Smite 2 developer Hi-Rez Studios has laid off an undisclosed number of employees as the MOBA sequel struggles throughout its early access period.

Hi-Rez Studios CEO Stewart Chisam announced the layoffs on X/Twitter alongside a shift in strategy for Smite 2, which launched in early access on August 27 and is planned for a full, free-to-play launch in 2025.

“We’re making some difficult but necessary changes to ensure Hi-Rez’s long-term success, with a specific focus on positioning Smite 2 for a long and sustainable future,” Chisam said.

“As part of this internal reorganization and reprioritization, we are laying off some team members across Hi-Rez. This will disproportionately impact those in marketing and publishing roles, as well as some from our Evil Mojo, G&A, and Titan Forge divisions. The game team roles impacted disproportionally affect our team working on cosmetic skin content and system features.”

Hi-Rez is now focusing entirely on Smite 2 beyond “small teams supporting light updates” for its other games. It is “exclusively prioritizing gameplay development in the near term” instead of the cosmetic and monetization features previously planned.

Chisam assured the development team hasn’t been decimated by the layoffs, saying it’s still a “significant size” and larger than the development team behind the original Smite for the majority of its lifecycle.

“Our goal for Smite 2 in the near term is to create the best possible game experience for our community and a game that provides joy to players and can sustain itself long into the 2030s,” Chisam added.

“As we’ve gained experience through the Alpha, the process of migrating gods from Smite 1 to Smite 2 is now clearer, and we also better understand what players want from the game. We’re doubling down on ensuring this transition meets player expectations and moves faster, taking into account the lessons we have learned in the early alpha.”

Smite 2 was announced in January as essentially a complete remake of the original game but with revamps across the board. Bringing over the skins players have collected for the last decade isn’t so easy, however, as Hi-Rez Studios previously said porting all 1,600 of them would take 246 years worth of work.

The sequel has not necessarily gone down well with fans, however. Only 55% of its Steam reviews are positive and concurrent player numbers have fallen off, having premiered at 12,549 but dropped off to a 24 hour peak of jut 1,869, according to player tracking website SteamDB.

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

Hi-Fi Rush 2 looks like a certainty following PUBG company Krafton’s acquisition of Tango Gameworks.

Microsoft shocked the video game world when it closed Japanese studio Tango Gameworks earlier this year as part of devastating cuts that saw 1,900 staff let go from its gaming business.

Three months later Krafton announced its intention to buy Tango Gameworks. Only the Hi-Fi Rush intellectual property was brought over as part of the studio transfer from Microsoft-owned Zenimax Media to Krafton, leaving the likes of The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo behind.

In a new interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Krafton’s head of corporate development Maria Park was asked about the company’s plan for the Hi-Fi Rush franchise following the acquisition. Park said Tango Gameworks wants to bring the first game to other platforms, such as Nintendo Switch, and wants to work on Hi-Fi Rush DLC. Rather than rush out a sequel, Tango Gameworks wants to “take the necessary time to refine the game and come up with a different experience,” Park added.

But what of the sequel? Park revealed that not only was Tango Gameworks working on Hi-Fi Rush 2 when Krafton first met with the team, but it had a six month old build ready, with the goal of offering a more open world type of game after the linear level design of the first.

“Yes, the team was working on Hi-Fi Rush 2 when we first met them,” Park said. “They want to make sure [it] surpasses the expectations of the existing fans. For instance, some of the feedback about Hi-Fi Rush was that some people felt it was [just] going through factories, so now they want to give a more open world type of experience. I don’t think it’s going to be completely open world, but a more dynamic environment [that] you play in. Also, having more advanced technology applied to the rhythm action so that it feels more synchronized.”

Park continued: “I think the build that we looked at was about six months old when we went to meet with them. At the moment, because the IP acquisition is in progress, it’s been on hold because all the related assets and tools will be transferred to Krafton from Microsoft. But yes, we’ll continue working on it for sure. Like I said, we won’t really rush to the market just to deliver a sequel. We want to make sure that the sequel is actually at a quality level that surpasses the community’s expectations.”

Meanwhile, Park confirmed Tango Gameworks was working on anniversary content for The Evil Within, which is now unlikely to see the light of day. Park also said that by the end of the acquisition process, around 70 to 80 of Tango’s 90 staff will have joined Krafton. “We’re also going to backfill some of the positions that are immediately in need,” Park added. “So the studio total will probably add up to around 90 to 100 towards the end of the year or the beginning of the next.”

Park also teased that Tango Gameworks has a new co-op online game under development, and that Krafton will bring its live-service expertise to bear and “help bring it to the next level.”

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.

Sony has released the PlayStation Plus Essential Tier games for October 2024, meaning subscribers can now download Dead Space (PS5), WWE 2K24 (PS4 and PS5), and Doki Doki Literature Club Plus (PS4 and PS5).

