Square Enix Fixes Leap Day Bug In Theatrhythm Final Bar Line

“We sincerely apologize for the major inconvenience”.

Back in February, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line players encountered a Leap Day bug where the game wouldn’t work.

Fortunately, it’s now been fixed, with the Square Enix support team rolling out a new patch earlier this week on 5th April 2024. Here’s the full rundown of Version 1.0.5, which resolves this issue:

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

No Plan B offers close combat tactics in a brutal roguelike campaign

I like close combat tactics, directing troop actions on a timeline, and breaching and clearing, but a recent revisit to Door Kickers revealed I no longer had the patience for its fiddly UI and grim scenarios.

No Plan B looks intriguing, then, for featuring all of the things mentioned above that I like, an unknown quantity of the things I don’t, and for having released on Steam this week.

Read more

Daily Deals: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Razer BlackShark V2, Granblue Fantasy: Relink

Saturday and the weekend have officially arrived, which means it is time to round up the best deals you can find this weekend! We’ve searched all over the internet to compile the deals you do not want to miss, which include video games, technology, earbuds, and more. The best deals for Saturday, April 6, include Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, the Razer BlackShark V2 Headset, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, Beats Powerbeats Pro, and more.

Save 40% Off Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a release that went under many people’s radars earlier this year. At $29.99, this 2D platformer is absolutely worth your time and money. We gave the game an 8/10 in our review, stating, “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown captures not only what made games such as The Sands of Time so good, but it irons out a lot of the little issues that plagued the 3D games.”

Grab the Razer BlackShark V2 for $98

The BlackShark V2 headset has an impressive set of features that should fit all of your needs. First, there is a noise cancellation factor with the earcups built inside the headset. Outside noise is always a problem with most gaming headsets, but the BlackShark V2 Pro limits noise from leaking into your gameplay experience. Audio-wise, the BlackShark V2 Pro has 50mm sound drivers that contain titanium-coated diaphragms. Each driver is divided into three separate parts to create the best-quality lows, mids, and highs. You’re getting excellent sound quality both in and out of games.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink for $49.99

Granblue Fantasy: Relink marks the first console RPG from Cygames. Characters from the beloved mobile RPG make in appearance in a brand-new story with many thrills and environments to discover. The big focus of Relink is the multiplayer features, which allow you to tackle over 100 quests with friends around the world. With many post-launch characters and updates planned, you can expect hundreds of hours of fun with a title like this.

Save 48% Off Beats Powerbeats Pro Wireless Earbuds

The Beats Powerbeats Pro are an excellent choice if you’re looking for an Apple AirPods alternative. You can get up to nine hours of listening time off a single charge, with over 24 hours available if you use the included charging case. These earbuds are powered by the H1 chip, which allows for easy pairing and instant connectivity when using an iPhone. Overall, it’s hard to beat the value these earbuds provide at just $130.

HyperX Alloy Elite 2 Mechanical Keyboard for $71.99

The HyperX Alloy Elite 2 is an excellent choice if you’re in the market for a new gaming keyboard. HyperX Pudding Keycaps are included, which are translucent ABS to allow more light to be seen through them. Additionally, dedicated media controls and a volume wheel are included. This keyboard is normally priced at $129.99, so you’re saving almost 50% with this deal from Amazon.

NHL24 for $24.99

NHL 24 brought all-new gameplay and dozens of new features to the hit EA Sports series. This is the lowest price we’ve seen NHL 24 at so far, so if you’ve been on the fence, be sure to pick up the game while this sale is live. There are a total of over 75 new goal celebrations in NHL 24, which elevates the presentation and immersion to new heights.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 for $29.99

Woot currently has both the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 versions of Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 on sale for 50% off. This collection includes the first three Metal Gear Solid titles, in addition to Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. If you’ve yet to play through these incredible action titles, the Master Collection is the best (and only) way to do so on modern gaming platforms.

