Console Club

[paul]

Ubisoft da afara pana la 380 angajati si inchide studiourile Winnipeg si Belgrad:

Over the past months, Ubisoft has been evolving its organization to simplify how it operates, reduce its cost base. and strengthen the company for the long term. These decisions also reflect adjustments to the level of activity following recent portfolio reviews.

As part of this effort, we have made the following announcements today regarding our teams and operations.

In Production. difficult decisions were made to close our studios in Winnipeg and Belgrade, and we have initiated consultations regarding a proposed restructuring of our Barcelona studio with a refocus of activities on Rainbow Six subject to employee representative consultations.

Changes are also underway across the global Publishing organization, to adapt how teams are structured and deployed, while maintaining a strong presence in key markets.

Pending consultations, these decisions mean that up to 380 employees could be impacted.

These changes do not reflect the talent, commitment, or contributions of the people affected.

Local management teams are engaging directly with employees to provide information, answer questions, and ensure appropriate support throughout the process.

[paul]

Daca vreti, puteti semna petitia europeana "Stop Killing Games":

Stop Killing Games

Raspunsul Comisiei (se poate selecta traducere automata in limba romana): Commission will engage with industry following European Citizens' Initiative on videogames.

[Papillon_]

Sony pulling back from PC also means it's pulling back from China https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...ck-from-china/

“ Thanks to restrictive import regulations, console gaming never took off in China the way PC and mobile have.

Sony's surprise decision to reverse its strategy of porting singleplayer PlayStation games to PC has been scrutinized plenty. Bluepoint Games' head of technology suggested it was likely because Sony's more worried about Valve than about Xbox, while our own Morgan Park pointed out that Sony is only robbing us of maybe four half-decent games.

Alinea Insights has been analyzing sales of PlayStation games more generally, but with some interesting info about the PC side of things for us to dig out. Like the fact a full 42% of Death Stranding 2's PC sales came from China, which was its "biggest Steam market". Alinea notes that "China is a top market for Stellar Blade on Steam as well."

According to Steam's last hardware survey, 39.48% of Steam users have their language set to English and 21.85% to Simplified Chinese, making it the second-most popular language by a large margin—every other language is a single-digit percentage or less.

It's difficult to figure out how many actual people that comes to though, since a bunch of those accounts will inevitably belong to internet cafes. Some estimates put the number over 30 million. Whatever the actual figure, it's a sizable chunk of players to up and ignore because you want people to fork out for a PS5 to play Wolverine.
…
Alinea also noted that releasing games on PC didn't seem to hurt sales on PlayStation. In fact, it had the opposite effect, with Death Stranding 2 having "its best two-week stretch since launch on Sony's platform" after coming to PC.

And while it was on sale at the time, the same discount had run twice before with less effective results. Stellar Blade, which wasn't discounted on PlayStation when it was ported to PC, also enjoyed a simultaneous boost in PS5 sales.“

Consolele au fost interzise in China o perioada de timp iar acolo PC-ul si telefoanele fac legea.
Avem un lucru in comun cu China PC-ul si comunismul.

Inteleg ca le e “frica” de PC / Steam / schimbare dar pe termen lung eu vad aici o greseala din partea Sony.
Sony nu e Nintendo si ei sunt prinsi in modelul tradițional care nu mai exista. Suntem in 2026 nu in 2000 pe vremea PS2.

PS. Am 5 console un desktop si un laptop.

[sexbobomb91]

Din nou discutam despre asta, dar pe Sony nu i-a interesat neaparat sa scoata profit din vanzarile pe PC. Ei au vrut sa atraga utilizatori noi pe platforma lor si lansarea jocurilor first-party nu au dat rezultatele dorite, ba e posibil ca multi oameni sa fi renuntat la a cumpara PS5 in favoarea cumpararii unui PC. Deci mi se pare un lucru logic sa revina la exclusive, si Xbox vor sa faca acest lucru dar pentru ei cred ca e prea tarziu deoarece platforma lor devine din ce in ce mai mica.

[Papillon_]

Cum sa nu ii intereseze profitul extra de pe PC? Firmele in general sunt manate doar de cifra de afaceri si profit!
De ce crezi ca au "ingropat" atatia bani in jocurile "live service"? Ca sa faca si mai multi bani, sa aiba venit recurent.

Poate sperau sa convinga mai multi jucatori sa cumpere un PS5 sau sa aiba vanzari mai mari pe PC dar aici au facut mai multe greseli.

Sony sucks at porting games to PC https://www.neogaf.com/threads/sony-...to-pc.1644781/

Why So Many PlayStation Games Struggle When Ported to PC https://gamerant.com/playstation-exc...les-explained/

"PlayStation's recent PC ports have had mixed results, with some games selling well and others flopping. Games like Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War have performed well on PC, while titles like Uncharted and The Last of Us Part 1 have struggled.

