Byte Action Issue #3

5 min readMar 17, 2021

Welcome to Byte Action!

This is the 3rd edition, and our debut on Medium.

Hope you are ready for the start of another productive week. It’s been almost a year now since pretty much the entire games industry has shifted to the WFH model. A lot has changed since then, but one year on, and the industry is as strong as it’s ever been. There are plenty of new studios that keep opening up, more people than ever are playing video games, and the industry is trying to keep with the demand.

Last week was filled with a number acquisitions and IPOs with both: Roblox and TinyBuild studios going public, and likes of Rogue Games and Olivex receiving sizeable investments. We also had a new section added to the newsletter called: ‘Rumours’ where we’ll be adding latest industry speculations circling around. Lastly, this weeks ‘Action’ is all about Server attacks and security breaches — turns out there’d been a few of those.

Want see the previous issues or get the new ones delivered directly to you — check out our newsletter.

The Byte

Roblox goes public, ends first day valued at $38bn
To put that into context, EA’s current market cap is $37.43bn, Take-Two’s is $18.98bn, and Ubisoft’s is $8.16bn. Not bad huh?

The Action

After Horrible Fire Destroyed Servers, Here’s How Rust Developer Got The Game Back Online
The servers were back online within about 11 hours of them first going down. Although Facepunch had backups for some data, player progression information was not backed up off-site. Lessons learned for everyone here I guess.

Suspected DDoS attack takes LittleBigPlanet servers offline
LittleBigPlanet servers didn’t get caught on fire, however they went offline anyhow after the alleged DDoS attack.

Capcom Security Breach Reportedly Forces Employees Back Into Their Offices
Osaka-based company said it is abandoning remote work due to an inability to secure its data, as evidenced last year when Capcom suffered a massive breach. How is everyone else making sure their data remains secure whilst working remotely?

Retro Byte

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a new 16-bit beat-’em-up
Developed by Tribute Games and published by Dotemu, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is coming to consoles and PC. Exciting stuff for all the TMNT fans!

Legal Stuff

Epic Games takes legal action against Google in Australia | GamesIndustry.biz
Another lawsuit with Epic Games at its forefront. The filing is the latest expansion of Epic’s ongoing case against both Google and Apple after the two mobile giants blocked Fortnite from their app stores.

Acquisitions/Investments

Rogue Games raises $2.5 million in Series A Funding
Searching for a publisher for your upcoming indie game? These guys are worth approaching!

Hello Neighbor indie publisher TinyBuild goes public with $474M valuation | VentureBeat
Indie games publisher TinyBuild, known for its Hello Neighbor games, went public in London with a valuation of $474 million. Another successful game industry IPO!

Omeda Studio nets $2.2 million to create new MOBA using Epic’s Paragon assets
Omeda Studio has secured $2.2 million in funding to develop a new cross-platform MOBA using the assets of Epic’s defunct MOBA, Paragon.

Six to Start, The World’s Leading Gamified Fitness Company, Acquired by Australian-Listed OliveX In US$9.5m Deal
Six to Start is an award-winning UK-based game developer and fitness technology company which creates immersive and motivating smartphone audio stories and gaming experiences including Zombies, Run!, The Walk, and Zombies, Run! 5k

New Game Releases

Cyanide & Happiness — Freakpocalypse Review
While Cyanide & Happiness — Freakpocalypse certainly nails the look of a comic strip, its plot and puzzle-solving are also every bit as paper thin.

Who’s hiring?

UI/UX Director — Demiurge Studios — Cambridge, MA

Data Manager — ASOBO Studio — Bordeaux, France

Lead Game Designer — IOI — Copenhagen, Denmark

Senior Graphics Programmer — Avalanche Studios — NYC

Art Outsourcing Supervisor — Socialpoint — Barcelona, Spain

Technical Art Director — Gunzilla Games — Frankfurt, Germany

Lead Technical Animator — Build a Rocket Boy — Edinburgh

Senior Game Designer — DONTNOD Entertainment — Paris, France

Technical Director — Fatshark — Stockholm, Sweden

Lead Writer — Sony Santa Monica — Los Angeles, CA

Entry Level Jobs

Junior Gameplay Programmer — Rebellion — Oxford, UK

Junior Quest Designer — CD Projekt Red — Krakow, Poland

Junior Backend Engineer — Socialpoint — Barcelona, Spain

Junior QA Analyst — Big Viking Games — Toronto, Canada

Junior 3D Artist — Dovetail Games — Kent, UK

Rumours

Everywhere: Fan Theories About GTA Mastermind’s New Game are ‘Not Far Off’, Says Developer
Lots of speculations have been circling around this upcoming multiplayer game, though the mastermind behind it all — Leslie Benzies — said that some of the theories fans have been putting together are “not far off” what it’s envisioning for the final project.

Naughty Dog is hiring for a multiplayer game with live service elements
Another AAA developer is thought to be developing a live service game. Some speculators suggest it’s The Last of Us 2’s upcoming standalone multiplayer mode, Factions.

Podcasting

IGN UK Podcast #583: Loop Hero is Taking Over Our Lives
Loop Hero, Raya and the Last Dragon, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Taskmaster and Line of Duty.

The Electronic Wireless Show Podcast episode 132: the best buildings in games special
This week it’s all about your favourite buildings in video games.

Events

Square Enix Presents: How to watch the digital showcase and what to expect
Like many other big name publishers of late, Square Enix will soon host its own digital showcase event.

Final Thoughts

I’d like to end this by remembering Gordon Hall — founder of Möbius Entertainment, which later became Rockstar Leeds. Under Hall, Rockstar Leeds released games like Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and GTA: Liberty City Stories, with Hall also working on the development of Red Dead Redemption under Rockstar San Diego. He was one of the key figures of the industry, and he’ll be greatly missed.