Author: Game Infliction

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has disappointed Warner Bros. Discovery, owner of developer Rocksteady, to the tune of a $200 million hit to revenue.

Reporting its Q1 financial results, Warner Bros. Discovery said its Games revenue declined significantly as a result of a tough comparison with last year’s best-selling video game Hogwart’s Legacy. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice “generated significantly lower revenues” compared with those generated by Hogwart’s Legacy during the same three-month period, the company said.

In a follow-up investor-focused call, Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav called the release of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League “disappointing”, before Warner Bros. Discovery chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels detailed an impairment charge the company absorbed as a result of the game’s failure.

“Starting with Studios, the $400 million+ year-over-year decline during Q1 was primarily due to the very tough comp we faced in games against the success of Hogwart’s Legacy last year in the first quarter, in conjunction with the disappointing Suicide Squad release this past quarter, which we impaired, leading to a $200 million impact to EBITDA during the first quarter,” Wiedenfels said. EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was panned by critics upon launch, with extremely low player numbers on Steam. Some of the frustration stems from Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League not being another Batman game from Rocksteady, despite the fact it is set within the Arkhamverse. The developer’s Batman Arkham series is much-loved by fans, with 2011’s Batman: Arkham City in particular held up as one of the greatest, if not the greatest superhero video game of all time. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, on the other hand, is a live service third-person combat game in which Batman is a villain.

Rocksteady now faces tough questions around Warner Bros.’ long-term commitment to Suicide Squad’s live service. Warner Bros. is yet to announce Rocksteady’s next project. But earlier this month, it revealed Batman: Arkham Shadow, a VR game developed by Camouflaj, maker of the Iron Man VR game, and set for release exclusively on the Meta Quest 3 later in 2024.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

As a cat owner, I spend an excessive amount of time looking these fur-covered creatures in the eyes and wondering what they truly want. Would they enjoy the world outside, or would they immediately come running back to their parents’ protective embrace? Little Kitty, Big City attempts to answer this question for me and every other indoor cat owner out there through an adventure that fictionalizes the thoughts and feelings of a feline friend lost in a small Japanese metropolitan sandbox. Solving platforming puzzles in this charming environment is a relaxing time from the get-go, but like a cat aiming to jump up to the top of a dresser and not quite making it, Little Kitty, Big City falters in a few areas that keep it from being a wholly satisfactory experience.

Little Kitty, Big City finds its main character, a short-haired black cat that lacks a defined name, trying to return to their high rise home after a fall from an apartment window. You’ll cross paths with all manner of obstacles, be that busy humans staring at their phones or other animals, that can either help or delay your progress. Along the way, your titular kitty makes friends both large and small in a quest to regain the strength needed to climb back up to its apartment.

That opening fall worried me slightly that Little Kitty, Big City would contain aspects of animals suffering that I was not eager to see, but that concern was quickly dismissed. At no point are you actually at risk of harm – the kitty’s biggest problem is finding a way around disgusting puddles of water in a flooded street, and even aggressive dogs simply bark to assert authority before being easily distracted by a handy treat. Smaller animals, such as a father duck and his flock of baby ducks he wants to bring back home, are never in any danger and are enjoying their outlandish captive circumstances more than fearing them.

The “Big City” in the title actually refers to a relatively small group of interconnected streets with more of a neighborhood feel than that of a metropolis. For the proportional size of a cat, there’s a decent amount of space to cover, with cat-repellent standing water forcing you toward certain puzzle-lined areas, but this is not the four-footed equivalent of a massive open world. Instead, Little Kitty, Big City encourages you to find your way up and over buildings and obstacles rather than simply walking down the sidewalk.

The main campaign is all about regaining enough strength to make the climb home by eating fish. The first of four is simply given to you as part of the story, but others require some feline sneakiness to obtain, like stealing one from a fisherman’s catch. Going in a straight line to these objectives, something cats are not exactly well known for, can get you to the credits in just an hour or two max, but the meat (or dry food equivalent) of this adventure is in its side quests. You can stop and help various other animals to cross off items off a list, be that a Shiba Inu digging up its yard or a bird desperate to live out a Kaiju battle fantasy in the streets.

That is the entire campaign in a nutshell: find fish, do side quests, collect some cute hats as you go, and scratch it all off of your kitty agenda. It is hard to consider that light structure a flaw since Little Kitty, Big City does not aspire to be anything greater than a cozy game where you guide a cat around town to do things a cat might do. It’s interested in being a fun way to spend an afternoon, not one you lose yourself in for the rest of the month. It is cute to watch the kitty sunbathe in a pile of laundry just because it can, but getting to that pile of laundry will not necessarily fill you with a sense of accomplishment.

