Gaming Industry News

I'm surprised streaming games is still popular, as much as it is. You don't own the game. You have an inferior experience, due to potential connectivity issues.
Really don't see the benefit. Do people really prefer not to invest in a console or a decent PC? Even if you go by the PC route you can get assembled PCs.
I'm not that surprised considering how much a decent GPU cost nowadays. For a lot of people, I think it's just an affordability thing. Paying $10-$20 a month to stream fits their budget better.
 
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If the limit accommodates 95% of members is this any great benefit? Are the 5% consuming that many more resources?
Plus, the pool of resources is the same across all. So if 95% use less than that, some surely also use considerably less than that which would probably balance out whatever the few that go over that.
I'm either missing something or it's not exactly truthful. Of course, they never share any real information. It's always, trust us we've got the numbers that we're not sharing.
That's strange, indeed. I can't imagine someone playing much more than 3.3 hours a day on average; it's huge. But perhaps there are bursts of activity for almost everyone when a particularly successful game is released (I know I played a lot more when BG3 was out), so that screws their server configuration. That must be more annoying than the discrepancy between users if they balance one another out.

It's the same when you design an Android app. You can support previous versions of Android, but you need extra development steps to do so, so Android has a page showing population vs Android version stats, and you can decide to support 90 or 95%, which tells you the versions you must support.

I'd say it's fair. And since it's unhealthy to play more, it's probably an easy argument for them.

I'm surprised streaming games is still popular, as much as it is. You don't own the game. You have an inferior experience, due to potential connectivity issues.
Really don't see the benefit. Do people really prefer not to invest in a console or a decent PC? Even if you go by the PC route you can get assembled PCs.
I'm surprised, too. It's been a long time since they tried to push that business; I remember people saying it was the future, back in 2011, but it has never really caught. But yeah, that hardware is costly, though I'm not convinced it's more so than before, nor does it need to be upgraded more often. It's just that technology offers alternative options and people get progressively to accept leasing stuff or paying subscriptions rather than owning it.
 
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It's unchecked capitalism as enough is never enough. A business as large as NVIDIA will always find ways to increase revenue, and use PR to mask it's only about making money.

Remember this fine company up-marked their GPUs during the pandemic for bitminers
 
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It's unchecked capitalism as enough is never enough. A business as large as NVIDIA will always find ways to increase revenue, and use PR to mask it's only about making money.
I remember a recent graph showing Nvidia's profit split among the different sectors, and it was about 70-80% from the corporate sector for AI. And around 20% was maybe gaming.
I would assume they won't put all of their eggs in the AI basket, in case that falls off a cliff if LLMs just can't be properly monetized, so that's why they still want to keep the gaming sector lean.
 
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Nine NetEase developers have reportedly been arrested, including a pair of senior executives, according to Bloomberg and Chinese outlet Leifeng.

According to the latter's translated story, the employees laundered what's ultimately estimated to be between 800 million to 1 billion yuan (or $111.4 million-$139.3 million).

The studio is currently developing the free-to-play shooters Marvel Rivals and Destiny: Rising.Per Yicai Global, the two NetEase executives implicated are esports division head Xiang Liang and publishing head Jin Yuchen.

The outlet further noted 27 unnamed companies with alleged connections to the laundering scheme have also been blacklisted following these arrests.

Leifeng also reported several NetEase staff were responsible for the purchasing traffic of "multiple [top NetEase] products." Other details have not been shared at this time.
 
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@danutz_plusplus, I'm sure you'll enjoy that one. :D


The lawsuit claimed consumers were misled into believing they owned the game data either physically on a disc or via digitally downloaded files. Instead, the data was stored on a remote server that the physical and digital copies of the game provided access to.

I doubt that'll lead anywhere, but one's got to try.
 
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Humankind and Endless Dungeon developer Amplitude Studios is splitting from Sega and going independent.

Sega confirmed the news in its latest fiscal report and explained it recorded an extraordinary loss of around 5.9 billion yen ($38.6 million) due to the sale of Amplitude through a management buyout.

In a separate forum post, Amplitude leadership explained the company parted with Sega on good terms but wants to return to its roots.

"We have big news to share with you today: Amplitude is going indie again. Our journey with Sega over the last eight years has been amazing, and we have learned so much working with them, but now we are returning to our roots as an independent studio," reads the statement.

"With ownership of the studio returning to some of our original founders and members of the team, the creative vision of our games and the Endless universe rests in the hands of those who know them best. While we are going our separate ways now, we part on good terms and wish our friends at Sega the best for all their future projects."
 
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Embracer Group announced its financial results for the second quarter of the fiscal year, 2024/25, related to the period between July and September.

According to the press release, net sales were SEK 8,552 million, down 21% year-on-year. EBIT (basically profit) wasd down sharply from SEK 468 million, up from a loss o SEK 836 million, but adjusted EBIT (which removes one-time, irregular, and non-recurring items) was actually down 33% year-on-year.

Sales for PC and Console Games dropped 46% year-on-year. Sales for Mobile Games decreased 8% year-on-year. Tabletop Games decreased 6% year-on-year. Entertainment & Services dropped 10% year-on-year.

