GameMaz

In a bold move that certainly didn't pay off, a pair of PlayStation 5 development kits appeared on eBay yesterday - although the listings didn't last more than a few hours before being removed. As spotted by Twitter user iDCx1337, the listings were for a DFI-D1000AA dev kit and a DFI-T1000AA test kit (thanks, Kotaku ). A screenshot of the DFI-D1000AA dev kit, complete with two all-black DualSense controllers, showed that the listing apparently reached a bidding price of €2850 (£2423) before being pulled. It remains unclear whether eBay decided to remove the listings or whether Sony got involved, but either way, the listings apparently only survived a few hours before they mysteriously vanished. We still don't know how the seller got their hands on these kits: dev kits are normally given out to developers under strict NDA. It seems these two have somehow managed to trickle down into the hands of someone who was willing to take a punt on an eBay listing. https://t.co/N6d1MlAgwK … [Read more...] about PS5 dev kits briefly appear on eBay

Nintendo has now shifted 89.04m Switch consoles worldwide as of 30th June, though sales have slowed compared to this time last year. Shipments of the main Switch console actually increased year-on-year, though a fall for the Switch Lite model offset that, leading to an overall decrease for the last quarter of 21.7 percent. In its latest earnings briefing, Nintendo pointed to last year's sales boom "substantially driven" by Animal Crossing: New Horizons as providing tough comparisons. A further 45.28m Switch games have been sold, including 2.07m copies of New Pokémon Snap, 1.34m copies of Mario Golf: Super Rush and 1.04m copies of Miitopia. Sales of evergreen games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing continued to tick upwards, to 37.08m and 33.89m copies respectively. Just last week, Nintendo finally promised further updates to Animal Crossing: New Horizons were on the way, after months of silence on the subject. Nintendo Switch is now just 12m sales behind the … [Read more...] about Nintendo Switch sales slow year-on-year, as console nears 90m

Embracer Group - the parent company of THQ Nordic, Saber Interactive, Koch Media and Gearbox - has added another eight studios to its bulging collection. Notably, this includes Duke Nukem studio 3D Realms, which currently has six new projects in the works. It, alongside support studio and fellow Danish outfit Slipgate Ironworks, will be folded into Saber. Lost in Harmony and 11-11 Memories Retold developer DigixArt will be folded into Koch Media, meanwhile. Its next project is the promising-looking procedural roadtrip game Road 96 . VR studio Force Field, as well as its subsidiary Vertigo Games, will also become part of Koch Media and continue to work on VR projects. Embracer's Coffee Stain Studios will gain Easy Trigger, developer of the fun, pulpy 2D shooter Huntdown and Deep Rock Galactic developer Ghost Ship Games. It sounds like there's more Huntdown in the works, too. And finally, Embracer has also acquired CrazyLabs, developer of mobile game Super Stylist, and … [Read more...] about Embracer Group gobbles eight more developers, including 3D Realms

Steve Gaynor, co-founder of Gone Home and Tacoma developer Fullbright, has stepped down as the studio's creative lead and manager. Fullbright officially announced the change last night, ahead of a Polygon report which detailed an exodus of staff at the company "at least in part due to Gaynor's behaviour toward workers". Gaynor will remain a writer on Open Roads, the upcoming Annapurna-published story of a mother and daughter, which will now no longer be released in 2021. pic.twitter.com/OX11QJo6Qe — Open Roads (@OpenRoadsGame) August 5, 2021 This content is hosted on an external platform, which will only display it if you accept targeting cookies. Please enable cookies to view. Manage cookie settings In a statement posted to Twitter today, the Open Roads team wrote that Fullbright believed in "fostering a work environment that is healthy and collaborative, where we can work with transparency, autonomy and trust. "As such, Fullbright's co-founder Steve Gaynor … [Read more...] about Fullbright co-founder steps down amidst studio exodus

Electronic Arts have confirmed in its latest earnings call that it has plans to develop and invest in developer Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, turning it into a new franchise for the publisher while it continues to invest in other games such as BioWare's Mass Effect series. "Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order coming to the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 was also a moment for new and returning players to jump into that amazing game," EA CEO and Director Andrew Wilson said to investors during the conference call. "We're continuing to invest in both of these franchises as well as more of our amazing IP." Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order represented a change of strategy for EA when it was first released, as the company's first effort since it gained the Star Wars IP license in the 2010s was to develop the multiplayer-focused games Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefront II . In comparison, Fallen Order was a more traditional single-player adventure that wasn't packed … [Read more...] about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order — EA Confirms It Will Continue To Invest In The Series