The main news for the weekend (July 13-14)

In 2021, Valve spent $444.5 million on employee salaries, Larian Studios considered making the next Fallout or Ultima if they didn't secure the license for Baldur's Gate, and 10 million people played The First Descendant. Here's what happened in the gaming industry over the weekend.

The First Descendant

• In court documents published regarding the dispute between Valve and Wolfire Games, a table was spotted with data on the number of Valve employees from 2003-2021 and the company's salary expenses. According to it, in 2021, Valve had 336 employees. Among them, 35 were administrative staff, 41 worked on hardware, 79 focused on Steam, and 181 were game developers. The total salary expenditure for that year amounted to $444.5 million. Based on this, it's possible to calculate that, on average, each Valve employee earned about $1.32 million in 2021.
• In a conversation with Game Developer, several anonymous translators complained about Nintendo's policy. According to them, the Japanese company does not credit translators from outsourcing agencies in the game credits. Additionally, it requires professionals to sign a non-disclosure agreement for ten years, preventing translators from mentioning Nintendo games on their resumes, thus hindering their career progression. It is reported that this policy was in effect at least during the translation of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Super Mario RPG.
• Larian Studios' head, Swen Vincke, in an interview with EDGE magazine, revealed that before starting the development of Baldur’s Gate 3, the studio considered three franchises: apart from Baldur’s Gate, they were interested in Fallout and Ultima. Vincke admitted that the options were limited. After releasing the Divinity series, the studio felt it had hit a glass ceiling and needed a strong, well-known franchise to increase Larian Studios' visibility. Notably, they almost lost the license for Baldur’s Gate. According to Vincke, Larian Studios was negotiating with Wizards of the Coast during a very busy period, as they were finishing Divinity: Original Sin 2. The design document was prepared in just a couple of days and was of terrible quality. So much so that Wizards of the Coast rejected it with a corporate formulation, which the studio translated as "it's total crap." Fortunately, Vincke convinced the company to give them another chance, and eventually, Larian Studios secured the coveted license.
• The developers of the cooperative shooter The First Descendant announced that the game's audience exceeded 10 million players. It reached this milestone a week after release.
• Starward Industries announced that The Invincible has been purchased 123,000 times. As a reminder, this is a sci-fi thriller based on Stanisław Lem's novel "The Invincible." The game was released on November 6, 2023, for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.