The main events over the weekend (October 17-18)
The developer studio Samson may have gone bankrupt, a BioWare veteran stated that CD PROJEKT RED's ambitions could lead it into big trouble, and Ratatan sales have been revealed — we recap the main events in the gaming industry over the past weekend.
▫️Six years ago, Avalanche Studios co-founder Christofer Sundberg launched the studio Liquid Swords, but its lifespan proved short. According to a report by Breakit, Liquid Swords recently declared bankruptcy. It is stated that its employees had not been paid since August and eventually initiated the process of declaring the studio financially insolvent themselves. Swedish authorities have already promised to compensate the developers for unpaid wages and have appointed a trustee. It should be noted that the trustee is currently trying to find a buyer for Liquid Swords, but there is little time — the bidding deadline is set for October 21. If the studio indeed ceases to exist, its only game will be the action title Samson.
▫️Former BioWare producer Mark Darrah spoke in an interview for the Summer Eternal Anthology about modern game development in general, and CD PROJEKT RED in particular. During the conversation, he shared concerns that companies focusing on AAA games have become "hyper-fragile" — any issue could be critical due to the massive expenses driven by overly specialized staff and bloated workforce. CD PROJEKT RED is no exception. According to Darrah, the creators of "The Witcher" fell into a trap when they aggressively hired people (twice the number of employees are working on The Witcher 4 compared to The Witcher 3) and spent colossal amounts on development. "Now their games need to sell 15-20 million copies to be profitable. It's a really dangerous position," Darrah added.
▫️Former Valve writer Chet Faliszek reflected in a new video on his YouTube channel on why gamers are so loyal to Steam and less interested in Epic Games Store and other similar platforms. According to him, the winning position is partly explained by a concept established many years ago by Valve's head Gabe Newell. He sees Steam as an MMO, not just a digital game store. As Faliszek pointed out, Steam indeed has many MMO-like elements such as leveling up, collectible cards, achievements, and many other features. As a result, users come to the store not only to purchase games but also for the opportunity to express themselves, albeit in a somewhat passive form.
▫️Ratata Arts studio announced that the music game Ratatan has sold 150,000 copies worldwide. For those unfamiliar, Ratatan is a rhythm-action game with roguelike elements, where players manage an army of amusing creatures and perform actions in sync with the soundtrack. Initially, the title was released in early access on September 18, 2025, and reached full release on October 14, 2026. You can play Ratatan on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch 2.