Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City developer Slant Six Games laid off some of its employees temporarily, intending to rehire all of the people once it secures new projects or funding, a representative told Games Industry today.
"This necessary measure has been taken to reduce the size of our team and to decrease interim operating costs while we continue to negotiate new business," Slant Six said. "Temporary layoffs provide us with a time period to keep everyone's employment position open with full benefits. The intention is to reinstate all of the people affected when new projects or funding has been secured."
Slant Six has used this temporary layoff method before: Once in April 2010, coinciding with rumors that Star Wars Battlefront Online was canceled, though all of those employees were rehired. In June 2012, following Operation Raccoon City's launch, Slant Six offered one fourth of its team a severance package or the temporary layoff route. There were 96 employees at Slant Six at the time, and before today's layoffs, the studio had 60 employees.
Under British Columbia law, the laid off employees retain benefits and collect employment insurance for 13 weeks, at which time the firing becomes permanent, unless they are rehired.
GameFly is running a special on select Windows PC downloads, offering up Hitman: Absolution for $12.49, Max Payne 3 for $14.99, Deus Ex: Human Revolution for $4.99, Mass Effect Trilogy for $24.99, Anno 2070 for $17.49 and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City for $12.49.
Late last year, GameFly introduced its standalone PC client, a digital storefront to purchase and rent PC games for subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Subscribers gain access to the Unlimited PC Play section, where they can persistently sample from hundreds of PC games.
Look out, it's a hungry horde of Resident Evil games infecting Day 3 of Xbox Live's Games on Demand sale, with five of the nibblers dangerously discounted. Shuffling along at half-price are Residents Evils 4-6 and Operation Raccoon City, taking 4 and 5 to to $9.99 and the other two to $19.99. Savings-wise, the pick of the bunch is Code Veronica, with today's discount digesting 75 percent of its insides and only leaving behind a stump of $4.99.
As ever - well, until March 4 - there's a groaning mass of other Games on Demand at sale-severed prices, and one of those groaners is Grid. With the second Grid game nearing the finish line, $4.99 is a decent price at which to dive into Codemasters' racer series.
Capcom shipped 1 million units of DmC: Devil May Cry on Xbox 360 and PS3 in January. Those figures apparently led the company to adjust shipment forecasts to 1.2 million by March 31, down from the 2 million projected back in May 2012.
The figures don't take into account the PC version, released on January 25. Nonetheless, they strongly indicate Ninja Theory's reboot is flagging way behind the last entry in the series, Devil May Cry 4, which shipped 2 million units in its first two weeks at retail.
Capcom also updated shipment figures for Resident Evil 6 to 4.8 million; the series' latest outbreak had shipped 4.5 million by the end of September. and was initially projected to reach 7 million by March 31. Dragon's Dogma is up to 1.25 million, while Resident Evil: Raccoon City is at a meagre 650,000, including PC shipments. Maybe that's why Revelations producer Masachika Kawata feels there've been too many RE games of late.
Capcom didn't release figures for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, released on Wii U in Japan on December 8, 2012, but said the game "became a smash hit." In case you suspect that's just deflective hot air, the action-RPG sold over 600,000 copies by the end of 2012, with the Western launch still to come in March.
This week Xbox Live Arcade sees the launch of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure HD and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and Mass Effect 3's Leviathan DLC is set to drop next Tuesday, August 28. Xbox Live's deal of the week for August 21 - 27 includes Skydrift and its DLC, Deadblock and a map pack, and a smattering of other games for 50 percent off.
Next week, August 28 - September 3, Xbox Live will host a half-off sale for a batch of Assassin's Creed: Revelations DLC: the Ancestors Character Pack, Mediterranean Traveler Map Pack, The Lost Archive, Codex, Eagle and Piece of Eden, each at half off.
A Rockstar publisher sale will hit Xbox Live August 28 - September 3, with an offering of unknown items for "up to" 50 percent off. Left 4 Dead, Metal Gear Solid HD, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and Ratatouille will all come to Games on Demand on August 21.
Sumthing Music has put the original soundtrack for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City on sale, so if you've been waiting to rock out to the tunes of the latest Resident Evil release, the wait is over. The soundtrack was composed by Shusaku Uchiyama, who also worked on Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles, and it contains 75 tracks in total, including one remix and an alternate version of one of the songs.
