Daily Archives: January 27, 2024

Reikon Games, the developers behind cyberpunky top-down shooter Ruiner, have reportedly become the latest studio to lay off dozens of staff, with over half of the Polish indie said to have lost their jobs earlier this week.

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Former employees speaking to Kotaku said that approximately 60 to 70 people - over 50% of the studios workforce - were laid off this past Tuesday, January 23rd in an announcement described as sudden and shocking.

Those affected included producer Rafa Basaj, who posted on Threads that around 60 people had been let go across all possible departments, including narrative designers, audio engineers and artists.

Reikon released neon-soaked, top-down cyberpunk action-shooter Ruiner in 2017, which has since been reported to be in line for a live-action TV series.

Last September, Reikon teased their next game, a sci-fi title with apparent themes of body augmentation. Back in 2021, the studio revealed a pacey first-person shooter under the working title of Codename: Final Form, which put players in control of the sentient robot avatar of a spaceship with a hint at time-bending elements.

Reikons layoffs add to a week that has seen almost two thousand people let go from Microsoft and their many studios - including Blizzard, Bethesda and Xbox - and more than 500 people lose their jobs at League of Legends makers Riot Games, along with the closure of their Riot Forge third-party publishing label. Those are just of the more recent and sizeable examples of the devastating industry layoffs that have seen an estimated 6,000 games industry workers lose their jobs and indie outlets closed entirely in under four weeks alone.

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Ruiner devs reportedly lay off over half of studio behind cyberpunk shooter - Rock Paper Shotgun

The Cyberpunk 2077 sequel might still be in the conceptual phase, but CD Projekt is eyeing ramping up production later this year - and is considering multiplayer features for the new game.

That's according to co-CEOs Adam Badowski and Michal Nowakowski, speaking to Reuters in a new interview. Badowski revealed that the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, which is still going by the codename "Orion," is still in the "conceptual phase," which means it isn't in active development yet.

However, Badowski said CD Projekt aims to have 80 people working on the sequel by the end of 2024. This indicates that the developer expects the sequel to graduate from pre-production by the end of the year, where it's being primarily developed in Boston instead of Poland.

Nowakowski added that the developer was "considering" multiplayer elements for the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, but wouldn't elaborate further. This means Orion could well feature the multiplayer side of Cyberpunk 2077 that was eventually scrapped in favor of it being a strictly single-player RPG.

The joint CEO also added that CD Projekt has formed a team to investigate using AI in some form. "We think that AI is something that can help improve certain processes in game production, but not replace people," Nowakowski said in the interview.

Badowski finally added that he believes CD Projekt has "better control" over game production, and that the developer will "avoid a premiere like the one we faced with Cyberpunk 2077." Hopefully, this means a smoother development process for Orion, with no periods of crunch or delays.

The CD Projekt leaders also revealed that The Witcher 4 will enter full production this year, and they want 400 people working on the game by the middle of the year.

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Cyberpunk 2077 sequel is in the "conceptual phase," but might ramp up production this year as its devs consider ... - Gamesradar

One of the most controversial titles in gaming is currently free-to-play, courtesy of Cyberpunk 2077s publisher.

Have you seen the new Indiana Jones game from Bethesda? Watch the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle below

For those who are unfamiliar, Postal is a series of shooters that make Grand Theft Auto look like a Nintendo game in comparison. Theyre dark, gory, and grim in every sense of the word but offer some off the wall fun for anyone wanting a game where they can just go nuts and kill everyone.

Through GOG, CD Projekt Red has made the first game, Postal: Classic and Uncut, free to download and play. For context the game is currently banned in over 10 countries, thats how over the top the violence is.

If you need any more convincing you should have a read of the games description which says its a realistic, non-stop-killing, action-strategy psychological thriller. No aliens, no mutants, no stupid quest for the dragon's balls. Just good antisocial, psychotic shoot-'em-up action, strategy and government intervention.

