WaperStudio cuts spread as AI reshapes game investment and production
Ubisoft, Funcom, Netflix and Fishlabs moved to reduce or refocus their workforces, while Liquid Swords reportedly entered bankruptcy. At the same time, AI dominated private gaming investment and featured in new production, storefront and discovery initiatives.
Key developments
Ubisoft cuts reach five studios
Ubisoft proposed closing Trials developer RedLynx and downsizing Ubisoft Singapore, affecting more than 120 jobs, including 70 in Singapore. It also proposed approximately 100 voluntary departures across Düsseldorf, Berlin and Mainz.
The proposals would reduce production capacity across both established franchise studios and support hubs.
Oct 14–15 · GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed · GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed · Game Developer
Deal totals mask falling spending
Aream & Co counted 54 Q3 transactions worth $57.8 billion, including EA’s $55 billion leveraged buyout, while mobile in-app purchases fell 7% year-over-year to $19.6 billion and console games revenue fell 12%. Separately, Drake Star counted $2.4 billion across 45 acquisitions and more than $1.6 billion across 106 private funding rounds, with AI and tools attracting over 80% of private funding.
Acquisition spending and AI investment are not translating into stronger consumer spending on mobile and console games.
Oct 12–14 · GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed · Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz · Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz
Funcom narrows its business
Funcom began restructuring to focus solely on live operations for Conan Exiles and Dune: Awakening, affecting staff. CEO Rui Casais will leave at year-end after 11 years leading the Tencent-owned developer.
Funcom’s remaining work will concentrate on maintaining two existing games rather than a broader development portfolio.
Oct 14 · GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed
More layoffs and a reported bankruptcy
Netflix plans around 1,000 layoffs, or 6% of its workforce, with its games division affected, while Fishlabs announced cuts across development and support. Samson developer Liquid Swords reportedly was declared bankrupt after months of unpaid developer wages.
The losses affect game production jobs and leave Liquid Swords employees facing uncertainty over unpaid wages.
Oct 15–18 · Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz · GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed · VGC
Epic pushes AI into production
Epic reportedly delayed its Disney shooter featuring Marvel and Star Wars characters and instructed developers to adopt an AI-first production model. Separately, it released a beta launcher built using AI-assisted coding and claimed cold startup to the store page was 46% faster than Steam.
Epic’s storefront beta provides a public test of its AI-assisted development approach as the reported Disney project changes course.
Oct 12–15 · GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed · VGC · GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed
Purchased games face access failures
Legacy Games is closing and will stop downloads and installations of purchased games after February 2027. Switch 2 Game-Key Cards for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer are reportedly unplayable because the required download is missing.
Both cases show that owning a purchase or physical card does not guarantee access when the required download is unavailable.
Oct 13–18 · VGC · TwistedVoxel
Two live services set shutdown dates
Supercell will close Squad Busters on December 14, following its May 2024 global launch, and remove it from app stores on December 1. Tencent will also close The Division 2’s Chinese service on December 14; recharges and new registrations stopped October 12, with compensation offered for remaining currency.
Players of both services have a fixed end date for access to their games.
Oct 12–14 · 机核 · Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz
GTA 6 PC release reportedly closer
Rockstar reportedly plans to release GTA 6 on PC in Q1 2027, according to four anonymous sources. The reported schedule implies a console exclusivity window of roughly one and a half to four and a half months.
PC players could receive GTA 6 after a much shorter console-only period than GTA 5 had.
Shogun withdrawn, RuneScape project cancelled
Sega pulled Total War: Shogun 2 – Complete Edition from stores over bugs and AI art after the original edition had already been delisted. Jagex cancelled RuneScape Reignited less than two weeks after announcing it, citing extensive player feedback.
New buyers lose access to Shogun 2’s withdrawn editions, while RuneScape players will no longer receive the announced new version.
New releases set sales benchmarks
Control Resonant sold 1 million copies in roughly three weeks, becoming the fastest-selling game in Remedy’s 31-year history. WARDOGS passed 3 million sales and 425,000 peak concurrent Steam players since its September 10 early-access launch, while Season 2 added severe weather, weapons, vehicles and structures.
Remedy gains a new franchise sales benchmark, while WARDOGS enters its next early-access phase with an established paying audience.
Also this week
Funding and services
Flow Games confirmed $49 million raised to date from Tencent, Makers Fund, Arcadia Gaming Partners and Ludus Ventures, following an earlier report of a $46 million funding package. Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz · Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz
Spill Games raised $10.5 million in Series A funding to expand its portfolio, user acquisition, team and technological capabilities, including AI. Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz
Miniclip launched its AI-powered AdSurge platform as a standalone company combining user acquisition and advertising monetisation for third-party mobile publishers. Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz
War Robots surpassed $50 million in lifetime Steam revenue since its April 2018 launch there, with players across platforms now sharing one matchmaking pool. Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz
Platforms and discovery
Steam reached its second concurrent-user record of the year. Eurogamer
Xbox formed Labs, a small group of game makers, engineers and scientists that will rapidly test tools, products and features, with CEO Asha Sharma linking it to AI-powered mods and ports. GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed · VGC
Google Play announced AI-powered Game Finder recommendations, timed competitive Sprints and clip-sharing through its Sidekick overlay. Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz · GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed
Roblox brought Audioscape’s team in-house to incorporate AI audio technology into creator tools and develop a broader audio and music roadmap. Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz
Epic confirmed work to bring Fortnite and the Epic Games Store to Linux. Eurogamer
Steam introduced Achievement Sets so developers can group achievements and add seasonal achievements. VGC
Development tools
RimWorld version 1.7 replaced Unity with its in-house Waylith Engine. GameFromScratch.com
Defold added Xbox support alongside its existing Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 support. GameFromScratch.com
Stride 4.4 launched with rewritten renderers and Direct3D 12 and Vulkan as its primary rendering options. GameFromScratch.com
Dean Hall released Brutal, an open-source C# framework from Ahwoo and RocketWerkz offering low-level libraries for games and engines. GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed · GameFromScratch.com
Godot 4.8 entered beta and full feature freeze, shifting development resources to regression fixes. Godot Engine Official
Hardware and ownership
Nintendo’s Latin America leadership said the company currently has no plans to abandon physical games and will consider player demand in future strategy. GamesIndustry.biz Latest Articles Feed · Eurogamer · Nintendo Life
Xbox announced a smaller Nano Controller with a rechargeable battery, available from November for $50. VGC
Analogue’s new Mega Sg+ and Super Nt+ consoles support original Sega and Nintendo cartridges and wireless controllers. TweakTown
Cult of the Lamb confirmed a Switch 2 version with a free upgrade path. Nintendo Life
Service closures
Fingersoft is ending Lego Hill Climb Adventures while retaining all staff, stopping in-app purchases October 23 and removing it from major app stores in December while existing users retain access into next year. Latest Updates | PocketGamer.biz
What to watch
Lego Hill Climb Adventures stops in-app purchases on October 23, ahead of its December store removal.
Sony’s Midnight Black PS5 Digital Edition for Japan and Xbox’s $50 Nano Controller are due in November.
Squad Busters leaves app stores December 1 before its December 14 server closure; The Division 2’s Chinese service also closes December 14.
Watch for confirmation of GTA 6’s reported Q1 2027 PC release window.
Watch for Fortnite and Epic Games Store Linux release dates; timing has not been announced.
How this was made: Waper follows this topic across 16 sources every day. This week had 43 stories; the most important are picked out, each with links to the original reporting. How we pick sources and stories