Hitmarker Highlights #046

Hello there ??

We're delighted to report that this week's edition of Hitmarker Highlights is much brighter!

Let's get the bad news out of the way first: Embracer Group has confirmed that approximately 900 employees have been laid off across its many subsidiaries in the last quarter as part of its restructuring program, with more to come.

Elsewhere, Riot Games hosted the League of Legends World Championship finals over the weekend, which quickly became the most-watched esports event of all time.

GTA V also continues to surprise with a debugging database mentioning Bully 2 and other cut content, while Call of Duty fans have rejoiced due to the upcoming (temporary) removal of Modern Warfare 3's "Groot" skin.

Also, a former Gearbox employee?may?have accidentally revealed that Borderlands 4, Tiny Tina's Wonderland 2, and a new Brothers in Arms title were all in development as of 2022!

You might spot a bit of a theme in this week's "Top 10":

?? Lead Producer, Ready or Not at VOID Interactive [?? Remote Anywhere]

?? Fortnite Game Admin at Repeat [?? Remote Anywhere]

?? Associate Game Designer at Jam City in ???? San Francisco, CA or [Remote]

?? UA Creative Specialist, China Market at Yodo1 Games [?? Remote Anywhere]

?? Community Manager (Brazil) at ChillBase [?? Remote Anywhere]

?? Software Engineer Intern - Security at Discord in ???? San Francisco, CA or [Remote]

?? Narrative Content Designer at Abrakam Entertainment in ???? Liège or [?? Remote Anywhere]

?? Gaming Media Buyer Internship at Hurrah [?? Remote Anywhere]

?? QA Tester at Bad Robot Games [???? Remote]

?? UX Researcher Intern at Discord in ???? San Francisco, CA or [Remote]

(In case you didn't spot the theme: all 10 were available remotely!)

Another 200+ positions ?have been posted this week, too, though plenty still require you to be in the office/studio.

???Embracer Group confirms 900 employees were laid off in the last quarter, with more closures to come

• During a recent earnings call, CEO Lars Wingefors announced that approximately 900 employees (equivalent to 5% of the company's workforce) had been let go as part of its "restructuring" program over the last three months.
• The program was announced back in June following a failed partnership with Savvy Games and has resulted in not only mass layoffs but also studio closures, project cancellations, and Borderlands developer Gearbox being put up for sale.
• It was also confirmed that this was not the end of the program, with 15 projects flagged for cancellation and more studios, including Free Radical Design, potentially closing their doors in the near future.?Sigh.

Other news ???

To get us back to some good news, it seems some COD fans are ecstatic after Sledgehammer Games confirmed the Gaia operator skin, commonly referred to as the "Groot" skin by the community, is to be pulled from MW3 due to poor visibility.

GTA fans have also discovered a leaked database file for GTA V, which upon inspection contains references to scrapped story DLC, a canceled Cops 'n' Crooks mode, and, most notably, the fabled Bully 2.?

In the world of esports, the grand finals of LoL Worlds 2023 were held last weekend between T1 and Weibo Gaming. The hype surrounding T1 (and, by extension, Faker) potentially winning a fourth world title appears to have contributed to the event becoming the most-viewed esports event in history.

And for this week's rumor, Borderlands 4, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands 2, and a new Brothers in Arms game were all in development at Gearbox in 2022, according to a former developer. Some may have been canceled, but it's a safe bet to say a fourth mainline Borderlands title is on the way.?

???Modern Warfare 3's notorious "Groot" skin is being removed temporarily

2???Leaked GTA V database file mentions scrapped single-player DLC plans and Bully 2

???League of Legends Worlds 2023 becomes the most viewed esports event in history

???Borderlands 4, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands 2, and the unannounced Brothers in Arms game leaked by Gearbox employee

Here are two of our top recent?posts from right here on LinkedIn:

RwanLink , a 3D generalist and filmmaker, has created an incredible Studio Ghibli-inspired recreation of Hyrule in Unreal Engine 5 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time!

The project took over 600 hours to complete, and the attention to detail in the iconic environments and the beautiful cinematic make it look exactly like the official Ghibli film that many Zelda fans have wished for.

People seemed to love the project when we shared it on our page , you can watch the entire showcase in 4K?on YouTube .

The paid internships just don't stop coming, but we're not complaining!

We've rounded up another batch of the coolest opportunities available , this time spread across five different countries at some of the biggest companies in gaming. ??

If none of the roles on the list are a good fit, there are?over 100 more open on the platform , with more being added all the time.

The end ??

As always, thanks for reading, and we hope you enjoyed the brighter newsletter this time.

We'll be back with the latest rumors, announcements, and (hopefully) more non-layoff-related news around the same time next week.

Very best wishes from all of us, and a happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it!

Danny and the gang at Hitmarker ??