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State of Decay 3 studio Undead Labs lay off "a significant number" of "exceptionally talented developers" after gaining independence from Xbox
PC

State of Decay 3 studio Undead Labs lay off "a significant number" of "exceptionally talented developers" after gaining independence from Xbox

Less than 24 hours after confirming they've managed to secure a future outside of Xbox by going independent, State of Decay 3 studio Undead Labs have announced that they've had to lay off "a significant number" of staff as part of that transition. The news follows a second round of mass layoffs this year at the studios still under Microsoft's thumb. Undead Labs were one of the five studios Microsoft announced plans to split with during an initial round of layoffs in July. Read more

Age of Empires studio World's Edge reportedly lose nearly half their staff and a new game project in mass Xbox layoffs
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Age of Empires studio World's Edge reportedly lose nearly half their staff and a new game project in mass Xbox layoffs

Further details have emerged of the impact that Microsoft’s Xbox consolidation and job cuts programme is having on affected workers. World’s Edge, the studio that effectively manages strategy megaseries Age of Empires, has allegedly been hit hard, with an unnamed but verified creative director posting on industry forum ResetEra that "just under half" of all staff had been let go in the process of moving from Xbox’s direct control to Activision’s. Read more

Stuntboost is a Tech Dech, skateboarding platformer all about doing sick flips on cardboard constructs in your bedroom, and it's out now
PC

Stuntboost is a Tech Dech, skateboarding platformer all about doing sick flips on cardboard constructs in your bedroom, and it's out now

I was not a child that was built for skateboarding. Child me was a tad too wimpy to ever do anything so wicked cool as that. What if I scuffed my knee a little bit, or worse, embarrassed myself? So I did what any skateboarding curious child would do and bought a Tech Deck. And then I never learned how to get good at it. I am only slightly bitter about this adolescent failure of mine, yet all is not lost, for there is an entire video game out today that can let me experience such a feat digital

Furries, magical girls and slick hack 'n' slash combat blend promisingly together in the late 2000s inspired Break The Night
PC

Furries, magical girls and slick hack 'n' slash combat blend promisingly together in the late 2000s inspired Break The Night

Despite not being one myself, I do seem to write about furry-adjacent games for this ole webbed site, don't I? And I've got another one for you today! It's called Break The Night, a hack 'n' slash with slick movement, roguelike elements, and magical girls inspired by aesthetics from the late 2000s, and while it's still quite early days yet, I've been quite charmed by it. Read more

Packed Lair, out today, is a Tetris-adjacent base builder about cramming as much as you can into a tiny evil lair to aid your army in conquering the world
PC

Packed Lair, out today, is a Tetris-adjacent base builder about cramming as much as you can into a tiny evil lair to aid your army in conquering the world

Real estate these days! No matter where you look, there's never enough space any more. I imagine this was the impetus for designing Packed Lair, a dungeony fusion of base building, auto battling, roguelikes and Tetris where you play as an evil lord who is trying to cram an entire empire into an incredibly cramped lair that's out today. Read more

Love 'em or hate 'em, if it weren't for the Sonic the Hedgehog films, the blue blur might have been canned entirely, so says series boss Takashi Iizuka
PC

Love 'em or hate 'em, if it weren't for the Sonic the Hedgehog films, the blue blur might have been canned entirely, so says series boss Takashi Iizuka

I like Sonic. He charms me! But that doesn't mean I'm a fool. I know there are very few of his games that could actually be called "good," whatever that word might mean, I just don't care. Except making not good games, and having a reputation for doing so, will obviously result in waning returns financially. So it isn't a surprise to hear from Sonic boss Takashi Iizuka that, once upon a time, the entire series was at risk of cancellation. Which is where those of you that like the games but hat