The Midweek Memo #033
Greetings ??
It's been another deeply depressing week in the video game industry, with multiple layoffs, the announcement of two game shutdowns, and even reports of another studio closure. ??
Concord, PlayStation's latest?multiplayer shooter, has?lasted only two weeks after its player count fell below 100, prompting Sony to abandon the title after eight years of development.
Bandai Namco's MMO Blue Protocol is also being shut down after only a year after it failed to make an impact in Japan, prompting the cancellation of its Western version.?
Layoffs have happened at Ballistic Moon, Rocksteady, and Ouka Studios, with Rocksteady's cuts blamed on the commercial failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.?
Ouka Studios is also expected to close shortly after most of its employees were laid off, even though its most recent title, Visions of Mana, was released just last week.
Finally, Capcom director Hideaki Itsuno has announced his departure after 30 years to work on a new project elsewhere. He appears to have left on good terms.?
Deep breath. Here we go...
Hot Jobs ??
This week's list features three global remote opportunities!
?? Erisia ??? Remote Anywhere??? Freelance??? 1+ year exp
?? Bungie ???? Remote US ?? Full Time ??? 1+ year exp
?? DECA Games ??? Remote Anywhere ?? Full Time ??? 1+ year exp
?? Yodo1 ??? Remote Anywhere??? Full Time??? 2+ years exp
?? Rockstar ???? Cary, NC??? Internship ??? 0+ years exp
?? Stardock ???? Plymouth, MI ?? Full Time ??? 0+ years exp
?? Discord ???? Remote US ?? Full Time ??? 3+ years exp
?? Wargaming ???? Guildford ?? Internship ??? 0+ years exp
?? Digital Extremes ???? Remote Canada ?? Full Time??? 1+ year exp
?? Stardock ???? Plymouth, MI ?? Full Time ??? 1+ year exp
While?over 160 new positions?have been posted in the last week, we're hopeful we'll see a big uptick in opportunities throughout September and October. They tend to be really good months for early-career listings and internships, in particular, so let's see! ????
Big News ??
- Sony has announced that Firewalk Studios' hero shooter, Concord, will be discontinued on September 6. The game debuted on August 23 and was an immediate flop, failing to reach 700 concurrent players on Steam, ranking low on the PS5 best-sellers chart, and potentially selling fewer than 25,000 copies.
- Players will now receive refunds, and Firewalk is currently "exploring options," implying that Concord may return in the future. Given that the game has been in development for eight years, Sony may re-launch it as a free-to-play release, as the $40 price tag is thought to have played a significant role in its failure.
- Concord is now among the fastest shutdowns in gaming history, with many viewing the decision as proof of players' desire to move away from live-service multiplayer titles. With PlayStation's plans including multiple live-service releases, sales of upcoming single-player titles like Astro Bot have the potential to impact the company's future. ??
Other News ???
Concord isn't the only game that will be shutting down. Bandai Namco has confirmed that its anime MMORPG Blue Protocol will cease operations in January 2025. This also means that the game's long-awaited Western release has been canceled following several delays.
Unfortunately, layoffs have continued to affect the industry over the past seven days. Ouka Studios, the developer of the recently released Visions of Mana, is reportedly planning to close after most of its employees were laid off throughout the year.
Warner Bros. has also let go of half of Rocksteady's QA team and various other staff following Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's poor sales, which resulted in historic losses for the company.
Lastly, Ballistic Moon, the developer of the Until Dawn remake, has laid off an undisclosed number of employees ahead of the game's release next month, with the cuts expected to be in the double digits. ??
To end the news section on a lighter note, veteran Capcom director Hideaki Itsuno has announced his departure after 30 years, but he intends to continue creating games elsewhere. The departure appears to be amicable, with the director encouraging fans to keep supporting Capcom's releases.
Getting Social ??
Here are two of our most-viewed posts since the last Midweek Memo:
Things are looking much brighter?for remote jobs lately, as?this week's thread?features multiple global opportunities and some fantastic roles at companies of all sizes. ??
Erisia is offering not one, but two junior-level global community management positions, one of which focuses on esports. Heading up an experience level, DECA Games is on the hunt?for a talent recruiter, while NameHero is searching for a talented writer to create Minecraft guides.?
Of course, all of the regulars, such as Bungie, EA, Discord, and Twitch, are also looking for staff in various disciplines based in North America.?
Our team is on the lookout for new remote roles for you every weekday, so don't forget to?save?a remote filter?on the platform and set alerts so you don't miss out! It's a real time-saver.
