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VOICE ARCHIVE

Stephen Totilo

@stephentotilo
256 posts
2026-02-23
Another Tencent story I was chasing: TiMi Montreal, founded in 2021 with hopes to make a AAA open-world game, has closed Extends a brutal stretch of shutdowns. And another instance of Chinese game giants pulling back from their western studio start-ups https://www.gamefile.news/...
2026-02-23 View on X
Game File

Tencent closed its TiMi Montréal studio after nearly five years, without ever releasing a game, as Chinese giants scale back funding for Western game studios

The game industry's contraction is unrelenting.  —  ∙ Paid  —  Tencent has shut down its TiMi Montreal studio without …

Another Tencent story I'd been chasing: TiMi Montreal, founded in 2021 with ambitions to make a AAA open-world game, has closed  —  Continuing a brutal stretch of shutdowns.  And another instance of Chinese game giants pulling back from their western studio start-ups  —  www.gamefile.news/p/tencent- ti...
2026-02-23 View on X
Game File

Tencent closed its TiMi Montréal studio after nearly five years, without ever releasing a game, as Chinese giants scale back funding for Western game studios

The game industry's contraction is unrelenting.  —  ∙ Paid  —  Tencent has shut down its TiMi Montreal studio without …

2026-02-22
Another Tencent story I was chasing: TiMi Montreal, founded in 2021 with hopes to make a AAA open-world game, has closed Extends a brutal stretch of shutdowns. And another instance of Chinese game giants pulling back from their western studio start-ups https://www.gamefile.news/...
2026-02-22 View on X
Game File

Tencent closed its TiMi Montréal studio after nearly five years, without ever releasing a game, as Chinese giants scale back funding for Western game studios

The game industry's contraction is unrelenting.  —  ∙ Paid  —  Tencent has shut down its TiMi Montreal studio without …

2026-02-21
BREAKING: Phil Spencer stepping down, Microsoft AI exec Asha Sharma stepping in Sharma commits to gaming in memo to staff. Notes: “we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop.” https://www.gamefile.news/...
2026-02-21 View on X
CNBC

Phil Spencer will retire after 38 years at Microsoft; Asha Sharma, the president of product in Microsoft's Core AI business, will become the CEO of gaming

Microsoft's head of gaming, Phil Spencer, is leaving the software maker following a 38-year tenure, as the company's Xbox business faces increased challenges.

2026-02-20
BREAKING: Phil Spencer stepping down, Microsoft AI exec Asha Sharma stepping in Sharma commits to gaming in memo to staff. Notes: “we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop.” https://www.gamefile.news/...
2026-02-20 View on X
CNBC

Phil Spencer will retire after 38 years at Microsoft; Asha Sharma, the president of product in Microsoft's Core AI business, will become the CEO of gaming

Microsoft's head of gaming, Phil Spencer, is leaving the software maker following a 38-year tenure, as the company faces increased challenges in its Xbox business.

BREAKING: Phil Spencer stepping down, Microsoft AI exec Asha Sharma stepping in Sharma commits to gaming in memo to staff. Notes: “we will not chase short-term efficiency or flood our ecosystem with soulless AI slop.” https://www.gamefile.news/...
2026-02-20 View on X
IGN

Xbox President Sarah Bond, long thought to be Phil Spencer's heir, is leaving; Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty is promoted to Chief Content Officer

Spencer's run with Xbox ends just months shy of the brand's 25th anniversary.  —  Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer …

2026-01-22
Ubisoft headcount has declined by over 3,000 people since the start of a €300 million cost reduction plan.  —  Today they said they plan €200 million more in cuts by March 2028 [embedded post]
2026-01-22 View on X
Bloomberg

Ubisoft cancels six games and delays others amid a restructuring into five genre-specific “creative houses”, and expects net bookings of ~€1.5B for FY 2025-2026

Ubisoft Entertainment SA is canceling game projects, shutting down studios and cutting its guidance …

Ubisoft cancels Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake  —  “discontinued 6 games that do not meet the new enhanced quality as well as more selective portfolio prioritization criteria at Group level.  These include [PoP] remake as well as 4 unannounced titles, including 3 new IP's, and a mobile title”
2026-01-22 View on X
Bloomberg

Ubisoft cancels six games and delays others amid a restructuring into five genre-specific “creative houses”, and expects net bookings of ~€1.5B for FY 2025-2026

Ubisoft Entertainment SA is canceling game projects, shutting down studios and cutting its guidance …

2026-01-21
Ubisoft cancels Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake  —  “discontinued 6 games that do not meet the new enhanced quality as well as more selective portfolio prioritization criteria at Group level.  These include [PoP] remake as well as 4 unannounced titles, including 3 new IP's, and a mobile title”
2026-01-21 View on X
Bloomberg

Ubisoft cancels six games and delays others amid a restructuring into five genre-specific “creative houses”; it expects net bookings of ~€1.5B for FY 2025-2026

Ubisoft Entertainment SA is canceling game projects, shutting down studios and cutting its guidance …

Ubisoft headcount has declined by over 3,000 people since the start of a €300 million cost reduction plan.  —  Today they said they plan €200 million more in cuts by March 2028 [embedded post]
2026-01-21 View on X
Bloomberg

Ubisoft cancels six games and delays others amid a restructuring into five genre-specific “creative houses”; it expects net bookings of ~€1.5B for FY 2025-2026

Ubisoft Entertainment SA is canceling game projects, shutting down studios and cutting its guidance …

2025-11-22
NEW: Ubisoft has not been sold, nor has it collapsed. The week-long delay in its corporate earnings, the subject of much speculation, was due to—are you sitting down?— financial reporting technicalities regarding two unspecified partnerships. https://www.gamefile.news/...
2025-11-22 View on X
Bloomberg

Ubisoft delayed reporting its Q2 results after auditors found it improperly booked sales from a partnership as revenue, forcing it to restate its accounts

Ubisoft's first half financials for fiscal year 2026 are now available, following a delay of about a week. Craig Chapple / PocketGamer.biz : Tencent's €1.16bn Ubisoft investment on...

