Game publisher Big Fish announced plans yesterday to close its Vancouver studio and let go 49 staff in Seattle as well as instigate a company-wide reshuffle.
The company also announced that they are looking at closing the Cork studio, having entered as a “30-day consultation with employees.” Big Fish have more than 80 staff in Cork, and announced plans last year to launch a research and development hub with IDA support.
The developer is now looking to streamline and focus on just four languages: English, French, German and Japanese.
The letter from Paul Thelen, CEO and Founder of Big Fish also announced senior management refocus - with managers reporting direct to Thelen for ‘greater focus’.
Lauren LoPrete, graphic designer and all round eye-candy creating wonder, has cooked up This Charming Charlie: bringing classic Peanuts strips together with Morrissey lyrics.
This years Dublin Zine Fair was bigger, better and brighter - with some incredible new finds, and old, to be picked up, thumbed, ogled and collected.
Invited by the Esc team - thanks! - under the promise of great illustrators, interesting conversations and more… so much more. How about some highlights?
I picked up a copy of Vadge at the behest of a friend - and got engrossed in some of the smart and titillating articles. It’s a feminist popculture iconazine that has me hooked.
Nabbed a copy of Patrick Murphy‘s It’s Horrible Havin a Head - a complicated navel gaze into Murphy’s less-than-tender school years in Dublin. Well worth the familiar nostalgic trip!
One of the first people to stop and say hello was Amanda Spitzner - who was laden with her Exploding Comics Magazine, as well as some brilliant (and useful) felt plushies. ECM is quirky short strips with great snapshots of the ordinary, everyday geek-girl… trust me, you want to check out explodingcomics.com
Gareth Gowran and Sadhbh Lawlor’s Splitting Borders was another huge favourite - smart presentation and a brilliant, quiet humour. Go check out their daily updates.
There were so many more - including Sarah Cunningham‘s Maggie and Yuto and the brilliantly funny Sharkzine - I’ll link to a few if they appear. With the launch of Eddie Pie Hand’s Printing (an initiative to give free workshops and advice alongside at-cost printing for zines) the Irish zine scene isn’t going anywhere, and a huge congratulation to Sarah Bracken for bringing everyone together.
AND finally… saving the best till last, SET. It’s a stunning quarterly that explores the between cinema and architecture - it comes with sponsorship from Plus Print, the IFI and the Irish Architecture Foundation and is a gorgeous, refined zine of beauty.
There have been countless campaigns, appeals and attempts to bring Wonder Woman forward as major lead… and DC Nation are getting playful with tropes, genres and well, just about everything.