š® New Game From Wizards Of The Coast, Unannounced Game From id Software and No Death Stranding 3...
New Game From Wizards Of The Coast, Unannounced Game From id Software, No Death Stranding 3 in Sight, Diablo Devs Unionised and more!
Hello friends,
Today is September 9th 2025 and I hope youāve had a great week š
In todayās news:
š® New Game From Wizards Of The Coast
š® Unannounced Game From id Software
š® No Death Stranding 3 in Sight
š® Diablo Devs Unionised
ā” Lightning Round!
š«” True Tribute!
š Personal Update
All of this is brought to you in a 5 min format ā²ļø
Letās dig in!
š® New Game From Wizards Of The Coast
And not just a new game, apparently, Wizards of the Coast hired a number of developers from EAās cancelled Black Panther for this title.
According to a recent interview between Gamesindustry.biz and WOTC President John Hight, the new team is already in place and is being led by former Monolith Productions director Michael de Plater. Unfortunately, he couldnāt share anything about this game other than that itās in the incubation stage and is being concepted right now.
The only thing he could say is that the idea behind this game is āsomething very cool and newā.
Well, I guess welcome to what every other game developer says. Seriously, though, I think itās great that in times when projects are cancelled and people are let go, there are still other studios that welcome those people with open arms and give them something new to work on and to continue their careers. Kind of makes you hopeful that the industry is not doomed after all š
š® Unannounced Game From id Software
Speaking of new games, the rumour mill recently started buzzing about a new game thatās allegedly in development from a studio that brought us DOOM games.
According to a recent job post from ZeniMax Media, id Software is currently looking for an experienced Lead Gameplay Features Programmer to join their Dallas team in the development of an unannounced video game project. What is especially interesting is the qualification section, as it says that the ideal candidate should have:
6+ years in the games industry or demonstrable work in a first-person shooter game
So, itās fair to assume that the company is working on yet another FPS. But then again, the job post itself doesnāt offer any other insights as to what this game is, so treat it with a grain of salt.
However, given the success of their shooters, I find it quite plausible that perhaps another DOOM is being developed or something similar to it. Also, the job listing highlights experience with idTech (the graphics engine powering the vast majority of id Software games) and the console experience. But Iām wondering, how long are they going to keep making those games before they become ājust another DOOMā?
What are your thoughts on a potential new DOOM game?
š® No Death Stranding 3 in Sight
Even though Death Stranding 2: On The Beach was well received, it looks like it may be a while till we see the third game.
According to IGN, even though it is already written down somewhere, Hideo Kojima just isnāt ready to pull the trigger on it yet. Kojima was asked about the next instalment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as a part of the Death Stranding 2 World Strand Tour, and his response was:
I'm not planning to do that at the moment, because the ending of Death Stranding 2 was my finale of 1 and 2. But I already wrote the concept of DS3, so I have that in data. I hope that someone would create it for me.
I gave a USB stick with all my ideas on it to my personal assistant, kind of like a will. Perhaps they could continue to make things after Iām gone at Kojima Productionsā¦ This is a fear for me: what happens to Kojima Productions after Iām gone? I donāt want them to just manage our existing IP.
Well, aside from the fact that the famous game designer is concerned about a question of his own mortality, it looks like it will be a while till we see the new Death Stranding for sure. But in the meantime, Kojima Productions still has a lot of projects in the pipeline, like a movie adaptation for the first game and the ominous project OD. So, we wonāt be left with nothing š
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š® Diablo Devs Unionised
When it comes to laoyffs, it looks like forming unions and promoting more employee rights seems to be the answer for the industry, and about 450 people who are working on the Diablo franchise canāt agree more, as they recently voted to unionise.
According to CWA, developers will be a member of one of three available unionsāCWA Local 9510 in Irvine, Calif., CWA Local 1118 in Albany, N.Y., and CWA Local 6215 in Austin, Texas. The employees joining include developers, artists, engineers, designers and support staff.
