Tag: Industry
Round Up Video Game Industry Reacts To Nintendo's Switch 2 Announcement
Here's what everyone thought
The Switch 2 announcement and reveal video is now trending across the internet and more industry figures, developers and publishers are beginning to share their reactions. We've rounded up as many as can find here in one post. Enjoy! Ubisoft After some rumours suggesting it's bringing over a dozen games to Nintendo's...
News Nintendo Is "Very Upset" About The Switch 2 Leaks, It's Claimed
Former employees Kit and Krysta discuss company secrets
We don't know how exactly Nintendo feels about the supposed 'Switch 2' leaks, but former company employees Kit and Krysta - who had over 10 years of first-hand experience at Nintendo of America - have now chimed in with their thoughts and insights. When the pair were at Nintendo, leaks were...
News Guillemot Family And Tencent May Move Select Ubisoft Assets To New Venture
Is Ubisoft in the endgame..?
A new report from Bloomberg reveals that the Guillemot family and Tencent may currently be in talks to move select Ubisoft assets over to a brand-new venture (thanks, VGC). Following a lengthy period in which Ubisoft has struggled in the midst of a rapidly declining share price, the move is supposedl
News Square Enix May Withhold Its Own Products If You Harrass Its Staff
So just don't, y'know?
Square Enix has updated its 'Group Customer Harrassment Policy' to ensure that its employees and partners remain protected against unwelcome nuisance and threats from certain customers. As detailed on its official website (thanks, GamesIndustry), the firm stated that if it deems an individual has indeed harassed its...
News Ex-Annapurna Interactive Staff Reportedly Pick Up Private Division Portfolio Under New Studio
Following last year's walk-out
Last year saw the entire Annapurna Interactive workforce resign following a dispute with owner Megan Ellison. Four months on, Bloomberg has reported that the former staff members have formed a new company and have picked up the entire Private Division portfolio (thanks,
News Physical Game Sales Took A Nosedive In The UK Last Year
Revenue dropped by nearly 35% from 2023
2024 was a fairly turbulent year for the games industry in many ways, but what's clear from the latest data is that physical games sales in the UK are struggling mightily. According to data from the Entertainment Retailers Association, and based on data from Nielsen/GfK, India and GSD (thanks, VGC), physical...
News Surprise Leak Reveals Lenovo Is Making Another Switch-Like Gaming Handheld
Update: Here's a closer look at the prototype
The current Lenovo Legion Go A new leak has revealed Lenovo is seemingly following up its 'Legion Go' handheld gaming device with a "larger" model and it will once again take all sorts of design cues from Nintendo's hybrid system. This new system reportedly keeps the "detachable" Joy-Con-like gamepads...
News Tencent Labelled A "Chinese Military Company" By US Government
Tencent claims there's been a "misunderstanding"
The US Department of Defense has officially added Chinese megacorp Tencent to the federal register of companies deemed to have ties to the Chinese military (thanks, Bloomberg). The addition to the list does not come with any specific sanctions for Tencent, though it may affect the company's ability...
News Bayonetta Veteran Confirms PlatinumGames Departure
He's moved to a PlayStation team
The Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames reportedly said goodbye to multiple veterans (including Hideki Kamiya) last year. Now, in another studio update, it's been confirmed the Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon director Abebe Tinari has also left. According to his LinkedIn, he's moved on to PlayStation's...
News Team Ninja Gears Up For Its 30th Anniversary
"We hope to announce and release titles fitting for the occasion"
As we enter 2025, Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja (known for its work on series like Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive) has acknowledged its 30th anniversary. In 4Gamer.net’s round up on Japanese developer’s 2025 ambitions, Team Ninja’s Fumihiko Yasuda mentioned how the team hoped to...
News Final Fantasy Creator’s Next Script Is Already Done
But the same project could still be a while away...
Following the recent release of Fantasian Neo Dimension for Switch, the Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi is now focused on his future. In the same Famitsu interview with Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, Sakaguchi revealed how he won’t be calling time on his career any time soon. Instead,...
News SNK Announces New ‘King Of Fighters’ Studio
"KOF Studio will proudly carry on the 30-year legacy"
As part of The King of Fighters 30th anniversary, SNK Corporation has established a new King of Fighters studio to keep the "legacy" going and also bring forth a new "revolution”. Here’s the official announcement on SNK's website: Revolutionize the legacy Fatal Fury, Samurai...
Feature How Can Switch 2 'Fix' The eShop? Devs Share Their Storefront Stories
"It's feast or famine, really"
If you are the proud owner of a Nintendo Switch (and if you're reading this, we'd wager that you are), then it will come as no surprise when we say that the eShop is a wild place in 2024. While gaming may have never been better, Nintendo's storefront has never been worse. Discoverability is a thing of the past with...
