Tag: Industry - Page 3
News Ubisoft Buyout Rumours Swirl As Analyst Predicts 'Privatisation And Dismantling' In 2025
What's next for the XDefiant publisher?
A couple of months ago, we heard reports coming out of Bloomberg that Ubisoft was considering potential buyout opportunities on the back of Star Wars Outlaws' disappointing launch - and some fresh reports and predictions have arrived in recent days that hint at a similar future for the French game maker...
News Xbox Analyst 'Doesn't See' Microsoft Ditching Hardware Despite New Marketing Campaign
"I guess it could but I don't see that happening"
Since Microsoft unleashed its new 'This is an Xbox' marketing campaign earlier this month, there's been lots of speculation about what this means for the future of Xbox hardware - but a well-known industry analyst has played down the idea of Microsoft ditching consoles anytime soon. Circana's Mat...
News Microsoft Issues Statement As 'Hundreds' Of ZeniMax Workers Go On Strike
A one-day strike across four locations
Yesterday was a turbulent day in the world of ZeniMax Media, as hundreds of unionised workers at the company went on strike against Microsoft at four different locations in Maryland and Texas. As reported by IGN, this involves people who work on the likes of DOOM, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, and is related...
News Microsoft's Xbox Gets Another Revenue Boost From Activision
But console hardware revenue declined
Microsoft has released its Q1 2025 financial results today and once again the company has received a significant boost from its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This includes increases to its gaming revenue and 'Xbox content and services' revenue. The tech giant reported gaming revenue growing by 43%...
News Microsoft Boasts About Owning '20 Franchises That Have Generated Over $1 Billion'
Including ActiBlizz and Bethesda games of course
Microsoft's Satya Nadella has certainly been in the headlines today and not always in the most positive light, but one section of the CEO's recent annual company update at least talks about some of Xbox's more positive achievements in recent tim
News Satya Nadella's Huge Pay Package Generates Headlines Following Recent Xbox Layoffs
It's been a lucrative year for the Microsoft boss
We all know it's been a difficult year for Xbox at times in 2024, especially considering a bunch of people have been laid off along the way - and therefore a lot of industry folk are highlighting Satya Nadella's recently revealed pay bonus. Nadella, who is the boss at Microsoft, took home a base...
News Four Years Later, Xbox Series X Is Now Outselling Xbox Series S In The US
According to fresh sales data
Microsoft's decision to launch two completely different consoles as part of its current-gen gaming strategy was always a bold one, and for a long time, its been the cheaper console that's thought to have sold more units overall. However, according to new data from Circana (NPD Group), Xbox Series X is finally outselling...
News Xbox & Halo Veteran Leaves Netflix Games Following Closure Of AAA Studio
He was working on a major project that's now been shelved
A couple of years ago, Xbox and Halo veteran Joseph Staten announced that he was leaving Microsoft to embark on a new adventure, which ultimately ended up being a role on "Team Blue" at Netflix Games working on a new AAA project. Unfortunately, it's been confirmed to Game File this week that...
News Rare Boss To Become New Head Of Xbox Game Studios
The team's current leader is retiring
Rare boss Craig Duncan is set to become the new leader over at Xbox Game Studios, with current XGS head Alan Hartman set to retire, per GamesIndustry.biz. Hartman only took on the role in 2023 after leading Forza developer Turn 10 for a number of years. Duncan will go down a similar route, af
News Xbox Series X|S Now UK's Second Best-Selling Consoles In 2024 As Nintendo Switch Falls Away
Year-on-year console sales are down
Although Xbox Series X|S sales news hasn't always been the most positive in recent months, a new set of UK data from GamesIndustry.biz shows that the platform is now in 2nd place when it comes to console sales in 2024. Yep, the outlet reports that while PS5 is comfortably in pole position for sales in the region,...
Report Ubisoft Is Considering A Buyout From Tencent & Partners
The Guillemot family said to be involved
You may have read reports recently on the state of Ubisoft and its financials following the release of Star Wars Outlaws - heck, it all seems to have had an effect on Assassin's Creed Shadows and its sudden delay. Well, it sounds like the company could massively change course in the future, if a new
News Xbox Co-Founder Joins Amazon, Says He'll Be Working On 'New Ideas'
He's now VP of devices and services
One of the original Xbox co-founders, J Allard, has joined Amazon as the company's vice president of devices and services. He told The Verge it's "too early" to say what's on the way, but he'll be working on "new ideas" at the tech giant. Interestingly, Allard will supposedly report to the former Windows and...
Rumour Microsoft Employees 'Completely Confused' About New Xbox Strategy, Says Insider
"Most employees I have spoken to..."
