Category: News

General game developing news and updates.

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Get a job: Crystal Dynamics is hiring a Creative Director

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Location: Redwood City, California.

Crystal Dynamics is looking for a talented and passionate Creative Director for a new AAA action adventure title we are developing. This individual will be responsible for overseeing all decisions that affect how the game plays, looks, and sounds. We would like to find a person who has experience providing creative direction for world class titles. The focus of the Creative Director will be to ensure the highest quality for the game play, artwork, music, and audio assets that will be in the final shipped version of the game. We expect the Creative Director to lead the overall vision of the game.

Responsibilities:

  • Provide overall direction in game play, art, music, and design
  • Partner closely with all department leads ensuring milestones are achieved on time and within budget
  • Provide inspiration to the team and ensure that the creative vision is accepted and embraced
  • Help the team overcome obstacles and provide solid leadership
  • A strong passion and commitment to developing world class AAA titles

Requirements:

  • Experience in a Creative Director role previously for highly rated next gen games
  • Leadership experience in guiding teams from all disciplines
  • Solid understanding of the financial and managerial aspects of game development
  • Previous background in leadership in design or art
  • Strong understanding of the competitive landscape
  • A passion for playing and developing gamesLeadership position in previous shipped AAA titles (3-5 preferred)

Crystal Dynamics is an EOE and M/F/D/V employer

Interested? Apply now.

Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.

Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.

Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.

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Weekend Deal – Blood Bowl 2, 50% Off

Save 50% on Blood Bowl 2 as part of this week’s Weekend Deal*!

Blood Bowl 2 smashes Warhammer and American football together, in an explosive cocktail of turn-based strategy, humour and brutality, adapted from Games Workshop’s famous boardgame.

Also, be sure to check out brand-new DLC content, including new playable races releasing today!

*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time

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Nintendo Holiday Sweepstakes

Nintendo Holiday Sweepstakes

Have you signed up for the My Nintendo rewards program yet? If so, you can enter the Nintendo Holiday Sweepstakes, exclusively for My Nintendo members.

Be sure to enter the Nintendo Holiday Sweepstakes, exclusively for My Nintendo members.

Choose your five most-wanted gifts for a chance to win a prize pack that’ll make your holidays bright. Head to the Nintendo Holiday Gift Guide to get started!

Not a My Nintendo member? It’s easy—and free—to join. https://my.nintendo.com/

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.  Void where prohibited. Open to legal residents of the US (incl. DC) and Canada (excluding Quebec), 13 years or older.  Promotion begins 9:00 AM PT on 11/01/17 and ends 8:59 AM PT on 11/20/17.  To enter, vote for your top 5 Nintendo products as stated in Official Rules.  Eight winners will each receive one prize package (ARV US $259.97–496.98). For Official Rules, visit https://happyholidays.nintendo.com/My-Nintendo-Holiday-Sweepstakes-2017/

Sponsor: Nintendo of America Inc.

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Team Rainbow Rocket, Legendary Pokémon and more revealed for Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon

Team Rainbow Rocket, Legendary Pokémon and more revealed for Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon

The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo today announced exciting new information for the upcoming games Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon.

In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, the greatest villainous organization in history appears! It’s Team Rainbow Rocket—made up of the bosses from past titles in the Pokémon series! The boss of this new organization is none other than Giovanni, who was also the boss of the villainous organization known as Team Rocket in Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue, the first games in the Pokémon series. Giovanni has gathered all of the bosses from the villainous teams of the past Pokémon games, like Ghetsis of Team Plasma and Lysandre of Team Flare, and recruited them for Team Rainbow Rocket. What Giovanni and his allies are doing in the Alola region has yet to be revealed, but players must prepare themselves to square off against this group of the greatest villains in Pokémon history!

