Xbox June Showcase Set, Eidos Montreal Layoffs, Rec Room Shutting

The summer gaming calendar is officially taking shape with Microsoft locking in its major June showcase, but the industry's brutal economic reality continues to cast a long shadow. This week brought another devastating wave of studio closures, mass layoffs, and sudden live-service cancellations, highlighting the increasingly volatile state of modern game development.

Eidos Montreal Suffers Mass Layoffs as Indie Studio Ivy Road Closes

EurogamerGamesIndustry.bizPush Square Deus Ex developer Eidos-Montréal is laying off 124 employees following the cancellation of an unannounced project, marking its third consecutive year of job cuts +1. The workforce reduction coincides with the departure of veteran studio head David Anfossi, who led the Embracer-owned company for nearly two decades before stepping down amidst rising development costs +2.

The indie sector is facing similar financial hurdles, with Wanderstop developer Ivy Road permanently shutting down on March 31 after failing to secure publishing funding for its proposed vehicular combat game, Engine Angel . Meanwhile, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney faced intense backlash after the Fortnite developer's recent 1,000-person layoff included a terminally ill programmer, prompting the studio to publicly commit to solving the affected developer's life insurance situation .

Rec Room and The Elder Scrolls Blades Lead Wave of Server Shutdowns

Push SquareThis Week in Video GamesNintendo Life The popular virtual reality social club Rec Room will permanently shut down its servers on June 1, exactly ten years after its debut, as the development team failed to make the platform sustainably profitable . Snap is reportedly acquiring some of the platform's underlying assets as it prepares to go offline, with premium currency purchases winding down in May . Bethesda is also sunsetting its free-to-play mobile and Nintendo Switch RPG The Elder Scrolls: Blades, which has been delisted from storefronts ahead of a permanent June 30 closure .

In the PC space, Krafton pulled the plug on its tactical shooter spinoff PUBG: Blindspot after just 53 days in early access, citing a strategy of quickly validating a project's long-term potential . The growing trend of server closures has sparked legal action in France, where consumer rights group UFC-Que Choisir is suing Ubisoft over its decision to render the 2014 racing game The Crew completely unplayable .

Crimson Desert Removes AI Art and Hits New Steam Player Peak

IGNPush SquarePC Gamer Pearl Abyss has deployed a massive update for Crimson Desert across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, driving the open-world action game to a new concurrent player peak on Steam . The patch officially strips the RPG of its controversial AI-generated placeholder art, while introducing FSR 3 upscaling and a dedicated 4K graphical toggle to the PS5 version to significantly improve image quality +1.

The free update also overhauls the game's stealing mechanics and significantly reduces fast travel loading times . Behind the scenes, voice actor Alec Newman revealed that the game's narrative underwent massive revisions during production, prompting him to actively push the studio to make protagonist Kliff less stoic as the story direction constantly shifted .

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Replaces Human Translator With AI

This Week in Video GamesPush SquareTechRaptor Warhorse Studios is facing severe backlash after reportedly firing a localization staff member to replace their role with generative AI . Max Hejtmánek, a former Czech-to-English translator for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, stated he was dismissed after management decided his position would become obsolete next month . The development team allegedly plans to use artificial intelligence for all future translation work in an effort to cut costs and increase efficiency .

Xbox Games Showcase 2026 and Zero Parades Secure Release Dates

EurogamerEurogamerEurogamer Microsoft will broadcast its annual Xbox Games Showcase on June 7, 2026, followed immediately by a dedicated Direct presentation offering the first substantial look at the highly anticipated prequel Gears of War: E-Day +1. In a related shift for the brand, new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has officially scrapped the controversial "This is an Xbox" marketing campaign, reportedly stating that the messaging simply did not fit the platform's identity .

On the release calendar, Disco Elysium successor Zero Parades: For Dead Spies will launch on PC on May 21, with a PlayStation 5 release following later in 2026 . Finally, Nintendo's theatrical expansion continues tomorrow with the premiere of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which analysts project will secure the biggest global box office debut of the year with a massive $350 million opening weekend .