The success of these ports is influenced by factors such as launch issues and replayability.

Further, with long gaps between the console release and the PC port, fans of each franchise have likely already played the games on a PlayStation long before their arrival on PC."

Vedem cum o sa rezolve in timp problema tot mai mare pe care o au cu jocurile exclusive first party care sunt tot mai scumpe de produs si nu se vand suficient de bine pe o singura platforma.

Din cele 93.7 milioane de utilizatori de PS5 care e rata de conversie la exclusive? Au vanzarile pe care le are Nintendo? Nu prea.
Majoritatea cumpara GTA5, COD, Fifa etc.

[sexbobomb91]

Nu vorbeam de live-services, alea se vor lansa in continuare si pe PC. Hermen Hulst a declarat clar in 2024 ca lanseaza jocuri pe PC pentru a atrage utiilzatori pe console: Sony Wants PC Players to Play PlayStation Single-Player Narrative Game Sequels on a PlayStation Console:

Sony wants to tempt PC players to purchase and play sequels to single-player narrative games on a PlayStation console.

Si nu au doar 93.7 milioane utilizatori, pentru ca multi inca folosesc PS4, si in total sunt defapt 125 milioane monthly active users.
Si e un lucru important pentru ei sa vanda jocuri pe propria platforma, pentru ca primesc 30% comision din orice vanzare, nu conteaza ca e GTA, COD, Fifa, etc.
Exclusivele nu sunt facute neaparat ca sa fie cele mai profitabile, ci ca sa atraga jucatori pe platforma lor - asta e un principiu de baza in industria jocurilor.

[Papillon_]

Data Shows Sony Made Good Money on Steam, Then May Have Realized PC Gamers Don’t Need a PlayStation https://respawnfirst.com/data-shows-...a-playstation/

"PlayStation Sold Millions of Games to PC Players But Failed to Sell them the Ecosystem.

For the past few years, PC gamers were forced to act like patience was the ultimate PlayStation accessory. There was no need to grab a PS5 to play God of War, Spider Man, Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone, Ghost of Tsushima, and The Last of Us. All you needed was a decent enough rig, a Steam account, and of course, a lot of patience.

That may be exactly why Sony is planning on pulling back from PC.

According to data from Alinea Analytics, PlayStation Studios games made more than $1.5B in gross revenue on Steam. After Valve’s cut, Sony made $1.2B while overall PlayStation ports sold roughly 43M copies on Steam. That is not a failed experiment, in fact, it is a reminder that PC players will buy PlayStation’s blockbuster IPs when Sony lets them.

The biggest success for PlayStation on PC was Helldivers 2, which sold an estimated 12.7M copies on Steam and made Sony $400 million in gross revenue. Even more telling, Alinea data shows the co-op shooter sold more than twice many copies on Steam as it did on Sony’s own platform, PS5.
.....

But the same data also shows a clear problem. The novelty of PlayStation is fading on PC.

Alinea found that God of War sold 2.5M copies after 427 days on Steam. That is more than 2.5 times what Ragnarok sold in the same launch aligned window. Data shows only 13 percent of God of War players played Ragnarok as well. Spider Man is not different. After 294 days, the game sold 1.4M copies on Steam, more than twice as many as Spider Man 2 on Steam in the same timeframe.

Less than 12 percent Spider Man players played the sequel on Steam. That’s doesn’t necessarily mean PlayStation is struggling on PC. Ragnarok made $45M on Steam while Spider Man Remastered made $32M. Not a bad number but money is not the only goal here. Sony wants to sell boxes, PS Plus subscriptions, the controllers, and its entire ecosystem as well as the idea that Sony’s blockbuster games are a reason to own a PlayStation."

[eagle-eye]

Eu zic ca era planuit sa faca schimbarea asta si sanchi sa dea vina pe faptul ca nu au vandut cum voiau. Think about it:
- ani de zile trebuia sa iei Playstation sa joci exclusivele lor mult ravnite.
- brusc incep sa le puna pe Steam si sa faca bani cu ele, practic au aruncat carligul.
- acum declara ca nu o sa mai porteze pe PC, dar alea deja facute raman acolo, indeajuns cat sa joci tlou 1 si tlou 2 si sa mori de ciuda ca nu poti sa joci tlou 3 cand o sa apara.
- asta o sa te faca si mai mult sa vrei sa-ti cumperi o consola ca sa vezi cum continua povestea + deja ai gustat din drog, ai vazut ca-i bun, asa ca mai vrei.

*tinfoil hat off*

[sexbobomb91]

Ar fi posibil, daca ar fi fost aceleasi persoane la conducere acum, ca si atunci cand au luat decizia sa porteze pe PC. Dar conducatorii din Japonia nu au fost multumiti de ce au facut Jim Ryan si Hermen Hulst in ultimii ani asa ca i-au inlocuit cu Hideaki Nishino care pare sa ia decizii mult mai bune in ultima vreme - prioritizeaza PlayStation ca platforma si reduce numarul de investitii in live-services.