The Top 10 WWE Games of All Time

For the average wrestling fan, turning to WWE’s games is a safer way to live out your sports entertainment fantasies than, say, jumping off the roof of your garage through a flaming table. Since the late 80s there’ve been well over 50 such games that have averted countless such ill-advised* attempts to be a pro wrestler at home, all wearing the WWF/E banner. And while it’s as difficult to parse out the incremental improvements from one year to the next as it is to kick out of a Tombstone, here’s an attempt at narrowing down the 10 best WWE games of all time.**

To start with, we didn’t book this list all by ourselves without consulting our roster. The IGN audience participated in a Face-off, giving us a capacity crowd’s worth of data to work with. There are a handful of surprises and no small dose of nostalgia for the Attitude Era that showed up in the results, but without further ado or wrestling wordplay,*** let’s ring the bell.

10: WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw (2004) – 65%

At number 10 with a win percentage of 65% in our Face-off, we find ourselves in the heady days of the mid-aughts with 2004’s WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw. The game represents a fairly major shift for WWE as well. The Attitude Era was coming to an end and the silly Invasion storyline was getting smaller in the rearview mirror. Meanwhile, the brand split between Raw and SmackDown that happened just a few years prior was popular enough to gamble on rebranding the SmackDown series of games.

The Clean and Dirty mechanic was a weird little blast as well, giving even the kayfabe-iest fans a chance to lean into a gimmick and be rewarded for it. Meanwhile, the stare down and test of strength style mini-games, including a bra and panties match spanking mechanic that snuck in at the tail end of the Attitude Era’s influence, offered a little more of what the live wrestling events featured on TV. You could also create your own belt in a Create-a-Championship mode for when creating yourself in a wrestling game just isn’t enough.

The Royal Rumble of WWE games, SmackDown! Vs. Raw at number 10 feels like the new guy in the promotion that lasts for a respectable run in the ring, but ultimately you forget he was there by the next pay-per-view.

9: WWF SmackDown! (2000) – 65.6%

Counting down to number nine, we go back to Y2K and the beginnings of what became the WWE 2K series, with WWF SmackDown! It was a welcome change from previous entries on the PlayStation that went back to the more arcade style action we knew from the N64 games which, not to give too much away, might do a run in and attack this list with a chair here in a few spots.

SmackDown! is also a little notorious for the things it got rid of. With no commentary, you had to wrestle to a bizarre mix of stock house-adjacent music and a steady hum of fan noise (it was honestly a little stressful…) while the bizarre non-entrances for the wrestlers in front of matches felt like a wonky corner-cutting measure more than a creative choice.

On a personal note, however, the hardcore and steel cage match were an absolute must of an inclusion. What are we even doing if, at the height of the Attitude Era, we don’t have unimpeded violence on the menu. I think I got injured just watching the TLC matches with The Dudley Boyz, The Hardyz and Edge and Christian.

All that to say, it’s a solid enough way to kick off a new series. This is a game that would’ve had 2 memorable spots during a Royal Rumble before getting dumped over the ropes by the 15th entrant immediately, so landing at number nine on our list feels right.

8: WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw (2007) – 65.8%

For our eighth pick with a 65.8% win rate that’s not even a full percentage point higher than our number 10, we jump ahead to the 2007 edition of WWE SmackDown! Vs. Raw. Landing on the Xbox 360, it’s the first WWE game for a 7th generation console, and immediately took advantage of those sweet, sweet joysticks. The analog control system introduced in the game made the action more realistic where important grappleman tactics like throwing a guy into the audience are concerned.

Perhaps the most realistic part of the game though is how wet Triple H is on the cover. This may be my own bias, but nothing says “2007 in the WWE” quite like a soaking wet Triple H screaming on the apron, baby oil from his hair streaking down either side of his chest, having undoubtedly just spit half a bottle of Crystal Geyser onto the front row. It was a sticky, greasy time for the WWE in those days and “soggy Triple H” as the cover image for this game makes the most sense. In fact, the game might’ve gotten bonus points in our Face-Off for being a bigger highlight for wrestling fans than the actual wrestling happening in 2007.

