It’s time to take another look at the trials and tribulations of the gaming industry, as well as some of its prouder moments (we hope, at the very least).
Whether it’s major game updates, studio layoffs, or industry-adjacent announcements relating to retail and other ancillary areas, this week has, as ever, been chock-a-block with gaming news.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the past week in the world of gaming.
UK retailer GAME might be in trouble
According to a report from the ever-reliable Eurogamer this week, UK high street retailer GAME could be in trouble, as staff have been told to “expect redundancies” (that’s Eurogamer’s wording).
The Eurogamer report says that GAME will move most of its staff to zero-hours contracts, which was already standard practice for junior staff.
What does this mean in practice? Well, it likely means that GAME doesn’t need full-time employees across all of its branches, which could indicate that the chain needs to make cost-saving measures.
If we’re being honest, it’s felt like GAME has been on the rocks for a long time now, but the writing could well be on the wall for the retailer.
Dredge is getting a live-action movie
There are many games that would make great live-action movies, but if you’d asked us which ones were at the top of our lists, we likely wouldn’t have named 2023’s horror-fishing game Dredge.
Still, that doesn’t appear to have dissuaded developer Black Salt Games and movie company Story Kitchen, as the two have teamed up to create a Dredge live-action movie.
The pitch for said movie describes it as a mixture of M. Night Shyamalan’s classic The Sixth Sense with the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Ernest Hemingway, which is an intriguing direction to take the project in.
What next? A Strange Horticulture movie? We can only hope.
PlayStation Plus lineup for April
There are now two sets of PlayStation Plus announcements per month: one for the Essential tier and one for the games Extra and Premium subscribers can get their hands on.
This week, we got a look at what’s coming to the latter tiers, and while it’s not exactly the most exciting lineup in the world, the games on offer are not to be sniffed at either.
The lineup includes upcoming platformer Tales of Kenzera: Zau, which launches as a day-one PS Plus game on April 23rd, as well as Ubisoft’s racer The Crew 2 and underwater…uh, everything sim Dave the Diver.
You should have plenty to keep you occupied until we learn what’s coming in May, at the very least.
The Triple-i Initiative brings indie announcements galore
That pesky Hollow Knight: Silksong release date announcement might still be eluding us, but this week, we got a glimpse at some other upcoming indie games to whet our appetites thanks to the Triple-i Initiative.
This new indie gaming showcase sounds like it’ll air every year, which is gratifying, and this year, we got to see new content coming to games like Darkest Dungeon 2, as well as announcements for new games and more.
During the showcase, we learned that Vampire Survivors is coming to PlayStation consoles, that Tchia is heading to Switch, and that a new Prince of Persia roguelite is in development.
All in all, it was a pretty exciting and satisfying showcase that demonstrated once again that indie gaming is where you need to look if you want to find innovation in the industry today.
Margot Robbie’s production company is producing a Monopoly movie
After reports emerged that Margot Robbie and her production company were interested in getting involved in a Sims movie, another new report appeared this week suggesting she’s not done with beloved property adaptations.
Robbie and her company LuckyChap are, according to the LA Times, involved in producing a Monopoly movie right now. We didn’t even realise the “property” pun we’ve just made until it was too late.
It’s not entirely clear how the Monopoly movie will work just yet; it could be a Barbie-style meta-commentary on the nature of Monopoly and board games in general, or it could be a Tetris-esque production story.
Hopefully, the game’s origins as a parody of capitalism will be included in the movie. That’s right – it’s not actually supposed to be fun to play with your family at Christmas!
Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios could be in trouble
Layoffs are becoming a more and more common story across the gaming industry, but Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios appears to be taking a different tack.
According to a report from former employee Kris Morness on LinkedIn this week, the studio has furloughed “the majority” of its staff after laying off 45% of its workforce last year.
Furlough essentially refers to a period of absence from work without pay, and although it’s intended as a temporary measure, there’s no telling whether the employees of Ascendant will definitely return.
This decision was likely taken in response to the relative failure of Immortals of Aveum, last year’s magical first-person shooter that proved something of a disappointment for Ascendant and EA.
Genshin Impact 4.6 release date unveiled
HoYoverse revealed the release date for the upcoming Genshin Impact 4.6 update this week, as well as revealing what we can expect from the update when we dive in.
That wording was chosen very carefully, too, as one of the biggest new additions will be an underwater area you’ll be able to explore beneath the kingdom of Fontaine.
You can also look forward to a rather intriguing addition in the form of Genshin’s first hybrid ally-enemy character, Arlecchino, who will both join your team and serve as a weekly boss to take on.
Genshin Impact continues to provide insane value for money, especially given that it’s completely free at the point of entry, so if you’re even a little bit intrigued by the open-world RPG, now is a good time to try it out.
