Weekend Highlights (July 25-26)

The publisher of Squirrel With A Gun and Maximum Football has laid off all its US employees, Rockstar Games co-founder commented on Sony's decision to abandon physical discs, and Dinoblade sales exceeded 36,000 copies in one day—here are the main events in the gaming industry over the past weekend.

• Maximum Entertainment is facing issues, revealed Insider Gaming. According to the portal, the publisher informed all its American employees late last week that they were being let go. It is suggested that the ongoing legal dispute with Cathay Bank pushed the company to take this step—previously, Maximum Entertainment defaulted on a loan, unable to repay several loans at once, and has not yet reached an agreement with the bank to resolve the situation. If sources from Insider Gaming are to be believed, more than 25 people have lost their jobs, allegedly without any severance pay.
• Silent Hill franchise producer Motoi Okamoto stated that while working on Silent Hill f, the scriptwriting team undertook an unusual challenge. They agreed to read around 100-200 books a year to develop their professional skills, adding works by Ryukishi07—an invited Japanese novelist responsible for the game's plot—to their reading list. Okamoto approved of this, believing that being well-read is an important quality for screenwriters, and familiarity with the invited writer's work is a form of "basic respect" that also allows for a better understanding of their style.
• Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser, in a conversation with IGN, shared his opinion on Sony's plans to cease production of physical game discs for PlayStation. He admitted that the development doesn't personally concern him much. Nonetheless, Houser is convinced that gamers should have the choice: to buy games digitally or on physical media. "If people want [discs], then, in my opinion, companies should provide them with this option," Houser added.
• The Soulslike Dinoblade, featuring dinosaurs with massive swords in their mouths, had a promising start. As boasted the game's creator Jean Nguyen, the new title sold 36,000 copies in the first 24 hours. Recall that Dinoblade came to life almost by accident. In 2022, Nguyen, an animator from Sucker Punch Productions, wanted to experiment with modeling and posted a small video featuring an armed dinosaur on X. The clip quickly went viral, and Nguyen received numerous requests to create a game. Consequently, he saw it as a good idea and founded Team Spino, which under his guidance, undertook the development of Dinoblade.