Hitmarker Highlights

Ahoy ??

The Activision Blizzard acquisition saga is finally over, with Microsoft acquiring the publisher for a whopping $68.7 billion last Friday. Call of Duty will continue to be available on other platforms, but it will be interesting to see which legendary IPs will become exclusive in the future. ??

Both controversial Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and respected Bethesda head of publishing Pete Hines have announced their departures from Microsoft, too, though Kotick will remain until the end of the year.

Epic Games has also caught our attention this week, offering six months of 100% revenue share to developers who bring the majority of their back catalogs to the Epic Games Store.

We're not out of the woods in terms of bad news yet, sadly, with UK developer Frontier Developments announcing layoffs due to "disappointing" financial performance. ??

Internships, remote roles—we've got 'em all. Check out our platform for?over 2,000 job openings, with new positions being added every weekday. ??

???Activision Blizzard is officially a part of Microsoft, and its CEO is stepping down

• After 20 months of battles with regulators in the EU, UK, and US, Microsoft has finally acquired publisher Activision Blizzard King and all of its assets for $68.7 billion, making it the largest deal in the history of the video game industry.
• Microsoft had to change the terms of the acquisition several times to address concerns about its market control, including selling cloud gaming rights to rival publisher Ubisoft and signing agreements with Nintendo and Sony to keep Call of Duty on their platforms.
• Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard, has also announced his departure from the company but will remain in his position under the direction of Xbox's Phil Spencer for the remainder of 2023 to assist with the publisher's transition.

Other news ???

Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, has already spoken publicly about the company's strategy following the acquisition, stating that he would be fully supportive of Xbox and Activision studios bringing back older franchises, so expect some reboots in the future.

Pete Hines, Bethesda's head of publishing, has also announced that he will be retiring after more than 24 years with the Fallout developer to take "more time to enjoy life."

Outside of Microsoft, Epic Games is now offering developers six months of 100% revenue share in exchange for bringing a significant portion of their back catalog to the Epic Games Store by the end of 2024. ??

Unfortunately, the industry is not yet free of layoffs, with Frontier, the developer of Elite Dangerous, announcing that several employees will be let go to cut spending by up to 20%.

??Xbox's Phil Spencer "all in" on revisiting older franchises

???Pete Hines announces his retirement after 24 years at Bethesda

???Epic offers developers 100% revenue share for bringing old titles to its store

???F1 Manager developer Frontier Developments announces layoffs

Here are a couple of recent bangers from our?LinkedIn?and?X?accounts:

Our curated list of remote jobs has returned to?LinkedIn! ??

This week's picks include positions in game design, art, and development at major players such as EA, Ubisoft, Rockstar, Keywords, and more.

If nothing in the thread captures your interest, there are still?over 300 remote roles?available on our platform right now. We hope you have better luck there!

Internship season isn't?quite?over yet, with EA now offering multiple positions in the UK, US, and Canada as part of its annual program. ??

All positions are fully compensated and cover a wide range of departments such as marketing, development, community management, and game production.

Check out our?X?post for some of our favorite picks and take a look at the rest of them?here.

We currently have?over 100 paid internship opportunities?available on Hitmarker, including positions at Nintendo, Riot Games, and Insomniac.

The end ??

Maybe next week's edition of Hitmarker Highlights won't have anything about Xbox's acquisition of Activision Blizzard King in it, but we make no promises! ???

Here's hoping it doesn't have anything about layoffs, either, as we could all do with a week off from those.

Best wishes from everyone here,

Danny and the gang at Hitmarker ??