Feature "It's Fun, So It's Okay!" - Celebrating Takashi Tezuka's Astonishing 40-Year Nintendo Career
A look back at a glittering catalogue
Takashi Tezuka seems like a good laugh, the kind of chap who knows how to have fun. Despite all the Master-Sword-waving and PR-related hijinx from fellow Nintendo luminary Shigeru Miyamoto over the years, you still get the impression he's merciless in the workplace — an exacting, intimidating,...
"Tackle life with as much energy as Goku! I'll try to do the same!"
It's impossible to overstate the impact of Akira Toriyama, the legendary manga artist and character designer who has been working in the manga industry since 1978. His death at 68 years old has thousands around the world mourning his loss. Toriyama was, to me, comfort on sick days...
News Nintendo Veteran Don James To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
"My career has truly been a wild and fun ride"
While it's common to associate Nintendo with big names such as Satoru Iwata, Shigeru Miyamoto and Reggie Fils-Aimé, there are plenty of other important people who helped make the company and brand what it is today. As part of this legacy, Nintendo veteran and industry visionary Don James - who joined...
News Nintendo Switch Finally Surpasses PlayStation 2's Lifetime Sales In The US
Just the DS to beat
We thought this day might come, and here it is. According to the latest data from Circana (formerly NPD), the Nintendo Switch has finally surpassed the PlayStation 2's lifetime sales in the United States. The latest ranking shake-up comes from Circana executive director and video game industry analyst Mat Piscatella on BlueSky,...
News Several PlatinumGames Veterans Have Seemingly Left The Studio
Hideki and seek
In 2023, PlatinumGames made the surprise announcement that its co-founder and vice president, Hideki Kamiya, had left the company. One year on, it looks like several other veterans may be following suit. As spotted on the r/GamingLeaksAndRumours Reddit forum by user Joseki100 (off the back of an initial post by PlatinumGamesFanboy),...
News Capcom Intends To Continue "Re-Activating Dormant IPs"
Okami and Onimusha are paving the way
Some of the biggest surprises at this year's Game Awards show were provided by Japanese video game giant Capcom with the revival of classic IPs like Okami and Onimusha. In a company press release on its official website, Capcom has now made it clear this is all part of an initiative to focus on "re-activating...
Random PlayStation's Astro Bot Director Pays Tribute To Mario And Nintendo In GOTY Speech
"I didn't plan to say it, but I'm going to say it anyway"
There have been a lot of comparisons this year suggesting the PlayStation hit Astro Bot is more like a Super Mario or Nintendo game than a Sony one. With this in mind, it seems the game's director Nicolas Doucet might have finally put all of this debate to rest. In a surprising moment during...
News The Game Awards GOTY For 2024 Is Astro Bot
Here's the full list of winners
The Game Awards for 2024 is now over and Asobi's Astro Bot has officially won Game of the Year. It was up against Black Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth,
News Nintendo Now Officially Owns 100% Of Monolith Soft
The chronicle continues
The 'Company Profile' section of the Monolith Soft website has been updated and it looks like Nintendo now finally owns 100% of the company (thanks, Automaton West). The Big N first staked its claim in Monolith back in 2007, purchasing 80% of its shares from Namco before increasing its proportion to 96% in 2011. It's unclear...
News Michel Ancel Says Beyond Good & Evil 2 Development Issues Due To "Problems Between Managers"
"I have my share of responsibility"
Former Ubisoft designer and creator of Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil Michel Ancel has lifted the lid on part of Beyond Good & Evil 2's troubled development. In an interview with French outlet Superpouvoir (via
News Ubisoft Reportedly Discussing Buyout Options As Talks Of Going Private Continue
Following yet another wave of staff layoffs
Back in October, it was rumoured that Ubisoft was considering going private after a rough year of releases. Two months on and it appears that the negotiations are still ongoing, with Ubisoft and Tencent apparently engaged in talks about buyout terms. That is according to the latest report from Reuters,...
News Ex-PlayStation Boss Questions Future Of Consoles, But Not Nintendo Hardware
"They live in their Own Private Idaho"
As the video game market continues to evolve there's once again talk about the viability of console gaming. In the same interview with Eurogamer, ex-PlayStation boss Shawn Layden shared his thoughts about this topic. While he has raised alarm about the whole "Xbox versus PlayStation" console market and...
