It’s been a week of change in the gaming industry. Unfortunately, we’ve seen yet more layoffs and studio closures this week, but this week has also yielded a major acquisition, a newly-unionized studio, and some contract alterations from big companies.
Here’s what’s been happening on the business side of the gaming industry this week!
More layoffs and closures
It wouldn’t be a gaming business roundup without layoffs and closures, or so it seems. This year’s layoff total has, after all, already beaten last year’s, and there are still six months of the year to go.
This week sadly saw Korean studio Challengers closing after building up $1.7 million in debt. CEO Koji Tamura said the studio hadn’t managed to attract enough publisher or player interest for its projects to continue.
On the layoffs side, GamesIndustry.biz reported this week that Gameloft had laid off “the majority” of its Toronto studio, a report that Gameloft itself later confirmed to the publication.
Chinese news platform The Paper, meanwhile, reported (according to machine translation) that Tower of Fantasy developer Perfect World has supposedly been hit by large-scale layoffs across multiple departments. Those layoffs remain unconfirmed at time of writing.
Cygames’ parent company buys Steins;Gate dev Nitroplus
Nitroplus, the studio known for the likes of Steins;Gate and Fate/Zero, was bought this week by Cygames parent company CyberAgent.
According to additional reporting by Automaton Media, a PR interview accompanying the announcement of the purchase reveals that CyberAgent will be helping Nitroplus to “pursue projects it had abandoned due to a lack of resources”.
We’ll have to wait and see what those projects might be, but if you’re a fan of Nitroplus’ visual novels, it’s a happy day for you.
People Can Fly and Square Enix reach new Project Gemini agreement
Square Enix and People Can Fly reached a new agreement this week regarding the ongoing development of upcoming title Project Gemini (almost certainly not its final name).
The project ran into trouble earlier this year when around 30 employees were apparently laid off from the project, with a further 20 being moved from Gemini to other People Can Fly projects.
The new contract appears to stipulate a more stripped-back development model for Gemini; it states that “future revenues” obtained by People Can Fly for Gemini will “only cover the direct costs” incurred for development.
Another ZeniMax studio unionizes
The unstoppable march of gaming unionization (hopefully) continues, as another ZeniMax studio revealed its intention to unionize earlier this week.
Bethesda’s Montreal branch announced a few days ago that it has filed for certification with Quebec’s Labor Board “with the intention of unionizing” and joining with the wider Communications Workers of America union.
The studio says its union is intended to make Bethesda “a supportive workplace that fosters creativity and talent” and that its “seat at the table” will ensure job security for employees, as well as promoting transparency, accountability, and flexibility.
SAG-AFTRA announces new indie contract tier
Media union SAG-AFTRA announced this week that it will introduce a new tier for its Independent Interactive Media Agreement, with a new budget range now being included in the agreement.
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, projects with budgets between $15 million and $30 million will now benefit from SAG-AFTRA’s union protection, as well as “provisions against AI” and access to unionized performers.
Earlier this year, SAG-AFTRA found itself the subject of heavy criticism after signing a controversial agreement with AI voice company Replica, an agreement on which it later doubled down to the consternation of many.
SNK opens a new Singapore location
Metal Slug studio SNK has opened up a new location in Singapore, which was technically established in 2022 but which was officially unveiled earlier today.
SNK says its new studio marks a “significant milestone” in its mission to create “high-quality games”, and that the Singapore location has the potential to “set new benchmarks in game development”.
CD Projekt is a big contributor to the Polish economy
We end on a story that demonstrates just how important gaming can be to national economies, and that’s been illustrated this week by none other than The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 studio CD Projekt.
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) earlier this week, CD Projekt revealed that it was solely responsible for an impressive 1.75% of Polish exports to the US last year.
That’s 1.75% of all of Poland’s US exports, not just those in gaming or even entertainment media. The next time someone tells you “it’s just a game”, make sure to throw this statistic at them.
That’s all for our roundup of everything that’s been happening in the world of gaming business this week! Join us again next week for another look at the industry.
