All articles tagged with #game development
CD Projekt Red is targeting a 2028 release for The Witcher 4, describing it as the studio’s biggest, boldest RPG to date with a team of over 500 working on a vast open world; The Witcher 3 expansion Songs of the Past will star Geralt, with Ciri leading The Witcher 4, though the exact timeline is unclear and more news is expected at Gamescom.
Hideo Kojima, now 63, says he plans to keep pouring energy into game creation and isn’t retiring, sharing on X that the years of work and the company’s 10th anniversary are fueling his drive. He outlines upcoming opportunities, including the Kojipro Exhibition at Azabudai Hills, and notes ongoing work on titles like the experimental horror game OD and the stealth title Physint, indicating he’s still actively pursuing new game projects alongside broader creative avenues.
AEW reportedly lost at least $30 million on Fight Forever due to prolonged development and sales underperformance. Because the company owns the Fight Forever engine, a future console game could start with a lower cost basis and potentially partner with a different developer instead of rebuilding from scratch, though no new project is confirmed and licensing talks aren’t evident.
Warren Spector, the designer behind immersive-sim pioneer Deus Ex, announced his retirement in a LinkedIn post after nearly 44 years in the industry, saying age and health prompt a shift toward writing, lecturing, reading, and consulting. He suggested three potential future games but noted the business has changed and isn’t as fun for him anymore. Spector’s career spans Ultima titles, Disney's Epic Mickey, Thick As Thieves, and involvement with System Shock 3, whose future remains unclear under Tencent's oversight.
Veteran designer Harvey Smith (Deus Ex, Dishonored) has launched Black Pony Immersive with Ben Horne after Arkane Austin’s 2024 closure, aiming to build immersive-sim games with minimal top-down interference in a tough funding climate. The 26-person US-based studio, with remote contractors, seeks to reunite Arkane collaborators and indie talent to create narrative-rich, single-player experiences while prioritizing staff benefits and independence over fast, external funding.
Famed game designer Warren Spector says he is retiring from game development after 44 years and 17 titles, citing age and health, and plans to write books, read, lecture, and possibly consult. He notes three games he’d still like to make but says the industry has changed and a new generation deserves their time. His legacy includes Deus Ex, Thief, System Shock, Wing Commander, Crusader: No Remorse and Epic Mickey, with a cautious note that he may return someday but isn’t counting on it.
id Software’s Chris Hayes says it’s “impossible” to make triple-A games like 2016’s Doom with half the staff, arguing layoffs have gutted essential departments and that leadership doesn’t understand art or the business model; the piece also notes Microsoft’s Xbox reset cutting thousands of jobs and touches on unionisation talks and Game Pass economics.
In an interview timed with No Man's Sky's tenth anniversary, Hello Games boss Sean Murray says Light No Fire is far along but he’s learned not to talk about projects prematurely, hinting that more will be shown when the team is ready; Light No Fire was unveiled in 2023 as a cooperative, open-world fantasy adventure on a procedurally generated planet, with ongoing updates for No Man's Sky.
AI prompts are enabling playable game demos and even spoofed titles through a workflow called the Gauntlet Loop, showcasing a DIY wave that could shift dev workflows and funding toward independent creators. But current AI-built games rely on past data, require heavy prompting, and lack the scope and polish of AAA titles like GTA VI, so widespread disruption is not yet here.
Id Software lead programmer Chris Hays says morale at the studio is at an all-time low after Xbox mass layoffs, criticizing industry executives for being out of touch with the realities of game development and noting the human impact on teams.
Tencent-owned Lightspeed LA laid off about 80 staff to shift the creative and development direction of its debut title, Last Sentinel. The studio says it remains open to internal transfers and will continue to invest in North American talent, while providing updates on development and noting that no release date has been set. Last Sentinel has been in development for several years with a reported budget in the hundreds of millions, and Bloomberg reported the layoffs followed a decision not to move forward with the project.
A former Rockstar designer says Midnight Club 5 was in early development with a London-style map, but the project was scrapped due to a deadline dispute between Rockstar HQ and San Diego and tensions over creative control; despite evidence that Midnight Club could compete with rivals, the series has not returned or been remastered nearly two decades after Midnight Club: Los Angeles.
Silent Hill: Townfall's dev team used damaged vintage TVs and magnets to create the CRTV gadget’s authentic analogue look and feel, even feeding real gameplay footage through old displays to produce genuine static. The device doubles as directional clues and a puzzle tool, reflecting the series' marriage of psychological horror with experimental gameplay as Townfall nears its September 24 release on PC and PS5.
Yoshi and the Mysterious Book developers say Switch 2’s extra power let them push encyclopedia-style graphics and greatly increase the number of creatures, moving the project from Switch 1 to Switch 2 and enabling bigger, more surprising visuals.
Tencent-backed Lightspeed LA’s ambitious GTA-style open-world game Last Sentinel appears to have collapsed after six years, with about 80 layoffs. Reports cite missed deadlines, budget overruns, and negative playtests, prompting Tencent to not move forward, though the company says it will shift direction and Lightspeed LA remains open for future projects.