Switch 2's Hit Titles Were Outliers, Not Guarantees
There is an assumption that Mario Odyssey and Zelda Breath of the Wild-type hits are guaranteed for Switch 2, when their sales success and critical acclaim were arguably an outlier in Nintendo's recent history.
Marathon's Player Count Drops, Community Mood Improves
Marathon concurrent on Steam are 1/3 of the peak but overall vibes of people still playing feel like they've shifted to a more positive place as they actually get a hang for the ideocracies and rhythms of the game. https://t.co/QDWvjrFSeB
Marathon Echoes No Man's Sky's Underrated Beauty
Marathon reminds me a lot of when No Man's Sky launched and it felt both under-featured but also the most pure form of something undeniably cool and beautiful.
Don’t Pre‑judge a Game’s Live Service Before Launch
I think it would be a real shame if people manifest another live service doom cycle for a game that's not even out yet based purely on trying to forecast other people's vibes. https://t.co/V1UiAFFBI4
Arc Raiders Promises Unity; Marathon Embraces Cosmic Silence
Arc Raiders: a better future together. Marathon: no one can hear your screams on Tau Ceti. https://t.co/UKH7lp7yuL
Highguard's Player Numbers Dropping Far Below 300 Daily
A lot of misinfo going around about Highguard. Yes, the player counts keep going down and are nowhere near enough to sustain it but it's also obviously not "just 300 people" a day. https://t.co/rDSnZ2jRzU
Tencent Pulls Funding as Highguard Misses Launch Targets
Bloomberg reports that Highguard devs thought they had more runway but Tencent seemingly pulled funding when it failed to hit launch goals.
Metacritic's Rising Relevance Threatened by Dwindling Quality Sources
Metacritic has only become more important as algorithms flatten and fracture the internet, but its authority relies on quality inputs from sources that are being hallowed out at an alarming rate. https://t.co/OotCnOjnz5
Adopting This Approach Could Accelerate
How many games might have come out years sooner or at all if they'd done similar? https://t.co/xQnUmXmze1 https://t.co/JIFcQsABbQ
New Xbox CEO Defers Commentary, Cites Need to Understand Decisions
New Xbox CEO's second interview after the shakeup (Variety had the 1st). Nothing about layoffs, exclusivity, hardware plans, or why Bond left and nobody thanked her. Sharma says she still needs to learn why decisions were made before commenting on them? https://t.co/SjQr6dGwYO
Microsoft’s PR Teams Manage Exec Image, Even at Midnight
Worth keeping in mind that there are entire teams of people whose job it is to curate the public image and messaging of Microsoft's top executives when you see them decide to respond at midnight to a viral claim about...
Xbox's Messy Leadership Shakeup Signals Decline or Rebirth
Microsoft's rollout of its big Xbox leadership shakeup is as messy as everything else this console generation. Is Xbox going back to its roots or is the company intent on managing the decline of the only Microsoft brand left anyone...
Ubisoft Places Assassin's Creed Veterans at Tencent-Backed Vantage Studios
Ubisoft announces Jean Guesdon and two other Assassin's Creed veterans will oversee the franchise within Tencent-backed Vantage Studios. He had previously worked on an unannounced voxel-based Minecraft competitor before briefly leaving Ubisoft in 2023. https://t.co/sCpFaKXE5P
Xbox Fans Expect Gamer Expertise Despite Business Focus
I think it's obvious that knowing or liking games is not a necessary condition for being good at the business of making and selling games. But I also think it's the least surprising thing in the world that fans expect...