Xbox seems to be chopping and changing its overall strategy quite a lot these days, with numerous multiplatform ports marking one of the biggest changes internally over at Team Green. While the almost-constant shifting is proving to be somewhat confusing for the fanbase, as it turns out, it might actually be...
News Annapurna Interactive Has Reportedly Lost Its 'Entire Staff' To Mass-Resignations
25 people are said to have walked away
A report concerning publisher Annapurna Interactive has hit the web this morning courtesy of Jason Schreier at Bloomberg, who says that the entire staff at the company have left - including president Nathan Gary. The reason for the departures is apparently because Annapurna Interactive had been exploring plans...
News Xbox Reportedly Told To 'Go Dark' On Social Media Following Latest Round Of Layoffs
To avoid another "Feel the Burn" incident
Earlier today, it was reported that 650 employees were being laid off from Microsoft Gaming, with many of those said to be from Activision Blizzard. Things have been pretty quiet ever since, and it seems there's a good reason for that. According to The Verge's Tom Warren, Xbox's social media teams were told...
News Phil Spencer Talks About Two Activision Games That Xbox Missed Out On Signing
"I've made some of the worst game choice decisions"
During PAX West 2024, Xbox boss Phil Spencer hosted a 'Story Time' chat about the gaming industry, discussing many different aspects of the business - including some of Xbox's history. In that chat, Phil was asked about some of the biggest games that Microsoft 'missed out' on signing up, and the...
News Dragon's Dogma 2 Director Hideaki Itsuno Leaves Capcom After 30 Years
"Please stay tuned for my next creation"
Capcom legend Hideaki Itsuno, known for his work on series like Dragon's Dogma and Devil May Cry over the years, has announced he's left the Japanese developer and publisher after "30 years and 5 months". In his announcement on social media, he thanked fans for their long-term support and noted how this...
News Valve's Worst-Kept Secret 'Deadlock' Now Has Thousands Of Players
The unannounced game and IP nobody can talk about
Perhaps the worst-kept secret in all of the video game industry right now is Valve's new game and IP Deadlock. There's been quite a lot of drama about the game over the past week (including one outlet sharing its own 'hands on' experience) and although there's not even an official announcement yet...
News Xbox Series X|S Sales 'Holding Close' To Xbox 360 In The US, Says Analyst
"No, the console market isn't doomed."
In recent months, we've heard plenty about Xbox's well-documented hardware sales struggles in Europe, but that isn't necessarily the case in the US; Xbox's primary market. Despite a big drop in worldwide sales last quarter, an industry analyst is on-hand to remind us that the console is still doing pretty well...
News Game Informer's Sudden Closure Is Also Bad News For Dragon Age: The Veilguard
A marketing mess
Last week, it was revealed that the iconic Game Informer was shutting down after 33 years, and since then the outlet's website has been restricting any access. As things stand, everything redirects to a message about its closure. That's bad news for a lot of people - in particular, the writers who want to access their work - and it...
News Next Month, It'll Be Four Years Since Xbox Acquired Bethesda
Where does the time go?!
Over the last few years, we've had plenty to write about regarding Microsoft's complex and drawn out purchase of Activision Blizzard, but, remember when things were much simpler? Back in 2020, when a buyout of ActiBlizz would have been a mere fever dream, Xbox acquired ZeniMax Media; the parent company of Bethesda. Well,...
News Bungie Is 'Deepening Integration' With Sony As Layoffs Hit Ex-Halo Developer
"The new path for Bungie"
Bungie has today announced a "new path" for its future in game development, as the team behind Halo and Destiny "deepens" its relationship with owner Sony. This new path unfortunately includes some layoffs, although the team's further integration with the PlayStation maker appears to have dampened the impact of these job...
News Xbox Console Sales Struggling As Hardware Revenue Nosedives At Microsoft
For the 2nd quarter in a row
As a follow-up to this morning's more positive financial news about Xbox, we have some unfortunate figures from the team's hardware division. For the second quarter in a row, Microsoft's console revenue has dropped by a staggering amount, as Xbox Series X|S struggles in the market during 2024 so far. As per the team's...
News Activision Blizzard Continues To Drive Massive Uptick In Revenue For Xbox
Microsoft's latest financials are in
Microsoft has dropped its Q4 financial results for the company's last fiscal year, and the facts and figures make for some interesting reading. The good news is that both 'content and services' revenue and overall 'gaming' revenue are up by huge amounts over at Xbox - driven by the team's acquisition of...
News Xbox Dev Playground Games Opens Another Studio To Work On Fable
Now three in total!
For a while now, we've known that Xbox-owned developer Playground Games has been working on Forza Horizon and Fable simultaneously - and now the team has revealed that the Fable side of the studio is really ramping up. Spotted on LinkedIn, the Playground Games bio now states that three studios are operating at the British...
