Ghost Master Returns | 28% of Devs Laid Off in Two Years

The 2003 cult classic Ghost Master returns today with Ghost Master: Resurrection, launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Originally released over two decades ago, the game tasks players with commanding an army of spirits, banshees, and ghouls to terrify the living in the eerie town of Gravenville.

The Resurrection edition is a complete modern overhaul featuring cutting-edge visuals, a new engine, and refined mechanics. Players can summon over a dozen types of ghosts across 11 reimagined locations including asylums, sorority houses, secret labs, and police stations. Physical editions for PS5 and Switch include four DLC packs: Until Dawn, Ghosts Adrift, Ghostly Defence, and Ashes and Abyss.

The GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry report, based on responses from over 2,300 game professionals, reveals a sector in crisis. Over one in four developers (28%) were laid off in the past two years, rising to one-third (33%) in the United States. Half of all respondents said their employer conducted layoffs in the past 12 months, with two-thirds of AAA studio employees affected.

Students entering the industry are deeply pessimistic — 74% expressed concern about future job prospects, citing lack of entry-level positions and AI-driven displacement. Educators are even more concerned, with 87% expecting negative impacts on student placement. Meanwhile, sentiment on generative AI has hit a new low: 52% believe it's having a negative impact, up from just 18% two years ago.

The studio founded by Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi is facing closure after NetEase announced it will pull funding for debut title Gang of Dragon this May. The game, unveiled at The Game Awards just three months ago starring Ma Dong-seok (Train to Busan, Marvel's Eternals), is now in jeopardy along with the entire studio's future.

NetEase determined that completing Gang of Dragon would require an additional ¥7 billion (approximately $44.4 million) beyond what has already been spent during four years of development. While NetEase has given Nagoshi Studio permission to continue independently, the creators would need to buy back the IP rights — a significant hurdle. The crisis is the latest in NetEase's broader retreat from international game development, following closures of T-Minus, FPC, Bad Brain, and splits with Worlds Untold and Jar of Sparks.

Neopets has terminated its license agreement with Geekify, effectively cancelling the planned Neopets Tabletop RPG and leaving over 7,600 Kickstarter backers who contributed $427,109 in 2024 uncertain about refunds. The decision follows months of troubled development and a controversial playtest release in February 2026.

The playtest was widely criticized as a thin reskin of D&D 5e rules that failed to capture Neopets' essence. Most damning was a section where all perks were replaced with: "This work has not been paid for by John Taylor of Geekify" — an allegation that the CEO wasn't paying designers. Geekify blamed a developer who "modified documents before angrily exiting," while claiming Neopets took months to review submitted chapters. Neopets has committed to providing exclusive in-game avatars to all backers.

Mega Crit's Slay the Spire 2 has achieved a remarkable milestone, selling over 3 million copies during its first week in Early Access on Steam. The sequel to the acclaimed deckbuilding roguelike launched on March 5, 2026, and has maintained approximately 500,000 concurrent players daily while topping Steam's global sales charts.

Built using the free and open-source Godot Engine, the game has accumulated over 25 million runs attempted by players. It holds an "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating with 97% of 27,000+ reviews being positive. Mega Crit has introduced a public beta branch for testing upcoming changes and confirmed they won't commit to strict release timelines, preferring to ship when content is genuinely ready. A Kickstarter for Slay the Spire: The Board Game — Downfall expansion launches March 24.

Everwind, the voxel-based sandbox survival RPG from Enjoy Studio and Bohemia Interactive, officially entered Steam Early Access on March 17, 2026. Originally known as Skyverse before a trademark dispute, the game successfully raised $53,000 on Kickstarter and is now available for $24.99 (with a 10% launch discount) or $49.99 for the cosmetics-filled Capybara Edition.

Set in a world of floating islands, players captain flying island-ships, gather resources, craft equipment, and explore the skies either solo or with up to three friends in co-op multiplayer. The developers estimate approximately one year of Early Access development before full release, with plans for dedicated servers, major system upgrades, story updates, and a hardcore mode. Save data from the demo carries over to the full game.

