Good morning to all of my Patch People and welcome to another edition of what I assume is your absolute favourite almost-newsletter. I’m writing this week’s intro while listening to Stardust banger ‘Music Sounds Better With You’ and wondering how the French trio (which includes one half of Daft Punk) managed to create what might be the greatest single of all time. Answers on a postcard please.
I digress. We’re not here to talk about transcendental dance tracks. We’re here to discuss video games. This week was a time for heroes and villains. Nintendo probably convinced more than a few Switch 2 holdouts (this one included) to clamber on the bandwagon with a stunning Donkey Kong Bananza showcase. Ubisoft Halifax employees also took a stand in the industry-wide fight for workers’ rights by filing for unionization with CWA Canada. It’s another positive step for those who believe unionization will change the industry for the better.
In more concerning news, Embracer Group released its latest annual report and confirmed it reduced its headcount by almost 2,000 employees over the past year. Layoffs weren’t the only factor behind that decline, but it’s a number that underlines the scale of mismanagement at the Swedish conglomerate. PlayStation also delayed Bungie’s upcoming shooter Marathon, leaving many to ponder when the project will see the light of day—and what shape it’ll take.
Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. We have details on all of those stories and more below. Let’s take a look.
via Game Developer // The majority of workers at Ubisoft Halifax, the Canadian mobile studio behind Assassin’s Creed Rebellion and Rainbow Six Mobile, filed to unionize this week. It’s another notable step forward for game industry workers in their bid to claw back autonomy from corporate leaders and fight for better working conditions and job security. In a mission statement published on the CWA Canada website, unionizing employees said they will strive to ensure all workers, but especially those from historically marginalized communities, are treated with “fairness, dignity, and respect.”
via Game Developer // Warner Bros. Discovery wants to make like an amoeba and split into two separate companies, but where does that leave the firm’s video game division? According to an announcement sent out this week, Warner Bros. Games will be housed within the new Streaming & Studios division and focus on developing video games based on a handful of major franchises. An executive reshuffle has also seen three current studio heads take on the mantle of senior vice president to oversee the company’s new IP-driven production slate.
via Game Developer // Where do you even start with Embracer? The company spent years treating the video game industry like an all you can eat buffet, but after loading its plate with a mountain of studios and franchises decided it wasn’t hungry after all. The layoffs, closures, and divestments that followed that rampant merger and acquisition spree were relentless, with 1,400 people being laid off by the end of 2023. That was just the beginning. Thanks to its latest annual report, we know Embracer parted ways with almost 2,000 employees during the last fiscal year. All of those departures might not have been the result of layoffs—the company made significant divestments over the past 12 month—but it’s downsizing that once again highlights the human cost of managerial ineptitude.
via Beat Saber // Beat Saber developer Beat Games will kill support for the title on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 (read: PlayStation VR hardware) in June 2025. From that point on, the studio will stop releasing updates for the rhythm game on those platforms. It will then end multiplayer support in January 2026. Given Beat Saber is a ludicrously popular VR title—it has over 10 million users on Meta Quest alone—the decision to scrap support is hardly a ringing endorsement for PlayStation VR headsets.
via Nintendo (YouTube) // Nintendo, you old dog. You’ve done it again. Fresh from declaring the Switch 2 its biggest console launch ever, the Japanese company turned the spotlight on upcoming platformer Donkey Kong Bananza and sent the internet into a frenzy. The 18-minute showcase was delirium inducing and highlighted a title that looks as polished and creative as you’d expect from the company behind Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Odyssey. A July 17 launch date feels like a masterstroke at this stage, giving people who resisted the urge to purchase a Switch 2 at launch a ludicrously compelling reason to take the plunge in the console’s second month on shelves. Now, if only we could figure out where Bananza fits in that water tight Donkey Kong timeline…
via Game Developer // Microsoft isn’t resting on its laurels. Last week, it unveiled its first ever Xbox handheld and now it has penned a “strategic, multi-year agreement” with chip maker AMD to co-engineer a range of devices, including the “next generation” of Xbox consoles. Xbox president Sarah Bond said the deal is all about building a “gaming platform” that’s always with players. In short, she explained Microsoft wants to build an Xbox experience that isn’t “locked to a single store or tied to one device.” Microsoft has already shown willing to bring its major franchises to rival platforms like Nintendo Switch and PlayStation and make Xbox Game Pass accessible beyond the Xbox ecosystem. It seems that slowly breaking down those platform barriers remains the plan moving forward.
via Game Developer // Earlier this year, Another Crab’s Treasure developer Aggro Crab told us it would be pivoting to smaller projects after struggling to secure funding for a big swing. Those financing frustrations came despite the studio delivering the goods with Another Crab’s Treasure, which sold between 600,000 to 700,000 copies and nabbed an Xbox Game Pass deal. Proving that small morsels can deliver big results, the studio collaborated with Landfall to create co-operative climber, Peak. The title, which was officially announced and released in the space of a week, went on to sell 100,000 copies in 24 hours. Talk about reaching new heights.
via Deadline // Choo choo! Do you hear that? It’s the transmedia train heading to a screen near you. Another passenger hopped aboard this week, but you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re seeing double. Death Stranding, the weird parcel delivery simulator from Hideo Kojima, is already being prepped for a live-action adaptation with help from A24, but that was just the beginning. Now, Raised By Wolves director Aaron Guzikowski has signed on to write the screenplay for an adult animated featured inspired by the franchise. The project will reportedly be similar in tone to Predator: Killer of Killers and the recently announced animated John Wick prequel. Norman Reedus’ agent must be absolutely buzzing.
via Game Developer // You couldn’t write it, could you? Mere days after PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst told investors Marathon wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of live-service lead balloon Concord, developer Bungie announced its upcoming extraction shooter has been indefinitely delayed. The title had been slated to launch on September 23, but has now been pulled from the release slate after a Closed Alpha yielded rather mixed feedback. It’s not necessarily bad news for the team at Bungie, who’ll have more time to refine the project, but it does raise alarm bells given PlayStation’s recent history with live-service titles.
via Sloclap (YouTube) // A lovely thing about Patch Notes is that it provides a place for a trade publication like Game Developer to spotlight some rad looking video games. Rematch, the multiplayer footbrawler (we know that term doesn’t really make sense, but it sounds cool) that appears to have taken a few cues from Rocket League, is precisely that. I doubt anybody predicted that Sloclap would follow martial arts roguelite Sifu with a slick take on street soccer, but here we are. Rematch is out now for PC and consoles, including Xbox Game Pass.
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