Tag: Industry - Page 13
Anniversary Inti Creates Is 25 Years Old
That went fast
This week marks Inti Creates' 25th anniversary. Yes, the Japanese video game company was founded on 8th May 1996. Over the past 25 years, it's worked on games like Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX, Gal Gun, Azure Striker Gunvolt, Mighty Gunvolt
But thought a deal with Nintendo would be a "moonshot"
Take this with a grain of salt, but at some stage, the Fortnite creator Epic Games was apparently eager to get Sony, Microsoft and even Nintendo's first-party titles on its digital storefront - and for all we know, it could still be interested in making this happen one day. According to yet...
News E3 2021 Bolsters Its Line-Up With Square Enix, Sega, Bandai Namco And More
"All-virtual" event kicks-off this June
E3 might have skipped last year, but in 2021 it's making a comeback as an all-virtual event. In the latest update, several high-profile publishers and developers have been officially locked in. This includes tech, hardware, and streaming companies, too. So, who are they? There's Square Enix, Bandai Namco...
News EA Has Acquired The Super Mega Baseball Developer Metalhead Software
Fan favourite franchise joins the EA Sports line-up
Third-party video game giant EA - known for blockbuster AAA series such as Battlefield, Need for Speed and the Mass Effect series - has bolstered its sports line-up, with the acquisition of the Canada-based developer Metalhead Software. This is the same studio behind the Super Mega Baseball series...
News Toys For Bob Is Now A Support Developer For Call Of Duty: Warzone
Update: Activision says studio will continue to support Crash 4
Update: [Wed 5th May, 2021 00:45 BST]: In a response to VGC, an Activision spokesperson has denied reports about "layoffs" at Toys for Bob and says the studio will "continue supporting" Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time while providing additional support to Call of Duty Warzone...
News Konami Won't Be Attending E3 2021 But Still Has A Number Of Projects To Reveal
"stay tuned for some updates in the coming months"
Japanese games company Konami - known for titles such as Metal Gear Solid - has announced it won't be attending E3 2021. In a statement on social media, the company said it still had "great respect" for the ESA and would continue to support it in the future. It's also taken this opportunity to...
News Activision Blizzard CEO Agrees To Cut Huge Salary And Bonuses Following Industry Backlash
A direct response to shareholder feedback
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has agreed to a major pay cut to both his base salary and bonuses following feedback from shareholders. Over the past few years, the stark contrast between Kotick's monumental earnings and the way in which Activision staff have been treated has caused more than its fair...
News E3 Announces Its Digital Event Hosts For 2021
Here are your hosts for E3's four-day event
After its break last year, E3 is really starting to feel like an actual thing again this year. We've already heard about a growing list of game publishers that are going to be on board, and now more details are being set in stone thanks to a new host reveal. E3 2021 will be an all-virtual global event...
News Street Fighter Producer Yoshinori Ono Is Leaving Capcom To Join Another Studio
"I may be away from the FGC for a while"
Yoshinori Ono, best known as the producer of the Street Fighter series, has shared more information on his upcoming move away from Capcom – a studio for which he's been an important part of for almost 30 years. Ono originally announced that he would be stepping away from Capcom last summer, thanking fans...
News GameStop CEO Reportedly In Line For A $179m 'Goodbye' Deal This Summer
Shares linked to tenure, not performance
The GameStop stock market drama from the beginning of the year certainly had its share of dramatic ups and equally dramatic downs, but it's fair to say that prospects for the video game retailer have been gloomy for several years now. The rise in digital purchases and alternative online retailers over the...
News Overwatch Director Jeff Kaplan Leaves Blizzard After Almost 20 Years
His watch is over
Jeff Kaplan has a lot of strings to his bow, but now he's bowing out. As the Vice President of Blizzard Entertainment and the Director and public face of Overwatch, he's quite the well-known figure, but in an announcement today, he announced that he's leaving the company after almost two decades of service. Here's his letter, in...
News Square Enix Says It's Not For Sale, Shoots Down Acquisition Rumours
Update: Square Enix responds
Update: Square Enix has now responded to Bloomberg Japan's report, shutting down claims that it could be on the brink of being bought out. In a new statement released to press, Square Enix explains that it isn't considering selling off the company, and hasn't received any offers. You can read the full statement below...
