2023-11

Digital Bros Group, the parent company to publisher 505 Games, has announced plans to lay off 30 percent of its staff. It says it is doing so to align with "the new competitive market." 505 Games is the publisher behind games like Ghostrunner 2, Control, Payday 2, the PC version of Death Stranding, and more; it's unclear how much of that team will be affected by Digital Bros' overall plan.  "Digital Bros has reviewed its projects to align with the new competitive environment," it writes in a press release. "This is expected to represent a reduction of approximately 30 percent of the global workforce, but no significant effect of restructuring costs is expected on the annual project results for [Fiscal Year 2024]." The company goes on to say that the video game market has evolved since the pandemic to...

Don't pay full price for board games....

Nintendo shared its latest Indie World showcase this morning and has become typical with these showcases, we learned about a number of new exciting indie games coming to Switch and Switch first, as well as some hit already-released games that will be making their way to Nintendo's platform. Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution was arguably the most interesting title. Developer WayForward began development on the game 20 years ago, but never completed it. Next year, the game will finally make its way to Switch, but retain the Game Boy Advance aesthetic it was always meant to have. Outer Wilds: Archaeologist Edition is bringing the excellent space-exploring mystery game to the handheld console and will include the Echoes of the Eye expansion. The game releases December 7 and a physical version of the game is planned. On Your Tail from...

Another month, another batch of fresh games set to hit Xbox Game Pass. This time around, you can expect new games like Persona 5 Tactica and the console version of Dune: Spice Wars, as well as DLC and updates, and more. And, per usual, some games are leaving Xbox Game Pass this month. Let's break it all down below.  Available starting today is Coral Island for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox Cloud gaming. Coral Island "invites players to be who they want and experience enchanting island living at their own pace – living off the land, nurturing animals, building relationships with a diverse cast of townsfolk, making the world around them a more vital and harmonious place." Check out a trailer for Coral Island below:  Coming Soon While Coral Island is available starting today, the rest of this month's...

Lies of P is one of the year's best games – read why in Game Informer's Lies of P review – and both critics and fans have enjoyed the Bloodborne/Sekiro-style take on the story of The Adventures of Pinocchio. Mustakro on Twitter has taken their enjoyment of the game's boss designs and turned some of Lies of P's toughest challenges into Cuphead-style bosses, and it rules.  I came across Mustakro this morning, scrolling through my Twitter feed, when I saw a really awesome rendition of Lies of P's King of Puppets boss (one of the most difficult in the game) in the style of Rubberhose, which is that classic animation style popularized in the 1920s seen in Cuphead. King Of Puppets in Cuphead/Rubberhose style! https://t.co/wI1aDcwZn1 pic.twitter.com/e7gTJZO43t — Mustakro🐀 (OPEN commissions) (@mustakro) November 13, 2023 Then I clicked through some of Mustakro's other tweets to...

Here's what to expect from Xbox over the Black Friday 2023 sales....

After months of character reveals, Tekken 8 has announced the final fighter of its launch roster: Reina. This brand-new character sports a lightning-quick moveset, earning her the nickname “Purple Lightning," and has mysterious ties to the Mishima clan. Bandai Namco states that little is known about Reina's history besides she’s a student of the Mishima Polytechnical School. For some reason, she really wants to fight Jin (move over, Hwoarang), and based on her gameplay trailer, she seems more than capable of taking him on. Check Reina out in action below.  With Reina’s addition, the 32-fighter roster is now complete. Here’s the full list of characters, with new fighters denoted and links to applicable articles/trailers: Alisa Bosconovitch Asuka Kazama Azucena Milagros Ortiz Castillo (New) Bryan Fury Claudio Serafino Devil Jin Feng Wei Hwoarang Jack-8 (New) Jin Kazma Jun Kazama...

Amazon is laying off 180 jobs in its games division, hopping on the tragically overcrowded bandwagon of layoffs in the game industry this year. The news comes via Aftermath, which reports that the layoffs are focused in two areas – the Crown Twitch channel, which will reportedly be eliminated altogether, and the game growth teams. Employees were notified of the changes through an email from Christoph Hartman, VP of Amazon Games. This is the second wave of layoffs this division of the company has faced this year. An excerpt of the announcement email can be read below: I know this is difficult news and that the impact will be felt widely. It never feels good to say goodbye to colleagues. This isn’t a decision the leadership team came to quickly; it was the result of extensive considerations and road mapping for our...

The Game Awards air on December 7 at 4:30 PT/7:30 ET live from the Peacock Theater and host Geoff Keighley revealed the full list of categories and nominees, including the coveted Game of the Year. Voting is open now for fans at the Game Awards’ website, and here’s the full list of categories and nominees. Game of the Year Alan Wake 2  Baldur’s Gate 3  Marvel’s Spider-Man 2  Resident Evil 4  Super Mario Bros. Wonder  The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom  Best Game Direction Alan Wake 2  Baldur’s Gate 3  Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Super Mario Bros. Wonder  The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom  Best Narrative Alan Wake 2  Baldur’s Gate 3  Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Final Fantasy XVI  Marvel’s Spider-Man 2  Best Art Direction Alan Wake 2  Hi-Fi Rush  Lies of...

Earlier this summer, developer Evening Star Studios and publisher Private Division revealed Penny's Big Breakaway during a Nintendo Direct. While the throwback 3D platforming adventure looked great in its own right, what caught a lot of people's attention was the team behind it. Evening Star's creative director and lead engine architect is Christian Whitehead, one of the lead developers behind 2017's Sonic Mania. Whitehead isn't alone, though, as various other Evening Star developers also worked on Sonic Mania. While we've still got some time before the game's release – it's due out sometime in 2024 – Game Informer has a special sneak peek at its music and can exclusively reveal three tracks from the game.  Sonic Mania and TMNT: Shredder's Revenge composer Tee Lopes is scoring Penny's Big Breakaway and you can get a taste of his score below:  Jigs Up, Penny...