That 2007’s SmackDown! Vs. Raw made this list feels like more of a testament to something being the first. In retrospect it isn’t spectacular for anything more notable than being our first chance to play WWE games on 7th gen consoles. It seems like that nostalgia could’ve been the tie-breaker between this game and the games that finished eleventh or twelfth, just a percentage point or two behind it.

So to sum up, Wet Hunter 2007 in the number eight spot is like the time Diamond Dallas Page entered the Rumble to promote his yoga program. It’s nice to see a guy whose better days you remember.

7-6-5: A Triple Threat Match of The Rock’s Catchphrases

Before we move on to the next few picks, I want to remember how stupidly popular The Rock was in the Attitude Era. That probably goes without saying, but don’t forget that in the real world of Determined Outcome Grappling, SmackDown as a brand was basically The Rock’s spinoff show. Like if The Rock went to be a radio psychiatrist in Seattle while Stone Cold kept running the bar in Boston.**** Having popularized “laying the smack down on candy asses,” the game series moved on to borrow more of Dwayne’s completely over verbiage for the next three games in the series, which also happen to be the next three spots on our list. Because I’m, frankly, a little confused as to how that happened, I’m going to talk about them in one oversized segment. So for our numbers seven through five, we’ve got Know Your Role, Just Bring It and Shut Your Mouth.

7: WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role (2000) – 67.7%

So going back to when the WWE was coasting through the peak of its popularity, at number seven, winning 67.7% of its match-ups in our Face-Off, is WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role. Dropping just months after its predecessor WWF SmackDown! in 2000, the game had options galore. While previous wrestling games featured them, Know Your Role had the first properly advanced Create-a-Superstar mode. Crafting your own gimmick complete with individualized taunts really gets what being a wrestling fan is all about: telling yourself “I could do that without serious injury” and believing it.***** Know Your Role, which now that I think about it is a thematically perfect subtitle for a game with the first proper Create-a-Superstar mode, offered you the chance to prove you understand how to be a wrestler.

6: WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It (2001) – 67.8%

A year later in 2001, WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It dropped another of The Rock’s mic gems to herald the return of commentary to the action. But while it was the first SmackDown game to feature Michael Cole and Tazz talking you through the matches, it was the last to feature the WWF branding before the World Wildlife Fund landed a frog splash from the top rope of a courtroom. While Just Bring It also includes six- and eight-man match formats, those were subsequently ditched for over a decade and a half, and the game is the meat of a SmackDown sandwich. It’s a midcard gimmick match in the forgettable stretch of a pay-per-view destined to be outshined by the main event. Or, to continue my thread of Royal Rumble allegories, a Mark Henry/Big Show confrontation near the halfway point of the Rumble where they somehow eliminate each other because nobody else is strong enough to get them over the ropes.

5: WWF SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth (2002) – 70.3%

Two years after Know Your Role, the SmackDown! Series finally finished The Rock’s signature catch phrases with Shut Your Mouth in 2003. It’s another incrementally better game in the series, with a bump in the graphics so the wrestlers looked more like the wrestlers and, while I personally love being able to climb and jump off the jumbo tron, it’s interesting to find this game along with its two predecessors occupying all three spots in the middle of our list. Perhaps it’s a nostalgia thing and these years were the first the majority of IGN’s audience got into wrestling games. It could also be that this stretch of the series gets mixed up with one another so they all kind of split the vote. Regardless, SmackDown’s early 2000s entries generated some fond memories. Like how maybe you can’t remember which Rumble it was that Kane eliminated himself when the orderlies tried to take him back to the insane asylum, but you can narrow it down to a couple of years window.

4: Wrestlemania 2000 (1999) – 70.7%

Arguably the first officially great WWF game, dropping in 1999 (a year that could be considered the high watermark for pro wrestling’s popularity), Wrestlemania 2000 won over 70% of its matchups in our Face-Off. It’s also a game that makes me feel safe saying that N64 stuff was all unimpeachably great while also taking no follow-up questions on the matter.

