Another week has gone by, and nary a moment can pass in the gaming industry without tons of news arriving alongside it, so as usual, we’ve got a big roundup for you this week.
Whether it’s big updates for major games, developers pledging not to use generative AI in their games (sort of), or big layoffs (yet again), there’s a lot to chew on this week.
As we’re fond of saying, grab a drink, pull up your most comfortable chair, and let’s have ourselves a wee look at what’s been going on this week in the gaming industry!
Crimson Desert’s devs admit they used gen AI during development
Generative AI is one of the hot button topics affecting the industry right now, and Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss revealed where it stands on the issue this week.
Pearl Abyss says that it used generative AI to create “some 2D visual props” during the development process, but that it intended for assets to be replaced in the final product.
They weren’t, however, leading to players discovering generative AI-created images within the game. Pearl Abyss says it “sincerely apologises” for not disclosing its AI use and for not replacing those assets.
Epic has laid off a ton of staff members
We never like writing about layoffs, but unfortunately, this latest round of staff cuts by Epic warrants mention, largely due to the sheer scale.
This week, Epic announced that it will lay off “over 1000 Epic employees” due to a “downturn in Fortnite engagement” which apparently began last year. Boss Tim Sweeney says he’s “sorry” the company is “here again”.
Sweeney also says that these layoffs aren’t anything to do with AI, and that employees being let go will receive “at least four months of base pay” in their severance package.
7 Days to Die developer The Fun Pimps gets bought out
The Fun Pimps, the studio behind zombie survival sandbox 7 Days to Die, has been bought out by none other than Dead by Daylight publisher Behaviour Interactive.
Nothing’s changing with regards to the actual development direction of the game; the studio says it will “continue to lead development”, but that it now has Behaviour’s help to “grow the team and deliver even more”.
In case you need a reminder, 7 Days to Die has managed to reach more than 20 million copies sold at last count, so that’s almost certainly why Behaviour wants a piece of this particular pie.
Dark Outlaw Games has been shut down by Sony
Jason Blundell’s studio Dark Outlaw Games has been shut down by Sony, and if neither of those names mean much to you, there might be a good reason for that.
Blundell has largely worked as a producer and director behind the scenes on the Call of Duty franchise, and his studio, Dark Outlaw Games, didn’t manage to release a single game before folding.
This is, sadly, a situation that’s becoming increasingly common in the gaming industry, with many veterans seeing their studios shut down before releasing anything.
An analyst reckons Marathon has sold just over a million copies
There’s no official word on just how well (or poorly) Marathon has sold, but Alinea Analytics reckons that the game might have clocked up just over a million sales.
Alinea’s estimate suggests that Marathon has sold 1.2 million copies since launching in early March, and that the vast majority of those copies are on Steam, with PS5 coming in at a distant second.
It’s not clear whether these are the kind of numbers Sony was looking for, but given that Marathon is a first-party release with a big studio name (Bungie) behind it, we doubt it.
Pokemon Champions arrives in April
Free-to-play (or perhaps that should be “free-to-start”) battle arena game Pokemon Champions arrives in April, it was announced this week, although mobile players will have to wait a while longer.
The game will launch on Switch 2 and Switch on that date, though, and if you check it out, you can expect cross-platform support when the mobile version does eventually darken our doors.
Essentially, Pokemon Champions is a kind of free-to-play online version of Pokemon Stadium, so expect flashy battles between some of the series’ most famous creatures.
Xbox’s Partner Preview brings some big announcements
Xbox held one of its Partner Preview shows this week, and it brought announcements from some big third-party developers, including Owlcat, GSC Game World, and more.
During the show, we got to see new gameplay from Ryu Ga Gotoku’s Stranger Than Heaven, which looks action-packed and sumptuous, and we also got more footage of Owlcat’s The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.
New announcements included a cyberpunk action-adventure game by the name of Artificial Detective, as well as Rebellion’s Alien Deathstorm and Teyon’s Hunter: The Reckoning – Deathwish.
Sony has hiked PS5 prices big time
Another PS5 price hike announcement landed this week, and this one’s pretty hefty, so if you’re planning on picking up a PS5, we’d recommend doing so in the next day or two (from time of writing).
In the UK, the base PS5 will now cost a whopping £570, while the discless Digital version will set you back £520. The PS5 Pro, meanwhile, reaches almost £800.
Naturally, these price increases also apply in other regions. It’s all seemingly driven by an ongoing RAM shortage caused by a rush on building AI data centres, so once again, you can blame generative AI for this.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s developer is apparently embracing AI translation
When Kingdom Come: Deliverance 3 inevitably happens, if the translation is weird and full of strange errors, you can blame the fact that the developer has apparently embraced AI translation.
That’s according to a former translator who worked for developer Warhorse Studios. The translator, known as Max H, says the decision was made to save money and “make the company more effective”.
Unfortunately, this sort of thing is probably going to get more common as AI proliferates, at least until the fabled bubble finally bursts. Any day now!
