Top recent posts by Web Professionals with a Focus on Game Development and Storytelling on Bluesky

asha sharma going "we want 1 billion players a day" a nice reminder that these execs are fundamentally incapable of understanding that their customers do not have infinite money or even just that time is finite. they just think you haven't been fed the right marketing yet to get you on board

I want to re-emphasize one part of this Xbox story: Half of the 3,200 cuts are happening today and half are happening in the next 12 months. In other words, even people who survived today's layoffs will have to spend the coming year wondering if they're going to be next.

Even now there's misinformation floating around, so let me make this clear: Xbox is cutting 3,200 jobs, or 20% of the organization. 1,600 jobs will be eliminated today, and then another 1,600 (including the studio divestments) in the next 12 months. Full story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

BREAKING: Xbox will cut 3,200 jobs as part of a major reorganization, and divest from five studios: - Compulsion and Double Fine will go indie - Ninja Theory and Undead Labs will be sold - Arkane to enter consultation process Here's the full story: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Anyone who does this is scum. It's not just corporations and whatnot that are exploitative of someone's time, efforts, and passion (and in this case, their livelihood); regular people can be too.

FWIW I think it's a little strange that "Arkane's Blade is late and over budget" is becoming a lingering news story when the total number of big video games that were *not* late and over budget could be counted on one hand

imagine if they fired every band member every time an album came out

Studios in the Bethesda organization like id Software (Doom) and ZeniMax Online Studios (Elder Scrolls Online) are not shutting down but are cutting a significant number of staff this morning, per sources.

"I want one billion players a day" is like what your toddler says when you ask how many pieces of chocolate they would like.

Tom Holland initially thought Christopher Nolan hated his performance in ‘THE ODYSSEY’ because he would cut filming after 3 minutes. He later found out IMAX cameras only run for 3 minutes at a time. (Source: youtu.be/9rO0FGivAvQ?...)

Microsoft is laying off 4800 employees today -Double Fine and Compulsion Games are going independent -Microsoft selling Ninja Theory and Undead Labs Full memo from Asha: www.theverge.com/news/961546/...

If they ended up decimating id Software's tech team then I have no faith in anything they'll ever do again under the current leadership. Between last week and today's news...I just don't know what to say at this point.

the horrors persist, but so do we chat, so do we Trans Rights

we want 1 billion Night In The Woods players a day

wait did xbox really in their announcement they were laying off 3200 people really make a point to mention that they have a positive profit margin. they arent even losing money

why is a 3 egg omlette like 20x more food than you can eat but 6 develed egg halves just a starter?

Announcing massive layoffs and a goal to reach one billion users in the same memo is just the ultimate bad vibes move. Earnest or not, no one sees that prospect as an exciting challenge to overcome. It looks like you’re being prepped for some Amazon-style piss in a bottle workloads.

Hideo Kojima is 'really sad' about PlayStation ending disc production in 2028 🎮 • He's actively buying up physical media — including movies and CDs • He's 'frightened' about the future of ownership as streaming becomes more dominant (via IGN)

"you do not, under any circumstances, "gotta hand it to them""

Turns out the secret to the problem of not having any exclusive games to attract new customers is get rid of the studios that were making you exclusive games.

There's a reason why Arkane is a separate line both here and in the Xbox statement when compared to other studios French labor law requires a consultation process with the studio’s works council to ensure there is actual justification for the move and that all alternatives have been exhausted first

macpaint, computer art (1992) discmaster.textfiles.com/view/1444/Pi...

the news has been up for less than an hour, if your immediate gut response is to try and find a "silver lining" to this many people losing their livelihoods, i think it's fine not to post that publicly

They crunch us and bleed us dry and leave the broken bones for scraps, and they make money every step along the way

official xbox windows media player skin (circa 2003) web.archive.org/web/20030922...

So Microsoft, after hoovering up a bunch of studios in a stupid, expensive gamble, turned around and fucked them when they couldn't meet the absurd financial demands necessitated by the stupid, expensive gamble?

Sony’s tweet announcing it’s ending physical game disc production in 2028 now has several active Community Notes 🎮 It has also surpassed 150M views (via moonlightdelia | TW)

We want to entertain a billion people a day. There should be an Xbox in every house. We want to replace schools with Minecraft. Master Chief should visit my house and give me a little kiss on the nose.

