We’ve come full circle. Embracer Group just took a massive loss to get some much-needed cash in hopes of filling a seemingly bottomless hole of debt. Saber is gone. Zen is gone. 4A is gone. Gearbox is gone. Also, SAG-AFTRA may strike against video game companies, some new studios are popping up, but many others are still laying off and closing.
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TIME STAMPS
- [00:00:30] – GDC and PAX East Recap
- [00:11:27] – Gaming Safety Coalition
- [00:14:53] – Circana Report on U.S. Video Game Spending for February 2024
- [00:29:57] – GameStop Q4 FY24 Earnings
- [00:33:03] – Investment Interlude
- [00:47:40] – Divestment Dinterlude
- [01:03:42] – Quick Hits
- [01:16:04] – Labor Report
SOURCES
- Gaming Safety Coalition | Gaming Safety Coalition
- GameStop Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2023 Results | GameStop
- Report: Australian studio Torus Games effectively shuts down after 30 years | Game Developer
- Eggnut is Closing | Eggnut (@eggnutgames) on Twitter
- Deviation Games is Closing | Kriste Stull on LinkedIn
- Rooster Teeth Shut Down By Warner Bros. Discovery | Deadline Hollywood
- Crop Circle Update | Jennifer Klasing on LinkedIn
- Velan Studios Layoffs | Velan Studios on LinkedIn
- Something Wicked Layoffs | Eric Webb on LinkedIn
- Smilegate Barcelona reportedly closed and all employees let go | VGC
- Nintendo makes cuts to US QA contractors | GamesIndustry
- A MESSAGE FROM MAX HOBERMAN, CEO OF CERTAIN AFFINITY | Certain Affinity
- SAG-AFTRA “50/50, If Not More Likely” To Strike Against Video Game Companies Soon | Deadline Hollywood
- Microsoft voluntarily recognizes 600-strong Activision Blizzard QA union | Game Developer
- Sega of America workers ratify union contract, protecting 150 employees | Polygon
INVESTMENT INTERLUDE
- TURTLE BEACH ANNOUNCES TRANSFORMATIONAL ACQUISITION OF PDP | Turtle Beach
- Virtuos acquires Beyond-FX | GamesIndustry
- Sensor Tower acquires Data.ai | GamesIndustry
- Stellar Blade studio Shift Up files for IPO | GamesIndustry
- Shinji Mikami founds new studio, Kamuy Inc. | Game Developer
- Popularium secures $2m seed funding for next game by Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield | GamesIndustry
- EMBRACER GROUP CEASES ALL OPERATIONS IN RUSSIA THROUGH THE DIVESTMENT OF SELECTED ASSETS FROM THE OPERATIVE GROUP SABER INTERACTIVE | Embracer Group
- Tencent reportedly takes over two ByteDance games teams | GamesIndustry
- The developer of the two-dimensional game “Nikke” applied for listing at a valuation of 3 trillion won, and Tencent held 24% of the shares Game Grand View | GameLook.com.cn