All this could make Little Kitty, Big City seem over-simplistic, but I came to believe its simplicity is actually its strength. There was no part where I was at a loss of what to do, nothing to disturb the good vibes of being a little cat in a world full of new discoveries. There was no danger around any corner or combat I needed to stay ready for – it is entirely about making friends with other animals who have big personalities while celebrating a fun-filled neighborhood alongside them. Little Kitty, Big City is not failing to be more, it is choosing not to be more than it needs to be.

Where it can grate on my patience, unfortunately, is in the actual act of reaching these goals. Climbing up various buildings through a patchwork path of air conditioners, pipes, and vents can occasionally feel outright frustrating due to imprecise jumping and camera controls. Jumps do not always travel accurately to where the landing interface indicates you’ll go, sometimes leaving you halfway between one pipe and another with no choice but to jump off the wall like a spring. This is complicated further by the camera slamming against walls and violently zooming in to compensate, something that happens quite often when you are trying to scamper up somewhere and need a better view.

The cute cartoon aesthetic at least holds up over the course of the entire campaign. The animations were clearly created by someone who has spent a lot of time watching actual cats, and are realistic enough to make me instinctively whisper “big stretch” under my breath at least once. I also had a fun time pressing the “Meow” button and watching my real-life cats whip their heads around in confusion.

The boss of Xbox Game Studios reportedly told Bethesda staff “we need smaller games that give us prestige and awards” just a day after shutting down Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks.

The Verge reported on the remarks after it emerged that Tango Gameworks was in the process of pitching a Hi-Fi Rush sequel and wanted to hire additional staff before its sudden closure. Similarly, Arkane Austin had hoped to make another immersive sim in the Dishonored vein that would have required staffing up before it was shut down.

The report, which sheds additional light on the shock closures of Tango Gameworks and Redfall developer Arkane Austin, claimed Xbox leadership felt that the overall studio system was “spread too thin,” with Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty reportedly likening it to “peanut butter on bread.”

IGN first broke the news of the closures on Tuesday along with a report that Arkane Austin was working on DLC for Redfall before it was closed.

Xbox leadership held a town hall meeting with ZeniMax staff on Wednesday, May 8, and during it attempted to answer key questions around the decision to close a number of Bethesda studios, one person who was in attendance told IGN. Microsoft has declined to comment.

IGN understands that Booty told staff the closure of Arkane Austin was not about the failure of last year’s disastrous Redfall, rather about the future prospects of the studio. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier has reported that ZeniMax was under pressure to make significant cuts, and chose Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin because they were in the process of pitching projects that would have required increased investment, rather than studios already working on greenlit games. One person in attendance at the meeting told IGN that the suggestion was that because these studios were currently pitching new games, they had the weakest legs to stand on when it came to picking who to cut.

IGN also understands that the line about studios being spread too thin potentially includes Xbox studios, too, so not just those under Bethesda owner ZeniMax’s umbrella. There is now increasing concern that other Xbox studios may face the chopping block as Microsoft continues to make cuts to its gaming business.

Tango Gameworks’ critically acclaimed rhythm action game Hi-Fi Rush was deemed a success upon its launch. It shadow-dropped straight into Game Pass on Xbox and PC, and was sold outside the subscription service priced $30. Last year, amid reports that Hi-Fi Rush had failed to sell well enough, Aaron Greenberg, vice president of Xbox games marketing, insisted that Hi-Fi Rush “was a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release.”

Hi-Fi RUSH was a break out hit for us and our players in all key measurements and expectations. We couldn’t be happier with what the team at Tango Gameworks delivered with this surprise release.

— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼‍♂️💚U (@aarongreenberg) April 21, 2023

In the town hall meeting, Booty reiterated that Hi-Fi Rush was a success, but, according to a person in attendance, staff were told the factors for that success had changed in the year since, and so the studio’s prospects had lowered. As has been reported, Tango Gameworks had pitched Hi-Fi Rush 2 as a follow-up project. IGN understands the Hi-Fi Rush 2 pitch was rejected in part because it was deemed too expensive.

Microsoft failed to provide a clear answer when asked about the current factors of success at Xbox, but it seems that Game Pass users are no longer the be-all and end-all of Microsoft’s gaming ambitions, as they once were just a few years ago, and that selling video games on as many platforms as possible is increasingly important.