When players travel through an Ultra Wormhole in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, they will encounter not only Ultra Beasts but Legendary Pokémon as well, like Mewtwo, Ho-Oh and Lugia! Some of these Legendary Pokémon will differ between Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon. If players explore both games or trade with other players, they can obtain all of the Legendary Pokémon that have appeared in previous Pokémon series games!

The Battle Agency is a new facility in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon where players can easily rent powerful Pokémon for battling. When players don sunglasses and become an agent at this facility, they can take part in Single Battles using rental Pokémon. They’ll have three such Pokémon to command as they try to defeat the three Pokémon in their opponent’s team. The goal: try to win their way to being the best of all the agents! As players progress through battles, they can receive cool items such as Gold Bottle Caps. The variety of Pokémon that can be rented for these battles increases as players mingle with other players locally or on the internet. By connecting with strong Trainers, players will be able to rent powerful Pokémon to use in battle.

In Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon, players will be able to collect stickers called Totem Stickers, which are located all around the Alola region. Players will be able to get huge totem-like Pokémon for their teams based on how many stickers they have collected. The totem-like Pokémon that players can obtain differ based on whether they are playing Pokémon Ultra Sun or Pokémon Ultra Moon.

Finally, it was revealed that the QR Scanner will return in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon. Players will be able to use the Island Scan to encounter Pokémon that did not appear in Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon, such as Charmander, Grovyle, Greninja and more.

Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon will launch on November 17, 2017, exclusively on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. For more details about today’s announcement, please visit www.pokemon.com/ultrasunmoon.

You can check out the trailer for this announcement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXhtZHn3vDc

Game Rated:

Mild Cartoon Violence

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MAG Interactive grabs $9.7M investment to fund FEO Media acquisition

The Swedish mobile studio MAG Interactive has secured an 80 million SEK (~$9.7 million) investment to assist in financing its recent acquisition of QuizDuel developer FEO Media. 

The investment comes from the Nordic fund manager Swedbank Robur’s Microcap fund, which was established earlier this year to support small companies in Nordic countries. With the additional funding under its belt, MAG Interactive is able to finalize its purchase of FEO Media and bring its popular quiz game QuizDuel into its growing mobile game portfolio. 

That acquisition was first announced in late October for an undisclosed sum, marking MAG Interactive’s third significant purchase in four years following its acquisition of WordBrain in 2014 and Delinquent Interactive in 2015.

“It is exciting to have the opportunity to invest in MAG Interactive and at the same time help [realize] the truly strategic acquisition of FEO Media,” said Microcap fund manager Erik Sprinchorn in a statement.

“The development of a strong Nordic cluster in the games sector is something we strongly believe and want to play an active part in. Mobile games have proven over time to be a stronger and more profitable business than most of us expected a few years ago and MAG is a great example of that with a global, profitable business with fantastic future potential.”

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Get a job: PlayQ is hiring a QA Designer

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Location: Santa Monica, California

PlayQ is looking for a QA Designer to contribute to the development of world-class mobile games targeting a mass market. In this role, you will work as a member of the design team to ensure the quality of all game systems, features, and content by contributing to and understanding all game designs, creating test cases and plans that comprehensively cover those designs, and performing software testing to ensure the final quality of the game experience and performance.

Core responsibilities include creating product test plans, writing test cases for new features and systems, performing thorough software testing including regression, verification and deployment testing, identifying and documenting defects and reproduction steps, and adeptly utilizing bug tracking software. As a member of the design team, you will participate in design meetings and brainstorms, perform competitive surveys and analyses, and assist with level testing and tuning as needed.

The ideal candidate will be proactively driven to *own* quality – to aggressively plan, test, and verify the implementation and performance of game features and systems. This position offers a unique opportunity to participate to game design while being empowered to assure quality via informed testing. This is a full-time position that will be based in our Santa Monica office.