Theres 17 levels in total but this version of the game adds an extra four via the Expansion Pack, and on top of that you also get access to 24 new characters so there's plenty of replay value here.

If you fancy giving Postal: Classic and Uncut a go you can download and play it for free right now on GOG. If you end up liking it you can also find the rest of the Postal games in the store, though youll have to pay for those ones.

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Cyberpunk 2077 publisher giving away one of gaming's most controversial titles free - GAMINGbible

Palworlds astonishing success swelled over the weekend, with the Pokmon with guns survival and crafting game shooting up Steams most-played games list and selling millions more copies.

Palworld launched on January 19 in early access form on Steam as well as on Xbox and Windows PC, day-and-date with Game Pass. Palworld overtook CD Projekts Cyberpunk 2077 to set Steams fifth highest peak concurrent player count with 1,291,967 online at the same time on Valves platform. Palworld is currently the most-played game on Steam, ahead of behemoths Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and PUBG. It is just the sixth game ever to hit one million concurrents on Steam.

There are a number of Steam records that go along with this success on Steam. Palworld is now the most-played Japanese-developed game ever on Steam (its developer, PocketPair, is based in Tokyo), ahead of previous record holder, Elden Ring. And Palworld is the second most-played paid game ever on Steam, behind PUBGs perhaps insurmountable peak concurrent figure of 3,257,248, which was set before the battle royale went free-to-play.

Meanwhile, Pocketpair said Palworld had sold over five million in about three days, with 86,000 copies selling per hour. For context, Insomniacs Marvels Spider-Man sold 3.3 million copies in its first three days on sale, Sony Santa Monica Studios God of War sold 3.1 million in three days, and Naughty Dogs The Last of Us 2 sold 4 million in the same time period. Palworld, then, has sold faster than the fastest-selling first-party PS4 exclusive ever in a three-day sales window. All this despite its availability day-one on Game Pass.

While Palworld is a clear smash hit, it is not without controversy. Last week IGN reported on how some Pokmon fans were taking to social media to point out striking similarities between Palworlds Pals and the Pokmon themselves. Elsewhere, the Xbox version continues to lag behind the Steam version in terms of key features and updates. Palworlds enormous launch has seen its servers struggle, too.

Check out IGNs Palworld Early Access Review in Progress to find out what we thought.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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Palworld Has Huge Weekend, Sells 5 Million and Overtakes Cyberpunk 2077 in Steams Most-Played Games List - IGN

Cyberpunk 2077's sequel, codenamed Orion, could have a multiplayer component. In a recent interview, CD Projekt Red CEO Micha Nowakowski confirmed that the studio is still "considering" multiplayer for the sequel, adding an element that never made it into the first game.

Nowakowski, along with join-CEO Adam Badowski, also confirms that the next Cyberpunk game is in the conceptual stage, so we're still far off from getting a look at whatever CD Projekt Red is working on. Still, with this being just the latest time that multiplayer has been mentioned alongside the next Cyberpunk, it's looking increasingly likely that the game won't just be a single-player experience.

Nowakowski and Badowski's comments come in an interview with Reuters, in which the company heads shed some light on upcoming projects. While the next Cyberpunk won't be with us anytime soon, the team is feeling confident going into development, with Badowski saying, "We believe that in the future we'll avoid a premiere like the one we faced with Cyberpunk 2077."

Of course, it's only in the conceptual stage right now, so there's no telling when we'll get a look at what CDPR is working on - or if this multiplayer component will see the light of day after all. However, as a developer recently commented, Cyberpunk 2077 was just a "warm-up" for the sequel, so the studio seems eager to expand on its predecessor.

Meanwhile, Badowski also spoke about the next Witcher game. He says that he hopes it will enter production in the middle of this year, with 400 developers working on the project. This heavily suggests that this is CDPR's main focus right now, even if it does have some devs dedicated to the future of Cyberpunk. Which makes sense, since we haven't had a proper Witcher game since 2015 now.

