Big Changes at Remedy, Arc Raiders Achieves 'Blockbuster' Status, and Mewgenics Recoups Dev Costs in Three Hours - Patch Notes #40
•February 13, 2026
0
Why It Matters
Mewgenics’ swift break‑even demonstrates the profitability potential of low‑budget indie titles, while Remedy’s leadership shift and AI stance signal how major studios are navigating emerging technologies. Together with labor actions and creator‑economy growth, these trends reshape investment and talent strategies across the sector.
Key Takeaways
- •Mewgenics hit 500k sales, recouped budget in 3 hours
- •Arc Raiders reached 14M sales, 960k concurrent players
- •Remedy appoints former EA exec as CEO, rejects AI
- •Ubisoft strike involves 1,200 workers protesting return‑to‑office
- •Roblox top creators averaged $1.3M earnings in 2025
Pulse Analysis
The rapid commercial performance of Mewgenics and Arc Raiders highlights a growing bifurcation in the games market. On one side, tightly scoped indie projects can achieve break‑even within hours, leveraging digital distribution, community hype, and low development overhead. On the other, mid‑tier live‑service titles like Arc Raiders can sustain blockbuster‑level sales through continuous content updates and strong social hooks. Investors are taking note, allocating capital to both high‑velocity indie pipelines and scalable multiplayer ecosystems that promise long‑term player engagement.
At the same time, established studios are grappling with operational pressures. Remedy’s appointment of former EA executive Jean‑Charles Gaudechon signals a strategic pivot toward disciplined publishing, while its cautious stance on generative AI reflects industry uncertainty about creative ownership and quality control. Ubisoft’s 1,200‑person strike underscores mounting employee fatigue over aggressive cost‑cutting and rigid return‑to‑office policies, a pattern echoed by Wildlight’s post‑launch layoffs. These labor dynamics force executives to balance fiscal discipline with talent retention in a competitive talent market.
The creator economy is emerging as a parallel revenue engine. Roblox’s disclosure that its top 1,000 creators averaged $1.3 million in 2025 illustrates how user‑generated content platforms can generate substantial earnings for individual developers, reshaping traditional publisher‑developer relationships. However, analysts caution that such “sustainable growth” narratives may mask underlying volatility, especially as platform fees and algorithm changes can swiftly alter income streams. For investors and studios alike, understanding the interplay between indie breakthroughs, studio restructuring, AI adoption, and creator‑driven monetization is essential to navigating the evolving gaming landscape.
Big changes at Remedy, Arc Raiders achieves 'blockbuster' status, and Mewgenics recoups dev costs in three hours - Patch Notes #40
Chris Kerr · Senior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com · February 13, 2026 · 4 Min Read
![The Patch Notes logo overlaid on a screenshot of Mewgenics featuring raggedy cats in battle]
Logo via Game Developer / Mewgenics screenshot via Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel
Hello! It'll be another fleeting ramble from me today. It's financials season and although I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel I have a few more filings to wade through before I can say good riddance to phrases like “EBITA” and “net bookings” for another quarter. I love the sterile scent of corporate jargon in the mornings.
Thankfully, there was an absolute deluge of news this week, which means Patch Notes is sloshing at the brim like an over‑indulgent trifle. Is there any better kind? In service of stretching that simile to its limits, I now invite you to grab a ladle and delve into each decadent layer of this informative pudding. Wobble wobble.
Mewgenics tops 500,000 sales in 36 hours to recoup production costs
via Tyler Glaiel (Bluesky) – Cat‑breeding rogue‑like Mewgenics recouped its development budget after three hours before going on to sell 500,000 copies in under two days. Co‑creator Tyler Glaiel shared the news on Bluesky in a series of posts over the past week, where he also confirmed that pushing patches out for a title being played concurrently by 75,000 people on Steam is a tad terrifying. We bet.
Related: Update: 10 Chambers co‑founders laid off amid “significant restructuring”
Wildlight Entertainment confirms layoffs two weeks after Highguard launch
via Game Developer – The live‑service gauntlet has claimed another victim. Just two weeks after launching Highguard, the free‑to‑play hero shooter that closed out The Game Awards in December, Wildlight Entertainment has laid off the bulk of its team. The studio said it has retained a “core group” to continue supporting its debut project.
My Grueling Quest To Buy A Switch 2 By Riding Citi Bikes
via Aftermath – How long would it take an industrious and perhaps maniacally determined New York cyclist to accumulate enough money to purchase a Nintendo Switch 2 by simply riding and returning Citi Bikes? One intrepid Aftermath reporter took on the challenge and succeeded. What, though, did it cost?
Arc Raiders branded “blockbuster” franchise after hitting 14 million sales
via Game Developer – Arc Raiders has been the talk of the town (for better and worse) since it launched in October 2025. It was obvious the extraction shooter‑meets‑social‑experiment had found a player base by the sheer amount of chatter surrounding the title, but now publisher Nexon has confirmed the game has topped 14 million sales in around 15 weeks. What’s more, it delivered a peak of 960,000 concurrent players in January. That’s a lot of flutes topside.
1,200 workers at Ubisoft join international strike against cost‑cutting and return‑to‑office mandate
via STJV (Bluesky) – This week, Ubisoft employees around the world downed tools to push back against a restructuring plan that will result in widespread cost‑cutting and a sweeping, five‑day return‑to‑office mandate. French union STJV—one of the five unions that called the strike—said 1,200 workers joined the picket lines to send a clear message to management: enough is enough.
Related: Kingdom Come: Deliverance II surpasses 5 million sales within first year
Control Resonant won’t use generative AI, but there is “varied interest” in the tech within Remedy
via Game Developer – It was a busy week for Remedy. Not only did the company appoint a new CEO in former EA executive Jean‑Charles Gaudechon, but it also outlined its stance on generative AI with some choice words that might have left some fans sweating. When quizzed about the divisive technology on an earnings call, interim chief exec Markus Maki stressed that Control Resonant won’t leverage generative AI in any capacity. He also, however, said there is “varied interest” in the technology within the studio. Thoughts on a postcard, please.
Why do cozy games keep asking us to work, and why does it feel so good?
via Mothership – The fine folks over at Mothership—you know, the new independent publication launched earlier this year—sat down with the developers behind marvellous morsels like A Short Hike and Tiny Bookshop to discuss the innate appeal of cozy video games and why they always seem to hit the spot like a warm bowl of soup on a bitter winter day or a slab of toast drenched in lemon curd. Damn, that’s the good stuff.
Related: 10 Chambers co‑founder departs after a decade
The biggest Roblox creators earned an average of $1.3 million in 2025
via Game Developer – There’s money in them there hills. That seems to be the message coming from Roblox Corp, the owner of the blocky UGC platform Roblox. This week, the U.S. company revealed the top 1,000 creators on Roblox earned an average of $1.3 million in 2025. That would undoubtedly include the creators behind Steal a Brainrot, an immensely popular Roblox offering that reached an all‑time record of 25 million users in September 2025. Wild.
Analysts on Ubisoft cost‑cutting and the myth of “sustainable growth”
via Game Developer – In her latest column, seasoned reporter Nicole Carpenter sat down with a smattering of industry analysts in an attempt to understand what on earth is happening at Ubisoft and extrapolate meaning from two words that seem to follow layoffs and cost‑cutting like the plague: sustainable growth. Here’s what one expert had to say on the matter:
“The economy is in shambles and these companies are still talking about sustaining growth instead of sustaining their business. These are two different things.”
Ooof.
About the Author
![Chris Kerr]
Chris Kerr – Senior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com
Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award‑winning reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton.
0
Comments
Want to join the conversation?
Loading comments...