Unity is buying Peter Jackson’s visual effects company for $1.6B

Unity has announced that it’s entered a definitive agreement to acquire Peter Jackson’s visual effects company Weta Digital for $1.6 billion.

Weta Digital has worked on hit films including Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Wonder Woman, and Black Widow. Unity says its acquisition will “democratise” Weta’s powerful tools to make them available for more creators.

“Weta Digital’s pipeline represents the most complete toolchain for 3D creation, simulation, and...

10 November 2021 | Development Tools

Nintendo denies handing out 4K Switch development kits

Nintendo has been forced to refute a Bloomberg report that it provided 4K-capable Switch development kits to select gaming studios.

This week, Bloomberg reported that at least 11 developers – including Zynga – were given kits to develop 4K resolution games for unannounced Switch hardware.

Following the report, Nintendo tweeted:

https://twitter.com/NintendoCoLtd/status/1443366440183074819

It’s a rare denial that has probably been issued out of concern...

30 September 2021 | Gaming

GDC kicks off with over 550 game dev sessions, will return as in-person event next year

This year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) kicks off today as a virtual event with over 550 sessions on all things game development.

GDC 2021 claims to take full advantage of the possibilities offered by virtual events. Back in 2020, around COVID-19’s historic peak, GDC was one of the first large events to be cancelled.

The organisers now have successive virtual events under their belt so it will be interesting to see how they’ve utilised their experience to...

19 July 2021 | Gaming

Nintendo announces Switch OLED with minor improvements

Nintendo has finally announced its long-awaited new Switch model but without many of the rumoured upgrades.

The new Switch OLED, as its name suggests, boasts a new display that should improve some of the complaints about previous models having poor contrast and brightness. However, the rumoured bump to 1080p hasn’t materialised and the screen is still just 720p.

Nintendo has increased the screen size from 6.2-inch to 7-inch so a boosted resolution would have been even...

6 July 2021 | Gaming

Xbox sets out its vision to bring ‘gaming to everyone’

Ahead of its E3 2021 showcase with recent acquisition Bethesda, the Xbox team has set out its vision to bring “gaming to everyone”.

Enabling everyone to enjoy gaming has become an increased focus for Xbox in recent years – whether that’s through delivering groundbreaking accessibility devices and features to help those with limited mobility, a cheaper console with next-gen performance, new finance options like All Access, or the flexibility to play anywhere with cloud...

11 June 2021 | Developer

Unity’s latest report highlights COVID-19’s impact on gaming

Game development platform Unity has released a report on how COVID-19 has impacted the industry.

The report is based on the world’s largest dataset on COVID-19’s impact on gaming and spans everything from the PC gaming landscape to mobile ad spend.

Ingrid Lestiyo, SVP and General Manager of Operate Solutions at Unity, said:

“In a year where online entertainment content - more than ever -  became the cornerstone of social connections for so many when...

24 February 2021 | Developer

Game developers can have the accessibility of their titles checked by Xbox

Microsoft is launching a new initiative which enables game developers to send their PC and Xbox titles in to be analysed by accessibility experts.

“Where issues are found, they are noted with reproduction steps, screenshots, and other information to help the developer understand what aspect of a given experience may be challenging for certain gamers with disabilities,” explained Brannon Zahand, senior program manager of gaming accessibility at Xbox.

Xbox has been on...

18 February 2021 | Gaming

DirectX creator Engstrom dies aged 55, leaving behind a game-changing legacy

DirectX creator Eric Engstrom has sadly passed away at the age of 55, following a career which helped to shape the gaming industry as we know it.

Engstrom created the DirectX gaming APIs in 1994 – alongside Alex St. John and Craig Eisler – to simplify Windows game development and make it the stellar platform it remains today.

The APIs were originally developed for Windows 95. Game developers at the time were reporting they preferred MS-DOS for its low overhead and...

14 December 2020 | API

Developers can now peek under the hood of the Amnesia games

The developers of the legendary Amnesia horror series have made their code open source to help teach and inspire others.

Code for Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs is now available in full on GitHub.

In a blog post, developer Frictional Games wrote:

“This doesn’t mean that the game is suddenly free. It just means that people are free to use the source however they want as long as they adhere to the GPL3 licence. The game and all of...

24 September 2020 | Gaming

GDC: Game developers are working longer, delaying releases due to COVID-19

The first State of the Industry report from the Game Developers Conference (GDC) has been released since COVID-19 turned all of our lives upside down.

GDC’s latest report is aptly called the ‘Work From Home Edition’ and highlights how game developers have been forced to adapt in these difficult circumstances.

As with many jobs, a lot of software development was already shifting to being done remotely – it just took a pandemic to speed up the transition. Of the...

17 July 2020 | Gaming