Tag: Industry News
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 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 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 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 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...
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 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 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 Major Nelson Takes A Selfie At Nintendo America's HQ With His Guest Pass
"Just visiting"
Although Major Nelson announced his departure from Xbox and Microsoft last month, he's not entirely done with the industry just yet. He previously mentioned how he would be taking a "step back" to work on the "next chapter" of his career. With this in mind, he's now been spotted taking selfies out of Nintendo's American office. It's...
News Major Nelson Announces His Departure From Xbox After 20 Years
"I have decided to take a step back"
Xbox's Major Nelson has today announced that he is leaving Xbox and Microsoft after over 20 years at the company, telling fans on social media that he intends to "take a step back and work on the next chapter of my career". In his message, Major Nelson (real name "Larry Hryb") thanked the "millions of gamers...
Rumour CNBC Suggests Amazon Isn't Planning To Acquire EA
At least not right now
Update (Fri 26th Aug, 2022 17:00 BST): Earlier today, a report began circling on USA Today (with GLHF sources) that Amazon had made a formal bid to acquire EA, but a few hours later, CNBC suggested that Amazon wasn't planning to make a bid for the company. So, which is it?! We don't know for sure, but it appears to be the...
News Xbox's Phil Spencer Shares Kind Words About Former Nintendo Boss
"His leadership and guidance have been very valuable"
Head of Xbox and Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has taken to Twitter to share his support for former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé, who is currently promoting his new book about his life and career. The book is called "Disrupting The Game", and is described as "the ultimate...
News Sony Reportedly Joining Xbox In Creating 'Ad Program' For Free-To-Play Games
But it's a separate plan to Microsoft's
You may recall Business Insider reporting last week that Microsoft was creating an advertising program for free-to-play games on Xbox, and now the same outlet has suggested Sony is doing something very similar for PlayStation as well. According to the report, Sony wants to "encourage developers to keep...
News Xbox's Head Of Research And Design Leaves After 20 Years
"I have loved my time with Xbox"
Xbox's Head of Research and Design, Chris Novak, has announced he's left Microsoft after almost 20 years working at the company, having started on the Xbox team all the way back in November of 2002 as a Design Director. In a message posted on LinkedIn, Novak confirmed he'd resigned from Microsoft, but stated he'd...
News Halo's OG Composers 'Amicably Resolve Differences' With Microsoft
Sounds like a happy ending
It was revealed back in February of this year that original Halo composers Marty O'Donnell and Mike Salvatori were suing Microsoft over 20 years' worth of unpaid royalties, but it seems the two parties have reached an agreement. Taking to Twitter this week, Marty O'Donnell stated that "Microsoft and O’Donnell/Salvatori,...
News Halo's OG Composers Are Suing Microsoft Over 20 Years Of Unpaid Royalties
It could even block the TV show release
It's being reported by Eurogamer today that the original composers on Halo are suing Microsoft over 20 years' worth of unpaid royalties, and it could even potentially have an effect on the release of the upcoming Halo TV show. Marty O'Donnell and Mike Salvatori filed
News Xbox Veteran Shannon Loftis Retires From Microsoft After 29 Years
"I always told myself I’d leave at a high point..."
There's some major industry news coming out of the Microsoft camp today, as Xbox veteran Shannon Loftis has announced that she's retiring from Microsoft after 29 years of service to the company. Loftis, who most recently has been serving as the head of Age of Empires developer World's Edge,...
News Sony Acquiring Bungie For $3.6 Billion, Studio Will Remain Multiplatform
Another major acquisition
What is happening this year?! Just weeks after Microsoft announced it was acquiring Activision for a little under $70 billion, Sony has now announced that it is acquiring Destiny (and former Halo) studio Bungie for $3.6 billion. However, it's been confirmed that Bungie will remain a multiplatform studio with the ability...