You can pick the soundtrack up from the Sumthing site for $15.58, or grab it over on Amazon, iTunes, or your other favorite digital music sites.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City has received a patch, one that addresses issues with the game's online matchmaking system and AI, as well as various other fixes, according to a post at Capcom Unity. The post didn't elaborate on how exactly the matchmaking system has been changed, just that "matchmaking from invites" has been improved, as have ally and enemy AI behaviors.
More fundamental gameplay changes have also been made: Players can now pick up items while dashing and take cover immediately after a dive, for instance, and "various elements of weaponry, including ammo count, knockdown distance, weapon respawn times" have been changed in undisclosed ways. Peep the full list of changes after the break.
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City developer Slant Six has been hit by layoffs, cutting a quarter of its staff. GameSpot reports the Vancouver-based studio of 96 employees gave a fourth of the team the option to take a severance package or accept a temporary layoff, while it attempts to pick up projects. If the temporarily laid off aren't rehired in 13 weeks the unemployment becomes permanent.
"We must stress that these are temporary layoffs, which means we are working very hard on new business prospects so we can reinstate every single person affected," a company statement reads. "As an independent and close-knit studio it is a very difficult but necessary business measure due to the current project cycle demands."
The developer is currently working on two projects, one of them is a contract with a "major publisher," and the other is its first self-published title, Strata Scavenger, a downloadable post-apocalyptic flight simulation for PC and consoles.
When we asked Richard to take a look at Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, he started sniffling and claiming to have gone down with the T-Virus. Can this action-packed retelling of the series’ early years be the cure to what ails him, or just one more headache?
Gear up as a member of the Umbrella Security Service and battle against all of the forces at play in Raccoon City. Youll come face-to-face with horrifying Resident Evil enemies like hunters and lickers as you navigate the Raccoon City Streets in search of your targets which include series icons like Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy.
The first batch of DLC for Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City drops next week and, in addition to its inherent freeness, it features explosions, squishy deadish things, and everyone's friendly neighborhood NE-α Type parasite-infused monstrosity, as shown in the trailer above.
#residentevil
I didn't much like the squad-based shooter set in Resident Evil's hometown when it came out last month. But some of you all did. You're in luck, then as Capcom's announced new add-on content that lets you play as ORC's would-be heroes. More »
FIFA Street sales may have dropped another 44 percent in sales last week around the UK, but that didn't stop the footie franchise reboot from taking Chart-Track's top spot for a third consecutive week.
Mass Effect 3 chugged a krogan energy drink and received a 28 percent sales boost to find itself in second place, followed by newcomer Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13. Capcom's Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, once again, breaks EA's monopoly on the top five, inserting itself in fourth place, with EA's FIFA 12 running up in fifth.
New titles this week included Namco Bandai's (eye-roll inducing title) Narto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations, which debuted at number six. There was also a Silent Hill double-header, as Silent Hill HD Collection and Silent Hill: Downpour debuted at number 12 and 15, respectively. Find the UK top ten after the break... if you dare.
Capcom broke EA's monopoly of the top four titles in the UK last week with Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, which debuted in second on the charts. The top spot belonged to EA's FIFA Street for a second week in a row, with the publisher grabbing third through fifth with Mass Effect 3, FIFA 12 and SSX, respectively.
Kid Icarus: Uprising flew in with a seventh place debut, becoming the only Nintendo title in the top ten, as Mario Party 9 dropped from fifth to 13.
There were two new titles that sliced up some competition to crack the top 40, as Total War Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai cut in at 17 and Ninja Gaiden 3 made a mess a couple spots later at 19. Sneak past the break to check out the UK top ten.
#watchthis
Amongst the new Resident Evil title's many flaws is one glaring (and hilarious) one. Join a round of versus and you may just encounter it yourself. We definitely did. More »
#residentevil
For decades those pesky raccoons have been sneaking about at night, digging through our trash cans and generally making a mess of things. It's time the game reviewers of the internet strike back. To Raccoon City! More »
#residentevil
Last week, I spoke to a room full of teenagers at the Brooklyn Public Library about video games and technology. When they asked me what unreleased games I was playing as a perk of my job, I answered that I was getting up to my elbows in an upcoming Resident Evil game. More »
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City assumes a lot about the player. It assumes you already know the fiction going into the affair and, accordingly, that you care about anything that's going on in the plot. It assumes you already know about its character classes and it assumes you already know who you want to comprise your squad. It assumes you know about the special abilities and unlockables of each class, and how to access that content.
