former Rare director Joel Hochberg passed away earlier this week, aged 87. Joel lives on through his wife, children, grandchildren and extended family. As highlighted by GamesIndustry.biz, he signed on with the Ultimate...
News Kirby GDC Panel, 'The Many Dimensions Of Kirby', Now Available Online
Celebrating 30 years of Kirby
Kirby got his very own panel at this year's GDC, and for a while, many different outlets were sharing stories on how developer HAL Laboratory brought the pink puffball's adventures into full 3D with Kirby and the Forgotten Land. And now, you can watch the full 50-minute talk over on YouTube. GDC has uploaded the...
Quiz Can You Guess Which Game Industry Figures Said These Quotes?
He said she said
There have been countless quotes from notable game developers over the years and decades, whether they be inspirational, amusing, informative, or just downright bonkers. Some key quotes have become almost synonymous with their owners, and there are even a few that have become almost legendary despite lingering questions about their...
News IGDA Updates 'Game Crediting Policies' In Hopes Of Improving Industry Standards
Open-source toolkit for Unity & Unreal also in the works
The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has announced the first major update to its 'game crediting policies' guide in a decade, in hope of improving crediting standards across the video game industry. Its 'Game Credits Special Interest Group' (SIG) recognises inconsistencies...
News Devolver Digital Acquires 'Gato Roboto' And 'Gunbrella' Dev Doinksoft
"A historic moment"
Publisher Devolver Digital has announced that it has acquired Doinksoft, the developer behind Gato Roboto, the physical exclusive Demon Throttle, and the upcoming run 'n' gun title Gunbrella. Announced via Twitter, Devolver calls the acqusition "a historic moment" and included a rather amusing accompanying image that will look...
News Nintendo And Mobile Firm DeNA Launch Joint Venture Company
Update: Company now formally established
Update [Mon Apr 3rd 2023, 09:15 BST]: Nintendo has released a statement on its Japanese website to confirm that the joint venture company 'Nintendo Systems Co., Ltd' has now been formally established with DeNA. Loosely translated, the statement reads: "Today, April 3, 2023, "Nintendo Systems Co., Ltd.", a...
News It's Official, E3 2023 Has Been Cancelled
A number of publishers planned to skip the event
E3 2023 will not be going ahead, the ESA has informed its members. This comes from IGN, who has confirmed the news with two separate sources IGN was told that members were informed about the event's cancellation by email, which was sent out earlier today. In the email, the ESA stated that this year's...
News SEGA & Tencent Have Also Decided To Skip This Year's E3
“There’s no possible way this show can happen”
Following yesterday's news Ubisoft would be withdrawing from this year's E3, it seems a few more third-party publishers have decided not to attend this year's event. According to IGN, both Sega and Tencent will not be in attendance. In a statement, Sega mentioned how it would not be participating...
News Ubisoft Paris Workers Allege Crunch Culture And Workload Issues
"This is morally and physically exhausting for the employees"
A recent investigation by NME has found reports of crunch culture and poor working conditions in game development at Ubisoft Paris following a similar allegation by the French trade union Solidaires Informatique last week alleging high rates of sick leave and developer 'burn out'. The...
News Ubisoft Has Decided To Skip E3 2023, Will Now Host Its Own 'Ubisoft Forward' Event
The French publisher will "move in a different direction"
Ubisoft has announced it will no longer be attending E3 2023. In an update, the French video game company revealed it would instead be hosting its own separate event this June. In a statement to our friends at VGC, Ubisoft explained how it had decided to move in a "different direction", with...
News Atari Enters Agreement To Acquire Night Dive Studios
Retro revival
In some breaking news, the famous video game company Atari has officially entered into an agreement to acquire developer and publisher Night Dive Studios - known best for reviving classic games such as System Shock, Quake and Doom 64 on modern platforms. Atari will acquire "100% of Night Dive Studios" with hopes to "enrich" its own...
News Battle Royale Hit Apex Legends Hopes To Stick Around For 10 To 15 Years "Or More"
"We're in this for the long haul"
The online free-to-play battle royale Apex Legends has been going since 2019 and was only released on the Switch in 2021, but the general aim is to keep the franchise around for a very long time. In an interview with our friends at GamesIndustry.biz, the game's director Steven Ferreira mentioned how the team was in...
News Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Wins 'Best RPG' At Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2022
Splatoon and Pokémon also recognised
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 has taken out the 'best RPG' category at the Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2022. Multiple other first-party Nintendo titles were nominated with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet winning 'best scenario' and 'best character' and Splatoon 3 receiving best action game. Unsurprisingly, The Legend...
News Microsoft Wants To Bring The "Best Version" Of Call Of Duty To Nintendo Platforms
Expect the same experience across all systems
Last week, Microsoft put pen to paper, announcing its 10-year commitment to bring the Call of Duty franchise to Nintendo platforms is now legally binding. Microsoft president Brad Smith followed this up by mentioning how the tech giant would ensure the series works exactly as people expect on other...
