Sherbytes: Industry News Megathread, v.1

[rikwebb]

Looks like Deviation Games has closed down

IMG 3003 — Postimages

postimg.cc

 

[rikwebb]

new studio formed by ID,Naughty Dog and Activision vets aswell as Mick Gordon - Empty Vessel

 

[rikwebb]

Another new studio this time from Stig Asmussen (ex Respawn, Sony Santa Monica)

Respawn veteran Stig Asmussen forms Giant Skull to build AAA single player games

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inboxExperienced veterans from EA's Respawn stud…

www.gamesindustry.biz

Experienced veterans from EA's Respawn studio have formed a new AAA team called Giant Skull.

The developer is led by Stig Asmussen, who is best known as the game director for 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and 2023's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Giant Skull has an office in LA, although employs people from around the world.

The leadership team also includes Star Wars: Jedi Survivor alumni Jon Carr (CTO) and Jeff Magers (design director), Fortnite veterans Patrick Murphy (art director), Lauren McLemore (lead producer) and Brian Campbell (animation director). Meanwhile, Unbroken Studio's Anthony Scott takes the roles of COO and CFO.

 

[Valhoven]

new studio formed by ID,Naughty Dog and Activision vets aswell as Mick Gordon - Empty Vessel

Potential: Stratosphere

 

[rikwebb]

Looks like the sale of Saber from Embracer is official, nothing on a buyer yet or they have bought themselves out

 

[rikwebb]

Summer Game Fest announced for June 7th

 

[rikwebb]

More on the Saber split from Embracer

Saber Interactive to split from Embracer Group [Update]

Embracer Group has entered into an agreement to sell Saber Interactive to Beacon Interactive, a company controlled by Saber Interactive co-founder Matthew Karch, for a purchase price of USD $247 mi…

www.gematsu.com

Saber Interactive will retain the following subsidiary studios after the split: All Saber Interactive-branded studios, DIGIC, Fractured Byte, Mad Head Games, New World Interactive, Nimble Giant Entertainment, Sandbox Strategies, Slipgate Ironworks, and 3D Realms.


Embracer Group will retain the following Saber Interactive subsidiary studios: 34BigThings, 4A Games, Aspyr, Beamdog, Demiurge Studios, Shiver, Snapshot Games, Tripwire Interactive, Tuxedo Labs, and Zen Studios. These studios will be integrated into other parts of Embracer Group in the coming period.

Saber Interactive will be granted the right to acquire 4A Games and Zen Studios within a certain time period, but if it decides to do so, long-term license and publishing rights to all current and future games in the Metro franchise will continue to be held by Embracer Group subsidiary PLAION.

 

[rikwebb]

Turtle Beach are in the process of acquiring gaming accessories brand PDP

 

[KaNesDeath]

Apparently cheaters in Apex Legends can enable cheats or server admin tools on targeted players:

Massive ‘Apex Legends’ Hack Disrupts NA Finals, Raises Serious Security Concerns

Something rather terrifying has disrupted the North American Finals of Apex Legends, and players are now starting to potentially worry about their own accounts

www.forbes.com

 

[Valhoven]

Apparently cheaters in Apex Legends can enable cheats or server admin tools on targeted players:

Massive ‘Apex Legends’ Hack Disrupts NA Finals, Raises Serious Security Concerns

Something rather terrifying has disrupted the North American Finals of Apex Legends, and players are now starting to potentially worry about their own accounts

www.forbes.com

Yeah, Genburten and Hal (one of the greatest all-time players) were both hacked during our premier comp (ALGS); such a bad look. I wish Respawn could get out from under EA's carelessly greedy thumb. Gen even threw his hands up during play to show he's no longer piloting char. The cheats injected had a 'vote Putin' menu option too after aimbotting enabled and whatnot. Lovely. Hm, wonder the source country... /s

 

[KaNesDeath]

The cheats injected had a 'vote Putin' menu option too after aimbotting enabled and whatnot. Lovely. Hm, wonder the source country... /s

Easy Anticheat has proclaimed if its an RCE exploit its not on their end:

Easy Anti-Cheat washes its hands of the Apex Legends hacking disaster that saw streamer accounts hijacked live: 'There is no RCE vulnerability within EAC'

The North American finals of the Apex Legends Global Series was postponed after two matches suffered hacks.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Valhoven]

Some industry numbers for February:



-Helldivers 2 was huge & the top seller (56% on PC)
-EA FC24 was #2, followed by FF7 Rebirth at #3
-PS5 was the #1 console, sales dipped -2%
-Switch sales dropped -17%
-Xbox Series X/S sales were down -47%

 

[Strychnine]

Not Elden Ring, but adjacent.

