Video Games
Face Otherworldly Creatures Aboard a Doomed Ship in VR Horror Game ‘WREST’
In spite of the various mods (such as this one) you can grab for Alien: Isolation, it’s still a shame that none of it was ever officially implemented. Shaftesbury Lucid Inc looks to fill that void with their recently-released sci-fi horror game, WREST, which is available on Steam, HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift.
WREST throws you into the shoes of Andy Bishop, chief engineer of the spaceship Neptune. During your stasis nap, you’re abruptly woken to the worst dream imaginable, and now everyone on the ship is in terrible danger. Armed with your versatile multi-tool and the ship’s AI, your only chance of survival lies in the twisted nightmares of your fellow passengers.
As you might surmise from the description, you won’t be running away from the horrors you’ll face. But at the same time, you’ll have to keep your eyes open in order to solve puzzles. Currently, the devs are in the process of incorporating a multiplayer mode that will have you facing off against a friend as you stalk the decks of the Neptune. You can also check out the free demo, if you’re on the fence about this one.
The rumoured cuts at Xbox have come to fruition, with plans to lay off 3,200 employees. In addition, five studios are also set to be let go, with Double Fine and South of Midnight developer Compulsion breaking off to go independent, while Ninja Theory (Senua) and Undead Labs (State of Decay 3) have been sold.
The fifth studio, Marvel’s Blade and Dishonored studio Arkane Lyon, is set to be divested from Xbox Game Studios, though details are still being kept under wraps.
Per Xbox Wire, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed the layoff and divestment plans at Xbox, but announced no plans for closures or game cancellations.
According to Sharma, Xbox is operating at “margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses.” Sharma acknowledged Xbox’s previous pivots to Game Pass, multi-platform, and a “broader portfolio of content” have resulted in “meaningful value”, but it hasn’t been enough.
“Since 2018, we have aggressively expanded our studio portfolio while the number of games created each month across the industry now outpaces the last ten years combined,” she said. “We now find ourselves competing not only with the largest publishers, but also with smaller independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio.”
As a result, Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions “will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games.” Meanwhile, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs “have entered terms to join new ownership with funding to complete and grow Senua and State of Decay 3.” As for Arkane Lyon, the studio’s management “is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.”
The 3,200 cuts will be made throughout Xbox’s financial year across departments, with some areas being more affected than others. This is expected to affect around 20% of the developer’s workforce.
In addition, Bethesda will also undergo “a significant overhaul”, and will pivot to focus on its core franchises: Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.
“These changes are about a bigger future for Xbox, not a smaller one,” says Sharma. “The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we’ve seen before. This year, we’ll invest as much in Xbox as we ever have, but we’ll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making Xbox where the world plays and creates.”