Fruit Ninja studio Halfbrick hit with layoffs: ‘we are navigating a challenging period for the games industry’

An Australian studio responsible for a raft of hugely successful games, including Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, has announced layoffs. Brisbane-based Halfbrick Studios confirmed as much on LinkedIn last week, just months after the release of its most recent game Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen. “Today we’re sharing that Halfbrick is making changes to…

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Fallout: New Vegas remaster hopium goes off like Mount Vesuvius as Iron Galaxy teases ‘what’s coming next’ with a very famous loading screen

Fallout fans eagerly anticipating a New Vegas remaster got a big ol’ snort of the good stuff over the weekend in the form of a social media post from Iron Galaxy Studios, which shared—in a very subtle, nothing-to-see-here style—some idle (or perhaps not) musing about what it’s getting up to. “Today’s our February company meeting,”…

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Fallout co-creator Tim Cain says less is often more in game design: ‘As a very wise designer once said to me, a game that includes everything is about nothing’

In a new YouTube video detailing game design pitfalls that regularly derail game development projects, Fallout co-creator and veteran RPG designer Tim Cain said one of the most common issues in game design stems from neglecting an overlooked skill: Knowing when to stop. “As a very wise designer once told me, ‘A game that includes…

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Once again, Arma 3 gameplay is being passed around as real combat footage: ‘It doesn’t even look real!’ one overexcited poster exclaims

You don’t have to stop me if you’ve heard this one before, because I know you have: As the US and Israel continue their bombing campaign of Iran, clips from videogames are being shared on social media as actual combat footage. The most recent example was posted on February 28 by TheUnHeard_One, a self-described MAGA…

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Bungie is considering a dedicated duos mode and time-to-kill changes after Marathon server slam feedback

The Marathon server slam is over, and now begins the awkward gap between playtest shutdown and its full release on March 5. Throughout the weekend, Bungie published daily recaps of feedback it’s considering and bugs addressed, culminating in a “Weekend Feedback Recap” article published on social channels today. “Many Runners have maxed out their Faction…

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‘A new franchise in the God of War universe’ leaked in time-honoured fashion: Someone getting too excited about buffing up their LinkedIn

Between metroidvania Sons of Sparta, a remake of the original trilogy, and a bold new vision of clean-and-dadly Kratos, my cup runneth over with God of War news right now. And yet, somehow, there is more. Internet detectives—that is, people who look at LinkedIn—have spotted a now-deleted page on the profile of a (purported) senior…

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Lenovo’s luxurious Strix Halo laptop features an on-device drawing tablet, up to 128 GB of RAM, and an eye-watering price to match

Once upon a time, I had a mid-range gaming laptop, a cheap drawing tablet, and a creative dream eternally constricted by all the dang wires. The latest luxurious Strix Halo 2-in-1 laptop from Lenovo would’ve been the dream for my younger self—though likely would’ve fallen far outside her budget. The just announced Lenovo Yoga Pro…

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