News Ubisoft Closes Two Studios And Will Reportedly Lay Off Hundreds Of Employees
The new free-to-play shooter 'XDefiant' has also been axed
It's been a tough year for the games industry with multiple studio closures and layoffs, and now as we enter December, Ubisoft continues the trend. As highlighted by Game File reporter Stephen Totilo, Ubisoft is shutting down its San Francisco production studio and Osaka, Japan office. It...
News The Game Awards 2024 Players' Voice Nominees Have Been Revealed - Zelda, Sonic And More
Voting is now open
Ahead of The Game Awards next week, the 'players' voice' nominees have now been revealed. This is a "100% fan voted award" that takes place across three rounds. Round one requires players to vote for their 10 favourite games from a list of 30, and ends on 4th December 2024 (aka tomorrow). On the Nintendo front, The Legend of...
News Visions Of Mana Director Joins Square Enix After Leaving NetEase's Ouka Studios
To the other side
Visions of Mana director Ryosuke Yoshida has announced that he left the NetEase-owned Ouka Studios at the end of October and has since taken up a position at Square Enix. Yoshida's formal departure follows a report from earlier this year that NetEase was cutting all but a handful of jobs at the development studio soon after...
News ININ Games Acquires Shenmue 3 Publishing Rights, Teases Announcement
Fans are already calling for a Nintendo release
Nintendo's platforms have hosted all sorts of iconic series over the years, but one we haven't seen just yet is Shenmue. While nothing has admittedly changed on this front, a recent announcement has reignited hopes. ININ Games has revealed it has now "officially acquired" the publishing rights to...
News Nintendo Is Ranked The Third Most Sought-After Employer In Japan
Gee, wonder why?
A new survey conducted by Japanese employment agency Gakujo reveals that Nintendo is the third most sought-after employer in the region. This comes via Otaku Soken (thanks, Automaton) and is based on responses from 5,476 university students across Japan. Nintendo is the highest company from the entertainment sector, and is only...
News Lizardcube Co-Founder Leaves To Start New Game Company
"my vision has been less aligned with the team"
Omar Cornut, one of the co-founders of developer Lizardcube, has announced his departure from the company after his own aspirations and vision became less aligned with the wider team. Lizarcube is known for its work on Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap and Streets of Rage 4, with Cornut and Ben Fiquet...
News Composer Grant Kirkhope Joins Davide Soliani's New Indie Studio
"There’s no way out now."
Davide Soliani, the director of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, recently revealed his new indie studio, Day 4 Night. Focused on delivering "deeply heartfelt and original games that innovate in storytelling and design", its a bold new venture for the creator who had previously spent 25...
News Palworld Dev May Have Found An Unexpected Ally In Nintendo's Lawsuit: An Old GTA 5 Mod
Trevorlution
Earlier this month, Palworld developer PocketPair detailed the patent infringement claims that make up Nintendo's ongoing lawsuit. The case itself is still underway, with both parties building their arguments, but a new prediction from a Japanese patent attorney suggests that PocketPair may be finding support in the most unlikely of...
News Mario & Luigi's Future In Doubt As A Potential Sony Acquisition Emerges
Update: Kadokawa acknowledges Sony's offer
A new report from Reuters has emerged that reveals Sony is potentially in talks to purchase Kadokawa, a Japanese media conglomerate that serves as parent to dozens of entertainment companies. In the gaming space, Kadokawa owns Spike Chunsoft, Acquire, Gotcha Gotcha Games, and FromNetworks, while also...
News Expansion Packs And DLC Are Now "Eligible In All Categories" At The Game Awards
This also includes remakes, remasters and new seasons
Ahead of the nominees being revealed for The Game Awards this year, it seems there's some debate online about the new eligibility rules. According to the FAQ on the official website, "expansion packs, new game seasons, DLCs, remakes and remasters" are now eligible to be nominated across "all...
News Thunderful Announces Its Second Restructuring Program In One Year
Up to 100 redundancies expected
Publisher Thunderful has confirmed that it is launching another restructuring program aimed at reducing its workforce by up to 100 employees. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Thunderful is looking to “increase its focus on t
News Saudi Arabia's PIF Further Reduces Its Stake In Nintendo
Sovereign wealth fund now has a 6.3% stakehold
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has reduced its stake in Nintendo for the second time in as many months. As reported by Bloomberg (thanks, The Edge), a new filing in Japan shows that the PIF's stake in the Japanese video game firm now stands at 6.3%, down from 7.54%. This follows an earlier 1.04%...
News RiME And 'Song Of Nunu' Developer Tequila Works Has Filed For Insolvency
Following "prolonged market conditions"
Tequila Works, the development studio behind the likes of RiME, GYLT, Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story and The Sexy Brutale, has announced that it has been forced to file for insolvency. The Madrid-based studio's founding members have each stood down from their respective positions, leading to Térence...
