Another week has come and gone, as they’re wont to do, and as usual, there’s plenty to pick over in the world of gaming, although if you’re hoping for an optimistic, rose-tinted view of the industry, you probably won’t get it here.
It’s been a bit of a rough week in terms of layoffs and studio suffering, so while there’s definitely some light to balance the shade, it’s not going to be a particularly sunny roundup this week.
Nevertheless, forge on we must, so without further ado, here’s our look at what’s been happening in the gaming industry over the last seven days!
It looks like the PS6 might be delayed
While it was previously suggested that Sony might be targeting a 2027 release for the PlayStation 6, a new Bloomberg report this week claimed that this may no longer be the case.
According to the report, a global RAM shortage means that Sony might be considering pushing the PS6 back to 2028 or perhaps even 2029, so it might be a while before you get to pick up a new Sony machine.
Not only that, but Nintendo may be considering raising the price of the Switch 2 in response to the global tech crisis, so if you haven’t picked one up yet, now’s the time.
G.I. Joe studio Atomic Arcade has been closed down
This week, it was revealed that Atomic Arcade, the studio that was responsible for Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast’s upcoming G.I. Joe Snake Eyes game, has been shut down.
The two publishers told Wccftech that the Snake Eyes game in question is “not cancelled”, but programmer Dominic Braun claimed on social media that they had made the “decision to close Atomic Arcade”.
What will happen to the game in the future is unclear, but for now, it seems as though development continues, albeit presumably under a new haze of uncertainty.
Replaced has been delayed again
If you’ve been following the progress of cyberpunk platformer Replaced, then you’ll probably know it’s been delayed a couple of times since its reveal back in 2021.
Well, unfortunately, this week saw another delay to the game, as developer Sad Cat Studios announced that it will be pushed back again, although this time you’ll only have to wait until April.
As for the reason, well, it’s pretty much exactly what you’d expect; the studio wants to add more polish to the game before it’s ready to be released.
A Black Ops 7 ad has been banned in the UK for “trivialising sexual violence”
Activision found itself in hot water this week over an ad for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, which was banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for “trivialising sexual violence”.
The ruling by the ASA features complaints by nine individuals who “believed that the ad trivialised sexual violence” and challenged whether it was “irresponsible and offensive”.
Said complaints were upheld, although others pertaining to whether the ad glorified drug use were not, so the ruling doesn’t constitute a total loss for Activision. Still, the ad has certainly been banned in the UK.
Sony has shut down Demon’s Souls remake developer Bluepoint
Demon’s Souls and Shadow of the Colossus remake developer Bluepoint was shut down by parent company Sony this week, marking yet another failure in big industry players’ long string of acquisitions.
According to IGN, roughly 70 employees will be affected by the closure when it happens in March, and while some will be offered positions elsewhere in the company, others will be left without a job.
Supposedly, Bluepoint had been working on a live-service God of War game until January last year, but when the project was cancelled, the studio then failed to get another project greenlit. Such is the way for many studios now, it seems.
Ubisoft Toronto is losing employees as well
We did tell you at the top of this roundup that it wasn’t going to be a particularly happy one, and in keeping with that promise, our next story is about Ubisoft laying off employees from its Toronto branch.
Around 40 staff members have been let go from the Canadian location, but Ubisoft says that work on the Splinter Cell remake, which Toronto is responsible for, continues. Of course, we haven’t actually seen anything concrete of that project yet.
It’s all part of a major restructuring effort that has seen Ubisoft laying off employees, closing studios, and cancelling projects left, right, and centre over the last year or two. Whether or not it pans out for Ubisoft remains to be seen, however.
XCOM’s Jake Solomon is closing his studio and cancelling its project
Yep, it’s time for yet another story about a studio closure, and this time, it’s Jake Solomon’s Midsummer Studios, which was working on a very ambitious-looking life sim.
Burbank would have allowed you to “share whatever stories and characters [you] can dream up”, the XCOM and Marvel’s Midnight Suns developer said on social media this week.
However, the project now won’t be going forward, and Midsummer Studios, which was only founded back in 2024, will be closing its doors for good. Still, it looks like Solomon was heavily leaning into AI usage throughout Burbank, so perhaps the court of public opinion would have judged his game wanting anyway.
A big Xbox staff shakeup has taken place
Major Xbox execs Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond departed their positions this week, with Spencer claiming it was time to start the “next chapter” of his life. He also said the same of Bond.
Current CoreAI president Asha Sharma will be taking over the role of Xbox’s CEO, but it’s not clear whether Bond will be replaced in her role as president or whether that role will simply be subsumed into Sharma’s new job.
We do know, however, that Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty will be stepping into a new role as chief content officer for the brand, so he’ll be working alongside Sharma in that capacity, at least.
