Lively Studio has laid off a "small" number of staff, according to GamesIndustry.Sources speaking to the outlet claim these cuts were spurred by a recent review from parent company Keywords Studios. The company is streamlining "certain areas" of its business between Lively and the unaffected sibling studio Electric Square.
Mobile game industry woes this month
Even so, it's another blow to the mobile game industry. Last week, NetherRealm killed its Mortal Kombat mobile game (and team), and the summer also saw cuts at Pokémon Go co-dev Very Very Spaceship."This decision…was made with the long-term health of the company …
Dying Light developer Techland is adopting a new work model wherein staff will either work in-office or split their time between that and remote work.As confirmed by GamesIndustry, a spokesperson for the developer said the change would "create a more collaborative work environment." Sources speaking to Polish site CD Action claim team leadership was informed of the change 24 hours before they had to tell their employees.Studios enacted remote work in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over time, many opted to have staff come back to the office, either full-time (often to staff's dismay) or with similar hybrid policies.The return-to-office mandate was particularly tough on developers who moved to less expensive cities during the remote period, and disabled staff who fou…
The dramatic fallout of Embracer Group's financial missteps came to a head in April, when the Swedish corporation announced it would be splitting into three different divisions to finally end months of layoffs and studio closures: Asmodee, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends.Each company targets a different division of the game business—but industry observers are paying close attention to board game and tabletop firm Asmodee. The company, which owns a wide array of board and tabletop game developers, publishers, and distributors, took on €900 million in debt as part of the separation.Will that debt weigh down a company carrying a major chunk of the sector on its back? According to former Embracer interim chief operations officer Matt Karch, the a…
A new bill has been passed by the UK Parliament which may put third-party stores on equal footing with bigger digital storefronts.As reported by the Press Gazette, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill (DMCC) was pushed through ahead of Parliament's dissolution in July. Under it, tech platforms are prohibited from treating its own products more favorably or "applying discriminatory terms, conditions, and policies" on specific users.In other words, UK iOS users would be allowed to see a Fortnite or a hypothetical PlayStation mobile store feature prominently on Apple's platform.
Fortnite on iOS was part of the storm
M…
Devolver Digital released its financials for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, and for the most part, things went well for the indie publisher.After a slower first half of the year, the second half made a "strong" recovery. While its $92 million revenue was down 31 percent from the previous year, it remained in line with the company's general expectations.The positive outlook was attributed to restructuring earlier that year (and in 2022's back half), such as changes made at subsidiary Good Shepard. Credit also went to late 2023 releases like Wizard with a Gun and Talos Principle 2, which did "well."Even with 11 game launches last year, Devolver's back catalog accounted for 83 percent of total revenue (up 25 percent), which it called "unusually high." …
Sales for Toys for Bob's Crash 4: It's About Time managed to surpass 5 million copies in its life…time.That's according to design director Toby Schadt, who revealed the milestone for the "well-received sequel" on his LinkedIn. It marks the first real indicator of how the platformer's done, sales-wise.Crash 4 released in 2020 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was the first new entry since 2008's Crash: Mind Over Mutant and eventually came to PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.
Toys for Bob, Crash, and Spyro
With this news, it's quite clear that Toys for Bob was successful in reviving both Crash…
Capcom's newest release, Dragon's Dogma II, has sold 2.5 million copies over two weeks after its release.The fantasy-RPG released March 22 for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S. On PC, it was a hit within hours of launch, since it opened to 200,000 concurrent Steam players.2012's Dragon's Dogma took a month to sell 1 million copies. The sequel selling double that in about half the time speaks to how much that first game resonated, and how well Capcom's done at marketing this installment.In the weeks since its release, Dragon's Dogma II has also come under fire for its microtransactions, which makes this success even more notable.Additionally, Capcom revealed the larger Dragon's Dogma franchise has now sold 10 million copies. The bulk of that naturall…