Rock Paper Shotgun

Rock Paper Shotgun

@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

We write about PC games, and things to do with PC games, at http://rockpapershotgun.com.

66.1K followers6 following4.8K posts

Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

Update: An unspecified number of Xbox staff are reportedly among those who've been offered voluntary buyouts by Microsoft

Rock Paper Shotgun@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

With Xbox cuts not done, Microsoft offer voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 workers across the company in latest attempt to get rid of staff https://bit.ly/4ifnTRf

rockpapershotgun.comWith Xbox cuts not done, Microsoft offer voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 workers across the company in latest attempt to get rid of staffMicrosoft have offered voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 workers across the company in their latest attempt to get rid of staff.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

"Mass Effect was my ultimate white whale": Journey composer shares 20 minutes of music created during talks to work on BioWare's recently cancelled RPG https://bit.ly/4ek23ev

rockpapershotgun.com"Mass Effect was my ultimate white whale": Journey composer shares 20 minutes of music created during talks to work on BioWare's recently cancelled RPGComposer Austin Wintory has shared some experimental music he made while in talks to work on Mass Effect 5.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

With Xbox cuts not done, Microsoft offer voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 workers across the company in latest attempt to get rid of staff https://bit.ly/4ifnTRf

rockpapershotgun.comWith Xbox cuts not done, Microsoft offer voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 workers across the company in latest attempt to get rid of staffMicrosoft have offered voluntary buyouts to around 60,000 workers across the company in their latest attempt to get rid of staff.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

Steam's AI disclosures are akin to "forcing developers to list their voting history", says man who must hate seeing eggs virtue signal that they're free-range https://bit.ly/4yHFEyK

rockpapershotgun.comSteam's AI disclosures are akin to "forcing developers to list their voting history", says man who must hate seeing eggs virtue signal that they're free-rangeTim Sweeney has done a post about Steam's genAI disclosure policy somehow being political.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

This week in PC games: Run a shady cyberpunk boutique in Probably Stolen, autobattle Viking towns in Northgard Battlegrounds, and trash homophobic robots in Virtue and a Sledgehammer https://bit.ly/4zc2Lmn

rockpapershotgun.comThis week in PC games: Run a shady cyberpunk boutique in Probably Stolen, autobattle Viking towns in Northgard Battlegrounds, and trash homophobic robots in Virtue and a SledgehammerWe select some of the best new games coming to PC in the week ahead.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

32-year-old "ellipsoid" horror game Ecstatica gets a PC re-release today, showing us an alternative timeline in which polygonal 3D never became dominant https://bit.ly/4soO5NS

rockpapershotgun.com32-year-old "ellipsoid" horror game Ecstatica gets a PC re-release today, showing us an alternative timeline in which polygonal 3D never became dominantWhat if ellipsoids had trumped polygons in game graphics? Witness the rebirth of Ecstatica, a PC horror game from 1994 with a very distinctive approach to 3D.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

Mass Effect 5 was named Universe partly because it let players generate alternate timelines based on their choices in previous entries, technical director says https://bit.ly/4yFXLVO

rockpapershotgun.comMass Effect 5 was named Universe partly because it let players generate alternate timelines based on their choices in previous entries, technical director saysMass Effect 5 had a system that'd let players form alternative timelines based on previous choices, an ex-BioWare technical director has said.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

"System Shock and Deus Ex, they were RPGs. People called them RPGs": Gloomwood's publisher isn't too keen on using the term immersive sim despite it being one https://bit.ly/4yGRDwD

rockpapershotgun.com"System Shock and Deus Ex, they were RPGs. People called them RPGs": Gloomwood's publisher isn't too keen on using the term immersive sim despite it being one"If you market something as an RPG, I think you'll do better than marketing it as an immersive sim."
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

BioWare staff "should be given the first opportunity and the federal support" to buy the studio and keep it running, says Canadian political party leader https://bit.ly/4kdFsUo

rockpapershotgun.comBioWare staff "should be given the first opportunity and the federal support" to buy the studio and keep it running, says Canadian political party leaderBioWare staff "should be given the first opportunity and the federal support" to buy the studio, Canadian political party leader Avi Lewis has argued.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

Arkane survival negotiations reportedly seeing "several forms of takeover" considered ahead of November deadline, as Marvel's Blade production nears end https://bit.ly/489Ir97

rockpapershotgun.comArkane survival negotiations reportedly seeing "several forms of takeover" considered ahead of November deadline, as Marvel's Blade production nears endArkane survival negotiations with Xbox are reportedly seeing "several forms of takeover" considered ahead of a November deadline.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

