Games: Many Layoffs (Microsoft Also), Proton Experimental, Steam, and More
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Microsoft's Xbox Layoffs Hit Crash Bandicoot And Spyro Developer 'Toys For Bob'
Just weeks ago, Xbox's owner Microsoft announced mass layoffs, and now in an update, it seems the Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Skylanders developer Toys for Bob has been hit.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 86 workers will be affected at the developer's office in Novato, California. A state filing has also revealed the facility is closing.
While it's unclear what exactly this means for the studio moving forward, Windows Central's Jez Corden has already "got confirmation that Toys for Bob is not closing down". Apart from the employees impacted, it's claimed the remaining team is still active as remote workers.
Fellow Activision (and California) developer Sledgehammer Games (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3) has also been affected by layoffs in recent times, with 76 workers impacted. As part of this apparent restructuring, it has closed its office, gone remote, and is looking to downsize to a smaller office (via Insider Gaming).
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Neowin ☛ NBA and WWE 2K developer Visual Concepts hit with new layoffs
Visual Concepts has been hit with a new round of layoffs. The Austin-based developer is best known for its long-running work on sports franchises for 2K Games.
Sources indicate that the layoffs have affected teams working on all Visual Concepts titles, including the recently announced WWE 2K24. While numbers are unknown, the cuts have affected the teams working on WWE 2K24, as well as 2K's NBA 2K and LEGO sports franchises.
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Visual Concepts Austin Suffers Job Losses
A number of developers working at Visual Concepts Austin have been laid off by 2K, including Brad Bowling, who worked as art manager for the company.
Bowling confirmed on his LinkedIn page that himself and a number of his colleagues were let go from Visual Concepts Austin, making the studio the latest in a sadly large number of game developers that have suffered layoffs since the beginning of the year.
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EuroGamer ☛ Layoffs hit WWE, Lego 2K Drive studio Visual Concepts Austin
Visual Concepts Austin - known for its work on WWE 2K23, NBA 2K24, and Lego 2K Drive - is the latest studio to be affected by layoffs across the video games industry.
While the exact number of those impacted by these recent layoffs remains unclear, the studio's former art manager Brad Bowling said he and a "group of very talented developers" were affected. "The games industry bloodletting continues," Bowling wrote on LinkedIn.
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GamingOnLinux ☛ Proton Experimental gets improvements for The Finals, TEKKEN 8, Black Desert Online
Valve released a new update to Proton Experimental for Steam Deck and Desktop Linux, bringing in some fixes for various games. Here's what you need to know. There's a few different versions of Proton so if you're confused check the Proton beginner's guide.
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GamingOnLinux ☛ Get lots of Mega Man games in this Humble Bundle
There's a new big Mega Man Humble Bundle live and plenty of them work just fine across Linux Desktop and Steam Deck, so here's all the info you need.
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GamingOnLinux ☛ Steam Beta now lets you actually close controller info panels with controllers
A bit of an oversight in the Steam Client is that their newer Controller info panels that appear before a game launches couldn't be dismissed with a controller - but now they can.
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GamingOnLinux ☛ Crusader Kings III is about to get a lot of extra exciting content
Paradox Interactive have announced Chapter III of Crusader Kings III, a set of expansions that will bring in some rather exciting sounding additions to the popular grand strategy game.
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GamingOnLinux ☛ Diablo game engine devilutionX fixes up multiplayer in v1.5.2
The modern cross-platform Diablo game engine devilutionX has a new release available, and although small it does have some important fixes. What does it do? DevilutionX is a port of Diablo and Hellfire that strives to make it simple to run the game while providing engine improvements, bugfixes, and some optional quality of life features.
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GamingOnLinux ☛ Arms Race returns to Counter-Strike 2, custom sticker placement, Zeus skin and more
Valve finally put out a big update to Counter-Strike 2, bringing with it a much needed boost with a new game mode, new types of skins and more.
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GamingOnLinux ☛ Steam surprise launches Lunar New Year Sale 2024 - after previously stopping it
Well, that was a bit of a surprise. Valve has once again put up a Lunar New Year Sale, even though they previously announced they wouldn't be doing one. Although, Valve don't always stick to what they say, like last year they did a specific Chinese New Year Sale.
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GamingOnLinux ☛ Half-Life remake Black Mesa hits over 100,000 Steam reviews to Overwhelmingly Positive
Quite an impressive milestone for an incredible game overall! The Half-Life remake Black Mesa has managed to cross over 100,000 user reviews on Steam. It's rated Overwhelmingly Positive thanks to everyone leaving their thoughts. And going by the Steam Top 250 list it's currently number 155 of the most highly rated games on Steam ever.