In any case, ongoing development on Cyberpunk 2077 has more or less come to an end, with no more new features planned for the game. It seems that more than three years post-launch, the studio is finally happy with the state of the game, and is ready to call it a day. The final update gave us some fan favourite request too, like the ability to ride the metro, and a portable radio.

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CD Projekt Red Is "Considering" Multiplayer In Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel - TheGamer

Palworld continues its runaway success, and after selling more than 6 million copies in just four days the developers now have another reason to celebrate: it's managed to grab the second spot in Steam's most played games when it comes to all-time peak concurrents.

The critter-based survival game is giving every other game in the history of Steam a run for its money today, reaching a peak concurrent player count of 1,864,421. Not only does that make it Steam's most popular game right now, it also secures its legacy as the game with the second highest all-time peak concurrent player count, stealing the spot from Counter-Strike 2 by a handful of people.

With Palworld only launching last week, it may continue its ascent, though it has steep competition: PUBG currently holds the top spot thanks to its peak concurrent score of 3,257,248 players. But you never knowthat record might be broken. Palworld's momentum certainly shows no signs of slowing down.

It's all come as a bit of a surprise. Sure, it was firmly on our radar thanks to the wackiness of the concept: a survival game with Pokmon knock-offs who can be put to work in mines or armed with modern weapons. But I don't think anyone could have predicted that it would become the big game of the moment.

Lincoln was a bit ambivalent in his Palworld early access impressions, but the player reception has been largely positive, garnering the game a Very Positive rating on Steam based on nearly 60,000 user reviews.

Its arrival has not been without some controversy, though. Xbox and Game Pass players, for instance, are stuck with a less up to date version of the game thanks to Microsoft's certification process; it's been accused of copying Pokmon models, which the head of Palworld developer Pocketpair, Takuro Mizobe, called "slanderous"; it allows you to enslave humans as well as Pals, which not everyone is too keen on; and, because this is 2024, some players are convinced it uses AI generation, though there's no solid evidence of this.

Naturally, big games will always generate some drama, but it doesn't seem to be affecting its popularity. At least not negatively.

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Palworld beats Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 with an all-time peak player count of more than 1.8 million - PC Gamer

Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassins Creed fans will definitely want to check out this upcoming Steam game, as it looks to be the best of both worlds.

If you missed Bethesdas first gameplay reveal of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle you can take a look in the below video

One upcoming release is taking inspiration from Assassins Creed and combining it with the location and aesthetic of Cyberpunk 2077 to make a gorgeous-looking action game.

Its called ENENRA: DEMON CORE, and while it currently has no release date youll definitely want to stick it onto your Steam wishlist. The games description states itll be a third-person action game set in the world of Neo Tokyo, and it looks like itll be a lot of fun.

Taking a look at the combat via the gameplay footage its a bit reminiscent of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. It looks fast-paced, acrobatic and most importantly, fun. Players will be able to slice down opponents with their sword as well as parry whatever attacks they throw at you, including bullets based on the screenshots. Youll also be able to zip around levels with several abilities, like a blink-style teleport and much more.

The Cyberpunk 2077 inspiration is clear to see especially when you look at all the bright neon-lit arenas on display, with the Assassins Creed inspiration presumably coming into play for the open world exploration and traversal.

Nevertheless this is definitely a game to keep an eye on, especially if youre a fan of games featuring hack and slash gameplay. As stated theres currently no release window for ENENRA: DEMON CORE, but itll likely be announced later this year.

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Cyberpunk 2077 collides with Assassin's Creed in slick new action game - GAMINGbible

The next Cyberpunk game from CD Projekt - currently codenamed "Orion" - might have multiplayer in it, according to co-CEO Michal Nowakowski. Please let it be some kind of deckhead 'passenger-seat-driver' mode, where you get to play a crusty celeb uploaded to another character's brain implants, who strolls around the landscape as a hologram, offering passive-aggressive commentary. Watch those corners, samurai! Hey, you missed an ammo pack. SAMURAI ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME.