While it was the first time you could edit the Superstars, and the idea of putting Chris Jericho in Shane McMahon’s tracksuit would be worth the price of the cartridge just in case it was possible, the truly incredible thing about this game is how the development of it mirrored the business of the time. The Monday Night Wars weren’t really a contest anymore, with the WWF lapping the WCW in popularity by 1999. It would be another two years before the McMahons straight-up bought the competition, but the rivalry between the two companies extended into the video game space in the late ’90s.

WCW/nWo Revenge from developer AKI and publisher THQ was a truly beloved wrestling game from 1998, so the only natural response would be for WWF to ditch Acclaim and swoop in to partner with AKI and THQ. The result is more or less the same game as the popular WCW/nWO Revenge, just with wildly more popular Superstars from the WWF roster. The huge database of move sets and customizable options in the create-a-wrestler area that already existed in the game’s engine from the WCW title actually made it possible to mimic the WCW wrestlers that got left behind, which is such an on-brand middle finger from the WWF to their on-the-verge-of-vanquished competitor. It was a pile on after the bell had already rung.

As far as the actual game goes though, it laid a sturdy groundwork for subsequent titles, including the one that landed at number one on our list. Kind of like the guy that’s already feuding with the champ coming into the Rumble in the twenties somewhere. You just know he’s going to end up winning so they can square off at Wrestlemania.

3: WWE 2K24 (2024) – 71%

WWE 2K24 won 71% of it’s match-ups in our Face-Off, earning it a spot on the podium in this Top 10 list, which is wild considering where the series was just a few years ago. WWE 2K20 was such a trainwreck that they just said “nevermind” in 2021 and started from scratch for 2k22. So, if 2K20 was the end of a heel turn angle before a wrestler takes a little time off, 2K22 was his return to the active roster building up to his title run in 2K24.

With a more reliable foundation built with the year off, 2K24 was the third year in a row that has been about layering the bells and whistles back into the gameplay, and as a result 2K24 feels complete in a way that WWE games just haven’t in a very long time.

WWE 2K24 built on the solid foundation of its predecessor by not only polishing and improving every feature across the board, but adding way more than perhaps anyone expected for an iterative WWE game. Ambulance and Casket matches were a welcome change to the grappling action, and the return of special guest referee mode – the first time we’d seen it in over 10 years – was as surprising as Shane McMahon flipping Austin twin birds when he put on the black and white stripes himself.

There’s recency bias with this one, sure, but WWE 2K24 does feel like a feature-complete wrestling package, an accolade previously reserved almost exclusively for our top two on this list.

2: WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain (2003) – 77.3%

We have to jump back to the run of successful WWE SmackDown! Games for our number two spot with 2003’s follow-up to Shut Your Mouth, the equally threatening Here Comes the Pain. Winning over three-quarters of its Face-Off match-ups, it might have been the best of the SmackDown! bunch before the series changed to 2K.

The Elimination Chamber showed up in a game for the first time, as did the Bra and Panties match (although the aforementioned spanking mechanic that unlocked a cut scene of the two female wrestlers kissing would have to wait another year). The game also featured Legends for the first time, with all-timers showing up like Rowdy Roddy Piper, Sgt. Slaughter and The Iron Shiek. That you couldn’t pit The Undertaker’s Dead Man gimmick against George The Animal Steele in a Bra and Panties match feels both not surprising and like a missed opportunity, however.

The thing that gives this game a lasting legacy though has to be its career mode. It had an RPG feel to the locker room maneuvering. Players were free to talk to more people backstage and chart a course for your Superstar that felt a little more off the rails. This game is the face that takes a good long run through the Rumble, the one you want to win the whole thing, but comes up short in the end by just under three percentage points.******

1: WWF No Mercy (2000) – 80.5%

So here comes the payoff to my TLC match comment from way back in number nine. On the list of things that tug on my wrestling nostalgia strings like a desperate Bubba Ray Dudley trying to loose a tag team belt 20 feet above the ring, the top two are grimacing through ladder matches and huddling in front of a very small tube TV with three friends, Swanton bombing from the top of a ladder on an N64.