In other words, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City expects you to know everything from the get-go. For those who may have missed out on Resident Evil 2 and 3 and can't appreciate the small bits of fanservice that developer Slant 6 Games has tossed in, this ultimately serves as a disservice to the entire experience.
In theory, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City had everything going for it - a great concept set in a beloved universe and a rich, compelling canon to draw from. However, this team-based shooter amounts to far less than the sum of its parts. There's a distinct difference between a franchise offshoot and a franchise bastardization. Unfortunately, Operation Raccoon City can only be defined as the latter...
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City focuses on a group of Umbrella operatives sent in to clean up the doomed city in the wake of a zombie outbreak. Meanwhile, a separate team of Spec Ops soldiers sent in by the government becomes the focus of some free DLC, coming to Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City on April 10.
The Spec Ops mission revisits the events of Resident Evil 3, in which Jill Valentine is stalked throughout the city by a rampaging Nemesis. Good ... times?
Capcom announced this morning that Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City will include a multiplayer mode entitled "Nemesis Mode," exclusively for Xbox 360. Now, don't go thinkin' this DLC is free or something crazy like that. Nemesis Mode will be available at launch, on March 20, for 320 Microsoft Points ($4).
Nemesis Mode has the USS verses the Spec Ops in an eight-man battle with someone able to control a Nemesis. While one team tracks down a control unit, the other can "give the Nemesis orders to destroy the opposition." As with all things "exclusive," we don't know how long it'll take before this multiplayer mode infects other platforms, but we're sure not even Capcom can contain Nemesis.
Capcom send word that the next Resident Evil game will be bursting out of our digital distribution outlets and feasting on our glands from May 18th. To celebrate this fact they’ve also put out a noisy trailer showing a lot of footage from the game. And hey, it looks extraordinarily violent. Raccoon City was inspired by the development of Lost Planet 2 (which I rather enjoyed) and you can definitely see the influences of that game playing out here.(more…)
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is coming to PC on May 18. While the upcoming squad-based shooter is hitting consoles in only a few weeks (on March 20th), the PC version is taking a wee bit longer to get out the door. But fret not, it will feature NVIDIA 3D support for the four of you with the...
As seems to be the trend these days, Capcom has confirmed that the PC release of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City will occur well after the console launch next month. While the Xbox and PlayStation 3 versions of Operation Raccoon City will be available on March 20, PC gamers will have to wait until May 18.
The PC version will offer support for Nvidea 3D Vision and will also include "stunning high-resolution visual effects." Beyond that, Capcom promises feature parity with the console versions, including eight-player online multiplayer and four-player co-op.'' Presumably as a consolation prize for the extra wait, Capcom has released a new trailer, which you can watch above.
#residentevil
The next spinoff of Capcom's survival horror series puts players in a three-sided warzone with two human factions gunning for each other and zombie-fied humans and beasts out to chomp whoever they can. It's going to be an ultraviolent affair. Watch and see for yourselves, kids. More »
Nowadays, most multiplayer experiences are fairly uniform: two groups try to shoot each other in the face, and maybe steal a flag or plant a bomb in the process. These concepts have become the norm, and while most of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City's varying multiplayer modes feel like they're trying to offer something that caters to the typical multiplayer crowd, I found myself constantly surprised and excited by an element completely out of my control: the NPCs.
In each of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City's game modes, players have to deal with a cadre of AI-controlled enemies as well as a team of opposing players. Generally, standard zombies aren't a threat to the leather-fetish Umbrella troops or their camo-loving Spec Ops counterpart; however, a stable of familiar Resident Evil enemies increase the lethality of each match. The agile and sharp-clawed Hunters gleefully rip everything apart; Lickers stalk their prey, striking ferociously from the darkness; and powerful Tyrants can emerge at any time, and I suggest you run when you see them.
Entering these enemies into the equation and priorities rapidly change on the fly, offering an experience unlike most team-based competitive multiplayer modes out there. "Should I keep shooting the enemy in front of me or should we jointly focus on the lumbering Tyrant who just dropped down into the middle of our firefight?" It's was the constant quick survey of options that led to a number of memorable moments during my time with the upcoming shooter from developer Slant Six.
After playing through several levels of Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City's single player campaign, my hopes for the third person shooter based in the RE universe reached a low point. IGN Executive Editor Rich George already covered many of the game's problems in his preview, in which he discusses the struggles of Operation Raccoon City...