Helldivers 3 "only makes sense" if it’s so unlike Helldivers 2 "that both games can exist side by side", says Arrowhead boss, discussing their new prototype game https://bit.ly/3WrO7Zz

rockpapershotgun.comHelldivers 3 "only makes sense" if it's so unlike Helldivers 2 "that both games can exist side by side", says Arrowhead boss, discussing their new prototype game"The biggest competitor to a Helldivers 3 would be Helldivers 2," says Arrowhead CCO Johan Pilestedt, while touching on the studio's unannounced prototype.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

Half-Life 3 speculation reignited by Valve dev mentioning three sweet little rumored codenamey letters amid technical chat about video game noises https://bit.ly/47CM5Z3

rockpapershotgun.comHalf-Life 3 speculation reignited by Valve dev mentioning three sweet little rumored codenamey letters amid technical chat about video game noisesHalf-Life 3 speculation has been reignited by Valve music designer Mike Morasky mentioning something called HLX during a panel about audio.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

"What if Larian had shut down after Divine Divinity?": Star Trek Online exec scorns publishers who close teams like BioWare in favour of "AAA veteran" start-ups and AI "magic beans" https://bit.ly/4hZ7OAq

rockpapershotgun.com"What if Larian had shut down after Divine Divinity?": Star Trek Online exec scorns publishers who close teams like BioWare in favour of "AAA veteran" start-ups and AI "magic beans"Star Trek Online exec producer Thomas Marrone has poured scorn on companies who close maturing teams in favour of "AAA veteran" start-ups and "magic beans".
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

Cyberpunk 2077's new dual wielding has already been modded to include shotguns and rifles, provided you're down to get "janky and wildly overpowered" https://bit.ly/4iA9aSe

rockpapershotgun.comCyberpunk 2077's new dual wielding has already been modded to include shotguns and rifles, provided you're down to get "janky and wildly overpowered"Cyberpunk 2077's dual wielding mechanics, added in the Edgerunners 2 update, have been expanded by modders to include shotguns and rifles.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

Xbox reportedly mandate four days a week in office for staff close to Microsoft's Washington HQ, up from three day requirement brought in last year https://bit.ly/47AUBYs

rockpapershotgun.comXbox reportedly mandate four days a week in office for staff close to Microsoft's Washington HQ, up from three day requirement brought in last yearXbox have reportedly mandate four days a week in office for staff close to Microsoft's Washington HQ, up from the previous three day requirement.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

"It just seemed arbitrary, and not very smart": EA was never a responsible owner for Bioware, but the developer never seemed to learn from their mistakes https://bit.ly/3UBfKyO

rockpapershotgun.com"It just seemed arbitrary, and not very smart": EA was never a responsible owner for Bioware, but the developer never seemed to learn from their mistakesBioware's closure is a sorry story of executives not understanding the studio they ran and developers who repeated the same mistakes from project to project.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

Resident Evil makers Capcom reveal data breach has affected over 11 million Capcom ID accounts, warn against potential phishing emails https://bit.ly/4BcpP5I

rockpapershotgun.comResident Evil makers Capcom reveal data breach has affected over 11 million Capcom ID accounts, warn against potential phishing emailsCapcom have revealed that a data breach has affected over 11 million Capcom ID accounts and warned affected players about potential phishing emails.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

"We made a very difficult decision": Australian indie showcase Freeplay reject antisemitism claims after delisting a Jewish sponsor who was allegedly accused of being a "zionist" https://bit.ly/4i3gqoc

rockpapershotgun.com"We made a very difficult decision": Australian indie showcase Freeplay reject antisemitism claims after delisting a Jewish sponsor who was allegedly accused of being a "zionist"Australian indie showcase Freeplay reject antisemitism claims and cite "violent threats" after delisting a Jewish sponsor who was allegedly called a "zionist".
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

Mass Effect 5 was aiming to offer a "level of autonomy and choice" that could vault it into orbit with Larian and CD Projekt's top RPGs, former dev says post-cancellation https://bit.ly/3VZk0sm

rockpapershotgun.comMass Effect 5 was aiming to offer a "level of autonomy and choice" that could vault it into orbit with Larian and CD Projekt's top RPGs, former dev says post-cancellationBioWare's cancelled Mass Effect 5 was aiming to offer a top notch "level of autonomy and choice", a former developer has said following BioWare's closure.
Rock Paper Shotgun
@rockpapershotgun.bsky.social

"Development on the next Mass Effect is ending": EA is shutting down RPG veteran Bioware "to align talent and investments where we see the greatest opportunities for players and long-term growth" https://bit.ly/4ennkUm

rockpapershotgun.com"Development on the next Mass Effect is ending": EA is shutting down RPG veteran Bioware "to align talent and investments where we see the greatest opportunities for players and long-term growth"EA is shutting down Bioware, one of the most-respected RPG makers in the games industry.