News Epic Secures $1 Billion In Funding, With Sony Investing Another $200 Million
Will allow Epic Games to "support future growth opportunities"
Nintendo's industry pal Sony has just invested another $200 million in the Fortnite creator Epic Games. Epic's $1 billion in funding from Sony and various other companies will allow it to support future growth opportunities, including its "Metaverse". This now also puts the company's...
News Nintendo's Future Is Focused On New IP And "Staple Series"
"We are constantly looking out for new ideas"
Would you like to see Nintendo revive some of its older and perhaps lesser-known IPs for the Switch generation? Well, if Shuntaro Furukawa's latest comments are anything to go by, it's probably best not to get your hopes up too much. During an interview with Nikkei earlier this week, the Nintendo...
Talking Point A Digital-Only E3 Makes Sense, But In-Person Events Are The Goal
Games are born at events like these
When E3 revealed that it would run a digital event this year, it drew interest because of some notable participants – in particular, Nintendo and Xbox – but also plenty of weary sarcasm to match the buzz. E3 as an event arguably only has itself to blame if some feel jaded or downright indifferent to it, as it...
News Nintendo's Doug Bowser Excited To Get Games Industry "Back Together" For E3
"We’ll make the virtual format fun and engaging"
Earlier this week, the Entertainment Software Association announced its plans for this year's E3 event - revealing several major publishers, including Nintendo, would be participating in this "all-virtual" show. Following this announcement, Nintendo of America's president Doug Bowser shared his own...
News The Summer Game Fest Returns This June
Day of the Devs is also back
As we get closer to the halfway mark of 2021, more video game events are beginning to get underway. We've already had a Nintendo Direct and a few other third-party events, and later this year E3 will be returning in an all-digital format. Now, to add to this, it's been announced Summer Game Fest is back. As highlighted...
News Don't Worry, E3 2021 Won't Be Locked Behind A Paywall
It's the same as usual, according to the ESA
Yesterday, VGC published a story suggesting E3 could potentially be locking some elements of this year's digital E3 event behind a paywall. The plan, according to "multiple publishing sources" was to apparently charge a fee for some of this year's content. This would include demos and a "premium" package...
News Xbox Says It's "More Important Than Ever" To Preserve Gaming Icons And Classics
You hear that, Nintendo?
The digital era of gaming should have made video game preservation easier than ever, but as we've slowly been learning over the past decade, it appears to come with a number of setbacks. Some companies aren't interested in reviving older libraries of games, others put odd restrictions and limitations in place, and then...
News Final Fantasy Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi Says Latest Project Could Be His Last
"I think it is certainly possible"
A few weeks ago, we heard how Japanese video game composer, Nobuo Uematsu - who has worked on most Final Fantasy games in some capacity and other RPG hits like Chrono Trigger - might be calling it a day due to health issues. Now, in a bit of an update, Final Fantasy creator and veteran designer, Hironobu
News Former Nintendo Of America President Reggie To Step Down From GameStop's Board Of Directors
One of eight members expected to depart
Last March, Reggie Fils-Aimé joined GameStop's board of directors. Now, just over a year later, it's been announced the former Nintendo of America president is one of eight members expected to leave the company after its annual meeting in June. This information comes via a GameStop filing, which also reveals...
News Qualcomm Is Reportedly Working On A "Knockoff" Switch, Powered By Android
Will feature "detachable joycon style" controllers
The Nintendo Switch is one of the most innovative devices in recent history - blending portable and console gaming into one. There have been a lot of tech companies attempting to recreate Nintendo's success over the past four years with their own similar but slightly different creations, and...
News Video Games Have Never Been More Popular In The UK As 2020 Spending Hits £7bn
And Switch was "the big winner"
You don't need us telling you that it's been an unusual year, but with the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, many people have significantly invested in their home entertainment setups. When games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons are setting record sales for Nintendo of Europe, it's not too shocking to learn the UK...
News Gamescom Returns This August In New Hybrid Format - Expect Announcements, News And "Surprises"
And Geoff is back as ONL host
As the year begins to get underway, we're slowly hearing more and more announcements. Earlier today, we found out Evo online would be taking place this August, and now, Gamescom has provided new information about its own plans for 2021. When it returns on August 24, it will be delivered in a new hybrid show format -...
Including "50 employees" in live events
It has been tough times for a lot of industries over the past year, and perhaps one of the most difficult aspects of the pandemic for the video game industry has been the cancellation of live shows including expos and e-sports events. As these in-person events are no longer happening, Activision Blizzard has...
