Category Archives: Development

Splash Damage has announced it’s appointed Griff Jenkins as its new director of production and has been given a seat on the Board of Directors. Prior to joining studio, Jenkins spent seven years at EA and was the firm’s senior development director for multiple FIFA and worked on the Need for Speed series. “Griff’s new role at Splash Damage will be to improve our games by improving the way we make them,” said Splash Damage CEO Paul Wedgwood. “Under Griff’s leadership we’ll elevate production to a discipline on par with art, design, and programming. Prior positions held by Jenkins include stints at Criterion, Kuju, and Eidos where he worked on the Championship Manager series.

THQ has decided to exit kids’ licensed video games completely, focusing instead on its core game franchises and future digital initiatives.

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Square Enix Europe has trademarked something called Hitman Sniper Challenge, a filing discovered by Siliconera has shown. This is the second such trademark registration in weeks following the discovery of Hitman Profession, leading speculation that particular name was linked to the Hitman title being made as Square Enix Montreal’s debut title.

Square also has IO’s Hitman Absolution, set to launch later this year for PS3, 360 and PC.

An insider has told VG247 that Rocksteady is not working on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game.

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NeoGAF has dug up another Square Enix trademark, this one for something called Sleeping Dogs, leading some to speculate it’s a subtitle for Kane & Lynch 3 due to the subtitle of the last outing, Dog Days. A job posting from IO Interactive back in September 2011 suggested that a third Kane & Lynch was in the works, and Ian Livingstone himself said in December 2010 the duo weren’t going away any time soon. You can view the trademark filing here, which lists a January 13 date.

Splash Damage CEO Paul Wedgwood has said the studio is to announce “new titles – both on platforms we’ve previously visited (including the PC and the world’s leading consoles), as well as exploring spaces completely new to us,” speaking in a statement regarding the developer’s 2012.

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UK mag Play’s rumouring in its latest issue that Syphon Filter 4 and God of War IV are set to be announced next month for a holiday 2012 launch.

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Epic co-founder Tim Sweeney has said Fortnite, the recently-announced title from company’s North Carolina studio, will be centred as a “casual” experience.

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The LA Times has posted a retrospective on Star Wars: The Old Republic, and in it, the piece revealed that quite a lot of work from many sectors went into creating the game. So much so, that Bioware co-founder Greg Zeschuck likened coordinating the efforts to “teaching elephants to do ballet.”

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Square has trademarked something called Final Fantasy Dimensions in the US and Europe. Dug up by a NeoGAF user, the trademark was filed on January 16, and the domain FinalFantasyDimensions.com has been registered as well. Theories on the trademark range from a Vita title in the works from 1st Production Department, to a game already released in Japan but getting a name change in the west. Thanks, Gematsu.

38 Studios has released a new developer diary for Kingdoms if Amalur: Reckoning, featuring Tim Coman and Sean Murray explaining how the game’s deep lore and a signature style make it stand out from other RPGs. The demo for the game is out now on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, in case you haven’t tried it already. It releases on all three platforms February 7 in North America and February 10 in Europe.

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“We felt it deserved to be bigger than the 4.3 inch screen on PSP. It’s almost as if we settled on five inches in order to really maximise the same impact that we felt when we first saw it. There was a great deal of discussion and we even talked about using a 5.5 inch screen, but that had a negative impact on the operability of the device. There is always a battle between engineers and designers and I’m not just talking about PlayStation Vita when I say that. I was pushing through this idea of ‘thinner is better’ but I had to be reminded of things like the feature set, processing power, battery life… the overall package. I actually wanted PS Vita to be entirely made of metal but then it was pointed out that this was impossible due to the internal Wi/Fi, 3G and GPRS antennae.” – Vita designer Tokashi Sogabe on the differing perspectives between designing and engineering the handheld.

TIGA has issued a report which claims 41% of UK developers laid off between 2009 and 2011 have relocated to overseas jobs.

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Infinity Ward has said it’s hiring for “next-generation technologies” in a job listing.

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A LinkedIn profile for THQ’s Evan Icenbice states the firm has two unannounced titles for Wii U in the works, one of which is a console exclusive. Another unannounced title in the works is slated for platforms other than Wii U. According to the senior producer’s resume, he is “directly managing three unannounced titles set for release in 2012: TBD (Wii U/3DS/Wii/PS3/360), TBD (Wii U), TBD (360/PS3/Wii/DSi)”. Since the titles are unannounced, it’s safe to say neither Wii U game is Darksiders II or Metro: Last Light, as both were previously announced for the console. It’s worth noting, that Icenbice previously worked in THQ’s uDraw studo, so he has experience with tablet-style peripherals.

Thanks, Nintendo Universe.

Gazillion has licensed Unreal Engine 3 for its upcoming MMO, Marvel Heroes. According to studio director Jeff Lind, the choice of tech comes down to the engine’s flexible actor components, which have enabled “all kinds of customisations”, while other representatives praised the lighting and quick import of pre-existing assets. Epic seems pretty chuffed about it, with licensing manager Joe Kreiner noting the team grew up with Marvel characters. That is all. The MMO has not been dated.

MIT’s Richard Mancuso and Colarado State’s Clint Oldenburg have been selected for EA Sports’ inaugural NCAA Football Fellowship.

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Following a posting on its website discovered late last night mentioning it was hiring for “next-gen consoles,” Rockstar’s refused to comment.

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Core gameplay designer Alan Kertz has left the Battlefield 3 development team. Fellow designers Gustav Halling and Tim Kjell are among those who remain on board ongoing support for the shooter. Kertz has not detailed his next project, but has reaffirmed the change does not entail a departure form DICE.

Remedy’s posted a job listing for what it says is a “groundbreaking” AAA console project.

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