Byte Action - Issue 111
Byte Action is a newsletter for game developers and fans
Hello, and welcome to the 111th edition of Byte Action newsletter!
It’s a late one this week with a lot of disappointing news for this edition, but I guess these are the times we live in currently. The industry is still strong with a lot of people here who can and will help, and there are plenty of opportunities out there. Let’s hope that everyone affected by layoffs and delusional corporate decisions can bounce back from here. Onwards and upwards.
So here we go. Last week, Ubisoft Montréal disappointed its employees by mandating a return to the office for at least two days a week, a shift from the company's June 2021 decision to make remote work a permanent option for its 4,000+ Montreal-based workforce.
In other news, Ascendant Studios, the developer responsible for the EA-published game Immortals of Aveum, laid off nearly half of its workforce following the poor sales of the IP. Ubisoft London studio also reported that it will be shutting down.
Lastly, in the aftermath of the introduction of a new pricing model for Unity games, Unity employees have received death threats which apparently came from someone who works at Unity. To ensure employee safety, the company had to close multiple offices, and a law enforcement investigation is currently in progress. This has been followed by the news that Unity's CEO John Riccitiello and other senior stakeholders sold their shares a week before their pricing shocker.
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The Byte
The Action
Retro Byte
Studio Byte
Established in 2014, Phoenix Labs has grown to become one of the biggest studios in North America with dedicated teams across Vancouver, BC, Montréal, QC, and San Mateo, CA. In May 2019, they launched Dauntless amassing over 25 million players across four platforms.
Legal Stuff
Acquisitions/Investments
New Game Corner
Payday 3 - September 21st, 2023
Are you ready yet? The game that needs no introduction, one of most popular co-op shooters of all time, and we all simply cannot wait to get our hands on this sequel from Starbreeze Studios. Let’s Go!!!
Resource Byte
My go to to-do app…
Who’s Hiring?
Technical Designer - Liquid Swords - Stockholm, Sweden
Senior VFX Artist - Fall Damage - Stockholm, Sweden
Technical Game Designer - Thatgamecompany - Remote, US
Senior AI Programmer - Sony Bend Studio - Remote, US
Senior Technical Animator - Remedy Entertainment - Helsinki, Finland
Audio Director - Phoenix Labs - Vancouver, Canada
Senior Audio Programmer - Build a Rocket Boy - Edinburgh, UK (Remote)
Lead Sound Designer - IOI - Barcelona, Spain
Producer - Tiny Build Games - NYC, Remote
Lead Technical Animator - Rebellion - Oxford, UK
Principal Game Designer - Demiurge Games - USA, Remote
Senior Game Designer - Shiro Games - Bordeaux, France
Online Programmer - Midnight Society - San Francisco, CA
Senior Animator - Coffee Stain Studios - Stockholm, Sweden
Rumours
Dev Talks
Interview with Christopher Weaver - Bethesda
“While history is often written about with great authority, the reality is that history by its nature is inherently anecdotal,” Weaver says. “We've had an opportunity to interview the people who actually created an entire industry, in their own words. Long after all of us are dead, the future of our industry is cemented in the words of the people who created it.” Christopher Weaver
Tokyo Game Show (September 21st-24th)
Tokyo Game Show is the annual video game trade fair and convention focusing on Japanese games and developers.