First revealed on during Sony’s 2024 State of Play, all three games are available at no extra cost to PlayStation Plus subscribers until November 4.

Dead Space is perhaps the biggest game in October’s line-up. It arrived in 2023 as a remake of the survival horror classic that puts players aboard a desolate space station with very little to protect them from the invading hoards of aliens.

“Dead Space is a superb remake and undoubtedly the definitive way to experience one of the best survival horror shooters that Capcom never made,” IGN said in our 9/10 review.

Also available in October is WWE 2K24, the latest in the long-running wrestling franchise from 2K Games.

“While not drastically different, WWE 2K24 is better in almost every way, touting small but smart additions to well-tested systems and modes as opposed to taking bigger risks,” IGN said in our 8/10 review.

Finally, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus is a revamped version of the beloved indie title. “The Literature Club is full of cute girls,” reads the synopsis. “Will you write the way into their heart? Now that you’re a club member, you can help make the dream of creating something special out of the things you love come true!” While all cute and fluffy on the outside, however, the visual novel holds a very sinister secret.

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

The main party members of Baldur’s Gate 3 — including characters such as Karlach, Astarion, and Shadowheart — are getting official Dungeons & Dragons miniatures from WizKids.

The D&D Icons of the Realms: Baldur’s Gate 3 box set is now available to preorder on the WizKids website for $49.99 and comes with seven minis in total.

Alongside Karlach the tiefling barbarian, Astarion the elf rogue, and half elf cleric Shadowheart, the box set also includes Gale the human wizard, Lae’zel the githyanki fighter, Wyll the human warlock, and Withers, the wise zombie man who revives fallen allies and summons companions in Baldur’s Gate 3.

“Transport your favorite characters from the screen to the tabletop with the new D&D Icons of the Realms: Baldur’s Gate 3 Character Boxed Set,” reads the official description. “This set features seven iconic characters from the critically acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3 video game, perfectly recreated as detailed, pre-painted miniatures.

“Housed in non-blind windowed packaging, this set includes pre-painted miniatures for Astarion, Karlach, Gale, Shadowheart, Wyll, Lae’zel, and Withers. The set is perfect for Dungeon Masters looking to feature a famous character or as a collector’s piece for Baldur’s Gate and D&D fans.”

As mentioned, the set is particularly exciting for dungeon masters who happen to be fans of Baldur’s Gate 3, the D&D based role-playing game that proved a critical and commercial hit in 2023. It allows players to meet the Baldur’s Gate 3 party in their own campaigns, fitting around the story of the video game. A nice option to have, perhaps, given Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian has now moved on from Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons to make a brand new game.

The set obviously doesn’t include the additional party members characters can pick up later such as Halsin or Minthara, but perhaps this leaves a little room open for WizKids to release a second Baldur’s Gate 3 box set.

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

Square Enix has provided an update on the potential for an Xbox port of Final Fantasy 16, saying it wants to release the game on Microsoft’s console but can’t share a release date yet.

Speaking to Video Games, Square Enix’s Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida, producer of both Final Fantasy 14 and Final Fantasy 16, strongly suggested Final Fantasy 16 will eventually come out on Xbox by telling fans not to give up hope.

“Of course we did announce the PC version of the game, so looking towards the Xbox version, we do want to release it on Xbox,” Yoshida said.

“But when it comes to the specifics such as when the game would be available and such, we are not in a position to be able to share anything. But of course, I want to say that it’s not as if there’s zero hope, and we very much do want to achieve that. So players should not give up in terms of their hopes.”

Final Fantasy 16 launched as a PS5 exclusive in June 2023, with its PC version launching last month. IGN’s Final Fantasy 16 review returned a 9/10. We said: “Featuring fast, reflex driven, action heavy combat, Final Fantasy 16 is certainly a departure from what fans may expect out of a Final Fantasy game, but its excellent story, characters, and world building are right up there with the best the series has to offer, and the innovative Active Time Lore feature should set a new standard for how lengthy, story-heavy games keep players invested in its world.”

Last month, Square Enix made public its dissatisfaction with Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s commercial performance, admitting neither game met profit expectations.

In a financial results briefing held May 13 but only released in September, Takashi Kiryu, president and representative director of Square Enix said: “In the HD Games sub-segment, we released multiple new titles, including major titles such as Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but profits unfortunately did not meet our expectations.”

The company has already announced a significant rework of its business as it fights for profitability. It has a new multi-platform plan that encompasses PC and potentially Xbox and the next Nintendo console. But it has also canceled a number of games, and, Kiryu revealed, taken steps to better curate its pipeline of games.

In January, Yoshida said it might be time for a younger generation to lead the franchise and helm Final Fantasy 17. Square Enix’s Trials of Mana, Legend of Mana, and Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster games all hit Xbox for the first time last month.

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.