We’re back for Season 4! Good thing we’re not on HBO Max, amirite? The ghosts of Ubisoft’s failure to care for its employees are now haunting its financial performance. Also: Let’s talk about D&D and Hasbro’s huge, shortsighted missteps with the OGL, Epic has been slapped with a fine over Fortnite, Zenimax QA workers unionize, while Activision Blizzard moves to make things hard for workers at recently acquired Proletariat.
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TIME STAMPS
- [00:02:34] – Dungeons & Dragons Rolls a Critical Miss
- [00:23:13] – Ubisoft’s No Good, Very Bad Day
- [00:34:48] – A Pair of Fortnite Stories
- [00:48:47] – Investment Interlude
- [01:05:02] – Quick Hits
- [01:19:40] – Labor Report
SOURCES
- Dungeons & Dragons’ New License Tightens Its Grip on Competition | Gizmodo
- Let’s Take A Minute To Talk About D&D’s Open Gaming License (OGL) | Noah Downs on Medium
- A Legal Perspective on the OGL | Chris Reid (@NYGameLawyer) on Twitter
- Paizo Announces System-Neutral Open RPG License | Paizo
- An Update on the Open Game License (OGL)
- Canceled D&D Beyond Subscriptions Forced Hasbro’s Hand | Gizmodo
- UBISOFT STRENGTHENS STRATEGIC FOCUS… | Ubisoft
- Ubisoft Delays Skull And Bones, Cancels More Games, And Announces New Cuts | Kotaku
- Parents say game developer made ‘Fortnite’ as ‘addictive as possible’ | Washington Post
- Epic Games Fined by FTC in Children’s ‘Fortnite’ Privacy Case | Bloomberg Law
- Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast Cancels Video Game Projects | Bloomberg (Paywall)
- Playtika to lay off over 600 staff; studios at risk, three games canned | Mobilegamer.biz
- Microsoft game makers unionize after vote passes by “supermajority” | Axios
- Proletariat Workers Become Third Group of Activision Blizzard Workers to Form Union with Communications Workers of America | Communications Workers of America
- EVERYONE DESERVES A VOTE | Proletariat
INVESTMENT INTERLUDE
- MICROSOFT/ACTIVISION BLIZZARD PHASE 2 MERGER INQUIRY | UK Competition Markets Authority
- UK regulator extends deadline for investigation into Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal | Game Developer
- Exclusive: Microsoft, Activision back off aggressive claim in FTC case | Axios
- Microsoft Sued by Gamers Over $69 Billion Activision Deal (2) | Bloomberg Law
- Google, Nvidia Express Concerns to FTC About Microsoft’s Activision Deal | Bloomberg (Paywall)
- Yuga Labs Appoints Activision Blizzard President and COO Daniel Alegre as New CEO | Yuga Labs
- Jagex Acquires SCUM Developer Gamepires | Jagex
- NDREAMS ACQUIRES NEAR LIGHT | nDreams
- SkyBox Labs is joining NetEase Games | NetEase
- GEARBOX ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF CAPTURED DIMENSIONS | Gearbox
- ATARI: OPENING OF THE FRIENDLY TENDER OFFER FOR ATARI SHARES | Atari
- MY.GAMES ANNOUNCES BUSINESS RESTRUCTURING AND DECISION TO CEASE OPERATIONS IN THE RUSSIAN MARKET | My.Games