Company says: Tencent deal is on track, Assassin's Creed franchise overperformed, Rainbow 6 suffered a cheating wave and that a mystery game is set for early 2026 (Black Flag remake?) But, hey, I'd gotten up to listen to a 3:30am ET earnings call just in case!
2025-11-22 View on X
Bloomberg

Ubisoft delayed reporting its Q2 results after auditors found it improperly booked sales from a partnership as revenue, forcing it to restate its accounts

Ubisoft's first half financials for fiscal year 2026 are now available, following a delay of about a week. Craig Chapple / PocketGamer.biz : Tencent's €1.16bn Ubisoft investment on...

2025-11-21
Fascinating interview with the CEO of Roblox  —  He's flat-out asked why they even have chat in Roblox.  Why is it so important to have chat while playing kids' games.  (There are ways to disable it, mind you)  —  www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/p...  [image]
2025-11-21 View on X
New York Times

Q&A with Roblox co-founder and CEO David Baszucki on using face scans to verify age, having a chat function on Roblox, AI content moderation at scale, and more

This week the company announced that it would require users to undergo an A.I.-powered age estimation process in order to chat with others on the platform.

2025-10-06
I wrote about the EA deal and spoke to some current EA workers to get their takes.. - “I'm nervous...layoffs usually follow those type of acquisitions” - “Andrew Wilson basically said ‘f you’ to all women and LGTBQ employees at EA with this deal” https://www.gamefile.news/...
2025-10-06 View on X
Wall Street Journal

A profile of EA CEO Andrew Wilson, who is expected to stay in the role, as Silver Lake's Egon Durban credits him for building EA's “crown jewel” sports business

He's a charming Aussie surfer who plays videogames and has a black belt in jiu-jitsu.

2025-07-16
NEW: Sega is accepting applications from Roblox creators to make officially licensed Like a Dragon games (must be faithful to the lore!).  Part of a new Roblox plan for officially licensed games  —  Roblox's goal: 10% of all gaming content revenue going through Roblox  —  www.gamefile.news/p/roblox-lik...
2025-07-16 View on X
Variety

Roblox launches a licensing platform to help IP rights holders to collaborate with creators, with Lionsgate, Netflix, Sega, and Kodansha as founding partners

Roblox is launching a new licensing platform to streamline the process for IP rights holders to partner with creators on the gaming platform.

2025-07-03
Broader context is that Microsoft is cutting its overall workforce by 4%.  CNBC says that's about 9,000 people  —  Gaming is impacted for sure, but it's not alone  —  www.cnbc.com/2025/07/02/m...
2025-07-03 View on X
CNBC

Source: Microsoft plans to lay off ~9,000 employees, or less than 4% of its workforce, across teams and role types, after cutting ~6,000 in May and 300+ in June

read Phil Spencer's note to staff Bloomberg : Microsoft Cuts 9,000 Workers in Second Wave of Major Layoffs IGN : Microsoft Makes Significant Layoffs Across Gaming Division, Xbox Bo...

Broader context is that Microsoft is cutting its overall workforce by 4%.  CNBC says that's about 9,000 people  —  Gaming is impacted for sure, but it's not alone  —  www.cnbc.com/2025/07/02/m...
2025-07-03 View on X
Bloomberg

Sources: Microsoft cut hundreds of Xbox jobs across studios, including King, ZeniMax, and Halo Studios, and cancels games like the new Perfect Dark and Everwild

Hundreds of people were laid off as the company canceled upcoming games such as Perfect Dark and Everwild

2025-07-02
Broader context is that Microsoft is cutting its overall workforce by 4%.  CNBC says that's about 9,000 people  —  Gaming is impacted for sure, but it's not alone  —  www.cnbc.com/2025/07/02/m...
2025-07-02 View on X
CNBC

Source: Microsoft plans to lay off ~9,000 employees, or less than 4% of its workforce, across teams and role types, after cutting ~6,000 in May and 300+ in June

Microsoft said Wednesday that it will lay off about 9,000 employees.  The move will affect less than 4% of its global workforce …

2025-06-26
NEW: I chatted with Sony about PlayStation Plus, as the subscription service turns 15  — Premium (most expensive tier) is surging  — Targeting 4-5 3rd party games day-and-date per year (open to more)  — Adding more PS3 games possible, despite '25 drought  —  Free post: …
2025-06-26 View on X
Game File

Sony says its PlayStation Plus three-tier overhaul has “surpassed our expectations” and that the $160/year Premium tier has grown 18% in the past 12 months

Sony kicks off PS Plus' 15th anniversary by chatting with Game File about the past, present and future …

2025-06-09
NEW: I played Microsoft's portable Xbox a few days ago Silksong wasn't on it. Steam was. - Two new devices from Asus and Xbox - One is in line with Steam Deck, the other beyond - No price, battery details yet - TBD on impact of “Xbox” name on a handheld https://www.gamefile.news/...
2025-06-09 View on X
IGN

Xbox Ally X hands-on: an AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme APU, 24GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, 1080p games run at 60 FPS with no issues, a super-slim Windows, and more

The Xbox handheld impresses, but pricing remains the biggest question.  —  PC gaming handhelds have flooded the market at this point …