News Level-5 CEO Teases What's Next For Yo-Kai Watch
The "next amazing thing" is in the works
Level-5 made quite the comeback at the most recent Nintendo Direct - announcing a new Professor Layton and much more. One notable omission was the Yo-kai Watch series. There's no need to worry though, as the Japanese developer seems to already be preparing something... In a brief message on social media,...
News Nintendo Is Officially Skipping E3 2023
"We have made the decision to not participate"
Nintendo has officially confirmed that it will not be attending E3 2023, following IGN's report earlier this year. In a statement made to VentureBeat and IGN, Nintendo stated that E3 did not fit into the company's plans for the year and it won't be having any presence at the Los Angeles
News Mortal Kombat 12 Confirmed, Scheduled For 2023 Release
Ed Boon: "So who has heard the news"
We've heard ongoing rumours about the next Mortal Kombat game and it seems to have finally been confirmed. During a Warner Bros. Discovery earnings call earlier on, the executive vice president of global investor strategy, Andrew Slabin, seemingly confirmed Mortal Kombat 12 and its 2023 release date. Here's...
News Saudi Arabia's PIF Is Reportedly Now Nintendo's Biggest Outside Investor
Update: Now 8.3%
Update [Fri 17th Feb, 2023 13:50 GMT]: Following stories earlier this week of further increases in the PIF's investment in Nintendo, Bloomberg now reports that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund now holds 8.3% of Nintendo, according to filings. This makes it the company's largest shareholder outside of Japan. According to...
News Nintendo's Investor Q&A Promises Switch Isn't Dead After Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
“new titles will continue to be proposed going forward”
Earlier this week we got a look at Nintendo's Q3 financial figures for FY 2023 and there were some big milestones crossed — Switch outselling the Game Boy, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe passing 50 million sales and much more besides. All this pointed towards a Q&A session
News Nintendo Is Raising Its Employee Pay By 10% In Japan
Furukawa: "It's important for our long-term growth"
Despite a downturn in sales and profits for Nintendo in its third quarter, it's reportedly raising the base salaries of its employees by 10% in its homeland. A report by Reuters reveals the Japanese video game giant is taking action to secure the "long-term growth" of its workforce. It follows...
News Nintendo Says Switch Chip Shortages Are "Largely Resolved" As It Cuts Forecasts
"Shipments generally went according to plan"
As part of Nintendo's nine-month financial report for the 2022/23 fiscal year, the company has said that supply issues that have constrained production for several years now were "largely resolved" in the closing months of 2022. Commenting on Nintendo Switch sales in its explanatory materials, the...
News Square Enix Planning "Multiple New Titles" And New IP
Following a slump in sales
Square Enix has had a solid run on the Nintendo Switch over the past year with releases such as Live A Live, NieR:Automata, Tactics Ogre: Reborn and more recently Crisis Core, but it seems it's not been enough. The Japanese publisher and developer has reported a drop in net sales in its latest financial results period (up...
Let the theories commence
Kit and Krysta, the former hosts of Nintendo Minute, left Nintendo at the start of 2022 after a combined 25 years at the company. This gave them a ton of insight into the secretive company that they're now more than happy to share on their YouTube channel and podcast, including speculation based on their experience —...
News "We Absolutely Apologize" For Pokémon Performance Problems, Says Nintendo Of Canada Manager
"We are working on improvements to these games"
Business interviews are often pretty dry, and a recent chat between Post Arcade — the Financial Post's gaming section — and Nintendo of Canada General Manager Susan Pennefather was no different. But there were some interesting gems hidden in all the biz-speak, so let's take a look! Pennefather...
News Hollow Knight Dev Files New Trademarks For 'Fearless Fox'
Is a new project in the works?
While we wait for the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong, we've got some interesting news to share about the game's developer Team Cherry. It seems the Australian-based team has recently filed a trademark down under for the words "Fearless Fox". According to the Australian Government's IP Australia website, last month...
News EA Has Reportedly Cancelled Its Single-Player Apex Legends Game
Was codenamed Titanfall Legends
Back in July last year, it was discovered EA and Respawn Entertainment were working on a brand new single-player adventure set in the Apex Legends Universe. In a new development, Electronic Arts has reportedly cancelled the project, codenamed Titanfall Legends. "Three people familiar with the matter" have apparently...
News Nintendo, Sony And Xbox Reportedly Skipping E3 2023
Update: ESA responds
Update [Wed 1st Feb, 2023 03:45 GMT]: The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has now provided a statement in response to IGN's story - saying it remains committed to E3. Here it is in full: As you have likely seen, IGN published an article last night about E3. While we are not able to comment on the specific claims in...