"Converse is partnering with Dungeons & Dragons to celebrate the legendary tabletop franchise's 50th anniversary with a hot new collection of shoes and other gear that will be available online starting April 11. For those attending this year’s Gary Con, the popular Dungeons & Dragons fan event celebrating its co-creator Gary Gygax, they’ll be available there on March 21."

https://www.polygon.com/2024/3/20/24107034/converse-dungeons-dragons-chuck-taylor-fashion-collection-high-tops

 

[KaNesDeath]

New MMO by Riot Games is stuck in development hell. Game design structure is being completely reset and will be delayed for several years. Their Blizzard strategy is showing cracks:

‘League Of Legends’ MMO Development Has Been Reset And Delayed Years

A rare update on the League of Legends MMO is likely not what fans will have wanted to hear, as the project is being overhauled and won’t arrive for many years.

www.forbes.com

 

[Valhoven]

Update from Larian on studio next steps:



Larian Studios isn't planning to release expansions/DLC for Baldur's Gate 3 or Baldur's Gate 4. "Larian plans to move away from Dungeons & Dragons entirely and do something new, leaving the IP in Wizards of the Coast's hands."

 

[KaNesDeath]

Update from Larian on studio next steps:

Only IP i can think of that will give this studio their leeway and can work within this game genre while appeasing its core audience is Warhammer.

 

[Valhoven]

Dragon's Dogma 2 off to good start despite blowback over nickel-and-dime MTX:



Dragon’s Dogma 2 is still the top-selling game on Steam

And two Sony games are in the Top 5 best-sellers, amazing to see!

 

[Valhoven]

Bit scary to think of only two consoles in the space in the spirit of competition = good, but Xbox apparently slipping into existential doubt – here. According to Dring, indie developers in particular are now poised to develop for Switch before Xbox at all because the Xbox audience and playerbase are so small:



Some publishers are reportedly questioning their support for Xbox consoles amid “flatlining” sales in Europe. It’s also claimed that Microsoft is planning to bring the majority of Xbox games to PS5 at some point.

Lots of interesting talk here but Chris' volume is pretty dampened, poor so crank it: (Time to listen: 29m)

 

[method115]

Bit scary to think of only two consoles in the space in the spirit of competition = good, but Xbox apparently slipping into existential doubt – here. According to Dring, indie developers in particular are now poised to develop for Switch before Xbox at all because the Xbox audience and playerbase are so small:



Some publishers are reportedly questioning their support for Xbox consoles amid “flatlining” sales in Europe. It’s also claimed that Microsoft is planning to bring the majority of Xbox games to PS5 at some point.

Lots of interesting talk here but Chris' volume is pretty dampened, poor so crank it: (Time to listen: 29m)

Yep I saw this yesterday. Very surprising to hear this from devs. I know MS sales are behind but I still thought overall they have a pretty sizeable market. Plus mostly in the US which is better for overall spending on your console.

Going to be interesting what happens in the next few years. Even in this video Dring talks about how they are also hearing way more games from Xbox are coming to PS. I just don't understand MS's plan here. I know they say they have no plans to leave the hardware market but they are essentially doing everything they can to give people no reason to buy their hardware other than you like the ecosystem.

 

[rikwebb]

Yep I saw this yesterday. Very surprising to hear this from devs. I know MS sales are behind but I still thought overall they have a pretty sizeable market. Plus mostly in the US which is better for overall spending on your console.

Going to be interesting what happens in the next few years. Even in this video Dring talks about how they are also hearing way more games from Xbox are coming to PS. I just don't understand MS's plan here. I know they say they have no plans to leave the hardware market but they are essentially doing everything they can to give people no reason to buy their hardware other than you like the ecosystem.

Guessing this will be how they keep people , by having access to other storefronts available on Xbox

Phil Spencer wants Epic Games Store and others on Xbox consoles

More stores mean more sales!

www.polygon.com

Phil Spencer doesn't just want Xbox games on other consoles. He wants other video game retailers on Xbox, too.

In an interview with Microsoft's CEO of Gaming during the annual Game Developers Conference, Spencer told Polygon about the ways he'd like to break down the walled gardens that have historically limited players to making purchases through the first-party stores tied to each console. Or, in layperson terms, why you should be able to buy games from other stores on Xbox — not just the official storefront.

Spencer mentioned his frustrations with closed ecosystems, so we asked for clarity. Could he really see a future where stores like Itch.io and Epic Games Store existed on Xbox? Was it just a matter of figuring out mountains of paperwork to get there?