Microsoft recognised their union. And hereās what some of the members have to say about it:
I grew up playing Diablo, and I feel lucky that I get to work at Blizzard on a game thatās very special to me and the gaming community. But passion canāt protect us from job instability. Our union allows us to focus on making magical experiences for our players instead of worrying about the unstable job industry. - Skye Hoefling, Team 3 Senior Software Engineer II on Diablo and organizing committee member
My entire career as a developer has seen my peers and I paying the āpassion taxā for working in an industry that we love. At some point you have to choose between fight or flight, and forming a union is us doing just that ā standing our ground in the industry. - Nav Bhatti, Team 3 Senior Software Engineer and organizing committee member
Honestly, I think we are living in a time where employee rights have never been more vital, especially to the game industry, and Iām sure that more and more people will vote for decisions that provide them with job security, unless there is a drastic change in terms of policies and corporate rules.
What do you think?
ā” Lightning Round!
1ā¦2ā¦3ā¦Go!
š® Steam Deck 2 Might Have a Release Window
While Microsoft and ASUS still debate about the price of the XBOX Ally, a rumour surfaced about a second generation of Steam Decks.
According to Gamerant, a leaker recently claimed that even though Valve is not talking about the next gen, theyāve already narrowed down a release window for it, and it will be 2028.
Per Valve's earlier comments, they are not planning to release a new console until they can achieve āa generation leapā in performance without sacrificing the console's battery life.
So, if you want a brand new Steam Deck, you might have to wait a bit ā°
š® Gears of War: Reloaded Faces Troubled Launch
A long-awaited release of the Gears of War seems to be doing quite poorly so far, and Reloaded now holds a disappointing record of being the game with the fewest all-time peak Steam player count on release day.
Aside from being launched with Mixed reviews due to the fact that developers pulled the split-screen coop function right before the release, the poor performance might also be attributed to Xbox Game Pass, as many PC players who are also Game Pass subscribers will simply choose to download it for free there.
The game that was once the biggest franchise Xbox had during the console wars now managed to amass only 4,819 playersā¦What a shame.
š® 160 Page Pitch for Elden Ring Movie
It seems like the adaptation of Elden Ring might be a bit bigger than we anticipated, as according to Insider Gaming, the original script is 160 pages long!
Per the recent article from indie studio A24 and director Alex Garland, head of film Noah Sacco met with him five years ago, and they chatted about the possibility of adapting the game for the big screen. Then Garland proceeded to write a 160-page script, alongside 40 illustrations, for his version of Elden Ring. The two flew out to Japan once it was done and showed it off to FromSoftware and director Hidetaka Miyazaki.
As you can tell, the meeting went really well, and now we have a new movie to look forward to. I wonder, though, how deep they are going to dig into the lore and what this movie would even look like, considering what this game isā¦
š«” True Tribute!
Today I wanted to salute
and !
If you didnāt know this about
, aside from writing a bunch of cool stuff about cats and professional wrestling, she also has quite a few stories! And it is just a cherry on top of an already impressive cake. Looking forward to reading more stuff like this!š Personal Update
Well, as all things, my vacation has come to an end, so itās back to work for me, and Iām already looking forward to the next one š
Aside from the usual catch-up that I need to do, Iāve had a bit of time to write some things in advance, and I canāt be happier about it. I have a really huge backlog of stuff that I want to write, and even though all my efforts now feel like a drop in a bucket, Iām glad that I can start to do more than just talk about the news all day š
This is all the news I have for you folks today.
Thanks for making it this far! š
If you feel like supporting me and my work, consider Powering-Up GameDev Relay š®
Have a great week!
Alex from Gamedev Relay.
Thanks for all the news ā this helps me plan out my work as an Indie game dev.
Oh, and the gaming industry is evolving, 56% of game sales on Steam last year was AA and indie, and 48% of the revenue.
AAA may be suffering, but thereās lots of former game devs that lost their jobs at AAA game studios who started their own.
I am content with no DS3. Just let some franchises end pleeeeease!