Embracer Group has sold Gearbox to Take-Two for $460M USD. Randy Pitchford, Founder of Gearbox, says:

Joining forces with Take-Two Interactive/2K will help Gearbox ascend to our next level. Take-Two and 2K have demonstrated repeatedly their commitment to our engine of generating creativity, happiness, and profit. We set the bar for interactive entertainment and achieved remarkable results with groundbreaking, record-setting games when we worked together at arm’s length as partners. I’m incredibly excited about what we can accomplish now that we’re fully aligned as one.

The deal includes Borderlands and Homeworld franchises, and is expected to close by Q1 FY24/25.

From the Ghost Story Games office, Ken Levine showcased his latest project, Judas, to IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey and Geoff Keighley. He emphasises narrative depth in a familiar FPS format - clearly echoing BioShock - invoking the “narrative LEGOs” concept he’s been talking about for ten years. If you’re just after the gameplay, IGN has a tweet for that.

Screen Australia has announced $1.6 million in funding for 27 Australian games and creators, supporting a range of projects that showcase diverse genres and innovative gameplay. This initiative aims to boost the local industry and highlight Australian talent in gamedev. Check out the full list here - very excited to see Winnie’s Hole get up!

The upcoming action roguelite prequel to Hyper Light Drifter is looking super cool in its first hands-on gameplay preview! Huge fan of these folks, and very keen to see where this one goes.

Four days out from the highly anticipated release of Dragon’s Dogma 2, we get a really good look at the game by way of a new official trailer, voiced by Ian McShane. Honestly, the game looks insane - can’t wait.

A week after Nintendo sued its devs for “facilitating piracy at a colossal scale”, Yuzu has agreed to a $2.4M settlement and the shutdown of the Yuzu and Citra emulators. They’ll also cease all related activities and hand over domain, tools, and modified hardware to Nintendo. Read the final judgement here, and Yuzu’s statement here. While Nintendo are definitely setting an example here, the settlement means no legal precedent is being set.

After several years of radio silence, Neostream - the team behind potential vapourware Little Devil Inside - have re-emerged with six minutes of new footage and a relatively lengthy post on Kickstarter.

Began with a dream of two brothers. You supported.
…
Thank you all. For everything. We’ve not forgotten. Never will.

I backed this nearly ten years ago so won’t be holding my breath… but the footage does look great.

Bloody hell. EA is the latest to announce staff layoffs, cutting 5% of its workforce and moving away from licensed IP to focus on owned IP and sports games. Two EA studios were spun up to develop Black Panther and Iron Man games, and Respawn were working on Star Wars stuff, so those folks likely don’t feel great. This sucks, man.

Man, it doesn’t end. In a media release titled Difficult News About Our Workforce, SIE announce the laying off of around 900 employees: London Studio to close entirely, Insomniac Games, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla Games, and Firesprite impacted. Bloody hell.

Let’s goooo! Any new Pope game is an event, and an excuse to dust off the Playdate is doubly exciting. Mars After Midnight releases March 12.