Update Patch | January 2023
Congratulations, you survived the first month of 2023! A new year has begun, and resolutions have been made and probably broken. But look on the bright side, a year full of exciting games awaits - and that will most certainly mean news galore. Let us start with how we mean to go on and recap January’s news!
1. Massive Microsoft Layoffs And Activision Acquisition Update
The month has been dominated by huge layoffs in the technology sector. Whether it be Spotify, or Google shedding 12,000 employees from their workforce, the sector is facing big job losses and Microsoft is no exception.
The company announced it would be cutting 10,000 employees from its workforce this month. In communications to employees, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company would “continue to hire in key strategic areas” in a blog post and stated this “represents less than five percent of our total employee base”. The company also reported a 12% quarterly decline in profits for the period of October to December, with profits of $16.43 billion.
A lot of bad at Microsoft right now.
These layoffs also hit companies part of Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks, with Kotaku able to confirm that 343 Industries (Halo Infinite), Bethesda Game Studios (Starfield) and The Coalition (Gears 5) were all affected by these layoffs. IGN learned that 343 Industries was hit particularly hard, with claims that 30 people were let go from the studio’s art department and a search through LinkedIn profiles reveals cuts to numerous key departments.
Xbox CEO, Phil Spencer, spoke to IGN and was asked about these layoffs. He took responsibility, saying “I see my commitment and my responsibility as the person who heads the business to create a safe place where people can do their best work. And obviously, we have reductions for certain people there. I haven't succeeded at that.”
However, he also tried to justify the cuts as part of the larger business, saying: “Sometimes, that means we have to make some allocations, in this case, some reductions, and I don't take that lightly… it is, I think, important for us, for the larger organization that's here, that I put this business in the best stable position I can for what we need to go forward”.
2. Xbox Showcase
The month only got busier for Microsoft on the news front, when it announced and premiered its first in a new line of showcases entitled the “Xbox Developer_Direct”.
Editor’s note: Hi-Fi Rush is rad!
The sub-hour showcase covered four previously announced games in detail with the reveal and subsequent shadow drop of Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush as a bonus. Alongside the surprise of the rhythm action game, further details were given on Minecraft Legends’ PvP multiplayer mode, Elder Scrolls Online’s newest expansion and a deep dive was shown into Arkane’s Redfall. These games received release dates of 18th April, 20th June, and 2nd May respectively. Additionally, development details were shared on Forza Motorsport’s commitment to realism, but it was the only game to not receive a firm release date aside from 2023.
The surprise of Hi-Fi Rush certainly stole the show, with the game being dropped in full on Game Pass hours after the show and becoming a smash hit with overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam.
3. Ubisoft’s Own Share Of Woes
The start of 2023 has been chastening for Ubisoft following a financial report. The report and subsequent press release state the developer’s “recent launches have not performed as well as expected” with CEO Yves Guillemot specifically citing Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023 as examples. The company cites “worsening macroeconomic conditions” amongst other factors for the poor performance.
Sure grandma, Skull And Bones is coming out any day now… Let’s get you to bed.
Included was the news that the company had cancelled three unannounced projects and that the company will “depreciate around €500m of capitalised R&D” and has a plan to reduce “non-variable costs base” by €200m. Additionally, the pirate game Skull And Bones has been delayed once again to early financial year 2023-24 and has reportedly enacted a hiring freeze. The bad news saw share prices drop by 10.5% to a seven-year low of $4.58.
Guillemot also faced backlash following comments made to staff in the wake of the forecast. In a report by GamesIndustry.biz, Guillemot sent a company-wide email stating he wanted staff to be “as efficient and as lean as possible” and told staff, “The ball is in your court to deliver this line-up on time and at the expected level of quality”. French trade union Solidaires Informatique called for a four-hour strike in response as these comments were interpreted as a call for overtime and potential crunch for workers. Guillemot apologised for his comments to staff in a Q&A session following the news.
The company is hoping that 2023 games like Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, Valiant Hearts: Coming Home and Tom Clancy’s The Division Heartland will turn its financial fortunes around.
4. Sony Announces Project Leonardo Controller At CES
Sony has had a good history with accessibility when it comes to games like God of War Ragnarӧk, as well as the recent remaster of The Last of Us Part I. As part of its presentation at CES 2023, Sony announced a further step in this field with Project Leonardo.
This is much cooler than than the 9,000,000 smart fridges and terrible AI art generators shown at CES this year.
According to the blog post on Sony’s website, Leonardo is a “new highly customizable controller kit” that is designed to help disabled players with long periods of gaming. The device is similar in principle to the Xbox Adaptive Controller and has been designed in consultation with charities and organisations like AbleGamers, SpecialEffect and Stack Up.
Initial pictures show a circular wheel with a large joystick for movement. These pieces can be shifted and changed around to “craft a wide array of control layouts”. Sony indicates a high level of customisation here, from the size of the buttons to the distance between the joystick and the central gamepad. The device will also be able to be paired with an additional Leonardo controller and a DualShock controller.
Of course, Leonardo is a codename and Sony’s blog post indicates the controller is “currently in development and we continue to gather valuable feedback from the community.” There’s no word on an expected release date or a price for this controller as of writing, but the official PlayStation Blog did breakdown the controller in great detail.