Normalise headlines that accurately handle the absurdity of public statements.

Kylian Mbappé responds to racist remarks from Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla.

Nintendo Europe: "Starting summer 2026, in preparation for upcoming changes in European battery regulations coming into effect in mid-February 2027, selected Nintendo products in Europe will begin to be replaced on a rolling basis by revisions that contain a user-replaceable battery."

PlayStation hasn't posted in over 5 days on Twitter (X) 🎮 • Their longest span of not tweeting in years • The post announcing they're ending physical game production currently has 8 approved Community Notes

"CEO Asha Sharma wants Xbox to reach 1bn players a day (it currently hits 1bn a year)." Oh.

Linkedin is always full of people spouting absolute bullshit, but today's blast of people/bots who've never worked in or around games trying to act like experts on this Xbox stuff is especially putrid.

Gears of War is going to need to run on refrigerators and car dashboards if they want numbers like this.

God, it looks like a LOT of Accessibility specialists were hit by today's layoffs at Xbox, inclusing some of their most senior accessibility folks. This feels like a REALLY bad sign for accessibility at Xbox going forward. A huge amount of skilled talent being thrown out as part of this "shake up".

I don't know why rockstar is wasting all this money on GTA VI when everyone knows what they REALLY need to do is remake Lemmings 3D

Good luck with that.

it turns out GTA for GBC has text boxes that are easy to hack, but it's very much not clear what game this is from just the screenshot.

Honestly, with FIFA once again caving for Trump I'm done watching and talking World Cup 2026. The treatment of Iran, a country that was being bombed by Trump, was already too much - but allowing the US to field top scorer Balogun after a red card makes a mockery of the game, and of the Cup. Done.

I kinda feel bad complaining about this now. Since this Nintendo Direct was shown, the rest of the industry has blown itself to bits, destroyed lives and the partial future of the medium. May Nintendo's conservative approach continue to produce good results.

With the recent news this form is open once again. If you've been in a (massive) layoff and feel like my products could help you in your career, please feel free to request any for free. Please don't abuse this, thank you. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

jordan henderson getting stretchered off after the whistle is an all-time world cup moment the fucking music kicking in, i am spent

It’s hard to overstate how different everything in this industry felt three years ago.

people make fun of millennials for using lol at the end of messages all the time but then i send one normal and every time i'm like wait shit that sounds really rude

Youtube I can't do this anymore please

Tom Holland thought Christopher Nolan hated his acting while filming his first scene for ‘The Odyssey’ because he didn’t know IMAX cameras could only run for 3 minutes at a time "I remember he would continue cutting ... In my head I’m thinking, ‘Does he not like what we’re doing?’"

'Cyberpunk 2077' has now sold over 40M copies worldwide 🎮

Listen I don’t want to make too extreme of a take here, but maybe someone who gets a Nazi tattoo isn’t a good person.

XBOX is set to lay off 3,200 employees • 20% of its workforce • No studios were shut down today • None of the first party publicly announced games are canceled • Compulsion Games & Double Fine will become independent • Ninja Theory & Undead Labs have been sold • Reviewing options with Arkane

"We badly need a reset. To do this, we're getting rid of everyone that makes games for us. I'm sorry you don't see *the vision* this creates for the future."

every xbox executive from the last 15 years should never know peace.

Hope is an act not a state of being. It requires talking about and sharing to grow. It is hard to hope but I'm gonna ask you for it anyway: If you're a game dev and have stories of what makes you hopeful for the future of games whatever that may be and would be willing to talk about it, get in touch

just saw 2 girls 1 cup for the first time!

one funny dynamic this world cup has brought out is british people getting annoyed with the americans on here for doing a really bad job of hating england, something we do every day by virtue of having to live here

*roaring intensifies*

Steps in getting to a billion gamers a day: - Fire 1600 people every month - Those 1600 people [cascading] have to stay home - They buy Xboxes???? - a billion

i think this leaves the ps4 slim (a console from 13 years ago) as the only games console in production to cost less than 500 dollars lol

Nintendo Europe: In Mid-Feb 2027, Nintendo will no longer sell to retailers Nintendo Switch 1 consoles (Switch/Lite/OLED). Sales of Nintendo Switch hardware on Nintendo Store will also end in mid-February 2027 www.nintendo.com/en-gb/Suppor...

