Deliver Us Mars developer KeokeN Interactive has laid off its development team after failing to bring in work."We've had to lay off our team at KeokeN because of nothing substantial materializing directly after our visit to GDC. We’ve unfortunately exhausted all our possible options for publishing, work for hire, and co-development," wrote CEO Koen Deetman and MD Paul Deetman on X."It is our utmost priority to make sure our lovely team finds a new home somewhere else, so if you have any positions available in Programming, Tech Art, Porting, Level Design, Audio, Animation, Production, Office Management, contact us, so that we can introduce you to the very best people who have been at the heart of KeokeN over the past 10 years."
Dutch co-development studio Paladin Studios has closed its doors after 19 years.The company shared the news on its website and explained it failed to launch enough work to cover its burn-rate over the past few months.Paladin was established in 2005 and worked on a litany of console, PC, and mobile projects including Cut The Rope Remastered, My Tamagotchi Forever, Amazing Katamari Damacy, and Galaga Wars.The closure means the 45 people currently employed at the studio will be laid off. "For almost 19 years, we have poured our hearts and souls into creating games that make you smile. Starting as a bootstrapped mini studio in 2005, we followed the twists and turns of the game industry and slowly but steadily found our place in it," wrote the studio."Over these years, the studio…
Dutch co-development studio Paladin Studios has closed its doors after 19 years.The company shared the news on its website and explained it failed to launch enough work to cover its burn-rate over the past few months.Paladin was established in 2005 and worked on a litany of console, PC, and mobile projects including Cut The Rope Remastered, My Tamagotchi Forever, Amazing Katamari Damacy, and Galaga Wars.The closure means the 45 people currently employed at the studio will be laid off. "For almost 19 years, we have poured our hearts and souls into creating games that make you smile. Starting as a bootstrapped mini studio in 2005, we followed the twists and turns of the game industry and slowly but steadily found our place in it," wrote the studio."Over these years, the studio…
Ghost of Tsushima is a month away from its PC launch, and its arrival brings some changes to how PlayStation interacts with the platform.As Sony explains, Tsushima's port will have a brand-new overlay that will let players see their profile, friends, and trophy list. It functions effectively the same as Xbox's PC overlay, and brings PlayStation's ecosystem deeper into the PC fold.Players can also earn PlayStation trophies that carry over between the console and PC versions, provided accounts are linked. Trophy sets are the same, and the game will have "full support" for Achievements on Steam and the Epic Games Store.All of this is optional, said Sony, though PC players wanting to play the co-op Legends mode (either on PC or via cross-play) will need a PlayStation N…
Skybound Entertainment continues to beef up its executive staff.The transmedia company behind Invincible and The Walking Dead has tapped Gregg Sulak to operate as its CFO. Will Kassoy will serve as its head of consumer strategy.Per CEO David Alpert, both men are "pivotal" for what comes next. Sulak will help Skybound "actively increase M&A and IP development, while Will’s background in cultivating long-term fan loyalty lies at the core of [our] DNA."Sulak previously worked at podcast studio Wondery, along with Machinima and Yahoo!. As CFO, he'll oversee the company's finance and accounting departments at both Skybound and its subsidiary 5th Planet Games.Kassoy was highlighted for "building and scaling" businesses like Omaze and AdColony, and br…
Rare's Sea of Thieves comes to PlayStation 5 at the end of the month, having amassed 40 million players in its lifetime.Per executive producer Joe Neate, the game's "amazing" milestone covers all three versions on Xbox (One and Series X|S), Windows, and Steam. It's unclear how that translates into sales, given its prominence on Xbox Game Pass.In 2020, Microsoft reported that Sea of Thieves had 10 million players and dubbed it the studio's most successful new IP. 40 million is fairly high for a six-year-old game and supports Microsoft's reasoning for taking it to PS5.When Microsoft first unveiled its multiplatform plans in February, Sea of Thieves was described as a "community-driven" title. PlayStation's community can boast some pretty high…
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." …
Swedish conglomerate Embracer Group is transforming into three standalone publicly listed companies that will reflect its interest in unique market segments.The move will see Embracer reshuffle some elements of its video game business into a new company called 'Coffee Stain & Friends,' which it claims will become "the leading and most innovative developer of community-driven games for PC/console and mobile.""As a standalone company, 'Coffee Stain & Friends' will be able to better showcase its high margin profile and strong cash flow profile coupled with an enhanced ability to resume and allocate resources towards opportunities to maximize the long-term value creation," reads a press release.Coffee Stain & Friends will operate under two di…
Update (4/24/24): In an email to Game Developer, the ESA called claims of the game industry shutting down libraries' preservation attempts as "simply not accurate.""[We] have long been committed to the preservation of video games and support efforts by cultural institutions to build physical video game collections," it wrote. "It’s important to note that ESA and its members are committed to the historical preservation of games."Pointing to the Copyright Office already allowing "legitimate" libraries and institutions archiving rights, the ESA stressed it's in favor of preservation, so long as it doesn't violate developers' rights under copyright law."The industry’s creative and economic vitality depend on strong copyright …
Persona developer Atlus has recently lost studio veteran Kazuma Kaneko. The artist has jumped ship over to COLOPL, as revealed in a translated interview from his new employer.Oft known as the Demon Artist, Kaneko joined Atlus in 1988, with one of his first projects being King of Kings. Since then, he's designed characters and monsters for plenty of games, including Devil May Cry 3, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and nearly every mainline Persona entry.Having been so deep in the Atlus system for so long, his final game with the company is Persona 3 Reload.Older developers leaving their studio draws attention, especially when their work is synonymous with its output. Kaneko's art has helped define both Persona and Shin Megami Tensei, particularly with their rising popularity in the West.A sp…
Casual game developer Arkadium is taking a page out of Epic Games' book and launching its own platform for creators of browser-based games.Under the Arkadium for Developers program, third-party developers can submit their works to Arkadium's distribution network. If accepted, the developer gets 75 percent of the revenue.Additionally, approved games will launch with ads and possible microtransactions already integrated.As the FAQ notes, Arkadium has a global network of over 300 partners. Under its umbrella, a game's visibility "significantly increases," especially since their games are in outlets like the Washington Post and AARP.Arkadium hopes its program results in 30 new games launched on the platform by year's end. Already, the studio has 75 games actively …