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Hi-Rez Restructuring Focuses Efforts on Smite 2

News
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On Twitter, Hi-Rez CEO Stewart Chisam, announced a restructuring effort of Hi-Rez Studios: Hi-Rez is making internal changes to ensure SMITE 2’s long-term success, which includes layoffs mainly in marketing, publishing, and game development teams focused on cosmetic content. The company is shifting focus to gameplay development for SMITE 2, prioritizing new modes and gods. Decisions like these are very difficult, but it does show that it looks like Hi-Rez is going all in on SMITE 2. To that effect, we’ve recently launched our revamped SMITE 2 Tier List and will be refocusing all of our SMITE efforts towards SMITE 2 to align with Hi-Rez’s roadmap and to help support a studio not only local to our parent company, but a studio that has delighted our readers for the last 5+ years with SMITE 1. We will continue to update our SMITE 1 tier list as well, as long as…

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The Life of a Magical Circle Review

Reviews
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The Life of a Magical Circle is the first game from Solideo, a one-person indie game development studio looking to focus on more philosophical games. Their first title definitely doesn’t disappoint, taking the general aesthetics of Geometry Wars, with the frustrations of Getting Over It, dashing in a bit of roguelike and philosophy with dynamic music, narration and lots of intent. There is a lot to what is overall a rather simplistic game. There’s just a circle, it’s a bit hard to control and there are things that you don’t want to hit. There are some collectibles. There’s not a lot going on until things start to advance and the narrator starts to provide color to the world you’re playing within. Soon you’re trying to figure out what each collectable does and what you’re wanting to collect and not along with the true meaning behind the journey. Intentional Design Simple…

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The Rise, Fall and Future of Lore: Why Recent Indie Games Failed and How to Fix Them

Editorials
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Lore and worldbuilding have the power to ignite passion in players and fuel an immersive experience. At their best, lore-driven games create a sense of mystery and discovery that motivate players to explore each part of the world. However, some recent games have exploited lore and ambiguity primarily as a marketing tactic, rather than using it to enhance gameplay or build meaning. This phenomenon highlights the need for more balanced, player-centered design. When developers commit to transparency and ethical practices, lore can be used to strengthen community trust and craft impactful stories. But that depends on valuing immersion and artistry over profits alone. We’ll dive into the history of lore focused games, what happened and where to go from here. This is all inclusive of the entire indie scene, even if there’s a heavy emphasis on mascot horror. It makes the best example and we’ll avoid referencing mascot horror to…

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The Meeting-Driven World of Video Game Development

Editorials
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For those of you who have ever worked a job that had any kind of meeting this may actually resonate differently than those who haven’t. When video games are developed there are, surprisingly, a lot of meetings that occur. When we’re talking meetings we’re talking a lot of meetings. So many meetings that it’s actually kind of fascinating to think about. None of the below is really applicable to single developer games that don’t utilize outside contractors. Single developers naturally work entirely alone on their own game and purchase / generate all the assets and resources themselves. Single developers who contract out work still have meetings, interestingly enough. Meetings and Video Games So there’s a lot of cooks in the kitchen. You have the product team, that’s the developer and the game designer along with their associated analysts and support staff. You have a technical team that’s got a considerable…

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Metro Exodus Good Ending Guide & Story Explained

Guides
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Video game development studio 4A Games has largely made a name for itself for the Metro series. With the latest title in the franchise having recently hit the shelves, it’s time to take a look at how to get the most from your playing experience. When it comes to multiple endings, the Metro series is not much different that other video game franchises. There are seemingly good and bad endings. The series has historically used what many would consider to be the “good” ending as the canonical next step for the ensuing sequels. Consequently, many players are determined to ensure that they achieve what is seemingly the proper ending for Metro Exodus. Well, look no further. Check out how to make sure you get the ending you seek down below. How to Get the Good Ending Warning: Spoilers ahead In large, players will need to follow the basic rules concerning…

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CD Projekt Red and The Witcher Author Now Reaching Decision Following Legal Battle

News
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Polish gaming studio CD Projekt Red has made a name for themselves through their incredibly successful The Witcher series. While things have become tense between the development studio and the author of the original The Witcher novels, things have seemingly reached an amicable end between the two. Most recently CD Projekt Red released the The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for PS4, Xbox One and PC. The third in the series, The Witcher 3 garnered massive sales numbers and has earned critical praise around the world. However, the game series is actually not the first thing to bear The Witcher name. The Witcher is an original series of novels and short stories authored by Andrzej Sapkowski. However, Sapkowski sold The Witcher rights for video game development to CD Projekt Red for a lump sum. Speaking to Eurogamer, Sapkowski stated “I was stupid enough to sell them rights to the whole bunch.…

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We desperately need more AA Developers

Editorials
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The recent hype around Obsidian Entertainment’s new The Outer Worlds title has drawn an interesting point. AA developers can still lure the attention of the video game industry’s exponentially growing video game audience. It’s a good thing too, because we need those developers now more than ever. First off, before breaking down why we need smaller developers, let’s dig into why The Outer Worlds is getting so much attention right now. Obsidian Entertainment includes members of the development team involved in the original Fallout franchise. Video game titan Bethesda purchased the rights to the franchise before producing Fallout 3, Fallout Shelter, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. Obsidian was later contracted to make Fallout: New Vegas, however. Bethesda has been receiving some heat from fans as of late. Many hardcore fallout fans were seemingly underwhelmed by Fallout 4 following the critical success of Fallout 3. Beyond that, the release of Fallout…

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