[paul]

Gameplay si concept art dintr-un joc Tomb Raider VR anulat:
- Project U
- in dezvoltare de catre Vertigo Studios, divizia Amsterdam, care in trecut a scos Metro Awakening
- noiembrie 2024 - ianuarie 2026
- Unreal Engine 5
- Meta Quest 3, PSVR2, PC

The footage gives us a clear look at how classic Tomb Raider mechanics were being adapted for virtual reality. Set primarily in a desert location in the Middle East, the gameplay puts us in Lara’s boots, exploring massive ancient temples and palaces that heavily draw from Mesopotamian and Babylonian culture. To navigate these environments, the experience featured traversal mechanics such as rock and underwater climbing, as well as ziplining.

Parts of this setting are shown in detail across both screenshots and illustrations. The video further reveals some areas of the world with unfinished textures, such as caves filled with puzzles and enemies.

Beyond world exploration, the clips show Lara using a mix of gear. While her bow and arrows could be used to solve environmental puzzles, combat relied on firearms, featuring one of her iconic dual pistols paired with a submachine gun. Additionally, her equipment included a wristband that functioned as a real-time health tracker and an oxygen levels monitor during underwater segments.

Another highlight of the gameplay is some of the threats Lara would have faced, including early work for a major boss encounter pitting Lara against a giant guardian statue, a foe prominently featured in the art of the game.

The enemies seen in the footage are classics, like the skeletons with shields that have appeared a few times in older titles, as well as bats, venomous scorpions, and hyenas. Both the hyenas and skeletons are featured in the artwork in different stages of an “infection”, with floral and moss-type growth on them.

These infected enemies featured weak points that manifest as blue bulbs, and some can be seen with flora forming protective shields over them, adding some extra challenge to combat. The final type of enemy included in the concept art shifts away from the supernatural, showing mercenaries equipped with tactical desert clothing, ammo pouches, and heavy face coverings.

Lara wouldn’t have been entirely alone in this adventure, however, as the illustrations feature design explorations for Tarik, a young Arabic character who appears to be on the supporting side of the cast. We also find designs for the historical figure Amytis, a Median princess who became the Queen of Babylon. Whether she would have been an antagonizing mystical figure for the player or simply a reference for a statue remains unknown.

Finally, we see concept art for relics that depict several Mesopotamian deities, which would have functioned as the standard collectibles found throughout the series.

Report: Tomb Raider VR Project From Metro VR Devs Cancelled

Partea 1/2:

[paul]

Partea 2/2:

[Papillon_]

Why the video game industry may be sliding toward its next big crash https://www.geekwire.com/2026/why-th...ext-big-crash/

The last couple of weeks have served as a capstone to what’s become a bad few years for the international video game industry. Now it appears the larger sector is headed directly into a significant crash, as several unsustainable practices all seem to be approaching a crisis point at once.

The first and most obvious issue is the ongoing component shortage. Due to the rush to build AI data centers, both RAM and solid-state drives have risen dramatically in price in 2026, with analysts forecasting that costs might not settle back down until at least 2028.

Both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S are at the point in their life cycle when they’d ordinarily be declining in per-unit costs as the technology matured. Instead, both Sony and Microsoft have raised console prices multiple times this year due to the high demand for parts.

This would ordinarily be a great time to get into video games, as we’re almost six years into the current console generation. Instead, it’s one of the worst. The base PS5 and Series X are about as expensive as they were at launch in November 2020, and building a new gaming PC right now can be costly.

The component crunch also harmed the debut of Valve’s new Steam Machine, which officially launched late last month with a starting MSRP of $1,049. Valve, based in Bellevue, Wash., was forced to offer the new hardware at a significantly higher price than planned due to the difficulty in getting components.

Another bad sign came from Sony’s recent announcement that it would sunset physical media for the PlayStation platform by 2028. This decision, which allegedly took many of Sony’s publishing partners by surprise, has serious knock-on effects for collectors, historians, developers, and most prominently consumers.

Sony has already caught one lawsuit over alleged market exploitation on the PlayStation Store, and that was a few days before it announced it wants to kill discs. An all-digital PlayStation library means that Sony would get to exercise full monopolistic control over pricing and access for every game it sells; licensing agreements mean that anything purchased on a digital storefront like the PlayStation Store is subject to deletion at any time without notice; and players wouldn’t be able to resort to any of the usual cost-cutting measures such as bargain bins, buying used copies, or even trading games with a friend.

That suggests that Sony has decided its best path forward is to continue to extract money from its established audience, rather than to have more options in place for gaming on a budget. There are free-to-play games on the PS5, of course, but most if not all are cross-platform and/or designed as money sinks. Ask any parent whose kids accidentally ran up a big tab in Fortnite.

