Rebellion CEO puts the studio's recent avoidance of layoffs down to control of scope and cost: 'Sometimes we say, guys, this game's too big' - Related to cost:, scope, rift, ceo, down

Rebellion CEO puts the studio's recent avoidance of layoffs down to control of scope and cost: 'Sometimes we say, guys, this game's too big'

PC Gamer's Joshua Wolens not long ago spoke to Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley about the studio's extremely British survival FPS Atomfall, which is a kind of Fallout: It's Grim Up North Edition. (Or possibly Stalker: Shadow of Cumbria.) During that conversation, Josh asked how the studio had managed to avoid the layoffageddon that's hit the rest of the games industry following the Covid boom.

"It would be incredibly egotistical to just say it was entirely due to our incredible skill at running a corporation," Kingsley replied. "I think there's always a little bit of luck involved. I think we control our budgets quite carefully. We have substantial budgets, in terms of millions and millions of pounds, but we don't have hundreds of millions of pounds. We try to make it that we can make a really good game, and it has a very decent chance of making a profit. And that's really what it comes down to."

In the last five years, that's meant games like Sniper Elite 5 and Sniper Elite Resistance, Evil Genius 2: World Domination, and Zombie Army 4: Dead War. Choosing to make smaller games rather than massive open worlds isn't just a matter of budget, however. It's also down to personal preference.

"I prefer a small, really good game than a really big kind of game that isn't focused down on what's significant for the player," Kingsley says. "We're just very professional with controlling scope and costs. Sometimes we say, guys, this game's too big."

While in recent years that caution's meant making games in established properties, Kingsley says the aim is for Rebellion's games to be "roughly two-thirds sequels and brands, and roughly one-third slightly more experimental", though it has to be careful about experiments "because we've got a responsibility to team members and staff. We don't want to hire and fire people all the time. There's so much job loss going on in the industry, it's frightening at the moment. We haven't had to go in that direction, and we don't want to go in that direction, so we've got to keep a balance."

The two-third/one-third split isn't a hard and fast rule, then? "It's not a hard and fast rule. We don't really have many hard and fast rules. Actually we have more guidelines, to quote a famous movie pirate."

Sony has won the bidding war for the Resident Evil movie reboot—the same studio that released the first (bad) six Resident Evil live action movies, pl......

The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies expansion has opened its doors to pretty much any kind of small business venture you can dream up. It's perfect for my......

This week, we're highlighting the best demos you can play during Steam Next Fest, which runs from February 24th until March 3rd. We call this Wishlist......

The Baldur's Gate 3 mod for Stardew Valley is out, so here's another opportunity to romance Astarion

Is there a maximum number of times you can replay Baldur's Gate 3 and still have a good time? We haven't found the number yet, but don't worry if you have. There's one more way to get your fix of Shadowheart, Gale, Karlach, Wyll, and most of all Astarion, and it's via the Baldur's Village mod for Stardew Valley.

After months of development, you can download Baldur's Village now. You won't need to start a new save for it either, as it simply adds to the original game rather than replacing any part of it.

What it adds are more than 20 non-player characters, six locations, various dynamic events, shops, items, and more. All this is housed within a new village map you can find to the north of Pelican Town—the entrance is near Linus's tent on the mountain, northeast of the Carpenter's Shop where Robin and her family live.

At the moment, the only new character who can be romanced is Astarion, who has his own heart events and gift preferences. (I bet he's finicky.) He won't be the only romanceable character, however. Work continues, as the mod team explains: "Our next focus will be creating Halsin's romance storyline. Once completed, we will shift our attention to expanding the mod's world-building, background stories, and gameplay by introducing new functions and items."

To get Baldur's Village running you'll also need the Stardew Modding API, the Content Patcher, and the Portraiture mod, without which you won't be able to see the glorious pixel-art portraits of BG3's cast. (When you're talking to a character, press the P key to swap portraits.) Baldur's Village can be found on Nexus Mods, where it's already racked up almost 4,000 downloads.

Ara: History Untold was a decent attempt by Microsoft to snatch some strategic territory from Firaxis' Civilization series, but all its sabre-rattling......

In hindsight, we probably should have taken Monster Hunter Wilds’ earlier benchmark tool release as more of a warning. The actual game is every bit th......

RPS's corporate daddy has showcased that IGN Live is returning this June. The in-person event aims to fill the void left by E3, with playable demos in......

The Last Of Us Season 2's New Trailer Shows The Rift Between Joel And Ellie

It's fitting that the new trailer for The Last of Us Season 2 begins with Joel and Ellie at a physical distance, because there's an emotional gulf between them by the final scene shown. The upcoming season starts five years after Season 1, and Ellie doesn't know what Joel did to save her yet. Once she finds out, things are never going to be the same between them.

The latest trailer is light on context if you've never played The Last of Us Part II. But Joel and Ellie found some relative peace in the intervening years. That's coming to an end because their sanctuary isn't as safe as they believed, as both the infected and outside forces are in play. That includes the newly introduced Abby (Kaitlyn Dever), who will play a major role this season. The trailer also functions an early look at Joe Pantoliano as Eugene, a character who was only hinted at in the game.

The Last of Us Season 2 panel is currently underway at SXSW, and it's being live-streamed on YouTube. Series stars Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, and Gabriel Luna are on hand with Season 2 newcomers Young Mazino, Isabela Merced, and Kaitlyn Dever. Showrunners and series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann also joined the panel as they unveiled the new trailer for Season 2. You can watch the panel below.

HBO drama EVP Francesa Orsi lately shared her belief that The Last of Us will only run four seasons. The storyline based on The Last of Us Part 2 is expected to take multiple seasons, but Druckmann has cast doubt on Naughty Dog and Sony making The Last of Us Part 3.

The Last of Us Season 2 will hit HBO and Max on Sunday, April 13.

Playing Total War: Warhammer 3's Kislev campaign on release was one of the best storified strategy game times I've had in years, launch issues be thri......

In just over a month, players will have a more effective idea of what to expect from the Switch 2 when it's showcased during a Nintendo Direct on April 2. Bec......

The original Dreamcast controller was a revolutionary device when the console launched in the late '90s, but in 2025, it might feel dated for retro ga......