Day 1 summary on the floor, reporting on what the buzz is.

Starting with Wildlight’s HighGuard, which drew heavy criticism for inconsistent art direction, weak gameplay choices, lack of public playtesting, poor performance, and rapidly shrinking player counts, leading to major layoffs and a much smaller remaining team.

We argue modern live-service shooters face intense competition and need earlier public feedback, noting broader post-COVID overfunding has produced many failed projects and layoffs, alongside debate over what “indie” means amid publisher funding like Tencent. They compare Eastern and Western development strengths, then review Bungie’s Marathon playtest (strong gunfeel, UI/readability issues, clearer art direction improvements) and its competition with Arc Raiders.

We close on Xbox leadership changes, the viability of consoles vs software-first strategies, exclusives, and industry uncertainty.

Connect with us:• 🖥 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://gamedevunchained.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠• 🎞️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/GameDevUnch...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠• ✉️ info@gamedevunchained.com• 💰⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/gamedevunchained/su...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠•📸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://instagram.com/gamedevunchained⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Special Links:

⁠⁠⁠⁠Raymond Graham (@Wadarass) / X⁠

In this episode, we discuss EA going private and potentially some major layoffs before end of Year. Before deep diving in the state of play from the PlayStation conference.

Connect with us:• 🖥 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://gamedevunchained.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠• 🎞️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/GameDevUnch...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠• ✉️ info@gamedevunchained.com• 💰⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/gamedevunchained/su...⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠•📸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://instagram.com/gamedevunchained⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Special Links:

⁠⁠⁠Raymond Graham (@Wadarass) / X⁠