5. DICE Awards Nominations Announced
Awards are still being given out for the games that dazzled last year, with the nominees for the DICE awards being announced. The awards certainly have some crossover with Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards but highlight the games that developers themselves most enjoyed last year.
And the award goes to…
Where the crossover certainly comes to light is that God of War Ragnarok bagged the most nominations with 12, including Game of the Year. Horizon Forbidden West is similarly packed with nominations with eight and GOTY winner at the Game Awards Elden Ring sits on seven.
However, there are a few surprises that differ significantly. Perhaps the biggest (and best) surprise is that Vampire Survivors nabbed four nominations including a Game of the Year nomination alongside the three aforementioned titles and cyberpunk cat creation Stray. Additionally, the latter date allowed Firaxis Games’ latest game, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, to nab a nomination for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year.
The awards are determined by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Members of the academy vote for a number of all genre categories, and “creative/technical” members vote for awards most closely associated with their fields of expertise.
6. AGDQ 2023 Is Another Success And Mike Uyama Steps Down
One of the few bits of good news this month saw Awesome Games Done Quick come back for a full week of speedrunning from January 8th with funds going towards the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
The event saw plenty of excellent speedruns of many titles. The shortest was Asuka424’s run of Lizard Lady vs The Cats (apparently a real game) only lasting 4:12, with the longest being a near seven-hour run of Final Fantasy VII by Zheal. The event certainly was a success with $2.64m raised as founder Mike Uyama closed the event following a run of Super Mario Bros. 3. Any runs, including the four world records set live in front of thousands of people, can be watched on demand on GDQ’s YouTube channel here.
Thanks Mike!
The event was also Uyama’s last in charge as GDQ, as it was announced he would be stepping away following the event. The current director of operations Matt Merkle will take over Uyama’s duties with a new individual yet to be decided who will take over Merkle’s current duties. Merkle said he is “incredibly honoured to be entrusted with the future of GDQ” and thanked Uyama, saying “I would not be where I am today without Mike and the team he has built.”
As for Uyama, he said, “I'm not sure where I'll go next, but one thing I am sure about is that I will take a break and a vacation before diving headfirst into my next adventure."
Update: As of the 2nd of January 2023, Games Done Quick has confirmed Uyama will remain in his current position until further notice. This came alongside confirmation that Matt Merkle is currently recovering from a serious medical condition.
KOHLI-CHAN!
Patch Notes:
Square Enix has reiterated its desire to continue to invest in the blockchain space, with President Yosuke Matsuda dedicating seven paragraphs of his New Year’s Letter, saying the company is developing “multiple blockchain games based on original IPs under development” and that blockchain has been “an object of exhilaration and a source of turmoil”. Matsuda says this period is “in the rearview mirror”.
Speaking of studios with new year wishes, Silent Hill series producer Motoi Okamoto spoke of his desire for more indie studios to work on the iconic horror franchise in an interview with IGN Japan, stating “if creators… bring us their pitches, I promise to look through every one of them. We're all ears.”
New game pitches should definitely be coming from the new triple-A studio, Maverick Games. This is the new studio formed by a number of devs from Playground Games that have previously worked on the Forza Horizon series. The new studio is led by former Forza Horizon creative director Mike Brown and is looking to employ 140 at its Leamington Spa studio with a hybrid working model to create a game described as “open-world” and “AAA”.
Mike Brown isn’t the only person leaving a famed studio. BioWare’s veteran writer on the Mass Effect series, Mac Walters, has departed the studio after 19 years. Walters is now on a break in his career, but had been a production designer on the definitely real Dragon Age: Dreadwolf.
CD Projekt Red has settled for $1.85m a class-action lawsuit that alleged the studio misled investors on the game’s PS4 and Xbox One versions and their stability.
The Callisto Protocol publisher Krafton has lowered their stock prices following the release of its big-budget horror, as it’s reportedly not going to meet its lofty goal of selling five million units.
Crystal Dynamics has announced it will end support for Marvel’s Avengers as of September 30th 2023, with the final content update on the 31st March and singleplayer and multiplayer still being available beyond September. However, despite the game still being playable, it is being taken off of sale on PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam - likely due to licensing issues.
Like A Dragon: Ishin!, the latest spin-off title for the Yakuza series, will feature AEW star and actual one-winged angel Kenny Omega as a special trooper card character that can be used in combat. No word has been given as to whether Omega will dress as Sans from Undertale for this appearance. The game will also feature frequent Mike Flanagan collaborator, Yakuza fan, occasional video game voice actor, and good Twitter follower Rahul Kohli as a card Sakamot Ryoma can add to his deck.
YouTuber Dunkey has announced that his new publishing company, Bigmode, has enlisted its first game to its portfolio with mysterious indie metroidvania Animal Well.
Finally, the racing community was shocked by the death of legendary Hoonigan driver Ken Block at the age of 55. Along with his achievements in rally driver, Block made appearances in Codemasters’ Dirt series of racers and Forza Horizon 5 has been updated with players receiving for free a 1965 Ford ‘Hoonicorn’ Mustang and Block’s racing helmet and overalls to wear in game.
