All the news this week

There are plenty of goings-on in the world of game development. With the holiday season in full swing, there’s more than enough time left in the year for some last-minute bombs to drop. This week features sales, software, spooky games, and more.

Last Second Sales

There are still a heaping helping of Black Friday/Holiday sales happening right now, so grab what you can for yourself or your loved one before it’s too late. If you’re still mulling over the options, take a look at what we found here. Find any good deals in the last couple weeks? Sound off in the comments below.

Microsoft Making Mobile Their Mission

Microsoft plans to launch a mobile store akin to Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store, possibly on the inside of a year. According to Phil Spencer, “It’s an important part of our strategy and something we are actively working on today not only alone, but talking to other partners who’d also like to see more choice for how they can monetize on the phone.”
While he didn’t answer when this service would be available, he did hint that it could be sooner than expected.
“I don’t think this is multiple years away, I think this is sooner than that,’’ Spencer said.

AI Does What Sega Don’t

In a translated version of their report, Sega has said that they plan to implement AI in different aspects of the company, including but not limited to game development. According to the report, they are “researching automation technology to improve business efficiency” which will be used in “various business situations.”
How do you think AI will be able to improve a developer’s game design workflow outside of obvious generation? Let us know in the comments.

Blumhouse Balloons with Two New Hires

Blumhouse Games, who earlier this year announced a new games division of its horror business, has hired industry veterans Jo Lammert as Production Lead and Clint Brewer as Technical Director in its attempt to carve out a space in the spooky side of the video game industry.
Lammert previously worked on Rollerdrome, The Outer Worlds, and OlliOlli World as director of release management at publisher Private Division.
Brewer has worked in engineering roles at EA, Oculus, Activision, Nvidia, and more.
Blumhouse Games intends to develop and publish indie titles with budgets under $10 million. What kind of horror game would you develop with $10 million? Let us know.

Unity Hits Reset Button, Sheds Jobs

Unity will soon get rid of 265 jobs and put an end to an agreement with a digital video effects company Weta FX, which was struck after Unity bought the tech and engineering division of Weta FX. The company is pulling back in several aspects after its disastrous runtime fee announcement back in September.

Unity will shut down offices in 14 locations such as Berlin and Singapore and significantly limit its offices in several cities, including San Francisco and Bellevue, Washington, presumably to save money on rented space.
Unity will no longer mandate that employees work from offices three a days a week and will limit "full in-office services" to three days a week in most locations, the company said.

What other news have you heard about this week?

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