Gaming

Daybreak Game Company, maker of DC Universe Online, Planetside 2 and the Everquest franchise, laid off a substantial number of workers today, according to reports and social media posts, including one from its former president. John Smedley, the founder of the company (which became Sony Online Entertainment and later Daybreak) said on Twitter that the company had fired 70 workers, which he estimated to be a third of its workforce. In a statement to Polygon, a Daybreak Game Company representative did not comment on the size of the layoffs but said the studio is “optimizing our structure to ensure we best position ourselves for continued success in the years to come. “This effort has required us to make some changes within the organization and we are doing everything we can to support those impacted in this difficult time,” the representative said. “As we look to improve efficiencies and realign resources, we remain focused on supporting our existing games and … [Read more...] about Layoffs hit Daybreak; former boss says 70 lose jobs

More video game trailers were shown during The Game Awards 2018 than acceptance speeches, and still one of the best new game trailers released today didn’t air during the show. Devolver Digital gave another look at Ape Out, an action game with a Saul-Bass-meets-Hotline-Miami vibe. The game is about an ape escape. The ape sprints through increasingly complicated stages, slaughtering armed guards by punching them, splattering them and converting them into human shields. Attacks splatter blood across the floor like buckets of paint. The trailer does an excellent job capturing Ape Out’s hyper-violent, neatly-paced energy and its grim humor. Ape Out will be released on Feb. 7, 2019, on Nintendo Switch and Windows PC. [Disclosure: I briefly taught Ape Out creator Gabe Cuzzillo at NYU’s Game Center. Cuzzillo has since partnered with program professors (and game design veterans) Matt Boch and Bennett Foddy to bring the game to the finish line.] … [Read more...] about One of the best new game trailers didn’t air at The Game Awards

Devil May Cry 5’s battle theme for Dante, “Subhuman,” has new vocals after Capcom removed the original singer from the soundtrack in light of a controversy that quickly followed the song’s debut at Tokyo Game Show. The song is performed by Cody Matthew Johnson featuring Suicide Silence, whose frontman, Eddie Hermida, originally sang the main vocals. After Capcom revealed the song in September, Devil May Cry fans pointed out that Hermida had been accused by a 17-year-old girl of coaxing her into sending him nude pictures of herself. Capcom, then as now, says that Hermida and Suicide Silence recorded the track for Devil May Cry 5 before the allegations surfaced in November 2017. Still, the publisher pulled a video of the band performing it at Tokyo Game Show 2018 and said it would no longer use it in promotional materials. Today, the company announced on the Capcom-Unity blog that “Subhuman” now features vocals by Michael Barr. All of the other … [Read more...] about Devil May Cry 5 theme gets new vocal tracks after allegations against singer

Another day, another Bannerlord dev blog post: the Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord settlement projects are making for a marked improvement on the previous game’s ability to manage your fiefs.A small part of the Mount & Blade games has been the ability to control a fief once you were in command of it as a Lord or Lady. Fiefs were either granted to you by your faction’s leader or automatically assigned to you if you’re the head of your own independent faction. Players in the earlier games could pay for some basic improvements that would improve the quality of their fiefs; you’d be able to produce more soldiers or increase the overall welfare of your subjects. The Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord settlement projects is a grand improvement on this system. Players will now have many more options for managing the hamlets, towns, and castles under their control. The Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord settlement projects menu has a lot … [Read more...] about Build Up Your Fiefs In The Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Settlement Projects