Archives February 2024

Here’s Deck Nine’s statement, in full: 

Deck Nine game director Stephan Frost said on X (formerly Twitter) that leadership within the studio took pay cuts to keep the number of layoffs down as much as possible. “This is the strongest team [Deck Nine] has ever been and it absolutely sucks that the industry is in the state that it is presently,” Frost adds. 

Last year, more than 10,000 people in the games industry or game-adjacent industries were laid off. 

NetEase Games has pulled back the curtains on its newest studio, BulletFarm. Led by David Vonderhaar, whose experience includes leading the teams behind the Call of Duty: Black Ops series, BulletFarm aims to develop a new triple-A game that utilizes first-person gameplay with an emphasis on co-op in Unreal Engine 5. It will be set in an original universe. 

This unannounced and untitled game will “craft a more intimate and relatable experience while offering a fresh take on first-person gameplay,” according to a press release. 

BulletFarm is taking a remote-first approach to game development but considers itself a triple-A studio headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Joining Vonderhaar is the studio’s creative director Chris Cowell. The studio is currently looking to hire in various roles to fill out the founding team. 

“Starting this new studio has given me a chance to step out of my comfort zone and try my hand at making something entirely new and different,” Vonderhaar writes in a press release. “This is a departure from the games I’ve worked on, but one that showcases my passion for rich characters, precise mechanics, more intimate storytelling, and plenty of action. NetEase has provided us an incredible support structure to explore these new avenues and allow true freedom to begin building the concept and ideas for our game.” 

NetEase president of global investments and partnerships Simon Zhu says the company is fully dedicated to giving BulletFarm the resources and support it requires to build its new first-person experience. “David’s leadership and the early collection of game development talent assembled at the studio is set to offer something truly unique for his existing fans along with a new audience.” 

BulletFarm is currently developing its first title, but there’s no word on when to expect to see it. 

What kind of game do you hope BulletFarm makes? Let us know in the comments below!

According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Firesprite had a Twisted Metal game in the works that has now been canceled. He reports that the game was a live-service title was very early in development, so it was not yet officially greenlit. You can read his full report here. 

NEW: As part of today’s mass layoff, Sony has canceled a Twisted Metal live-service game that was in development at UK-based studio Firesprite, Bloomberg has learned.

Firesprite will also lay off an unspecified number of people. https://t.co/pvCDsS7yxe

[Source: Bloomberg]

According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Firesprite had a Twisted Metal game in the works that has now been canceled. He reports that the game was a live-service title was very early in development, so it was not yet officially greenlit. 

NEW: As part of today’s mass layoff, Sony has canceled a Twisted Metal live-service game that was in development at UK-based studio Firesprite, Bloomberg has learned.

Firesprite will also lay off an unspecified number of people. https://t.co/pvCDsS7yxe

A video game based on the Paranormal Activity film franchise has been announced. Developed by Darkstone Digital, makers of the 2022 horror game The Mortuary Assistant, along with publisher DreadXP and Paramount Pictures, the upcoming game is slated to release in 2026. 

Like the films, Paranormal Activity will feature found-footage-style gameplay as well as a “Haunt System,” which dynamically changes the types of scares that unfold based on players’ actions. Unfortunately, a brief teaser trailer doesn’t do much but show some logos, so we may be waiting a while to see the game in action. 

“We are thrilled to work with Paramount Game Studios and to have the opportunity to bring the world of Paranormal Activity to gamers everywhere,” said Epic Pictures CEO and DreadXP producer Patrick Ewald in a press release. “The films are steeped in rich lore and creative scares, and under the stewardship of creative director Brian Clarke, DreadXP’s Paranormal Activity video game will honor those core tenets and offer horror fans one of our most terrifying games yet.”

Paranormal Activity has no announced platforms. It’s not the franchise’s first foray into video games. A 2017 game called Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul was released for PS4 and PC and was playable in VR.