News Pokémon Dev Game Freak Says Original IP Is A "Very Important" Part Of Its Growth
The "challenge" of original games is a great motivator
Game Freak is best known around the world as the Pokémon developer, but it also works on other projects from time to time. In a recent interview with VGC, Game Freak's Masafumi Saito spoke about how beneficial it was to the Japanese company to create "original games" - describing it as a great...
News Over A Third Of Devs Still Interested In Making Switch Games, According To GDC Survey
18% of devs are currently making a game for Switch
Ahead of the annual Games Developer Conference this March, GDC has released its 'State of the Game' survey results for 2023, and there are plenty of stats that might interest Switch owners. This annual survey, which you can get a copy of from GDC's website, gives us an insight into the current state...
News Nintendo Will Reportedly "Boost" Switch Production In 2023
"Sustained demand" expected for at least another year
The Switch is still selling like there's no tomorrow and it seems Nintendo won't be slowing down production any time soon. According to a new report from Bloomberg, the Kyoto-based video game giant actually plans to "increase production" of the hybrid machine in its sixth year after shifting...
News Ubisoft CEO Apologises For Internal Comments After Weak Software Sales
"I heard your feedback and I'm sorry"
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has reportedly apologised to staff for a recent comment in which he stated that "the ball is in your court" regarding getting the major publisher back on track. As reported by Kotaku, Guillemot took part in a company-wide Q&A session with Ubisoft staff and opened the meeting by...
News Thunderful's SteamWorld Teaser Was Just Another Announcement Tease
Update: New details coming on Monday
Update [Wed 18th Jan, 2023 16:30 GMT]: So what was that new announcement from Thunderful games? We'll have to wait a little bit longer! Thunderful Games did share a SteamWorld-related update today at 3pm GMT — except it was just another, proper tease for an additional announcement. On 23rd January at 5:30pm...
News Kirby Is Getting His Own Panel At The 2023 Game Developers Conference
Will focus on his new 3D adventure
The pink puff Kirby is still kind of celebrating his 30th birthday and to close the celebrations it seems there'll be a special panel taking place this March at the 2023 Game Developers Conference. According to the official website, this panel will be a "design session" featuring developers Shinya Kumazaki and...
News Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund Raises Stake In Nintendo To 6%
Up from just over 5%
It has been announced that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, or PIF, has upped its previous stake in Nintendo from 5.01% to 6.07%. As reported by Reuters (thanks, GoNintendo), the sovereign wealth fund increased its previous ownership stake in the Kyoto company by 1.06%, as revealed today in a Japanese report filing. This...
News Ubisoft Share Price Tumbles After Dire Sales Report
Three more games cancelled
Ubisoft appears to be in a spot of financial trouble, according to its latest financial report on January 11th, 2023. In a three-page press release, the company admits to being "disappointed" in the sales of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023, despite "excellent ratings" and "an ambitious marketing plan"...
News Earl Boen, The Voice Of Monkey Island's Captain LeChuck, Has Passed Away
Also known for his role in the Terminator movies
A report from Variety has revealed Earl Boen - the original voice of Monkey Island's main antagonist Captain LeChuck - has passed away at the age of 81 after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer late last year. Apart from featuring in the Monkey Island series until 2010, Boen voiced characters...
News Xenoblade Chronicles Dev Monolith Soft Provides Employee Headcount Update
A numbers game
The Japanese developer Monolith Soft has been growing in size year after year. In a previous update - dating back to 2021, the company revealed its employee headcount had jumped from 261 (in December 2020) to 272. As highlighted by Twitter user and gaming enthusiast Stealth, the latest update for 2022 is slightly different - with new...
Gallery Monolith Soft Shows Off Stunning Artwork From Annual "In-House Illustration Contest"
Feast your eyes on these amazing creations
Monolith Soft has just had another successful year with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 3. It also provided assistance with the development of Splatoon 3. To wrap up 2022, it's held its regular "in-house illustration contest" where graduates can let their creativity run wild. According to a rough...
News Taito Corporation Preparing For 70th Anniversary Celebrations In 2023
One of the oldest game companies still in operation
The famous video game developer Taito Corporation - known for legendary arcade hits like Space Invaders and Bubble Bobble - will celebrate its 70th anniversary on 24th August 2023. To prepare for this epic milestone, the company has already kicked things off by opening a commemorative website and a...
News Atlus Is Preparing Several New Game Announcements For 2023
The year will start with the releases of P3P and P4G
In the same Famitsu article, the Persona developer Atlus has taken the time to thank fans for their support last year. It has also provided a teaser of what's ahead for 2023. After the release of titles like Persona 5 Royal and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim in 2022, the company will look torwards the...
News Konami Supposedly Has Multiple Unannounced Projects In The Works
2023 could be a big year for Castlevania dev
In the latest Famitsu feature for the new year, Konami - the developer behind Castlevania and the Metal Gear series - has teased what fans can look forward to in 2023. According to a translation, the Japanese company has multiple unannounced projects in the works. Here's the full translation of Konami's...