UK publisher Team17 is pursuing mergers and acquisitions to accelerate revenue growth. In its latest investor presentation, the studio explained it has a "strong balance sheet" that can support M&A optionality.The company intends to select deals with an "indie focus" and said those moves are part of its mid-term plan. It's an interesting tidbit considering Team17 has been through the wringer lately.The company conducted a round of layoffs in October 2023 (Eurogamer reported that at least 50 people were made redundant) that appeared to largely impact the company's QA team.Those redundancies were made a few months after the departure of long-serving CEO Debbie Bestwick, whose tenure was rocked by allegations of poor working conditions within the studio.Bestw…
Actor Thomas Hayden Church, who played Sandman in the Sam Raimi movie Spider-Man 3 and came back again in Spider-Man: No Way Home, has said he believes Raimi wants to make another Spider-Man film with Tobey Maguire.
Speaking to Comicbook, Church said, “I think Sam is gonna do another Spider-Man with Tobey [Maguire].” He went on to say the movie studio, Sony Pictures, had an option for Church to come back as Sandman in a fourth Spider-Man film from Raimi, but it never happened.
“They had an option on me to come back. So if it happens, that would be fantastic Come from Sports betting site VPbet. I’m getting a little old,” he said.
Raimi directed 2002’s Spider-Man, 2004’s Spider-Man 2, and 2007’s Spider-Man 3. In 20…
There's been a lot of chatter recently about what constitutes a solid publishing deal. Hooded Horse, the publisher behind Manor Lords, has been loudly advocating for better contracts. Earlier this year, co-founder and CEO Tim Bender said publishers should ditch "horrible" recoup clauses to help devs and suggested companies like Hooded Horse should be judged on their failures–not the big hits.If you can navigate the pitching slalom to eventually secure a publishing deal that's right for you, what comes next? Hooded Horse chief product officer Ashkan Namousi says developers should treat publishers like an open book. As advice goes, it might sound like a no-brainer, but Namousi says developers often fail to make the most of deals because they're perhaps too sheepish…
Mobile publisher Tilting Point is laying off 20 percent of its workforce to "continue operating a healthy ongoing company."Confirming the news in a statement sent to MobileGamer.biz, the company said the cuts were made in response to "tough" market conditions."As anyone watching the games industry is acutely aware, the current market is tough and it has impacted us as well. We have done everything we can to maintain the shape of the business as long as possible, however we have come to a point where we have had to make some difficult decisions in order to continue operating a healthy ongoing company," reads a statement penned by company founder and CEO, Kevin Segalla."Unfortunately, this includes layoffs of some of our amazing colleagues in different part…
UK publisher Kwalee has launched an Arabic-language edition of its mobile game platform Hitseeker for studios in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.For creators in that part of the world, they're able to use the platform and its resources in their native language (or English). Beginner developers can also access tools like a library that covers core skills and concepts.
Kwalee's mission
Hitseeker "simplifies" the development process for mobile studios, and let them test, publish, and optimize games. The partnership will also help Kwalee support the "emergent" MENA game industry, reportedly projected to be worth $10 billion …
Sony Interactive Entertainment is giving an olive branch to developers in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Its Hero Project incubator program will "identify promising local developers and support them" through mentorship and training programs."The program aims to "drive growth and innovation with developers in the MENA region," and also "lower the barrier of entry and showcase the most incredible talents emerging from this region."Studios based in countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq are eligible to apply. Per the FAQ, project-based funding will be provided for PlayStation 5, PC, and PlayStation VR2 games.Mobile titles will be considered on a "case-by-case" basis, but must have cross-platform features. Regar…
PUBG maker Krafton has acquired Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks from Microsoft.The move has pulled the Japanese studio back from the brink, with Microsoft having recently announced plans to shutter the Ghostwire: Tokyo and The Evil Within developer.Krafton said the deal marks its first significant investment into the Japanese video game market and includes the rights to the Hi-Fi Rush franchise."As part of this strategic agreement, Krafton intends to collaborate with Xbox and ZeniMax to ensure a smooth transition and maintain continuity at Tango Gameworks, allowing the talented team to continue developing the Hi-Fi Rush IP and explore future projects," reads a press release."Krafton intends to support the Tango Gameworks team to continue its commitment to innovation and…
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's release is bringing change to the larger franchise by letting players dictate what they download from the games.In a new blog on the series' website, the developers revealed players will be able to remove Call of Duty: Warzone from the download of yearly entries. This change will go into effect next Wednesday, August 21.Previous Call of Duty games have become infamous for their large file sizes at launch, which grow further during their individual lifecycles. Much of that can be placed on the free-to-play battle royale, whose updates change with each new game.In separating Warzone from the annual game, Call of Duty will be treated like a service platform akin to Jackbox's recent unified library or eventually Assassin's Creed Infinity."Wh…
Leaked documents obtained by 404 Media reveal NVIDIA was allegedly scraping videos across the internet like movie and game footage for its AI products. As a result, clients using those products and tools are at risk of unintentional copyright infringement.Like other AI toolmakers, Nvidia needs training data for its text, video, and audio generators to "learn" how to create assets. Data scraping generally refers to the practice of feeding existing video, text, and audio into training models without securing the permission of the people who made it.The technique means YouTube and Netflix (and the companies with media on those platforms) have copyrighted material taken without consent.Regulators in the US and EU are still determining if data scraping practices violate copyright rule…
"Parents are letting children play on Roblox thinking it’s a cute little kids’ game, with no idea what is really happening. If I could wipe one app off the face of the Earth right now, it would be that one—it would be Roblox."—Safe on Social CEO Kirra Pendergast
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