The developers of Skate, Dead Island 2, and more look back at 2023

2023 was certainly a tumultuous year for the video game industry, for good and for bad. For consumers, it was great! For the industry itself, certainly less so. With record-breaking layoffs across the gaming and tech sectors, strike authorization for video game voice actors approved for American unions, and various companies being hacked: the gaming space has taken some serious blows this year.

We reached out to various video game developers over the past month to ask what they thought of 2023. For many, it’s been a year to celebrate as new projects are thrust into the spotlight. For others, a bittersweet 12 months in which sweet highs have been bittered by worrying industry trends. As we jump into the new year, we’ve featured these quotes below for your reading pleasure. Here’s to 2024.

Dambuster Studios – Dead Island 2

“It’s impossible to think about 2023 without seeing it through the lens of the last few months where so many other passionate game makers have been impacted by the turmoil that is currently ripping through our industry, so first of all any sentiment should really acknowledge the shock, stress and uncertainly many will be struggling with and hope that it passes as swiftly as possible.”

“On the flipside, 2023 has been a bloody awesome year for Dambuster and the culmination of a five-and-a-half-year journey to bring Dead Island 2 to players. For many people in the studio this has been their first game release and it’s been fantastic to share that experience with them, we delivered a stable, performant, multi-generation, multi-platform, multi-player game across ten SKU’s and the actual code burnt to disc was damn well worth playing, we’re rightly proud of that fact and the nomination at the 2023 Game Awards for Best Action Game is fantastic way to close the year out.”

Robert Matthews, Studio Head, Dambuster Studios

T Minus Zero / Rich Vogel & Mark Tucker – current project unannounced

2023 has been an incredible year for us and NetEase Games. We’ve founded T-Minus Zero Entertainment and have kicked off an exciting new project in what has proven to be a tumultuous year for our industry. Partnering with NetEase Games to be one of their new First Party Studios is both humbling and exciting. NetEase Games’ long term vision is incredible, and their commitment to success is unparalleled. We are thrilled to be a part of the amazing lineup of new studios NetEase Games has added to their roster this year.”

“The opportunity we have been given is tremendous – and we are committed to being a key contributor in making their vision a success. No opportunity like this is ever handed out – we put in a lot of hard work to get to this point, and there is plenty more ahead. Making games is hard, but it is very fulfilling. Working with NetEase Games, and having the opportunity to make the game we want to make, well, that is something truly special. 2023 will always be bookmarked as a special year in all our careers here at T-Minus Zero.”

Rich Vogel & Mark Tucker, T-Minus Zero Entertainment

Full Circle – Skate

“It’s been another wild year for the gaming industry, and I’m coming out of it feeling even more grateful for the passionate player community that’s been with us every step of the way. Now, I know what you’re thinking… that’s all great, but where the flip is Skate?! Well, good things take time, and Skate is no exception.”

“I’m excited to continue this journey with our players, and proud of how far we’ve come this year. In fact, in 2023 we welcomed tens of thousands of Skate insiders onto the streets of San Vansterdam, where they pulled off nearly 5 million kickflips, grinded out over 2 million 50-50s, and hit the pavement 18 million times (ouch). If you haven’t had a chance to roll with us yet, don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about you. We can’t wait to show you what we have in store for 2024! In the meantime, hang tight and enjoy the ride.”

Dan McCulloch, General Manager, Full Circle

Pathea – My Time at Sandrock

“2023 was a very hard year for us because China was coming out of Covid later than the rest of the world. It was also the first time we released a game as massive as My Time at Sandrock on PC AND consoles at the same time, doing all the porting in house. The result is bittersweet because after the release we went to 93% recommended on Steam user reviews. We also still have a bit of work to do on the consoles. We are looking forward to 2024 as we’ll keep the updates and memories coming for all our players!”

Jingyang Xu (Chief Technical Officer)