Ubisoft appoints a new director for Star Wars Outlaws, Atari acquires Transport Tycoon, Persona shows excellent sales — here's a recap of the major events in the gaming industry over the past weekend.
Southfield
- Star Wars Outlaws has a new creative director. Drew Rechner, who previously worked as an associate game director on Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, has taken the role. He replaces Julian Gerighty, who was the creative director for both The Division games before Star Wars Outlaws. This move, appointing a new director for an already released project, is unusual for Ubisoft. The company might be hoping for long-term support for the game.
- Atari has acquired the rights to the Transport Tycoon franchise from its creator, Chris Sawyer. The deal's amount is undisclosed, and Atari's exact plans for the classic game remain unclear. However, this acquisition makes sense as RollerCoaster Tycoon, also initially developed by Sawyer, is one of Atari's most successful series.
- The developers of the charming 3D farm simulator Southfield, whose release date is still unknown, have raised $3.4 million. The studio, Radical Forge, is based in the UK. The regional fund Mercia Equity Finance acted as an investor. The funds are expected to go toward launching the game, hiring new staff, and creating other titles.
- The Persona series, an RPG franchise about Japanese students exploring labyrinths of madness, is doing well. The franchise continues to sell well. According to Sega's report from the last quarter, the cumulative sales of the series have reached 23.5 million copies (up from 22.6 million in the spring).
- Going forward, Square Enix plans to release more of its titles simultaneously on all major platforms. This was stated by Naoki Yoshida, the current head of the company. It seems Square Enix intends to move away from a strategy of exclusives.