News Bethesda's Future Games Will Be "Where Game Pass Exists"
So that's Xbox, PC and devices that support the service
It's been a big week in the video game industry, with Microsoft officially finalising its $7.5 billion acquisition of Bethesda's parent company, ZeniMax Media. Microsoft is expected to limit Bethesda's third-party support at a certain point in the future and in a special roundtable discussion,...
News Capcom Allegedly Forced Staff To Work On-Site, Ignoring Japan's COVID Rules
Last year's internal leak seems to have frightened the execs
The global pandemic has been going on for a year in the West, but even longer in many parts of Asia, where the virus was first discovered. Like many countries, Japan - home to a number of high-profile games studios and publishers - asked workers to stay home, or at least to limit the...
News Sega And Nintendo Veterans Launch Sumo's New Publishing Division, Secret Mode
"Secret Mode knows how to nurture developer talent"
Sumo Group is keeping busy recently. While its largest developer Sumo Digital continues working on numerous projects, it has usually worked with other publishers, but recent years have seen self-published efforts like Snake Pass and Spyder. Bui
News Bethesda Will Make "Some" New Titles Exclusive To Xbox And PC
Exact games not yet revealed
Last year, Microsoft announced it would be acquiring Bethesda's parent company ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion. It's now a done deal - with the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, confirming everything has been finalised. So, what does this mean for Bethesda games on other platforms such as the Nintendo Switch? In the same Xbox...
News Nihon Falcom Is Celebrating Its 40th Anniversary With A Special Broadcast
Take a look back at its early efforts with Ys and The Legend of Heroes
Not every anniversary is always cause for celebration with companies. Nintendo was noticeably quiet during Legend of Zelda's 35th recently, but Nihon Falcom is doing things differently. A special 40th anniversary broa
News Final Fantasy's Chocobo Racing Might Be Making A Comeback
More trademarks surface online
Update [9th Mar 2021]: Last December, a trademark for the Final Fantasy Chocobo spin-off surfaced online. Now, according to Gematsu, Square Enix has filed trademarks for "Chocobo GP" on 26th February in Australia and Canada. Another trademark for it appeared in Europe at the start of this month. Original story [15th...
News Epic Games Buys Mediatonic, The Studio Behind Fall Guys
Fortnite and Fall Guys are now siblings
Could anyone have predicted that Epic Games - developer of Fortnite and Gears of War, creator of the Unreal Engine, and powerhouse behind the Epic Games Store, Steam's biggest rival - would buy up Mediatonic, the studio behind hit pandemic game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout? Not us, that's for sure. Tonic...
News Nintendo Aims To Develop Its Characters Without "Destroying" The Memories Of Fans
"There’s always a risk of destroying the Nintendo brand"
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa's recent Nikkei interview has given us much to consider. Reconfirming that cloud gaming isn't a "top priority" for Nintendo presently, he also took this opportunity to dive into discussions about Nintendo's development philosophy. As translated by
News Cloud Gaming Not A "Top Priority", But Nintendo Is "Always Researching Technologies"
"Our strategy is to grow the population of people who play video games"
Shuntaro Furukawa is a busy man lately. As we head towards the new financial year next month, Nintendo's President has been occupied with Nintendo's latest financial reports, outlining their long-term plans for Switch. On top of this, he's recently sat down with
News Online E3 2021 Event Looking More Likely As Live Show Is Listed As Cancelled
Update: E3 2021 now listed as a "cancelled live event"
Update: VGC has spotted that the Board of Los Angeles Convention and Tourism Development Commission has listed E3 2021 as a “cancelled live event”. Original Story [Mon 8th Feb, 2021 20:45 GMT]: The Entertainment Software Association announced last year that they would go digital for E3...
News Some History About ILCA, The Japanese Studio Working On The Pokémon Diamond And Pearl Remakes
Game Freak's backup
During the Pokémon Presents broadcast this week, The Pokémon Company announced remakes of the Nintendo DS games, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. While Game Freak normally handles games like this, right now, it's busy with the open-world prequel Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which is due out next year. This leaves the release of
Video Check Out This Exclusive Sneak Peek From Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story
Ahead of next week's launch
Crackle's new five-part documentary series Playing with Power: The Nintendo Story is only days away from release. Exploring Nintendo's early origins to the modern-day, Crackle released a first look trailer last Friday and now, Nintendo Life has been given access to an
News Game Devs From Riot To Xbox Spoke About Their Love For Zelda, And How It Influenced Them
Huh, we didn't realise Zelda was so popular
In celebration of Zelda's 35th anniversary, journalist Imran Khan spoke to 18 different game developers across the industry for Inverse, including members of Riot Games, Capy, and Phil Spencer himself, the head of Microsoft's Gaming division and the face of Xbox. Although Spencer's quote was a little dry,...
