Game News

Peter Molyneux founded the studio 22Cans back in 2012 based in Guildford, England. Molyneaux started this venture following his work at Bullfrog Productions and Lionhead Studios, the latter shuttering its doors back in 2016. With 22Can's first game launching back in November 2012, the company is faced with the difficulty of layoffs going into 2021.

As reported by GameIndustry.biz, the UK-based studio has begun an unfortunate round of layoffs, though the exact number of those affected has not been disclosed at this time.

"Unfortunately, due to a number of factors including projects reaching a certain stage in their development, we can confirm that a number of roles at 22Cans have been made redundant," a studio spokesman said to the site. "Development at the studio is continuing, however."

22Cans

While this is a situation that no one wants to see or experience, it does look like the studio is taking steps to care for those impacted by the layoffs, including "some support" for the newly released staff in an effort to help place them in a new employment situation as soon as possible.

Currently, 22Cans is working hard on a new simulator game called Legacy for PC players, though release date information remains under wraps. According to the spokesperson, development on the current title will remain on-course and will not be negatively impacted by the recent change. This new project follows after Godus, a game meant to be the spiritual successor to Molyneux's previous title Populous, which was developed for PC and mobile but the PC version hasn't seen an updated beta since 2016, though the mobile version continues to see support. It has been reported that following the end of lead developer Konrad Naszynski's contract that there is no one at the studio with plans to work on the Godus for PC.

Layoffs, while sometimes unavoidable, are never something anyone wants to go through. Our hearts are with those employees affected by the sudden shift. If you or someone you know is impacted by the news, please check out this resource here within the industry that has a constantly updated list of employment opportunities.

[Source: GameIndustry.biz]

Published in News

Monday, 15 February 2021 17:54

Amazon Game Studios' New World Delayed Again

Written by Joe Juba

New World is the upcoming MMORPG from publisher Amazon Game Studios and developer Double Helix, though according to the original plan, it was supposed to be out by now. The game was scheduled to be released last August, but was delayed in the interest of refining the experience. The revised release window was spring 2021, but today Double Helix announced that launch is being pushed again.

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According to the latest development update on the New World site, the game will now be released on August 31 – a year after its original date. However, considering all of the challenges that studios have been facing in terms of development during a pandemic, some moved release dates are easy to understand.

Double Helix doesn't specifically cite those issues, but giving a game more time to reach its potential is rarely a bad move. That seems to be the main motivator, according to the studio's explanation. In announcing the new date, Double Helix's post reads (in part):

We’ve been hard at work on compelling end-game features we believe are important to include at launch. These features won’t be ready for the Spring timeframe that we had communicated. With that in mind, we will release New World on August 31, 2021. With this extra time we’ll be able to add these substantial improvements while polishing and fine tuning the whole game before we open Aeternum’s shores to the world.

Though the delay is certainly news people should know, New World is more than its release date. If you want to learn more about the game itself – including its story, combat, and even romance options – then check out our interview with members of the development team. You'll get plenty of insight into the game's vision and the team's approach to bringing it all to life.

What are you thoughts on the August release date for New World? Are you disappointed you need to wait longer? Are you just excited to see the final result, whenever it's ready? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Published in News