It'll be a while till we find out for sure: Orion is still in the conceptual phase, with CD Projekt expecting to have about 80 people working on it by the end of this year. The higher priority in 2024, it seems, is the next big steaming helping of The Witcher.

All that's from a little collection of CD Projekt quotes posted by Reuters. According to CD Projekt's other CEO, Adam Badowski, the next Witcher game - codenamed "Polaris" - should enter the production phase this year. "We'd like to have around 400 people working on the project by the middle of the year", he said. It's the first in a series of Witcher releases, including an "an innovative take on The Witcher universe" from The Molasses Flood.

As for the new Cyberpunk game, little is known other than that it won't necessarily be first-person, though CD Projekt members have shared a few thoughts on how they will avoid a repeat of Cyberpunk 2077's infamous crunch conditions and disastrous launch.

Multiplayer could be a common theme of CD Projekt's next few games. Back when they revealed the impending avalanche of Witcher games in October 2022, the company teased plans to introduce multiplayer "to most of our new games to enrich the single-player experience". That was before the massive "restructuring" exercise that was 2023, however.

The Reuters piece includes some exceedingly brief commentary on the company's hiring plans. Nowakowski says CD Projekt will continue to expand in North America, having set up a new studio there last year; hiring in Poland, however, will be "rather low". Like many of the games industry's largest outfits, CD Projekt laid off a substantial number of people last year, prompting some Polish employees to form a new union in the hopes of "having more security, transparency, better protection, and a stronger voice in times of crisis."

In surely encouraging news, CD Projekt have also recently set up a team to explore how they could use generative AI tools in game development. "We think that AI is something that can help improve certain processes in game production, but not replace people," Nowakowski told Reuters. The grim near-future depicted by the Cyberpunk games doesn't exactly bear this idea out, as you'll know if you've ever flagged down a Delamain cab.

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CD Projekt latest: next Cyberpunk game might have multiplayer, Witcher 4 enters "production phase" - Rock Paper Shotgun

CD Projekt has provided an update on the next mainline Witcher game and its Cyberpunk 2077 sequel.

Joint CEO Adam Badowski told Reuters the company hopes to enter the production phase of The Witcher 4, which is codenamed Polaris, this year.

The company said in March 2022 that its next Witcher game would kick off a new saga for the franchise, which has sold over 75 million copies since launching in 2007.

It also revealed that the open-world title was being built with Epic Games Unreal Engine, rather than its proprietary REDengine, which powered previous Witcher games and Cyberpunk 2077.

CD Projekt confirmed last May that it had wrapped up its research phase on the game, which will be the first part of a new trilogy, and progressed to the pre-production phase.

It said last November that almost 330 developers were working on the project, making it CD Projekts biggest development team, having overtaken Cyberpunks.

Wed like to have around 400 people working on the project by the middle of the year, Badowski told Reuters, which reports that analysts expect the game to be released in 2026 or 2027.

A Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, codenamed Project Orion, is currently in the conceptual design phase at CD Projekts North America studios.

Badowski said the company expects to have about 80 people working on the game by the end of the year.

Joint CEO Michal Nowakowski also said CD Projekt was considering including multiplayer elements in the sequel.

The companys Cyberpunk 2077 follow-up was originally intended to be a standalone AAA Cyberpunk multiplayer game, but the project was scrapped following the original games troubled release.

Given our new more systematic and agile approach, instead of primarily focusing on one big online experience or game, we are focusing on bringing online into all of our franchises one day, former CEO Adam Kiciski, who is now serving as the companys chief strategy officer, said in March 2021.

Nowakowski also said the company has established a team to explore the use of AI in development.

We think that AI is something that can help improve certain processes in game production, but not replace people, he said.

The company previously confirmed it had used AI to recreate the voice of a deceased actor.

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Witcher 4 could enter production this year, multiplayer being considered for Cyberpunk 2 | VGC - Video Games Chronicle