2026 is putting us through our paces right out of the gate (leading us to some unfortunate episode title symmetry with last year’s season finale). We’re hanging onto hope, but layoffs, consolidation, and private equity loom over us like a shadow. On this episode: an update on Paramount’s desperate fight for Warner Bros. Discovery, Saudi Arabia moves video game holdings, and VR’s challenges get much larger.
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TIME STAMPS
- [00:02:35] – A conversation about hardware prices
- [00:10:16] – Paramount sues Warner Bros for Netflix deal details
- [00:15:39] – Investment Interlude
- [00:24:13] – Quick Hits
- [00:28:07] – Labor Report
SOURCES
INVESTMENT INTERLUDE
- Phasmophobia developer Kinetic Games launches indie publishing label | Game Developer
- Electronic Arts Investors Back $55 Billion Sale to Saudi’s PIF | Bloomberg (Paywall)
- Saudi PIF moving $12bn of games firm shares to subsidiary Savvy | GamesIndustry
LABOR REPORT
- Meta has closed several studios, including ‘Splosion Man studio Twisted Pixel and Asgard Wrath’s Sanzaru Games | VGC
- Meta Layoffs Hit Batman: Arkham Shadow Studio Camouflaj, Game Projects Canceled | Aftermath
- Cloudhead Games is Cutting 70% of staff | Denny Unger on LinkedIn
- Ubisoft shuttering freshly-unionised Halifax studio, 71 jobs affected | GamesIndustry
- Ubisoft confirms 29 jobs lost at Abu Dhabi mobile studio | GamesIndustry
- Ubisoft laying off 55 roles at Massive and Ubisoft Stockholm as cost-cutting continues | GamesIndustry
- Warner Bros Games San Francisco reportedly hit with layoffs | GamesIndustry