We also hear that Embracer has sold its Easybrain mobile studio to Miniclip for $1.2 billion cash.

The transaction for the sale of the puzzle game-focused studio is expected to close in the first months of 2025 pending regulatory approval and all that jazz.
 
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The actors union established an Independent Interactive Localization Agreement (IILA), which covers localization of games first made in a non-English language. Its terms are similar to the budget-based tier agreement for indie developers established back in February: under the IILA, localizers have AI protections and expanded voiceprint and session options for "both principal and atmospheric roles, as compared to the original Localization Agreement."
 
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Financials for the second quarter of Embracer's 2024-2025 fiscal year went out, and the Swedish company saw several dips across its games and entertainment businesses.

As of September 30, 2024, net sales decreased to 8.6 billion SEK (or $783.7 million), down 21 percent from 2023-2024's second quarter. Its interim report shows the Entertainment/Services and Games divisions—and the latter's individual PC/Console, tabletop, and mobile sub-segments—had downturns across the board.PC/Console games had the biggest decline: net sales fell to 2.12 billion SEK ($193.2 million), down 46 percent year-over-year. CEO

Lars Wingefors contributed that decline to the lack of new releases: whereas 2023-2024's second quarter had Payday 3 and Remnant II, the 2024-2025 quarter mainly saw a re-release of the original Epic Mickey and the 1.0 launch of Satisfactory.
 
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"Developing Games-as-a-Service experiences remains a pillar of our strategy" so laying off 277 because the last one failed, doesn't give Ubi any kind of clue??
 
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Interesting take on modern gaming from someone who worked on quite a few games.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHwCypPq1iM
Dragon Age Veilguard joins the ranks of Concord and Redfall in the history of commercial game failures. Bioware will never make their money back and it puts the studio at risk. Why aren't AAA games listening to gamers instead of lecturing them and why did the games industry bubble form in the first place?
 
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Ubisoft's two biggest shareholders continue to discuss a potential buyout that would take the Assassin's Creed publisher private, but a new report suggests there is disagreement over control of the business going forward.

Sources close to the matter told Reuters that Guillemot Brothers Ltd – run by the family of the same name, including Ubisoft co-founder and long-serving CEO Yves Guillemot – hopes to retain the control it currently has over Ubisoft after the deal is done.

However, Tencent is said to be holding off taking part in the buyout and increasing its stake in Ubisoft until it has been promised a greater influence when it comes to future board decisions.

The discussions between the two are ongoing – in part to help prevent any other investor performing a hostile takeover of Ubisoft – with Reuters' sources claiming Tencent plans to bide its time and wait for the Guillemot family to agree to its conditions.
 
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Interesting take on modern gaming from someone who worked on quite a few games.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHwCypPq1iM
Yeah, that IGN review felt off from the start, and the influencers that were kept out of the loop because they might not give a high score (Fextralife, WolfheartFPS, ...) really showed there was a PR problem with Veilguard, and they at least had the courage to speak publicly. That video explains the whole problem more clearly.

Though the developers were not absent from those mega tradeshows like E3; I remember there were a lot of interviews by journalists like Gamespot, even before everything moved on to digital distribution and shelf space became something of the past. It was in a positive atmosphere, but the questions seemed relevant and honest. Maybe they started briefing their developers so they could answer well to journalists.

One thing is sure: now, it's less exciting than before.
 
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Party time as IGN might be closing due to their owner asking employees to quit.
It has only been a few months since IGN owner Ziff Davis purchased key Gamer Network publications including GamesIndustry.biz, RockPaperShotgun, VG247, and more.Shortly after, a number of employees across those outlets were laid off. Now, Ziff Davis has caused another staff exodus by pushing for soft layoffs.That's according to Aftermath, which reports the company offered voluntary buyouts to workers who might be ready to "move on" or "explore new opportunities." That news was corroborated in an email shared on X in October by Semafor media editor Max Tani.
 
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Developers at WB Games Montreal have been laid off, according to French outlet Radio-Canada. The outlet claims 99 employees were impacted, and that the most affected were subcontractors through Keywords, a game service provider that's previously worked with BioWare and NetEase.

Those workers handled QA for WB Montreal, which helped Rocksteady develop Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.Earlier this week, Rocksteady revealed it will stop supporting the live-service shooter on January 14, 2025. Developers told Radio-Canada those let go will have to leave WB Montreal in eight weeks, or around the start of February.
 
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Frostpunk 2 developer 11 bit Studios is laying off staff after it pulled the plug on the unannounced game, Project 8. The studio elected to "discontinue its development" after it was started years ago under "very different market conditions," said president Przemysław Marszał.
According to him, Project 8's development started back in 2018, when "narrative-driven, story-rich games held stronger appeal." As of this past September, its total production costs came to 48.4 million PLN (or $11.8 million).
 
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I'm wondering what market conditions changed given the massive success of bg3 or if they cancelled it because they felt their specific game wouldn't be able to recoup the cost to justify further spending. Having said that i think it would be normal to lay people off esp if they don't have other active projects that justify the head count. I think this situation is a bit different than some of the other lay offs we've been seeing. It sucks of course but they are a small indepdent studio and they probably couldn't afford to keep the head count.
 
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