Epic fail

Good Morning. Happy National Biscotti Day!

Biscotti, also known as cantucci, are dry, crunchy almond biscuits originating in Prato, Tuscany. Did you know that the name roughly translates to “twice-baked”?

Twice baked sounds pretty good but we’ll happily settle for fully baked instead of some of the lackluster ‘launches’ we’ve been seeing this year (*Cough* Payday 3).

— Tim Rhyne, Jason Liu, Derek Neville

MAIN QUEST: Epic Games cuts 16% of staff.

Tim Sweeney sent a company-wide email to Epic employees announcing layoffs were going to impact 830 employees at the company, with the majority of them coming from “outside of core development.” Approximately 250 of the employees leaving will come from the divestment of Bandcamp and SuperAwesome.

Tim also details a six-month severance package with the note that “the consolation is that we're adequately funded to support laid-off employees.” The company is still committed to meeting its Fortnite seasonal goals and understands that some other project calendars may slip as they continue a net-zero hiring policy to maintain the “financial stability” of the company.

Step back: It is hard to believe Epic Games is achieving financial stability with just these measures alone. Especially, when the news comes alongside an announcement of v-bucks price hikes on October 27th and Epic Games asking the US Supreme Court to hear its antitrust case with Apple. Overall, the concern will be if Epic Games is able to reduce the impact on its players.

HUD

• The Elder Scrolls: Castles released with no warning on Google Play store. This game looks to be very similar to Fallout Shelter, which has been downloaded more than 170 million times since its summer 2016 release.

• Mojang Studios announces that development on Minecraft Dungeons has ended as of the v1.17 update. 25 million unique players played the dungeon crawler-inspired spinoff in the last 4 years.

• BLAST, an esports brand, raised €12.7m led by the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark. CEO Robbie Douek wants to use the money to improve their “in-house technology, production and broadcast capabilities.”

MAJOR W

• 👩‍🌾 Stardew Valley teases 8-player multiplayer and more content for its next update.

• 🥷 Sony to add 6 games to PS VR2, including Among Us, the wildly popular social deduction game.

• 😇 A strong focus on accessibility features was part of Spider-Man 2’s development.

F IN THE CHAT

• ❌ Sega cancels Hyenas and other titles as Creative Assembly begins redundancy consultation — layoffs are expected.

• 🎨 Pikachu X Van Gogh collaboration event devolves into chaos as scalpers ruin the exhibit's first day to acquire the special “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat.”

THIS DAY IN GAMING HISTORY

N64 was officially released in US in 1996. It was the first mainstream console to introduce 3D graphics and analog stick controls. This innovation reshaped the gaming landscape and solidified Nintendo's position as a major player in the console market, making it a notable milestone in American gaming culture.

CAREER CORNER

• AI Programmer - Epic Games (Cary, North Carolina)

• Lead Narrative Designer - EA (Remote)

• Head of Marketing - Roll7 (London, England)

HIVE MIND

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