ESO is a good game made by good people who don't deserve this

in the end Game Pass was just a popped grenade sitting in a board room, waiting to go off. but when that time came they threw it onto the factory floor.

i also want to have one billion players a day

Not in anyway important, but I just don't think you should be allowed to dress as a teenager if you're actually the grim reaper

BREAKING: Microsoft is laying off 4,800 employees today. Most of the job losses are in Microsoft’s Xbox and commercial sales organizations. Details 👇 www.theverge.com/news/961528/...

The Wisdom of Super Play 📖: Super Play #18, April 1994

I won't be watching any more World Cup, but since the match would have started, I will say that the only fair outcome is a Belgium win. I feel bad for Balogun unwillingly becoming the name of FIFA corruption for what might be decades. Football has a long memory.

FUTURE COMPUTERS? (Source.)

If a woodchuck could chuck wood how much wood also Dionysus tribute for the bounty is coming

Amazing anecdote that directly correlates with what I’ve imagined

There day one for the next Double Fine game. Best of luck to the team.

"You just sent 1600 people into one of the worst job markets in history for the industry, and you’re talking about an install base of a billion, are you fucking high?" aftermath.site/microsoft-xb...

Our first development snapshot for #GodotEngine 4.8 has arrived! Docked game view enhancements, pseudolocalization previews, sticky tree items, fuzzy searching, and more await for early testing and feedback: godotengine.org/article/dev-...

ALL FOUR OF THEM WALKED INTO IT THIS IS WHY I DONT HEAL THESE FUCKING MOTHERFUCKERS UAUGRHUGRHH FUCK

The combination of these layoffs being talked about for weeks combined with Sony blowing up traditional console gaming last week certain lessens the impact. It's just like...well, more bad stuff is happening, I guess that's just how it goes now. :(

How will your retro anime space adventure begin? 💫 Watch the all-new opening scene of Orbitals, animated by Studio Massket: ninten.do/6013varrz

Spain has eliminated Portugal from the World Cup.

17 years ago today, Lady Gaga released “Paparazzi.”

we found martin, he's alive

Inde Navarrette says she recently met with director Jake Schreier She's open to starring in a Marvel film (via Nylon Mag)

One minute your day can be going like shit and then 10 minutes later you buy a 42oz banana slushy and a local cookie for like $2 and the world seems immaculate And my wife just texted me that she doesn't want leftovers so she's picking up pizza The. Fucking. Life. Fuck. Yes.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wants Xbox to reach 1 billion players per day. It currently reaches around 1 billion per year. ➡️ www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

New assets dropping on Friday! This modular cave kit (work in progress) fits my previous modular kits perfectly and can be used for a wide genre of games. As you know; it'll be completely free, for everyone.

😥 Dark day. News pouring in from folks.

I keep thinking about Xbox tomorrow and feeling for everyone at studios involved. Wish I had something more helpful to say or do. It’s awful.

Xbox - "In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options."

Async hazmat suit workers were spotted putting up doorways at MRI locations in San Jose, close to the original Cap’n Clark’s.

Good high level starting point for those starting job search process today: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Marvel TV boss Brad Winderbaum wants to do 10 seasons of ‘X-Men '97’ (via POC Culture)

England has eliminated Mexico from the World Cup.

Phil Lord explains why the next Jump Street movie is titled ‘24 JUMP STREET’. “We developed a ’23 Jump Street’, and I think this is just out of respect for that. We're calling this 24, out of respect for the dead.” (Source: www.empireonline.com/movies/news/...)

Xbox - "None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions."

Pick a member of Deep Cut to join you on your #SplatoonRaiders adventures in the Exploration Bot! They’ll help dig for treasure, but charge them up and they can turn the tide with a unique Showstopper attack.

Robert Pattinson confirms he's started filming 'The Batman 2' 🦇 "I was shooting this morning" (via ET Now)

It is funny seeing people take that 1 billion number and applying it solely to Xbox consoles as if King, Minecraft aren’t part of Xbox or that Mobile, China, and India don’t exist. Yes Xbox won’t hit it, but there are plenty of games with over 100m DAUs today from Roblox to Free Fire.