Thursday, 1 August 2024

Game News Round-Up

Daily curated games-industry news digest for 1 August 2024.

General3 stories

Xbox Discord update includes friend activity and the ability to watch streams from console

  • Highlights include the ability to watch friends stream directly on their Xbox One / Series S/X. If they’re sharing their screen from PC, mobile, or another Xbox, they’ll be able to watch whatever they’re playing.
  • Users can also now call their friends directly from Xbox consoles. The update will also unify the Xbox friends list and the Discord friends list, if players opt into it.
VGC
Free Games / Subscription1 story
Business2 stories

Bungie to lay off over 200 staff as it forms new studio within PlayStation

  • 220 staff have been laid off
  • An additional 155 staff members are being placed into other Sony studios "over the next few quarters"
  • Bungie's headcount has fallen from approximately 1200 to approx 850 after multiple rounds of lay-offs.
  • Bungie will move one of its early-development projects - an "action game set in a brand-new science-fantasy universe" - to PlayStation Studios to form a new studio.
  • In the past Sony has said if things don't improve at Bungie, Sony would take over fully (instead of supporting from the side). This appears to have happened.
  • Rumours have mentioned that Herman Hulst is now leading Bungie, though this isn't validated yet.
VGC