Discord Officially Ends Partnership with Persona, Confirming Rumors
Seeing it make the rounds again that Discord parted ways with Persona, which we reported a week ago
Spencer May Be Hiding Game Projects From Microsoft’s Earnings
One guess: we're about to find out how many game projects Spencer was shielding from Microsoft's quarterly math
Xbox Embraces Cross-Device Gaming Future
“renewed commitment to Xbox starting with console.” "Gaming now lives across devices, not within the limits of any single piece of hardware" Did Copilot write this? https://t.co/9xhWEFi0TM https://t.co/HNsY9rUlOr
Spencer's Retirement Timed with Massive Halo PS5 Reveal
I don't think it's a coincidence that Spencer approached Nadella about retiring around the time Halo was announced for PS5. It's one of the biggest Xbox announcements ever and the one Spencer never promoted himself.
Two New Far Cry Projects Confirmed: 7 and Live Service
Yves Guillemot confirms there are two Far Cry projects in development. One is Far Cry 7, the other is/was a live service spin-off. The franchise has historically had off year stand alone spin-offs so the gap after Far Cry 6...
Sony Shuts Down Talented Bluepoint Despite Stellar PlayStation Work
"Bluepoint is an incredibly talented team and their technical expertise has delivered exceptional experiences for the PlayStation community" Which is why Sony's closing the whole thing down. https://t.co/UV5eOuC38P
Blackburn's Raw Dev Diary on Delay Feels Ancient
Joe Blackburn doing that raw and personal dev diary to talk fans through The Final Shape delay feels like a lifetime ago https://t.co/aSJAcanmKV
Bluepoint Games to Close After Five Game‑Free Years
A source confirms reporting that Bluepoint Games will be shut down in March after five years without releasing a game. A live service project it was working on was canceled in early 2025. https://t.co/iDyik1yFVj
Marathon Maps Feel Static Despite Promised Dynamic Events
One of my big questions for Marathon is how dynamic and alive each map will feel. In-game events described like this doesn't spur the imagination much https://t.co/nUrm93blOg https://t.co/cqpSGkhwiV
Todd Howard: Leaks Never Damage a Game’s Success
Todd Howard says he doesn't think a leak has ever hurt the success of a game https://t.co/4NImrpYtkl
Wildlight Secured Multiple Funding Rounds, Stayed Silent
It is of course not at all surprising that Wildlight raised money through multiple rounds of investment. The unusual thing is that unlike many other studio startups in the last five years it never publicized the initial investment or subsequent funding...
Highguard Site Down, PR Refuses to Comment on Roadmap
The Highguard website has been down all day. I asked Wildlight why and when players might expect an update on the game's roadmap. PR declined to comment. https://t.co/y3MJDo1i6t
Online Strangers Critique Game Dev's View on Difficulty
The number of internet randos lecturing a Housemarque artist on what's easy and hard in game development
Ubisoft Downplays Strike, Says Fewer Devs Involved
Earlier this week, it was reported that 1,200 developers went on strike at Ubisoft in France and Italy. Days later, Ubisoft is pushing back saying that number was much lower as it focuses on "maintaining an open and constructive dialogue" with...
From Peanut Stunts to Mega Budgets: Gaming Marketing Evolves
The meta has changed a lot since Bungie launched Destiny. Activision's marketing machine spent tens of millions hyping that game up. For Marathon, the director is livestream with a guy who pretends to be a peanut to get people to pre-order...
Live Service Games Stuck in Inescapable Death Spiral
The live service game death spiral is a bleak one. It's difficult to avoid and all but impossible to escape. Here's what the heads of Specter Divide (remember that) said about the dead game stench back in 2024. https://t.co/keUaQlgBVX https://t.co/xepsE2x5QW
Investors Need Massive User Base, Causing Game Sector Exit
You would need like 100 Mewgenics to satisfy the returns these types of investors in games are looking for which is why they are abandoning the sector.
Wildlight Cuts Staff, Retains Core Team for Game
Update: Wildlight confirms big layoffs but says core group will remain. "Today we made an incredibly difficult decision to part ways with a number of our team members while keeping a core group of developers to continue innovating on and supporting...
Daily Active Users Metric Inflates by Cherry‑picking Peak Days
The daily active users is especially useless because it just takes the highest one-day peaks from across the year.