Responsibilities:

  • Participate in and contribute to design discussions, meetings, and brainstorms for new game features and systems.
  • Work with game designers to create precise test cases that comprehensively cover the intended functionality of software features, systems, and components.
  • Create efficient and thorough project test plans to ensure quality.
    Identify and document software defects, including reproduction steps and video capture, using the preferred bug tracking software.
  • Perform regression, verification, compatibility, and deployment testing as needed.
  • Assist the development team as needed in pinpointing issues and tracking their status through resolution.
  • Proactively and vigilantly maintain a high quality bar by remaining current with game status and performance – be the first to spot issues!
  • Contribute to the identification and research of improvements to testing processes and techniques.

Requirements:

  • 1+ years QA testing experience; contributed to the testing of at least 1 released mobile game title
  • Bachelor’s degree
  • Superior oral and written communication skills
  • Ability to work independently and solve new problems with minimal supervision
  • Proactive, positive, driven mentality that thrives in a collaborative team environment
  • Courage to own quality, regardless of whose toes need to be stepped on (respectfully, of course!)

Bonus Points:

  • Familiarity with JIRA
  • Familiarity with Unity
  • Technical writing ability
  • Awareness of and eagerness to explore latest testing software, techniques, and trends
  • Curiosity: a drive to understand how and why things work the way they do (i.e. game systems, features, technology, processes, the world around you)

Perks:

  • Competitive compensation and equity options
  • Comprehensive medical, dental, vision insurance
  • Flexible time off
  • 401K plan with company match
  • Stocked kitchen with free snacks and beverages of your choice
  • Catered weekly team lunches
  • Brand new penthouse office space equipped with outdoor patios offering beachfront views
  • Monthly team outings and volunteer opportunities
  • Help build and support awesome GAMES. For a living! Who doesn’t love games?

Interested? Apply now.

Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.

Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.

Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.

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Ubisoft has made its Sharpmake game dev tool open-source

The custom generator created by Ubisoft during the development of Assassin’s Creed 3 has officially been made open source and uploaded to a Github repository.

Ubisoft says Sharpmake is a C#-based generator for Visual Studio projects and solutions that was designed to generate projects with a “very large number of configurations very quickly.”

The tool itself could offer game developers an alternative to tools like CMake and Premake, specifically one that Ubisoft says generates 100 to 200 times faster and works well with both big C++ code bases and multiplatform projects.

Now, Sharpmake and its accompanying documentation have been made public on GitHub. Ubisoft’s Nicholas Fleury has shared a post and video on Reddit offering a basic introduction to the tool and detailing some of its benefits. 

In addition to its speed, Fleury notes that Sharpmake is also an easier tool for C++ programmers to pick up, is flexible thanks to its use of C#, has built-in support for FastBuild, and supports all consoles, though developers will need to work with platforms individually to enable each within Sharpmake.

The tool itself can be found on GitHub, courtesy of Ubisoft, alongside more details on its use and capabilities. 

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Daily Deal – Owlboy, 40% Off

Save 50% on Blood Bowl 2 as part of this week’s Weekend Deal*!

Blood Bowl 2 smashes Warhammer and American football together, in an explosive cocktail of turn-based strategy, humour and brutality, adapted from Games Workshop’s famous boardgame.

Also, be sure to check out brand-new DLC content, including new playable races releasing today!

*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time

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Nintendo turns Black Friday into Legendary Friday

Nintendo turns Black Friday into Legendary Friday

With Black Friday quickly approaching, Nintendo is offering a variety of products to make holiday shopping a little bit easier and a lot more fun for everyone. These deals include two items that will make it easier for people of all ages and interests to get in on the fun and adventure of The Legend of Zelda series this holiday season.

The first is a Link green Nintendo 2DS system with bright orange buttons that comes pre-installed with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D game at a suggested retail price of only $79.99. This is ideal for young people who want to be introduced to one of the best games in The Legend of Zelda series on a durable and accessible portable system. The second is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Explorer’s Edition, a bundle that includes the critically acclaimed and award-winning Nintendo Switch game, a 100-page explorer’s guide and a two-sided map at a suggested retail price of $59.99.* The included guide and map are great for people new to the series, as well as people who haven’t yet had the opportunity to dive into the massive adventure.

