Weekend Highlights (August 9-10)

Battlefield 6 has already become one of the most popular games in Steam history, Rod Fergusson has left Blizzard Entertainment, and the studio behind Thomas Was Alone has laid off most of its staff. Here are the main events in the gaming industry from the past weekend.

• Electronic Arts (EA) announced that the open beta for Battlefield 6 was the largest in the series. They did not disclose specific numbers, but according to SteamDB, the Steam version alone peaked at 521,079 concurrent players. The immense interest in the shooter helped Battlefield 6's beta secure the 18th spot among games with the highest concurrent players in Steam's history, placing it between Path of Exile 2 (578,569 players) and Valheim (502,387 players).
• General Manager of the Diablo series Rod Fergusson announced his departure from Blizzard Entertainment and Microsoft. He shared on social media that he was proud of the work accomplished during his five years leading the franchise, but "it's time to step aside and see what's next." Fergusson's future plans have not been disclosed. Notably, he began his career in the gaming industry in 1996, starting at Microsoft as a software manager. He later worked at Epic Games and 2K Games, but rejoined Microsoft in 2014. Throughout his career, Fergusson has contributed to franchises such as Diablo, Gears of War, Infinity Blade, and BioShock.
• Former BioWare producer Mark Darrah, in a discussion with YouTuber MrMattyPlays, revealed that the studio repeatedly proposed to EA the idea of updated versions of the Dragon Age series, only to be turned down each time. The proposals included a remake of Dragon Age: Origins and a remaster of the original trilogy. According to Darrah, EA partly rejected these due to the complexity of development. Additionally, EA has historically been against releasing remakes and remasters, approving them only in rare cases. In theory, BioWare could have attempted to develop the projects with their own funds without additional financial support from EA, but as Darrah notes, they lacked sufficient resources.
• Bithell Games executed significant layoffs. The studio, known for games such as Thomas Was Alone, TRON: Identity, and TRON: Catalyst, parted ways with 11 employees — a large portion of its team. In an official statement, Bithell Games explained that they made this decision due to the inability to secure a partner to finance their new major project.
• Sales of Mortal Kombat 1 have surpassed 6.2 million copies. This figure was revealed by the franchise's creative director Ed Boon. The game took just under two years to reach this milestone; it was released on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch on September 19, 2023.