News Crackle's "Playing With Power: The Nintendo Story" Documentary Series Gets A New Trailer
Premieres On March 1st
You may recall that earlier this month, a new five-part documentary series called Playing with Power: The Nintendo Story was announced. Launching through streaming service Crackle on March 1st for free, we've now got a first look trailer via IGN. Starting from Nintendo's early origins in the 1800s, t
News EA Acquires Racing Game Specialist Codemasters
"Welcoming Codemasters to the family"
Since the end of last year, there have been reports about the third-party giant EA buying the UK developer Codemasters. It's now official - with EA announcing the creator of titles such as Formula 1, DIRT, Project CARS and GRID has joined the family, in a deal believed to be valued at $1.2 bil
News Miitopia Has An 18+ Rating In Russia Because Of Its Same-Sex Relationships
It joins The Sims and Stardew Valley in this dubious honour
Russia's "gay propaganda" bill - more accurately, the bill "for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values" - was signed into law by President Vladimir Putin in 2013. The law states that children must be protected from being...
News Reggie Shares His Favourite Memories From Working At Nintendo
"My name is Reggie"
Reggie Fils-Aimé left Nintendo in 2019, but he's popped up pretty often to talk about his former employer. This year alone, he's already co-hosted the New York Game Awards, joined an industry roundtable on Twitch and next month, he'll appear in "
News Reggie Wants E3 And Platform Holders To Find A Way To "Digitally" Enable Fans
"I think that would be huge"
Since the global pandemic hit, gaming conventions around the world have become all-digital events. This includes E3, which last year had no option but to cancel. This year, it'll be returning in the same format as many other events. While it's really the only way this type of event could even go ahead right now, one man...
Control hit 2 million sales in December
Work smart, not hard, they say - and it looks like Finnish studio Remedy is doing both. GI.biz reports that Remedy's 2020 was their most financially successful year ever, with full-year revenues rising 30% to €41.1 million (£35.8m). In 2019, they made a total of €6.5 million (£5.6m), even with the...
News Layoffs Hit Peter Molyneux's Studio 22cans
"Development at the studio is continuing"
UK developer 22cans – the studio responsible for the Switch eShop title The Trail: Frontier Challenge – has been hit with layoffs, GamesIndustry.biz reports. Founded in 2012 by Populous and Fable c
News Ubisoft To Show More Love To Free-To-Play Titles Moving Forward
Will continue to compliment "strong" AAA releases and more
In Ubisoft's recent earnings call (where it was revealed the French company was the top third-party publisher on the Nintendo Switch), CFO Frederick Duguet spoke about the changing model of the publisher. It will achieve this by focusing on free-to-play titles and premium experiences...
News As Switch Hits The "Middle Of Its Life Cycle", Nintendo Is Confident It Will Overtake The Wii
"We are aiming to continue this momentum"
Saying Nintendo did well last year would be putting things mildly. Having reached just under 80 million Switch sales, the Japanese company revised its expected profits to $5.34 billion and there's been talk about "
News Try To Act Surprised, The Nintendo Switch Conquered Europe In 2020
Nintendo led the charge in both hardware and software
Listen, we get it – the Switch is doing incredible business right now. Nintendo's system took the crown in North America, Japan and the UK, and we've now had confirmation that it was top dog i
News Pokémon Rumble Developer Ambrella Has Been Acquired And Dissolved By Creatures Inc.
What's next for the series?
Ambrella, the Japanese studio behind a number of spin-off Pokémon titles, has been fully acquired by Creatures Inc., it's been confirmed. Pokémon fans will know Ambrella for its work on the Pokémon Rumble series, GameCube's Pokémon Channel, and N64's Hey You, Pikachu! among other titles in the franchise, but 2019's...
News Get Ready For More Remasters From Activision Blizzard In 2021
What might be making a comeback?
Video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard has been banking big bucks for some time now thanks to a number of remasters. We've seen the return of IP like Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater from Activision's side, while Blizzard has chipped in with titles such as Warcraft III: Reforged - that one obviously...