News Analyst Expects Xbox Game Pass To Bring In 'Almost $5.5bn' In 2025
Once the price rises come into affect
Earlier this month, we heard about the impending launch of Xbox Game Pass Standard, alongside price increases for the existing tiers of Microsoft's subscription service. In the wake of that news, analytics group
News Bethesda's US Workforce Has Unionized To 'Set New Standard' For Game Developers
A "wall-to-wall" union with 200+ devs
Bethesda developers have announced a major union across their US-based studios in Dallas, Rockville and Austin - forming the 'OneBGSUSA' group. The group says that it is "a majority of developers" who "advocate for the betterment of every developer at BGS, setting the new standard for our industry." Microsoft,
Report UK Retailer GAME Ending In-Store Pre-Orders This Month
One by one, they fall
Following a slew of big policy changes recently, including the axing of its pre-owned stock earlier this year, major UK retailer GAME is reportedly about to stop accepting pre-orders of any kind in its brick-and-mortar stores. First reported on by TechRadar and corroborated by
News Xbox's Chief Marketing Officer Is Leaving Microsoft To Join Roblox
He's held the CMO role for almost five years
There's another shake-up taking place inside Xbox HQ this month, as it's been revealed that Chief Marketing Officer Jerret West will be leaving the company to join the ROBLOX team at the end of June. This was mentioned in a report by The Verge's Tom Warren yesterday, which also included an internal memo...
News Alone In The Dark Studio 'Pieces Interactive' Has Been Closed By Embracer Group
The company continues to cut developers
Today, Swedish developer Pieces Interactive has announced its closure following this year's Alone in the Dark reboot. The team was acquired by gaming titan Embracer Group back in 2017, having first been established 10 years prior in 2007, but it will unfortunately close its doors in 2024. In a statement on...
News Hi-Fi RUSH Developer Tango Gameworks Has Now Officially Closed Its Doors
One of the employees highlighted the studio's "last day"
Last month, Xbox shared the news it would be shutting down four studios including the developers behind the critically-acclaimed title Hi-Fi RUSH. While things have been looking more positive on the Xbox front over the past week, a now-former Tango Gameworks employee has shared an update on...
News Bethesda Developers Now Have Stronger Employee Rights Within Microsoft
Brand new union
Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Studios, has today announced that its workers now have stronger rights within Xbox - as Microsoft strikes a 'labour neutrality agreement' with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The Xbox owner first entered into such an agreement way back in summer 2022, amidst the whirlwind of Activision...
News Hellblade 2 Developer Ninja Theory Thanks Fans For 'Incredible Response'
"We've loved hearing your impressions"
It's been another big week in the land of Xbox with UK-based studio Ninja Theory launching Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 on the Series X|S, PC, Cloud, and also Game Pass. It's already one of the highest-rated Xbox games of the year and with this in mind, the team has now issued a brief message on social media,...
News Activision Is Opening A New Studio To Build 'Genre-Defining' Games At Microsoft
'Elsewhere Entertainment' is a-go
Microsoft's newly-acquired Activision team has today announced the opening of a brand-new development studio in Poland. The team, which is confirmed to not be working on Call of Duty, is setting out to build a "state-of-the-art and next-generation gaming experience" at 'Elsewhere Entertainment'. The studio also...
News OG Xbox Creator: I Believe In Xbox, Despite This Week's 'Tragic' Job Losses
"I’m confident this isn’t the end of the story"
Everyone's got an opinion about the Xbox studio closures that have taken place this week, and that includes the so-called "father of the Xbox" Seamus Blackley, who was there at the very beginning of the brand's existence. In a nutshell, Blackley feels sorry for everyone that's been caught up in...
News Report Claims Xbox Is Planning More Cuts Following Studio Closures
"A widespread cost-cutting initiative that still isn’t finished"
The bad news keeps on coming for Xbox this week, as Bloomberg is reporting that following the four studio closures that were mentioned on Tuesday, there are apparently plans for more job cuts in the seemingly near future. As described by the outlet, Xbox has apparently been offering...
News Helldivers 2 & Ori Bosses Share Their Thoughts On Xbox's Studio Closures
"Why close instead of divest?"
The news of the four studio closures at Xbox continues to dominate the gaming news this week, and we've seen plenty of notable figures (including the boss at Arkane Lyon) sharing their thoughts on the situation as it stands right now. The CEO of
News Xbox Studio Shutdowns Are A 'F***ing Gut Stab', Says Arkane Lyon Boss
"This is absolutely terrible"
Bethesda's Arkane Austin is one of a few Xbox studios that will officially be shutting down following an unexpected piece of news that broke earlier today, and now the boss of Arkane Lyon has chimed in on the situation. In an emotional thread on social media, Dinga Bakaba called the Xbox closures "absolutely terrible"...