Microsoft has faced tough questions around the potential cannibalization effect of Game Pass, particularly on games that launch on the service day-one. While Xbox executives have insisted sales can be boosted by a game’s presence on Game Pass, some publishers remain unconvinced. Unlike Microsoft, console rival Sony does not release its new exclusives straight into its subscription service. And, according to The Verge, Microsoft is currently debating whether to release this year’s Call of Duty game straight into Game Pass, potentially negatively impacting sales of the full-price mainline release.

But what has prompted Microsoft to make these cuts to ZeniMax in the first place? In January, Microsoft announced plans to axe 1,900 staff from its video game workforce, a devastating round of layoffs that follows the company’s $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty owner Activision Blizzard. Microsoft, currently worth more than $3 trillion, faces declining revenue year-over-year for its gaming business when Activision is taken out of the equation, as well as stagnant Game Pass subscriber growth. Sales of Xbox consoles have collapsed and, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer, the video game industry is failing to grow meaningfully. Add this to reported increased internal scrutiny on Microsoft’s gaming business following the Activision Blizzard acquisition, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Meanwhile, staff across Microsoft’s gaming business face an increasingly anxious time. John Johanas, creative director at Tango Gameworks and director on Hi-Fi Rush, reacted to Booty’s quote about Xbox needing “smaller games that give us prestige and awards” in devastating fashion:

https://t.co/Cz2fW01QVc pic.twitter.com/ADV4ZTpIuP

— johnjohanas (@johnjohanas) May 9, 2024

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Vampire centric action role playing game V Rising has now fully launched on Steam after two years in Early Access, and it’s off to a very hot start.

V Rising enjoyed a 24 hour peak of 78,164 concurrent players on its May 8, 2024 launch date, according to player tracking website SteamDB. While this wasn’t quite the 150,000 player peak it enjoyed upon its Early Access launch, it was a huge spike in numbers for the game which was previously averaging less than 10,000 a day.

Developer Stunlock Studios announced the release date in March 2024 but its full 1.0 patch notes (which you can see here) only arrived as the full game launched.

“The journey to full release was rife with dangers and challenges, but your feedback and raw excitement helped us navigate the winding roads to a victorious 1.0 launch,” Stunlock said of its release. “We’re very excited to take this last step with you because we can truly spread our wings beyond this last footfall and take to the skies!”

V Rising is also confirmed for PlayStation 5 but currently only has a vague 2024 release window. The game begins with the player as a fully-customizable vampire waking up after a century-spanning sleep, very weak and in need of blood. But what begins as a survival action game in the vein of Diablo soon turns into a fully open world adventure with base-building, co-op, and versus multiplayer.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “V Rising has been nicely polished up during its dark slumber in Early Access, allowing it to fully rise to the occasion with its excellent boss design and challenging ARPG combat.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Microsoft’s decision to close several development studios, such as Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and more, has generally been met with a big thumbs-down online. Tango was responsible for break-out hit Hi-Fi Rush in 2023, a game considered one of the best on Xbox in recent years, and went on to win a BAFTA for Animation.

Hi-Fi Rush is still available on Xbox Game Pass, or you can purchase it digitally at a discount right now. It’s 35% off via the Microsoft Store, down to $19.49 (or equivalent in your region). This is the lowest price we’ve ever seen the game drop to on Xbox.

Hi-Fi Rush is also a part of the Humble Choice Bundle for May, alongside Yakuza Like A Dragon, Steel Rising, and more. You can join Humble Choice for $11.99/month (£8.99/month for the UK), collecting all these PC games to keep permanently, and you can skip a month or cancel anytime. To top things off, each code included is for Steam.

Both developers and fans have shared their disappointment at the studio closures at Microsoft. Announced to staff via email on the morning of May 7, 2024. Head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty told employees of the studios, which joined Microsoft under Bethesda parent company ZeniMax, the cuts were a result of the “reprioritization of titles and resources.”

“This is absolutely terrible,” wrote Arkane Lyon director Dinga Bakaba on X/Twitter, whose studio survived the closures and will continue working on Marvel’s Blade. “To any executive reading this: friendly reminder that video games are an entertainment and cultural industry, and your business as a corporation is to take care of your artists and entertainers and help them create value for you.”

Microsoft acquired ZeniMax in 2021 for $7.5 billion and with it came Bethesda studios such as Arkane, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog Games. Its acquisition streak reached new heights in 2023 with the $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which finally went through in October 2023, just six months before it closed these other studios.

Xbox also announced The Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax Online Studios would absorb Roundhouse Studios, but the other Bethesda teams would be unaffected. Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 developer Bethesda Game Studios, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle developer Machine Games, Doom developer id Software, and the aforementioned Marvel’s Blade developer Arkane Lyon are all unaffected.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.