The acclaimed 2003 survival horror classic Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly has been fully remade and launched on March 12, 2026, for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Originally a PlayStation 2 title that helped define Japanese horror in gaming, the remake brings the haunting tale of twin sisters Mio and Mayu to modern platforms.

The remake features complete visual overhaul using Unreal Engine 5, new side stories, an additional ending featuring the song "Utsushie" by Tsuki Amano, and the new "Holding Hands with Mayu" mechanic emphasizing the sisters' bond. Players use the Camera Obscura to capture and contain vengeful spirits in the abandoned Lost Village. Early purchase bonuses include exclusive costumes and charms for those buying before March 25, 2026. A collaboration with SILENT HILL f will add free DLC costumes at a later date.

Ubisoft has laid off 105 employees at Red Storm Entertainment, the historic studio founded in 1996 and best known for its work on the Tom Clancy franchise. The North Carolina-based studio will cease all active game development and transition to a support role providing global IT services and continuing work on the Snowdrop engine.

The cuts are part of Ubisoft's global cost-savings plan announced in January 2026. This year alone, Ubisoft has also closed its Halifax studio (weeks after workers voted to unionize), made 29 redundancies at its Abu Dhabi studio, and laid off 40 employees at Ubisoft Toronto. The company is undergoing a major corporate reorganization, restructuring internal teams into new production groups while narrowing its project slate to focus on fewer, higher-priority titles amid financial pressures and investor expectations.

nDreams, one of the most established VR game studios in the industry, has announced plans to close two internal studios responsible for some of its most innovative VR projects. The company could see a reduction of 78 roles across "all levels and multiple teams, including senior leadership" as it grapples with what it describes as a "challenging" games market.

The closures mark another significant blow to the VR gaming sector, which has faced headwinds despite hardware advances. nDreams has been a pioneer in VR gaming, developing titles like Phantom: Covert Ops, Fracked, and Synapse. The scale of the cuts — affecting nearly 80 positions including leadership — suggests structural challenges beyond simple project cancellations. The news comes as Meta's Horizon Worlds VR shutdown continues and the broader VR market seeks sustainable business models.

Crystal Dynamics has announced it will lay off 20 employees, split between development personnel and central operations roles. This marks the fourth round of layoffs at the studio in just 12 months, following three separate rounds of cuts throughout 2025. The studio, now part of the Embracer Group, is best known for the Tomb Raider series and its work on Marvel's Avengers.

The repeated layoffs at Crystal Dynamics reflect broader instability within Embracer Group, which has undergone significant restructuring since its ambitious acquisition spree. The studio is currently working on the next Tomb Raider game and contributing to The Perfect Dark reboot. For employees, the cyclical nature of the cuts — four rounds in one year — creates an environment of persistent uncertainty about job security.

Koei Tecmo and Omega Force have delayed Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered just two months ahead of its planned March 19, 2026 launch. The remaster — which includes both the base game and Xtreme Legends expansion with over 40 officers recreated in Unreal Engine 5 — will no longer hit its scheduled date.

Producer Tomohiko Sho stated the delay was made "in order to fully satisfy our fans" and to give the development team time to "further improve on the quality of the game." No new release date has been announced. The original Dynasty Warriors 3 was the first in the franchise to sell over one million copies and introduced series staples like True Musou Attacks, two-player co-op, and officer development systems. The game was set to release on PS5, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

At GDC 2026, Embark Studios addressed the voice acting industry's concerns about AI replacing performers — an issue significant enough to have sparked a voice actors strike in 2025. The studio's comments come as the industry grapples with the appropriate use of generative AI in creative processes.

However, Embark has not fully clarified how much AI usage they still intend to use in the development of additional Arc Raiders content or future games. The ambiguity reflects broader industry uncertainty, with the GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry report showing that 52% of developers now view generative AI negatively — up from just 18% two years ago. Voice actors remain particularly vigilant about AI usage, seeing it as an existential threat to their profession.