WWF No Mercy has been a benchmark for wrestling games for more than 20 years now and at just a tick over an 80% win percentage, we’ve got the proof that it continues to be everyone’s favorite (or more accurately, at least four out of five people’s favorite). As part of the class of the N64 era (on which I’ve already made my feelings clear), additions like the ladder match and backstage brawls brought more of what was popular in-ring at the time, while the create-a-wrestler function continued to expand and a career mode that branched in all kinds of directions was an obvious upgrade over Wrestlemania 2000.

There’s something about that combination, catching everything that was wild about the height of the Attitude Era and channeling it through easy to get grappling mechanics, that has made this game more enduring than every other one on this list. Modders are still actively adding new wrestlers to the playable roster and even AEW Fight Forever was an attempt at recreating No Mercy’s magic.

The game wasn’t perfect (it chugged as soon as four players showed up) but it nailed the most important thing: capturing the essence of a wildly popular time in wrestling history, which is why we think it’s one of the best WWE video games ever made.

What do you think? Agree with this list? It’s kind of yours actually, on account of you guys voted in the Face-Off, but feel free to disagree with it down in the comments anyway!

*seriously, don’t fucking backyard wrestle

**in this case “all time” refers to the last 40-ish years, which is still a while, but in the grand scheme of things it’s only four decades and “of all time” is mostly just here for the cheap heat

***had to sneak one more in and didn’t feel like deleting this promise

****yep, it’s 100% exactly like that

*****my gimmick was named “Arrogant” Dandy Blaine, and he was a vicious and muscly heel, just like me

******I am aware Royal Rumbles are not scored on a percentage point basis

Super Mario Maker Community Clears ‘Trimming The Herbs’ Just Days Before Wii U Online Shutdown

It’s REALLY done now!

Remember how a special task force dubbed ‘Team 0%’ managed to clear every level in Super Mario Maker before Nintendo’s Wii U online shutdown? Well, there was also one “illegitimate upload” titled ‘Trimming the Herbs’ which the community was determined to overcome.

Now, with just days remaining, this level has officially been cleared. As highlighted on the ‘Games’ subreddit, the community persisted and this level was “conquered”. It was completed by ‘sanyx91smm2’ and you can see the flawlessly executed 25-second run in the video below:

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (6th April)

Hallownest awaits.

It’s the weekend folks, which means it’s time to find out which games we’ll be sinking a few hours into. Before that, however, let’s check out a recap of what’s been going down this week.

First up, we found out that the Switch might have an even bigger task ahead of it if we want it to become the best-selling console of all time. Weird… Elsewhere, the Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo officially revealed a rather fetching Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom range, and we also caught wind of an intriguing patent from Nintendo to ease those ‘troublesome’ Switch dock wires.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Palia Dev Lays Off 35 Percent of Workers Only a Few Months After Beta Release

Singularity 6 is the latest studio to be hit by layoffs, with the Palia developer confirming in a statement sent to IGN that it has laid off around 35 percent of its workers.

Reports of Singularity 6’s layoffs emerged Thursday when workers began posting the new on X/Twitter and other social media platforms. They included at least one environmental artist, an engineer, and other developers woking on Palia.

In its statement, Singularity 6 described it as a decision intended to “deliver the highest-quality gameplay service for long-term stability.”

Following Palia’s release on Steam, we evaluated the support needed to deliver the highest-quality gameplay service for long-term stability. We made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce, which impacted around 35 percent of our talented and hardworking team members. We value their contributions and are committed to supporting them throughout this process, including severance, work-placement and career guidance assistance, and retainment of all company-provided development equipment.