Zockrates Labs' upcoming indie open-world action-adventure title?Ruffy and the Riverside caught our attention again during Gamescom 2024 due to its unique art style and mechanics.
As Ruffy, the player can use "SWAP," a magical ability that allows textures to be copied and pasted within the game world. If you need to melt ice, Ruffy can turn it into lava; if you're stuck in deep water, simply turn a rock into wood and float along on a makeshift raft! ??
The game is directly inspired by old-school platformers such as Super Mario, Banjo Kazooie, and Crash Bandicoot, and its art style reminds us of Paper Mario. Those who were able to give the game's demo a spin at Gamescom also gave it excellent reviews.?
There is no confirmed release date, but it is currently available for?wishlisting on Steam?and will be available on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Cool Resources ??
This week's highlighted resource should be handy for job hunting in all industries, not just gaming! ??
Jobscan?is a platform that helps you land interviews by analyzing your resume against a job posting and recommending changes that will help you avoid being filtered out by applicant tracking systems (ATS) and stand out to recruiters. This includes determining which skills and experience are most relevant to the role, as well as suggesting keywords that an ATS may look for.
This may not seem too important, but with most companies now using AI to sort through hundreds, if not thousands, of applications, optimizing your resume and cover letter is becoming a necessity
The best thing about Jobscan is that the basic tier is completely free. Its free tier includes two resume scans upon sign-up, followed by two more each month. It also offers a resume and cover letter builder, a job tracker, as well as a LinkedIn optimizer for paying users, though the monthly tier costs a pricey $49.95.
Farewell ??
So another recap of a tragic week in gaming comes to a close. We hope you're not too downbeat after reading this newsletter and, as ever, we really hope those affected can find new homes ASAP, especially after some of the incredible work they've done recently. ???
What was a shock was Sony pulling the plug on Concord so early, but we expect a free-to-play announcement at some point as the game itself was pretty solid!
Catch you all again next time,
Danny and the gang at Hitmarker
Data Engineer | Analytics | Data Mesh | Big Data | GenAI
6 个月Gamers are voting with their time and their wallets. We can only hope that the failure of Concord immediately followed by the success of Astrobot sends a clear message to Sony and other publishers.
Junior UI/UX designer | Junior Game Designer | Entrepreneur | Do your Best! Everyday!
6 个月I hope the industry learns from this, my hope is that we go in a direction of producing games in many different styles, a Renaissance if you will. More focus on accessibility and reaching a wider audience. With laptops and pc parts becoming more prone to break down, emphasis will have to be placed on upgrading already owned tech, which will limit peoples options to play these AAA games, I do hope that games that are made done the line include many space saving techniques, that only need 4MB of ram to run become mainstream with upward being 16MB and 8 being a nice middle ground. Cuz already there are many games that are small and super fun, Wall World, Supplice, Roots of Yggdrasil, Loddlenaut.
Production Designer
6 个月The play to pay model has stripped every player of their enjoyment. AAA games should have never allowed any of its gamers to pay to one up the competition in their game. That model is dying, the economy dictates the fate of that model. This econ 101 experience should be an eye opener to any developer. i have to praise the New Title Once-Human. There is no pay to play. There is a pay model within the game to entice you for fun gear that dresses the in grind gear. So you do not have a toxic culture of players buying the best gear and dominating the casual players. The game is entirely free. You grind the same way any other game and you know whose paid to have their base reskinned. Thats it and its doing phenomenal with the gamers. I would love to see how the financial side is doing but so far they are the roadmap laid out and continue to update, patch, and provide new content every season. I honestly think the pay to play is dead, as it should be. Gamers should play to win on their own merits and stop feeding this Gen Z give me give me now mentality. Games are to have fun.
Manager
6 个月Too many live service games just aren’t healthy for the market. Too many designs focused around giving players the “fear of missing out†they are losing sight of the enjoyment of games that drives the markets. Instead of trying new games after they finish other games, they are stuck on a handful fearing they will miss something. There are only so many hours in a day, and with so many live service models everyone is competing for the same crowd, so it becomes survival of the fittest and the devs that spend years of their lives working on a project they are proud of, only to be disappointed that its sales flopped because couldn’t break into the live service market, for one or more reasons.
Student/Receptionist
6 个月It’s a bummer to hear about Blue Protocol. I was actually looking forward to that one ?? curious how many more failed live service games and layoffs the industry will need to go through before they realize that market just isn’t worth exploring anymore. At least, as an outsider of the industry with interest in games, I think it isn’t.