News Xbox Is Shutting Four Studios, Including Arkane Austin And Tango Gameworks
Creators of Redfall, Hi-Fi RUSH & much more
In some earth-shattering news today, it's been announced that Xbox is shutting four studios in the form of Arkane Austin (Redfall, Prey), Tango Gameworks (Ghostwire: Tokyo, Hi-Fi RUSH), Alpha Dog Games (Mighty D
News Xbox Talks Sustainability Efforts As Rare's New 'Solar-Powered Studio' Is Unveiled
Earth Day 2024 brings new Xbox innovations
As part of Earth Day 2024, Microsoft has broken down a number of new initiatives going on at Xbox right now - including a brand-new "solar-powered studio" at Sea Of Thieves developer Rare. This new studio, also known as 'Barn X', opened last year - and it's since been "certified LEED GOLD for its design...
News Embracer Group Is Splitting Into Three Companies Following Recent Layoffs
"This is the start of a new chapter"
Embracer Group has today announced its intention to split into three separate companies - 'Asmodee Group', 'Coffee Stain & Friends' and 'Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends'. The three companies will handle different aspects of Embracer's operations, as explained in a new blog post from the huge gaming ent
News Former Xbox Exec Likes The Idea Of 'Tipping' Developers After Beating Their Games
"Some games are that special"
The price of AAA games has been a hot topic recently, especially with the move to $70 releases, but one former Xbox & Blizzard exec has taken to social media to express that they'd actually like the option to give devs more money for their releases. Yep, Mike Ybarra — who left X
News UK Retailer GAME Reportedly Swapping Core Staff To Zero Hour Contracts
Managers will apparently avoid the switch
Following on from January's news that GAME was starting to strip back its pre-owned department, we have some other unfortunate reports coming in about the staffing situation within the UK's biggest gaming retailer. Earlier reports this week claimed that redundancies were incoming, and now a
News Xbox CVP Kareem Choudhry Set To Leave Microsoft After 26 Years
"Part of a wider Xbox leadership re-org"
After spending over 26 years at Microsoft, Xbox CVP Kareem Choudhry is reportedly leaving Microsoft today. His departure is said to be taking place amidst a "large Xbox shake-up to accelerate growth plans". In his time at Xbox, Choudhry played a crucial role in spearheading the backwards compatibility...
News Xbox Game Pass Indie Deals Have 'Come Down In Scope', Claim Devs
"The Gold Rush is over"
Game Pass has proven to be a huge success for Xbox and developers since its inception, but supposedly the "gold rush is over" for indie developers looking to achieve major funding deals from these kinds of services. Speaking to PC Gamer at this year's Game Developer Conference, the development teams behind Xbox Game Pass...
News Halo Support Studio Certain Affinity Axes 25 Jobs
The first major layoff in its "17+ year history"
There have already been a bunch of layoffs this year and now Certain Affinity (known for helping out with Halo and Call of Duty) has let go of 25 US-based employees. In a message on its official website, the company announced it had made the "extremely difficult decision" to eliminate these roles. It...
News Xbox Bolsters Ranks With Another Experienced Recruit
"I have always been a fan of Xbox's commitment"
It's a new year and although Xbox axed a lot of employees earlier this year, it's still recruiting new (and experienced) talent. The latest individual to join the team is Jairo Lopes, who has taken on the role of third-party business development management for Xbox's global content partnerships. He...
News Xbox Game Pass Hit Hi-Fi RUSH Just Won Another Award
This time for "best audio"
One of Xbox's biggest success stories of the previous year was the shadow drop of Hi-Fi RUSH on Game Pass. Since then it's been played by millions of Xbox users, has been ported to other platforms, and has even won some awards. Now, to add to this, it's taken out 'best audio' at this year's
News The Legendary Dragon Ball Creator Akira Toriyama Has Passed Away
His work included video games
News has just broken in Japan about the passing of manga artist and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. He died on March 1st, 2024 at the age of 68 from acute subdural hematoma. Apart from his influence on the manga and anime industry, Toriyama had a huge impact on the video game industry over the years - not only...
News Sea Of Thieves Co-Developer Lays Off 'Handful' Of Employees
"This situation is heartbreaking"
It's been another difficult week for the video game industry in 2024 and now the UK indie developer Radical Forge has announced it's laying off a "handful of people". It's reportedly six employees to be exact. The same team, which worked alongside Flix Interactive and Rare on the free update Sea Of Thieves: A...