This decision was not made lightly, and comes after careful consideration of our development and business needs to support Palia and its community. We remain committed to delivering passion in imagination, and maintaining the dedication and creativity that our community expects and deserves. We appreciate your understanding and support of our studio and affected team members.

A free-to-play “massively multiplayer community sim,” Palia released to early access in October and Nintendo Switch in December. We called it a premise with “enormous potential,” but it currently has mixed reviews with an all-time peak of a little over 12,000 players on Steam. Back in March, Singularity 6 clarified that Palia is still in open beta and said it is committed to “new content, improvements, and bug fixes well into the future.”

Singularity 6 is one of many studios to be impacted by the games industry’s ongoing layoffs, which have caused an outcry among developers and players alike. In an interview published today, Larian’s publishing director called the layoffs an “avoidable f*ck up” and called for healthier industry practices.

For more, read about how games industry layoffs have impacted disabled game developers and more.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Innovative Action Strategy Top-Down Shooter Die Again Launches April 11

  • A game where dying can be your best ally;
  • Heart-pounding narrative in a war-torn landscape.
  • Innovative top-down shooter with an extensive weapons array.

Die Again presents an electrifying top-down shooting experience where survival hinges on death itself!

By strategically perishing near foes, you can inhabit their bodies and persist in the bloody fray. Sometimes the best option is to die, so plan your strategy because death can be your best ally. Thus, mere shooting isn’t always the optimal path.

DA nightclub exterior

This shooter is changing the genre. The ultimate goal is not always to shoot your way through the level. Leverage an extensive array of weaponry to carve your path, whether by dispatching foes or embracing mortality, as demise merely marks a new beginning. In Die Again, triumphing over adversaries demands lightning reflexes and split-second decision-making, where a single errant shot spells the divide between success and defeat.

Open your way by killing or letting them kill you, but, be careful! Your enemies can also take your body.

DA screenshot

Dive into an Array of 100 Thrilling Scenarios

DA sillhouette

Each level is meticulously crafted to offer diverse solutions. Engage enemies head-on, manipulate them into combating each other, or seize control of alternate bodies to surmount any obstacle. You´ll meet different characters along the way, and some of them will have an effect on you. Think carefully who to trust!  The narrative journey of Die Again will guide you through a world transformed by the enigmatic Blue Blood, striving to reach the enigmatic Zero Zone, the epicenter of existence itself. Navigate a landscape scarred by ceaseless conflict.

DA screenshot

Face death in a brand new way of surviving with Die Again, launching on Xbox April 11 and available for preorder now. Are you ready to die in order to survive?

Xbox Live
Xbox Play Anywhere

Die Again

Catness Game Studios

$14.99

Die Again is a shooting game that challenges your limits and immerses you in an epic experience filled with action and strategy. Do you like games that keep you on the edge of your seat? Then get ready for an experience like no other!

What makes Die Again so incredibly addictive? Everything! From frantic shootouts to the creative use of an extensive arsenal of weapons, every moment is an opportunity to demonstrate your skill and prowess. In this game, every bullet is a puzzle to solve, and every scenario is a new chance to surprise your enemies with innovative tactics.

But it doesn’t end there, dive into a completely unique story set in a world transformed by the mysterious Blue Blood. Travel to Ground Zero, the epicenter of it all, as you fight for your life in a landscape marked by war. Get ready to meet unique characters whose fate is intertwined with your decisions.

More than 100 different scenarios to enjoy, each designed to challenge your wit and combat skills. In Die Again, the challenge never ends, and the excitement never fades. So, get ready to dive into a gaming experience like no other. Don’t wait any longer to join the battle and discover what’s behind every corner in Die Again!

The post Innovative Action Strategy Top-Down Shooter Die Again Launches April 11 appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Dev Larian’s Publishing Director Calls Games Industry an ‘Avoidable F*ck Up’

Over the past few months, Baldur’s Gate 3’s developers have used its platform during awards season speeches to advocate for a healthier game industry. This tradition now extends to its publishing director, who, in a recent interview with Game File, shared his thoughts on industry-wide layoffs plaguing developers over the past two years as an “avoidable fuck up.”

