Author: Vikki Blake
Spectre Divide developer Mountaintop Studios is shuttering just six months after launch. In a blog post, CEO Nate Mitchell told players the free-to-play shooter “hasn’t achieved the level of success [it] needed to sustain the game and keep Mountaintop afloat.” It’s unclear how many people have been impacted by the closure, but LinkedIn states the company employs between 51-200 people. “We were optimistic about the first week. We’ve had ~400,000 players play, with a peak concurrent player count of ~10,000 across all platforms. But as time has gone on, we haven’t seen enough active players and incoming revenue to cover…
SAG-AFTRA – the union that represents 160,000 actors, voiceover artists, and other media professionals – has issued an update about the video game strike, saying it remains “frustratingly far apart” from video game studios and publishers. In a statement, the union said it was working to address “alarming loopholes” in a proposal prepared by the bargaining group, which boasts representatives from Activision, Blindlight, Disney Character Voices, EA, Formosa Interactive, Insomniac Games, Llama Productions, Take-Two, and WB Games. “The bargaining group would have you believe that we are close to reaching a deal,” the union said. “This is not the case.…
Netflix Games’ VP of generative AI, Mike Verdu, has left the streaming giant. Although Netflix confirmed Verdu’s departure in a statement to Game File, the company did not comment on why the VP left after just five months in the role, nor revealed who has replaced him. Verdu joined Netflix in 2021 to launch its games division. In November 2024, however, after a management restructure, Verdu was moved into the role of VP of generative AI for games, with former Epic Games exec Alain Tascan brought in to lead Netflix’s gaming portfolio. “Many view [AI] technology with fear, but I…
Two Zenless Zone Zero voice actors claim they have been replaced for participating in the SAG-AFTRA strikes. As spotted by Eurogamer, Emeri Chase and Nicholas Thurkettle – playing Soldier 11 and Lycaon, respectively – claim they found out their voices had been replaced by reading the patch notes at the same time players did. As it began development before the strike was called on July 25, 2024, Zenless Zone Zero is not subject to the strike, however, voice actors both in and out of the union can choose to support the action. In a Bluesky thread, Chase said: “I was…
The Outlast Trials clocks up 3 million players since launch | News-in-brief
Uthana has secured $4.3m to “revolutionize” 3D character animation with generative AI. The $4.3 million funding round was led by IA Ventures, with participation from A16Z Speedrun, Acequia Capital, Cursor Capital, HustleFund, MetaVision, and JonesTrauber. To mark the feat, Uthana is launching an open beta of its “groundbreaking platform for 3D character animation, designed to revolutionize the animation and game development industry.” It said that with its technology, “game developers will no longer be constrained by pre-set animation loops or extensive manual rigging,” but instead, “motion will be an organic part of game design, responding fluidly to environments, story progression,…
PlayStation is reportedly using characters from its biggest franchises in an AI prototype. A leaked video appeared to show PlayStation’s director of software engineering, Sharwin Raghoebardajal, conversing with an early AI Aloy prototype. The video – sent to The Verge but since taken offline following a copyright claim from Sony – showed Raghoebardajal give a brief tech demo of Aloy communicating with him voice prompts both within the AI prototype and in the game Horizon Forbidden West itself. “This is just a glimpse of what is possible,” Raghoebardajal said, before demonstrating how Aloy can give players lore and background information…