Category: News

Ubisoft plans to keep its next-generation game priced the same as the current generation standard, at least for the first few titles it’ll launch on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

Speaking in a quarterly conference call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot specified that “for the Christmas games we plan to come with the same price as the previous generation of consoles.”

When pressed, Guillemot avoided saying if that $60 price tag would stick for next-gen games after the holiday season, only offering that Ubisoft is currently “concentrating on the Christmas releases, and those games will launch at $60.”

Pricing, for both games and the next-gen consoles themselves, is one of the big questions on the horizon right now. While neither Xbox or PlayStation have discussed how much their new systems will cost, some publishers like Take-Two Interactive have already announced that some of their next generation games will run $10 more than their current gen counterparts.
 

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: Helsinki, Finland

Remedy Entertainment, the creator of Control®, Quantum Break®, Max Payne®, Alan Wake® and Death Rally® and one of the leading independent game studios in the world is looking for a Technical Director for an exciting new online multiplayer game.

As the Technical Director, you will be part of the project’s core leadership team and own and drive all technical areas and aspects of the project from vision to execution. You will lead a team of highly talented programmers and collaborate closely with a cross disciplinary team of experienced game makers in creating a new, groundbreaking online multiplayer experience.

Ideally, you have worked in Technical Director or Lead Programmer roles over one or more full life cycles of designing, building, releasing and operating an online game as a service (GAAS).

Responsibilities

• Lead the gameplay engineering team and help team members to make the most out of their day-to-day work by establishing coding guidelines, best practices and leading regular code reviews etc.
• Own and drive the overall technical vision, architecture and execution of the project
• Plan, manage, document and track project schedules and workflows
• Be part of the project’s leadership team and contribute ideas toward all aspects of the game’s production and development
• Ensure that consistent communication is maintained in all directions to guarantee the quality of the game
• Actively sharing insights expertise and best practices with the gameplay team and colleagues in other teams

Requirements and qualifications

• A minimum of 10 years’ experience in game programming
• Robust experience with developing in Unreal Engine 4
• Robust experience across the full life cycle of developing and operating live multiplayer games as a service
• Excellent command of network and code best practices for multiplayer games
• Excellent C++ skills
• Solid team leadership experience and strong leadership and teamwork skills
• Experience with Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban etc.)
• Ability to collaborate and work with a range of disciplines from art to design
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills (in English)

The ideal candidate will also have

• Experience with games built in a modular way
• Experience in working on various platforms

What is in it for you?

• Yes, you get to move to Finland where the quality of life is exceptional and cost of living is affordable
• Moving to a new country can be intimidating, but our relocation service is there every step of the way to take care of you. You can concentrate on work, while we’ll take care of everything else
• You will be offered competitive compensation with a bonus system
• We work hard, but at Remedy we believe in a great work life balance. Happy people work better. In Finland you get up to 5 weeks of paid vacation every year. This is on top of public holidays and other special occasions
• Above all, you get to work on awesome, unique video games that the global audience is interested in at a studio where your input is valued. We try our hardest to keep our team sizes and the work load sensible, so your contributions feel valuable

To apply, please fill in the application form with your CV and other information relevant to the position. The position will be filled as soon as a suitable applicant is found.

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.

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Microsoft saw an uptick in console sales during the last quarter of its 2020 financial year, reporting a 49 percent increase in hardware revenue due to an increase in consoles sold.

It’s a notable increase given that Microsoft’s last few quarterly reports have found hardware sales to be slowing. That jump also comes alongside other year-over-year increases for the Xbox brand during the quarter ending June 30, 2020. 

Along with those year-over-year hardware gains, Microsoft says that Xbox content and services revenue also increased by $1.2 billion or 65 percent compared to the same quarter last year. As a whole, Microsoft says video game revenue increased $1.3 billion or 64 percent. Like many other companies right now, Microsoft credits that increase in spending (and record engagement) to on-going stay-at-home guidelines, as well as strength from third-party games.
 

Rocket League is officially going free-to-play when it launches on the Epic Games Store later in the summer, and following that shift new players on PC will no longer be able to download the game through Steam.

A heavier pivot toward the Epic Games Store has been somewhat expected since Rocket League developer Psyonix was acquired by Epic Games late last year, but today’s announcement isn’t full Epic Games Store exclusivity by any means.

For the most part, the Epic Games Store launch won’t affect current players of the game. Those that already play through Steam can continue to do so, and will also still see the same updates and new features as other platforms. 

The only real EGS-centric change here is that, following the free-to-play update, new players won’t be able to download Rocket League through Steam and will instead have to turn to the Epic Games Store.

“Once Rocket League goes free to play, anyone who already owns Rocket League on any platform (including Steam) will be able to play and enjoy the game with full support for future updates and features,” explains a blog from Psyonix. “However, the Steam version will no longer be available to download for new players. To put it simply, wherever you play now (including Steam), you’ll still be able to play in the future.”

This rough timeline for a free-to-play launch comes 5 years into Rocket League’s lifetime, and follows a series of monetization changes and alterations launched in the months following Psyonix’s acquisition by Epic Games.