Daily Briefing, Friday 20th November 2020

Hello, and welcome to another edition of the Bellular Daily Briefing - industry news straight to your screen

Activision Blizzard to cut jobs in Asia Pacific region

An Activision Blizzard spokesperson told MCV that the company are considering ways to meet growth opportunities and stay competitive in the region - which they hope to achieve by centralising some roles in the Activision Blizzard Sydney office.

• This news comes following Activision Blizzard's closure of offices in Versailles and The Hague. This latest round of reshuffling will reportedly see 30 jobs cut as the company pivot their non-development workforce to a full-blown outsourcing arrangement.

Cyberpunk 2077 to offer "streamer mode"

Speaking during the most recent Night City Wire broadcast Hollie Bennett, CD Projekt Red's UK head of communications, outlined that the mode will disable a small number of licensed tracks and replace them with something else in-game - hopefully keeping the DMCA demons away.

• The feature comes during a very turbulent time for Twitch and content creators alike - where waves of DMCA strikes appear to target everything from licensed music to standard in-game sound effects. Twitch have been less than helpful, so these streamer modes may become more commonplace in the future.

IO Interactive are working on a James Bond game

The Hitman developer announced Project 007 via a short, CGI trailer yesterday - the as-yet untitled game is intended to offer the "very first James Bond origin story" and will release for consoles and PC.

• James Bond games have been in a tricky spot as of late - there hasn't been a "proper" one since 007 Legends in 2012 so all eyes will be on what IO are up to. The developer are currently recruiting "elite" talent across more than 20 currently-advertised roles.

Kevin Lin leaves Twitch

The co-founder had been with the company for 13 years - since it was Justin.tv - serving as COO from 2008 to 2018 and then as Head of Culture, Strategy, and Innovation from then until his departure.

• In a Medium post yesterday, Lin outlined that he will be taking some time out to be with his family before taking up an unspecified new project. Lin says he's "excited to stretch [his] curiosity" and hopes to create something as "remarkable" as Twitch again.

Playing Cyberpunk 2077 on Google Stadia can get you a free Google Stadia

Anyone who preorders/purchases Cyberpunk 2077 before December 18th (the game launches worldwide on December 10th) will be eligible for a free Stadia Premiere edition while supplies last - the $100 bundle includes a Stadia controller and a Chromecast Ultra.

• Google have been pretty promotion-happy with Stadia as of late - it'll be interesting to see whether this Cyberpunk 2077 deal (and the recent YouTube Premium promotion) will have any success getting more eyes on Stadia. There should really be more deals where you get the console for free if you buy a game, though.

That's it for today - catch us back here on Monday for another blast of industry news and have a wonderful weekend of games!