Chief among 2024’s massive layoffs include Nintendo announcing its restructuring in March which has the potential to affect over 100 contract workers; Sony laying off roughly 900 employees in February — including developers across studios like Insomniac, Naughty Dog, and Guerrilla, and Microsoft laying off 1,900 staff from its workforce in January following its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The complex and avoidable nature of layoffs

Speaking with Game File’s Steven Totilo, Michael Douse likened major gaming companies to massive oil tankers predicated on their ability to steer toward sucess. Should a company fail to plan accordingly, while giving developers proper financial reserves to pivot, fallout via layoffs is sure to come. Instead of feeling like layoffs are an inevitable aspect of the gaming industry, Douse argues that they are avoidable.

“But to prevent these giant operational failures that we call layoffs…they are an avoidable f*ck up. That’s really all they are,” Douse told Game File. “That’s why you see one after the other. Because companies are going: ‘Well, finally. Now we can, too. We’ve wanted to do it for ages. Everyone else is. So why don’t we?’ That’s really kind of sick.’”

Douse went on to note that none of the company’s issuing layoffs are at risk of going bankrupt, but are instead at risk of “pissing off the shareholders.” This shareholder-motivated business mindset was something Larian CEO Swen Vincke called out during his acceptance speech for Baldur’s Gate 3’s Best Narrative award. Douse echoed Vincke’s sentiments, saying companies should instead curb their greed and plan better so that developers have enough financial reserves available to pivot should they need to steer a game in a different direction.

“[Layoffs] a very, very complex and nuanced decision, Douse said. “But the idea that it’s an inevitability that has to happen, It’s just not true.”

Being nimble is key. Big companies are not nimble

Douse credited much of Baldur’s Gate 3’s achievements, namely maintaining a healthy work environment for its employees to Larian Studios being a privately owned company unbeholden to shareholders. When asked whether Larian Studios would ever go public, Douse said it might give them more money but it would be “antithetical to the quality part of what we’re trying to do.”

“So it wouldn’t make our games better. It would just make us rushed,” Douse said. “If you asked us what Baldur’s Gate III would look like, how much it would cost and how it would feel three years ago, I wouldn’t know. We just took it day by day. As an operation, we created reserves. We scoped up based on what we thought we would need and created reserves and fallbacks, just in case we would have to. Luckily, we don’t have to. We’re just nimble. Being nimble is key. Big companies are not nimble.”

Passive marketing vs socially resonate communication

While Douse doesn’t ascribe to the notion that the video games industry is on the verge of collapse, he does think its traditional methods of marketing on social media websites like Twitter/X are becoming less important.

“I mean, for Baldur’s Gate III we didn’t really do a lot of marketing. People talk about the bear scene as a big marketing beat. It wasn’t. It was a communication: Something we decided to do to showcase one extreme of romance in the game, as opposed to the Karlach scene in the restaurant.”

Douse went on to argue that marketing, while a form of communication, doesn’t generate the social resonance online that people want to engage in meaningful conversations over.

“A game’s success is defined by how socially resonant it is,” Douse said. “It’s not defined by a person who decided this game was successful. Which is a brilliant thing.”

Toward the latter half of the interview, Douse drew parallel to Baldur’s Gate 3’s critical and commercial sucess, despite being a a “fucking CPRG” investors would have otherwise never taken a chance on, to the meteoric success of Palworld — who reached 19 million total players less than two weeks after launch.

“They took a bunch of mechanics they knew people liked, made a game that was unbothered by what a game should be, and they gave it directly to players who decided to buy it. That’s really fucking simple. It’s not rocket science,” Douse said. “The analysts are confused, because they didn’t see it coming. And they want basic data sets and predictability. They’re gonna be confused a lot in the future. Me, too. I like being confused. We work best in chaos.”

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh