2024-02

Sony Interactive Entertainment has announced layoffs at various PlayStation first-party studios, including Insomniac Games (Marvel's Spider-Man), Naughty Dog (The Last of Us Part II), Guerrilla Games (Horizon Forbidden West), and Firesprite. It is also closing London Studio, the team behind PlayStation VR's Blood & Truth and VR Worlds. In a statement released by head of PlayStation Studios Hermen Hulst, he seems to cite overgrowth as the reason for the layoffs.  PlayStation's Technology, Creative, and Support teams are also affected by these layoffs, according to Hulst. He writes, "These are in addition to some smaller reductions in other teams across PlayStation Studios." These layoffs will result in an 8 percent reduction of staff, or around 900 people losing their jobs.  "Our goal at PlayStation Studios has always been to make the best games for PlayStation fans, and our global community...

During today's Pokémon Presents stream celebrating Pokémon Day, we got our first look at the next major title coming to the Nintendo Switch. Called Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the teaser suggests the game will be set in Lumiose City, a Paris-inspired area first seen in Pokémon X and Y. It's not just a long-awaited follow up to Pokémon Legends: Arceus – it's an overdue return to the world of Pokémon X and Y. Check out some images from the trailer below:   The teaser, which does not contain any actual gameplay footage, shows a Pikachu hopping around a city made of glowing blue lines. While it's not immediately clear that the city is Lumiose, eagle-eyed fans will notice many familiar friends from that generation of games, including Pyroar, Flabébé, Klefki, and Hawlucha. These images are juxtaposed with architectural sketches and...

Here's everything announced during the first Pokémon Presents event of 2024....

Epic Games and Lego unveiled Lego Fortnite, a brick-based survival game with crafting, combat, and more, back in December. Now, the companies have unveiled a new way to experience Lego in Fortnite: Lego Islands. Available today, Lego Islands is a family-friendly, all-ages play experience that sits alongside (and separate) from Lego Fortnite, and it's kicking off with two islands.  The first is Lego Raft Survival. Created in Unreal Editor for Fortnite, Raft Survival "combines frenetic multiplayer problem solving with the classic Lego Pirates theme, as the infamous Blackbeard challenges players and their friends to stay afloat on a raft in unfriendly waters," a press release reads. Players must survive on their raft against cannon balls shot from Blackbeard's Barracuda ship, all while collecting wood and treasures as resources and building more rafts.  Here's a look at Lego Raft Survival:  ...

During last week’s Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase, it was revealed that the 2021 action Metroidvania Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knight is getting a sequel in the form of Ender Magnolia: Bloom of the Mist. The initial trailer provided a vague 2024 launch window, but we now know it's hitting Steam Early Access first on March 26.  Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is set within the same universe as Ender Lilies but takes place in the magically saturated Land of Fumes. A mind-warping toxin has been unleashed from the magic-infused soil and dangerous Homunguli ravages the land. It’s up to protagonist Lilac, an “Attunder” capable of cleansing Homunguli, to save the day. You can check out the game's new trailer below. Like Ender Lilies, Ender Magnolia is a dark fantasy Metroidvania in which Lilac is paired with another...

Supermassive Games, the developer behind Until Dawn, The Quarry, and the upcoming Little Nightmares III, is laying off roughly 90 employees, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The publication reports that 150 staff members at the British studio were informed today they are "at risk" of being laid off in accordance with U.K. labor laws that require companies to give notice ahead of layoffs.  Shortly after Bloomberg's report went live, the studio tweeted the following statement:  It's no secret that the games industry is currently facing significant challenges, and unfortunately we aren't immune to this.  After much deliberation and with deep regret, we are therefore undertaking a reorganization of Supermassive Games. As a result, we are entering into a period of consultation, which we anticipate will result in the loss of some of our colleagues.  This is not a decision that's been...

During last week's Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase, we learned Grounded and Pentiment, two Xbox titles, are coming to Switch, Disney Epic Mickey was getting the remaster treatment, Penny's Big Breakaway is now available, and more. You can check out our full rundown of everything announced during the Partner Showcase here. However, Reynatis, a really cool-looking action game set in a modern-day Tokyo, was not shown.  It appeared during the Japanese version of the Partner Showcase, though, and the game quickly picked up steam online, thanks to its cool visual style, over-the-top action, and music by Final Fantasy XV composer Yoko Shimomura. Despite its absence on the English version of the Partner Showcase, we now know Reynatis is coming West later this year.  Specifically, it's due out this fall on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam, as...

Nier series creator Yoko Taro reportedly teased a third Nier game during the Nier: Orchestra Concert earlier this month. As reported by Eurogamer, during the concert, which celebrated the Nier series' music in London, Taro apparently made a surprise appearance and asked for people to clap and cheer as loudly as they could so that Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu – in attendance – could hear the demand for more Nier, according to one fan at the event.  However, the biggest tease of the night came from an on-screen word that appeared multiple times throughout "the story of the show," SanTheSly, the fan in attendance, writes on ResetEra.  "[The] word REPENT was shown repeatedly as part of some dialogue," SanTheSly writes. "The final instance was spelled as R3PENT. Both me and the person I'd gone with picked up on it...

Japanese outlet Nikkei is reporting that the Switch successor, or "Switch 2" as it's been dubbed colloquially within the games industry, is targeting a March 2025 launch, according to VideoGamesChronicle. This report follows earlier reporting from VGC and other outlets like Eurogamer that Nintendo's next console was originally targeting a 2024 launch before being pushed internally to the first quarter of 2025, which lines up with Nikkei's latest reporting.  VGC reports that Nikkei writes, "Priority was given to ensure the initial inventory of the successor console and a lineup of software titles at the time of its launch" to curb the possibility of a stock shortage similar to what the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S experienced back in 2020. Following previous reports, Nikkei also writes that Nintendo's next console will be a hybrid home console-portable device like the Switch with a larger screen.  Finally, Nikkei writes the internal target...

Nintendo has brought back a ton of its smaller franchises in the last few years, but there are still several obscure series we’d love to see make a comeback on Nintendo Switch, or its successor. ...