If Sony has decided to end physical media, then it’s likely Microsoft will follow suit. While Xbox hasn’t mentioned its next-generation console, codenamed Project Helix, for a hot minute, it has been eager to get rid of discs since at least 2013. Some sources, such as Windows Central, allege that Xbox is already planning to do so.
.....
If they do launch along that timeline, then it’s difficult to see how either system will retail for less than $1,000, since the storage and RAM supplies will still be constrained by that point. That automatically prices most of the potential audience out of the market. Once the starting costs hit the four-digit range, a console stops being a hobby or a toy for children and becomes an expensive extravagance. (As a general rule, you probably don’t want your console to cost significantly more than the TV you’re attaching it to.)

Further, it’s arguable that neither the PlayStation 5 nor the Xbox Series X|S have really hit their potential. Sony has famously squandered much of this generation on a largely abortive pivot to games-as-a-service, while Xbox has often seemed more interested in laying off developers than actually making or marketing games. The 9th generation of consoles has had a few big hits, but it’s mostly despite itself.

[sexbobomb91]

Eh, cam mult doom & gloom. Inca jocurile sunt foarte profitabile si chiar daca generatia urmatoare va fi mai scumpa la lansare, e foarte posibil ca preturile sa se normalizeze cu timpul. Nu ai nevoie de PS6 sau urmatorul Xbox ca sa joci cele mai populare jocuri cum ar fi Roblox, Minecraft si Fortnite iar GTA 6 cu siguranta va atrage multi jucatori noi.

[paul]

Imagini legate de anulatul DOOM 4, anuntat in 2008:

[paul]

Nacon e in (.pdf) reorganizare judiciara.

Studiourile Cyanide (Styx), Kylotonn (WRC, Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown), Spiders (GreedFall, Steelrising, The Technomancer) si Nacon Tech au fost (.pdf) puse la vanzare.

Pentru Spiders data limita a trecut si nu s-au primit oferte. Studioul se inchide:

Spiders on X

Midgar Studio (Hover 2017, Edge of Eternity 2021, Edge of Memories urma sa se lanseze anul asta) se inchide:

Today, Midgar Studio comes to an end.

This is not the message I had hoped to write.

I had hoped to come back here and announce that we had found an acquirer. Unfortunately, the court has now ordered the liquidation of Midgar Studio.

Over the past few weeks, we worked until the very end to find a solution that could preserve both the company and the team.

Despite every avenue explored and everyone who tried to help us, no solution could be completed within the timeframe of the process.

I founded Midgar in 2008, driven by the desire to create games that felt like us, at the crossroads of French and Japanese sensibilities.

What began as a slightly crazy idea became eighteen years of work, creation, challenges, encounters and memories.

Midgar is the work we accomplished on Hover, Edge of Eternity, Edge of Memories, and all the projects, prototypes, ideas and worlds that passed through the studio.

But above all, Midgar is the people who brought our games to life, and everyone who contributed to this journey.

To everyone who worked at Midgar, whether today or at any point over these eighteen years: thank you.

You turned a vision into something real. You held on through the difficult moments, celebrated the victories, learned from our mistakes, and gave the studio its identity.

Thank you as well to our partners who trusted us, and to the players who discovered our games, supported us, encouraged us, challenged us, and sometimes defended us with incredible loyalty.

Today, my thoughts are especially with the members of the team.

The company is closing, but their talent, experience and value remain intact. To the studios, publishers and recruiters reading this: this team deserves your attention. Please reach out to them.

Midgar has been an enormous part of my life. Saying goodbye is incredibly difficult.

But this ending does not erase anything we built. I am proud of the games we created, proud of the identity we defended, and above all proud of every person I had the chance to share this journey with.

Midgar Studio ends here, but what we created will live on in our games, in our memories, and in everything each of us builds next.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for being part of this story.

Today, Midgar Studio comes to an end. This is not the message I had hoped to write. I had hoped to come back here and announce that we had found an acquirer. Unfortunately, the court has now… | Jérémy ZELER-MAURY | 35 comments

[paul]

Bethesda Softworks ar fi anulat un joc FPS PvP in dezvoltare in perioada 2021-2025. E posibil sa fie Project Platinum de la MachineGames si sa fie inspirat de Rainbow Six Siege si Counter-Strike.

[Papillon_]

Capcom says Resident Evil remakes allow it to fund new games and IPs like Pragmata https://www.notebookcheck.net/Capcom...1353395.0.html

Capcom says high-quality Resident Evil remakes sustain annual releases while generating resources for new installments and original IPs such as Pragmata. Producer Masachika Kawata added that the company is prioritizing projects like Requiem and future remakes over spin-offs, with a Code Veronica reimagining reportedly planned for 2027.