Business

Team Asobi Striving For Unique Game Experience

Published

1 year ago

August 16, 2022

Anthony DiMoro

Team Asobi, the team behind Astro’s Playroom which was really fun during the launch of the Playstation 5, is now looking to make games in a very specific way; “We want our games to feel like they’re made in Japan”.

The team was also behind the acclaimed Astro Bot: Rescue Mission for PlayStation VR, and now they aim to move outside the world of virtual reality to do something different.

“Of course [Astro’s Playroom] was a showcase of the DualSense, and a love letter to PlayStation, but one of the goals was: can we live up to making a TV game? A classic non-VR game? And do character controls and all that? Are our skills sufficient?” Team Asobi creative and studio director Nicolas Doucet said, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

“Making a VR game for PS4 means doing PS3 quality-levels in terms of assets, because you’re on a tight [technical] budget. But when you jump to PS5… are we able to go to that level? So we got some confidence out of this.

“It’s very nice to know that whenever a PS5 is bought, Astro is going to get played. It was a big responsibility, because if you make something that’s a little bit without flavour, then you run the risk of making the console feel that way.”

The company is growing, and the expectation is that they will reach around 100 people in the near future.

“We have a current production, and that’s going fine,” Doucet said. “But we want to have another group for R&D, and we want enough in this group to explore as many areas that are interesting. And to potentially start other projects.

“But we’re not giving ourselves any limits. If good people want to join Team Asobi, then we will be willing to talk to them. There is always stuff to do. There is always new projects to begin. We are not limited by any money or time. If we could double the studio just like that, we would find work for everybody.”

Read the entire interview over at GamesIndustry.biz

Business

Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon Winning in United Kingdom

Published

3 weeks ago

August 29, 2023

Anthony DiMoro

FromSoftware title ‘Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon’, which is published by Bandai Namco, has laid claim to the top spot of the boxed charts in the United Kingdom this week following it’s August 25th release.

Armored Core 6’s debut pushed Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the second overall spot in news that video game journalists have been covering extensively.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, Bandai Namco believes that ‘Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon’ is a “big step up in the franchise’ and communicated their hopes that it would surpass previous Armored Core games following the increased popularity in the game developers work on Elden Ring.

The United Kingdom charts also saw The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom move back to the 3rd spot, and FIFA 23 holding the 4th spot.

The biggest rise was from Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which jumped back in the top top from it’s previous 24th spot to land in 6th with a 146% increase in sales. That game, along with Hogwarts Legacy, is currently a part of a Playstation 5 bundle.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year edition entered the Top Ten this week with an appearance in the 9th spot.

The news wasn’t so good for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre which saw a debut in the 13th spot last week but has now dropped to 37th following a 43% decrease in sales week-on-week, despite it’s initial push on every video game streaming platform following it’s heavily hyped arrival.

Here is a breakdown from the United Kingdom Boxed Top Ten for the week ending on August 26th, via GamesIndustry.biz.

Last Week	This Week	Title
New Entry	1	Armored Core VI: Fires Of Rubicon
1	2	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
4	3	The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
3	4	FIFA 23
9	5	Hogwarts Legacy
24	6	Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
5	7	Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate
7	8	Minecraft (Nintendo Switch)
12	9	The Witcher III: Wild Hunt GOTY Edition
2	10	Grand Theft Auto V

Business

Scriptic Raises $6 Million in Additional Seed Funding

Published

3 weeks ago

August 29, 2023

Anthony DiMoro

Interactive drama developer and BAFTA-nominated studio Scriptic has raised a total $6.2 million in additional seed funding, including $500,000 from the Sony Innovation Fund, bringing the total seed investments to $8.7 million.

The funding will be deployed to continue going towards the expansion of its mobile narrative offerings, and the studio aims to provide its generative AI developer tools to more writers and storytellers.

“It’s a huge honor to have Sony Innovation Fund join our roster of stellar investors, and we’re thrilled that they share our vision for the future of interactive media and storytelling,” Scriptic CEO Nihal Tharoor said, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

This marks another example of studios who find Angel Investors and find VC investors to fund their initiatives, and those deals making waves in the gaming industry.

Business

Sony Acquiring Audeze

Published

3 weeks ago

August 29, 2023

Anthony DiMoro

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is set to officially acquire headphones manufacturer and audio technology company Audeze, officially entering a deal to purchase the company, according to GamesIndustry.biz.

SIE is aiming to expand the audio technology of Playstation games and with this deal, not only will Audeze help them in that mission but Audeze will continue to operate as a separate entity and develop its audio products, per a number of video game journalists covering the story.

“Audeze is a premier brand for headphones, and this acquisition highlights Sony Interactive’s focus on innovation and providing the best audio experience to PlayStation players,” SIE senior vice president of platform experience Hideaki Nishino said.

Stay tuned for more updates regarding this story.