GamingConviction.com

THQ confirmed today that they have laid off 33 employees. T16 of these employees came from Volition Inc. which makes the Red Faction series. The other 17 came from Kaos Studios, the studio that just released Homefront. Below are parts of THQ’s official statement…

“We have had to let go of 16 employees at Volition, our studio in Champaign, Illinois. We must adjust our workforce to fit the studio’s current needs, which is a relatively common occurrence in the game development industry. Steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern,” The changes are not expected to affect any current or future titles in development with Volition.”

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2011-2012 Gaming Conviction

EA’s General Manager of Easy Studios Ben Cousins announced today via Twitter that he has left the company. Below is what he had to say…

“Battlefield Play4Free launches this week and it’s time for me to leave EA. Very proud of what I’ve achieved in the last 4 years.”

Cousins is best known for creating Battlefield Heroes, which has over 7 million users.

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2011-2012 Gaming Conviction

Pi Studios is rumored to have shut its doors. Gaming Conviction has heard from a source that these reports have been confirmed.

Pi Studios is most famous for helping make Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty World at War, and the PS2 and Wii versions of Rock Band.

Assuming reports, it is assumed that their current project Bonk: Brink of Extinction is cancelled.

Several employees have since started up their own company called Category 6 Studios and have since announced they are working on a game called Blackout. Blackout is a survivor horror game for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC using the Unreal engine.

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2011-2012 Gaming Conviction

The Superior Court of Quebec granted an injunction that will prevent THQ from hiring anymore people from their Ubisoft Montreal studio. This is part of a “non-solicit clause” that is included in all the Ubisoft Montreal employee contracts. Below is an excerpt from Ubisoft’s official statement…

“This procedure aims to protect Ubisoft Montreal in a breach of contract situation,and to defend the long-term financial and creative health of the studio.”

This is due to the fact that Patrice Desilets, along with several other employees, left Ubisoft to join THQ Montreal.

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2011-2012 Gaming Conviction

Earlier today Sony Online Entertainment confirmed reports that their Denver, Tucson, and Seattle studios are closed down and 205 jobs will be lost. Below is Sony Online Entertainment’s official statement…

“As part of a strategic decision to reduce costs and streamline its global workforce, SOE announced today that it will eliminate 205 positions and close its Denver, Seattle and Tucson studios. As part of this restructuring, SOE is discontinuing production of The Agency so it can focus development resources on delivering two new MMOs based on its renowned PlanetSide and EverQuest properties, while also maintaining its current portfolio of online games. All possible steps are being taken to ensure team members affected by the transition are treated with appropriate concern.

“This strategic decision will have no impact on SOE’s current portfolio of live games; additionally SOE will transition development efforts for the Denver and Tucson studios’ suite of products to its San Diego headquarters. This strategic alignment of development resources better positions SOE to remain a global leader in online gaming and deliver on its promise of creating entertaining games for players of all ages, and servicing the 20 million players that visited SOE servers in just the past year.”

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2011-2012 Gaming Conviction

Former executive producer of Electronic Arts Scot Amos has officially been hired by Crystal Dynamics, the studio who is famous for their Tomb Raider remakes. Amos is now their new Executive Producer.

Crystal Dynamics General Manager Darrell Gallagher had this to say…

“We are thrilled to add Amos’s 20 years of experience, and over 25 shipped games worth of expertise, as the cornerstone for our new venture. His knowledge of building new IP, forging world-class teams, and shipping blockbuster games is a great infusion to our studio’s on-going growth and talent base.”

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2011-2012 Gaming Conviction

Microsoft is currently investigating claims that people have been ratings games low on purpose for their favorite games to be featured. One studio em particular is Crosse Studios, the studio that made College Lacrosse. Cross Studios asks fans on their official facebook page to give the game a high score in order for them to improve the user rating.

Problems have since escalated with fans of the series going to the company’s rivals and giving them bad ratings on purpose.

The official XNACommunity twitter account said this…

“We are investigating a possible misuse of ratings on XBLIG titles. We’ll announce more information here as it develops.”

One studio has claimed that these accusations are indeed true because there game has now slipped out of the top 10

Robert Boyz of Zeboyd Games said that this issue “is a matter of money”.

“I have no idea how this sort of thing could be prevented, but I’m really upset. We were really hoping that the upcoming enhanced version patch for Cthulhu Saves the World would give our game the little push it needed to finally stabilize in the top 5 rated. Now, it looks like we’ll be lucky just to get our old rank back.”

“After hanging out around the #6 top rated slot for a month or two, our game’s rating started to drop very quickly. In less than a week, we went from being #6 top rated to our current spot of #11.  And how are the lacrosse games doing? In contrast, the Lacrosse games which were in the middle of top 20 best rated (I don’t remember the exact positions) are now ranked #4 & #5.”

College Lacrosse has over 177,000 followers of Facebook, which could very well help suggest this manipulation, but as of now, Cross Studios has not official been accused of anything.

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2011-2012 Gaming Conviction

An e-mail that was intended for retailers has been leaked to Joystiq about the possibility of Mortal Kombat having an online pass. For those who don’t know what an online pass is, let me explain. An online pass is what comes with all new EA games. It is a one-time use code that comes with a new copy of the game that you use to play the game online. If you borrow the game from a friend, or buy the game used and you want to play online, you’ll have to pay $10 on the XBLM or PSN to do so.

Warner Bros. Interactive hasn’t confirmed this, but reports are that they are seriously considering doing this. We hope to have more soon.

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2011-2012 Gaming Conviction

Capcom announced today that Marvel vs Capcom 3:Fate of  Two Worlds has officially shipped over 2 million copies. Capcom said…

“With an 11 year gap between the last entry in the Marvel vs. Capcom series, demand for a sequel was at an all-time high, and expectations were soaring. Capitalizing on the resurgence of the fighting game boom that began last year, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was able to exceed its predecessor and ship 2 million units worldwide.”

Reports are surfacing that Marvel vs Capcom 3 has outsold Marvel vs Capcoom 2 because MvC2 doesn’t show up on Capcom’s list of games that have sold over 1 million copies.

Karl Troedsson, General Manager of DICE, recently sat down with Games.on.net and discussed Battlefield 3. He revealed that the campaign for Battlefield 3 will be around 12 hours long. He also said that he wants to attract new players to the series by having both a great campaign, and multiplayer.

“Naturally we want to introduce more people to our franchise. A lot of people don’t want to jump straight into multiplayer. They want to feel around a bit and they’re ready to move over to online. The hardcore online people, they don’t care, they’re just straight in. Maybe they don’t even touch the campaign. But we want to get more people in, invite more people into the franchise. That’s one of the main reasons why we have this different part of the game.”

It is speculated that DICE revealed the campaign length due to all the negative feedback that has been received with Homefront.

Battlefield 3 comes out this October for PS3, PC, and Xbox 360.

Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2011-2012 Gaming Conviction