ByteAction - Issue 158
ByteAction is a newsletter for game developers and fans
Hello, and welcome to 158th edition of ByteAction newsletter!
As for what happened last week: Bandai Namco is the latest in a series of game industry companies to cancel projects and lay off staff in recent months. According to a Bloomberg report, the company has started laying off 200 of its 1,300 employees, with 100 resignations already recorded.
In other news, Black Myth: Wukong cost Game Science about $43 million to develop but quickly recouped that, surpassing 20 million sales at $60 each within weeks 😱 😱
Lastly, Windwalk raised $4.5M in seed funding to launch Harbor, a social community growth tool. Investors include a16z SPEEDRUN, YCombinator, and Tirta Ventures, aiming to help brands drive viral growth and engage superfans online
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The Byte
The Action
Retro Byte
Studio Byte
GSC Game World is a Ukrainian video game developer founded in 1995 by Sergey Grigorovich, known for creating the acclaimed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series and Cossacks franchise. The company gained early recognition with Cossacks: European Wars (2001), a real-time strategy game that became popular for its historical accuracy and large-scale battles. Their S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, starting with Shadow of Chernobyl in 2007, further solidified their reputation by offering a unique blend of first-person shooting, survival horror, and open-world exploration set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Currently the studio is working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl - the game is coming out in November this year.
Legal Stuff
Acquisitions/Investments
New Game Corner
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl - November 20th, 2024
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an upcoming first-person shooter survival horror video game developed and published by Ukrainian game developer GSC Game World.
Resource Byte
For those looking to take amazing shots with iPhone camera.
Who’s Hiring?
Senior Gameplay Engineer - Bulletfarm - Remote, USA
Unity Engineer - Uken Games - Remote
Creative Director - Gameloft - Bucharest, Romania
Data Analyst - Wargaming - Vilnius, Lithuania
Lead Technical Artist - Azra Games - California, USA
Environment Artist - 31st Union - Valencia, Spain
Senior VFX Artist - Eleventh Hour Games - Dallas, Texas
Senior Games Recruiter - Genies - San Mateo, CA
Product Owner - Avalanche Studios Group - Stockholm, Sweden
HR Manager - Guerrilla Games - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Senior Data Analyst - Original Games - Remote, Europe
Senior HR Director - Xsolla - Los Angeles, CA
Senior Producer - Starbreeze Entertainment - Stockholm, Sweden
Senior Game Designer - Anchor Point Studios - Remote, Worldwide
Lead Character Artist - IOI - Barcelona, Spain
Lead Engine Programmer - Ramen VR - San Francisco, CA
Senior Producer - Haven Studios - Montréal, Canada
Interested in sharing your job posts here? Just click on the button below for more info and reach out to tomas@byteaction.co
Dev Talks
“Going back in time to the summer of 2018, Blizzard unceremoniously fired this guy Ben Kilgore - and it was just over and done. Ben Kilgore had been the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Development Officer. He was pretty high in the company. He was pretty much Mike Morhaime's second-in-command. He was set up as Morhaime's successor. And the way he was fired was really strange - it was this unceremonious email from Moreheim saying 'we have parted ways' or something like that. I heard rumours it had something to do with misconduct in some way, and a couple of people gave me the names of some women I should talk to. I reached out to those women and didn't hear anything, I reached out to some other people who might be involved and didn't hear anything. I never got enough to actually publish anything. People would not speak up about this. Cut to a few years later, and the lawsuit hits.”
Jason Schreier
Events
GameOn Vilnius - October 18th-20th
GameOn is set for glorious return this year and the 6th edition of the event will continue to elevate the standards of GAMES events in the Baltics and beyond.