Remedy chief financial officer Terhi Kauppi is departing the Alan Wake and Control developer.Kauppi will step down on June 30, 2024, and Remedy has already started searching for her successor. Her responsibilities will be shared by the company's finance team until a replacement has been found.In a note to investors, Remedy explained Kauppi is leaving to "pursue new career opportunities outside of the company." She joined Remedy in 2018 and according to CEO Tero Virtala has enabled the studio to scale up."[Kauppi] has had an important role in developing our finance and administrative function to a state where we can manage well the needs of a larger organization. She also successfully led the project to transition Remedy from the First North Growth Market Finland marketp…
Game Developer can confirm that Studio Wildcard has laid off six employees in the last week, in a move that the company said "will not impact" development on Ark: Survival Ascended or Ark 2.Workers impacted by the cuts shared news of their dismissal earlier this week on LinkedIn, prompting us to reach out to the company.In its response, Studio Wildcard emphasized that approximately 120 employees and contractors were still with the company, making these cuts one of the smaller ones we've seen in 2024. It added that it does not anticipate the need for additional cuts for the rest of the year.That said, a layoff is a layoff, and it's curious as to what financial conditions would have led the company to eliminate jobs. Ark: Survival Ascended (a remaster of Ark: Survival Evo…
Swedish investment company EQT Group has tabled a cash offer of £25.5 ($32.4) per share to acquire Keywords Studios. The Financial Times reports the overall deal would value Keywords at £2.2 billion ($2.8 billion).Keywords is a global service provider for the video game industry. It offers services covering audio development, production, QA testing, marketing, player engagement, localization, and more.The company boasts over 70 studios in 25 countries and employs over 12,000 people worldwide. It has worked with clients including Nintendo, NetEase, Take-Two Interactive, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Supercell, EA, Riot Games, and Tencent.Keywords confirmed it's currently in "advanced discussions" with EQT Group in an update to investors. The company explained EQT previously made fo…
Sony has elected to reverse its proposed policy requiring a PlayStation Network account for Helldivers 2 players on Steam.Last week, Sony said PC players would have to link their pre-existing PSN account (or make a new one) with Steam to continue playing the game. The requirement was turned off at launch due to the overwhelming influx of players.Originally, account linking would've begun today, May 6. In canceling it, Sony said it's "still learning what is best for PC players. […] Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you updated on future plans."Reactions to this requirement were very negative, particularly from players in countries where PSN isn't available. Over the weekend, Helldivers 2 was flooded with negative reviews and …
Microsoft is making many high-profile cuts at the ZeniMax branch of Xbox Game Studios. Today the company emailed employees to let them know that it is closing Redfall developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, and Mighty Doom developer Alpha Dog Games.Wisconson-area developer Roundhouse Studios (which has served as a support studio to other arms of ZeniMax) will also be absorbed into The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios.Word of these closures comes from IGN, which reviewed an email sent by Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty to staff early this morning. Tango Gameworks has confirmed on Twitter that it is ceasing operations."These changes are grounded in prioritizing high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda’s portfolio of blockbuster…
PTW, a support developer that's previously worked on Starfield and Exoprimal, has opened a new studio exclusively for motion capture.Located in the same building as audio developer SIDE London, it's meant as an expansion of PTW's partnership with Imaginarium. The two began working together in 2022 to help larger studios with audio and motion capture services.
One stop shop for full-body mocap and voice
The aim is to make it so full-body capture and voice recording can be done simultaneously in the same place. That's not always the case with other studios, something PTW's CEO Deborah Kirkham points out in the press rele…
Media company AGBO has launched a new Innovation department tasked with building proprietary creative tools that can be used across "diverse platforms"Thus far, the company founded by Joe and Anthony Russo (of MCU fame) hasn't dabbled into games. But their press release notes the department covers different media and platforms, which games are becoming a key part of for companies' transmedia plans.The department is split into three teams: creative, immersive technology, and production technology. Immersive technology will be headed up by Josh Andersen, who previously worked as a lead programmer at Epic Games.During his Epic tenure, he worked on the PC and iPhone version of Fortnite, along with the Infinity Blade trilogy and Shadow Complex. His team will "support [A…
Skybound is on an executive recruitment drive and has brought in former Activision Blizzard VP of marketing Kaleb Ruel to lead its marketing efforts.Ruel will serve as VP of marketing within Skybound's in-house game studio. He most recently worked on the record-breaking launch of Diablo IV during his time at Activision Blizzard.Skybound has made seven major executive hires in 2024, bringing in a number of game industry veterans including Activision Blizzard's former VP of product Chris Paulson and EA's former head of corporate Jeff Chaiken.Paulson worked with Ruel at Activision Blizzard and believes he'll be able to accelerate Skybound's publishing capabilities."I loved working with Kaleb previously, and I'm thrilled to have him join me at Skybound. Kaleb…
Lords of the Fallen developer CI Games just delivered its "best year" in terms of revenue but is now laying off another 30 workers—having previously laid off 10 percent of its workforce in January.The company confirmed the news in a statement sent to Game Developer and explained the layoffs represent a "final, targeted round of redundancies." It said the cuts are part of the business optimization program it started earlier this year."This restructure affects approximately 30 roles across production and will help ensure maximum efficiency in delivering strategic priorities going forward," it added in a statement."Today's announcement does not affect the Hexworks team and development of 'Project 3,' the studio's next action-RPG title f…
Supergiant's Hades 2 has had such a big Early Access launch that it's ended up scaring off Evil Empire and Ubisoft's The Rogue Prince of Persia.Evil Empire's pushed back the Early Access launch of its game (which is also a roguelike) from Tuesday, May 14 to another date. The team noted the change is specifically because of Hades 2."Everyone and their mum is playing that game (including our entire team…and their mums)," it wrote. "We will still be releasing in May, and will be back with a precise date on Monday, May 13."Games get delayed to avoid clashing with other titles often. But it's not every day a specific game is explicitly listed: when Don't Nod delayed Banishers last year, for example, the studio attributed it to the deluge of fa…