News Capcom's Hideaki Itsuno Helms New LightSpeed Development Studio In Japan
There's a Buzz around this LightSpeed
LightSpeed Studios, the team behind PUBG Mobile and survival RPG Undawn, has launched a new game development studio in Japan helmed by none other than Capcom legend Hideaki Itsuno (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz). Itsuno announced that he was stepping down from Capcom back in August, after over 30 years working at...
News Palworld Developer Details Patent Infringement Claims From Nintendo's Lawsuit
Nintendo and TPC seek 10m Yen in damages
News on Nintendo and The Pokémon Company's lawsuit against Palworld developer Pocketpair had gone quiet over the past few weeks, but a new statement from the latter studio has shed some more light on the complaint — specifically, the patents Nintendo claims have been infringed upon and the prescribed fine...
News Take-Two Boss Shares Thoughts On 'Switch 2' And Backwards Compatibility
"I never count Nintendo out"
Nintendo this week put the rumours to rest (well, kind of) with the announcement its Switch "successor" would support backwards compatibility. So, how are third-party partners reacting to this? GamesIndustry.biz asked Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick what he thought and he's all for it: "Backward compatibility is good for...
News Take-Two Sells Private Division To Undisclosed Buyer
Deal includes "existing and unreleased titles"
The video game publisher Take-Two has officially sold its smaller label Private Division to an unnamed buyer for an undisclosed sum. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick told Variety how "the buyer purchased substantially all of Private Division's existing and unreleased titles". He added how this was a...
News Nintendo Would Rather "Organically Expand The Organisation" Than Rely Solely On Acquisitions
Not that any future mergers are off the table, mind
As a part of its recent Corporate Management Policy Briefing for FY2025, Nintendo has reiterated its stance on mergers and acquisitions. Namely, while future acquisitions are never off the table, it would rather "organically expand the organisation". This, the briefing note claimed, is so that new...
Talking Point Nintendo's Latest Financials Make One Thing Abundantly Clear
Echoes of Switchdom
Blimey, has it already been three months since the last lot? Yes, it's time for another round of Nintendo financial results, and we can soon expect the usual investor Q&A with Shuntaro Furukawa and co. deflecting questions about the Switch "successor" and then explaining how the Nintendo Music app is one example of the...
News Here Are The Top Ten Best-Selling Nintendo Switch Games As Of September 2024
Two games switch places
Nintendo has released its latest financial data covering the first six-month period for FY2025 and, as part of that, it has updated the top ten best-selling games list once more. The only major change we can see with this one is that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has usurped Super Mario Party to claim the eighth...
News Nintendo Lowers Its Hardware Forecast As Switch Sales Slow To A Crawl
Still, 146 million ain't bad
Nintendo has released its six-month financial data for FY2025 Q1/Q2, revealing that the Switch family of systems has now topped a whopping 146.04 million units. The downside of this is that the console's momentum has undoubtedly slowed down, selling just 2.64 million more than the 143.42 reported in August this year...
News Rayman Creator Michel Ancel Confirms Involvement With New Ubisoft Project
And hopes 'The Lost Crown' team can reform for a sequel
After Ubisoft confirmed Michel Ancel would be a consultant on its new Rayman project last month, the creator of the series has now acknowledged this in a post on Instagram. He mentioned how he's "very happy to have been consulted" and confirmed it's a "real pleasure" to know Rayman and his...
News Nintendo Clarifies No Layoffs Are Happening At 'Mario Club' Subsidiary, Despite The Rumours
Not today, rumour mill
Earlier this week, Japanese outlet Leakpress published a report claiming that 150 employees of Nintendo debugging subsidiary Mario Club Co., Ltd. were being laid off across various teams. Fortunately, Nintendo has today released a statement to Eurogamer to set the record straight. The layoff reports are "untrue," Nintendo's...
News Microsoft Talks About Extending Its Gaming Content To 'New Platforms'
It recently released fan-favourite titles on Switch
Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella this week released his annual letter to shareholders and in the "gaming" segment, he spoke about how the company had continued to extend its content to new platforms. He also acknowledged how Microsoft and its gaming division Xbox had recently brought multiple fan...
News Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown Dev Team Disbanded By Ubisoft
Update: Ubisoft confirms members have "shifted to other projects"
Update [Wed 23rd Oct, 2024 13:00 BST]: Ubisoft has confirmed that most of the team that worked on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown have indeed been moved onto other projects internally, and that the game is at the end of its post-launch roadmap. In a statement provided to our sister...