But this isn’t all Nintendo is offering on Black Friday. In addition to these legendary deals, many other systems and bundles are currently in stores. These include a Nintendo Switch bundle that comes with the system, a download code for the Super Mario Odyssey game, Mario-themed red Joy-Con controllers and a special carrying case at a suggested retail price of $379.99.

“Between Nintendo Switch, Super NES Classic Edition, all the systems in the Nintendo 3DS family and all of the fun games available for these systems, shoppers will have multiple options for their wish lists this year,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Our Black Friday deals are a great value for people looking to pick up gifts for the Nintendo fans in their lives.”

Other systems and bundles that will be available in stores this holiday include:

  • For fans of Mario: A white-and-red Nintendo 2DS system pre-loaded with the New Super Mario Bros. 2 game at a suggested retail price of $79.99 (now available).
  • For fans of cool hardware: A white-and-orange New Nintendo 2DS XL system at a suggested retail price of $149.99 (now available).
  • For fans of Pokémon: A Poké Ball Edition New Nintendo 2DS XL system at a suggested retail price of $159.99 (launches Nov. 3).
  • For fans of exploration: A special edition of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 that includes a sound selection CD, a special metal game case and a 220-page hard-bound art book at a suggested retail price of $99.99. A Nintendo Switch Pro Controller themed around Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will be available at a suggested retail price of $99.99 (both launch Dec. 1).

To check out all the offerings from Nintendo this holiday season, visit Nintendo’s holiday gift guide at https://happyholidays.nintendo.com/.

Remember that Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about other features, visit http://www.nintendo.com/switch/ or http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.

* The Expansion Pass, which is composed of The Master Trials and The Champion’s Ballad DLC, is not included as part of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Explorer’s Edition.

Game Rated:

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Style Savvy: Styling Star launches for Nintendo 3DS on Dec. 25

Style Savvy: Styling Star launches for Nintendo 3DS on Dec. 25

The newest game in the Style Savvy series is coming exclusively to Nintendo eShop on the Nintendo 3DS family of systems this holiday season. In the Style Savvy: Styling Star game, you can manage a boutique, plan makeovers and help your clients become singing superstars.

The much-loved Style Savvy series puts you in the role of a budding fashion mogul. By running your own fashion boutique, you can select the clothes you sell, recommend outfits for your customers and even create some high-class looks that are both fashionable and trendy. You can even customize the look of the boutique itself. If you have an eye for fashion, your styles will be the talk of the town!

In Style Savvy: Styling Star, you can also set your customers up for stardom. For the first time in the series, become a personal stylist for a production studio and make sure your stars-in-the-making look good. The outfits you select for your talented sensations will actually shape their stories, and you can even view the custom outfits you design during some musical performances!

Style Savvy: Styling Star has more than 20,000 in-game items of clothing and accessories to unlock as you play, many of which are new to the series. In addition to the huge number of in-game items you can use to style customers, players can also use compatible amiibo during gameplay to add even more options. All currently available amiibo are compatible with Style Savvy: Styling Star. Some amiibo, including Animal Crossing, Splatoon and Kirby series amiibo, will unlock Nintendo-themed design elements and emblems. Other amiibo will unlock a special design element and emblem.

By increasing your Style Rank through picking out the perfect look that matches your clients’ requests, you can unlock new events and serve as a consultant in other areas of fashion, like makeup, hair and men’s fashion.

A free demo version of Style Savvy: Styling Star is now available in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS. Download it and give it a try!

Style Savvy: Styling Star will launch exclusively in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS on Dec. 25. It will also be available for purchase and direct download at Nintendo.com. For more information about the game, visithttps://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/style-savvy-styling-star-3ds.

Game Rated: