160°

Take-Two Interactive is closing two studios, including Rollerdrome developer Roll7

As part of previously-announced layoffs, Take-Two Interactive is closing Intercept Games and Roll7.

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windowscentral.com
LucasRuinedChildhood624d ago (Edited 624d ago )

I loved Rollerdrome and was looking forward to a Rollerdrome 2. 😐

Don't want to be melodramatic but as far you can be upset over video-game news ... bit heartbroken.

I feel like there's a trend of well made games like this going largely ignored by the gaming audience. It's quite frustrating. I hope the devs form a new studio but I suppose they'd have to start again from scratch.

JEECE624d ago

"I feel like there's a trend of well made games like this going largely ignored by the gaming audience."

Yep. I'd love to know how many of us actually bought this game, rather than just getting it on Gamepass or PS Plus. Probably a shockingly low number. Steam concurrents topped out at 419.

I know it's anecdotal, but when I think of my favorite indie games, I still largely think of titles that came out in the 2009-2015 range. Maybe with less competition it was easier to stand out then, but I just felt like at that time there was more recognition of the really great indie games that were worth your time.

senorfartcushion624d ago

Plus would have gotten them some extra money.

TheLigX624d ago

Olliolli 2, olliolli world and rollerdrome are some of my favorite indies of all time. This industry is disgusting lately.

solideagle624d ago (Edited 624d ago )

it's not industry's fault, it's the consumers fault. Audience just wants to play shooter/Battle Royale etc...

Christopher624d ago

No. It's the publisher's fixation on profit margins. They only want the most profitable of products. It's greed.

Inverno624d ago

I wouldn't blame consumers entirely either. If shooters and Battle Royal is all we're given then it's all we've got to buy. If the AAA industry wouldn't follow trends so obsessively it'd be better varied.

JEECE624d ago

There is fault to go around. Some of it is on consumers for sure. We whine constantly about live service games, but then we play them anyway and ignore better smaller titles.

But publishers and platform holders bear some responsibility too. You hear stories come out from indie devs who had big hits in the late PS3/360 to early PS4/XONE window who can barely move units now, and some of that is definitely failure to advertise and poor discoverability. During that era I felt like I reliably heard about the worthwhile indies, and now I don't.

Then there is the game pass effect (and PS Plus to a lesser extent). So many consumers have now been trained to expect to get indies with their subscriptions, they don't want to pay $20-$40 for them anymore.

ZeekQuattro624d ago

When voting with one's wallet goes wrong. I prsonally have no problem with AA or indie games. Often times those are some of the best experiences to be had in gaming. Unfortunately a lot of gamers thumb their noses at indies however. There are success stories but there are just as many casualties or at least it feels that way sometimes.

LordoftheCritics624d ago

It's the game.

Was fun for 10 minutes

JackBNimble624d ago

Has anyone actually taken a look at the economy? If you're really looking to blame someone for layoffs and closers, then maybe blame the people at the top making the bad decisions tanking the economies.
It's like some of you live in a little bubble oblivious to what's going on around the globe.

TheLigX623d ago

Hey there big business shilling homie… the game was very profitable.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 623d ago
Gamble20624d ago

If the games made money the studios wouldn’t be closing. Blame consumers for not supporting “indies”

TheLigX623d ago

The games were profitable, you ding dong.

Killer2020UK624d ago

I've got to disagree with the comments blaming consumers. Yes that is a part of it but by and large the money men are closing studios and sacking staff to increase profitability. Let's not forget the obscene salaries they're on compared to the people who actually make the games. Take 2 are not short of cash, this didn't have to happen.

JEECE624d ago

The thing is, some of the Indie devs closing are really independent. In other words, we can blame Take 2 here, but who can we blame other than the consumers when a fully independent dev shuts down because their games aren't selling? There is an answer to that question, it just isn't greedy publishers, even if they are the most fun to blame.

CantThinkOfAUsername624d ago (Edited 624d ago )

Last year, Take-Two president and CEO both got paid 72M combined as a bonus. They could have paid the 600 employees they laid off 60K a year and still get half of that (36M). Strauss' compensation alone is 578:1 compared to a T2 employee's.

TiredGamer624d ago

We created the industry by our purchasing decisions/actions. The industry is slowly imploding. At some point we may be left only with safe mainstays (COD, Fortnite) and franchise/movie tie-ins (Indiana Jones, Spiderman, Batman, Star Wars), along with a contingent of very low budget indie stuff if it can turn a profit.

Sad.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 623d ago
notachance624d ago

ah damn, I loved olliolli series

monkey602624d ago

I loved Olli Olli.

I wanted to like Rollerdrome a lot more than I actually did. Shame about the studio though

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60°

Rockstar launches official marketplace for mods

Rockstar has launched an official marketplace for "every server and every player" to buy mods: Cfx Marketplace.

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gamesindustry.biz
Christopher2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I wonder how much of this isn't just taken work of others who have modded for free.

Edit: Also, great way for R* to take popular ideas and build them into GTAVI based on demand.

fr0sty15h ago

What I see happening here is, R* is going to ban mods in GTA6 UNLESS you buy them from the marketplace and R* then gets a cut of that sale.

ActualWhiteMan17h ago

Ah, perfect timing with them taking down the Bully online fan mod. Greedy a$$ company.

Christopher15h ago

It's okay as long as they get a cut of the money.

fr0sty15h ago

Expect R* to force it on you.

Snookies129h ago

Yep, right there with you. I'll happily donate to a mod creator if it looks really cool, or if I enjoy it. But expecting payment up front? Nope, not touching it.

IanTH14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

I'm not entirely sure how to read this, as it doesn't seem exactly like an exact parallel to Bethesda's paid mods shenanigans.

Rather than single player stuff, this appears to be aimed solely on Cfx Servers. From what I've gleaned, apparently Rockstar bought the Cfx mod team several years ago, coming a few years after weird contentions led them to ban a few of their members. Ultimately, the question is if they plan to keep this contained to only online/servers.

I have to guess to a degree yes. It'd be pretty hard to "force" paid mods for single player when modding files locally on your own machine, but much easier for servers they'll control. So perhaps this is their soft launch ahead of GTA6 online and they'll clamp down more tightly on non-official servers going forward? Ever since they've become a 1 or 2 property studio, I haven't really cared much for Rockstar stuff, so I'm not entirely up on everything surrounding this. Sounds like it has the potential to be problematic further down the line, but right now fairly easy to ignore...I think lol.

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50°

Kotick claims lawsuit objecting to MS-Activision deal was "tied to Embracer's desire to boost sales"

Former CEO describes lawsuit filed by Swedish pension fund as a "collateral attack" on Activision Blizzard.

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gamesindustry.biz
OpenGL1d 11h ago

Yeah, the Microsoft deal has DEFINITELY worked out for everyone.

galgor1d 8h ago

Can this mother fucker just get lost already

PRIMORDUS1d 7h ago

He belongs in here ⚰️, hopefully sooner than later.

MrDead16h ago(Edited 16h ago)

Kotick Made $155 million from MS in the buyout, the little b*tch needs to stop whining. Thanks to this Microslop deal and massive industry consolidation thousands upon thousands of devs and other workers lost their livelihoods. This greedy piggie pervert needs shut up and f-off.

40°

An Update to Our Shared Commitment to Safer Gaming

Discover how Sony Interactive Entertainment, Nintendo, and Microsoft continue to collaborate to improve player safety across our platforms.

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sonyinteractive.com