Wizards of the Coast squandered goodwill to find itself right back where it started. Also: Earnings season has begun, the GDC State of the Industry report shows developers put the smackdown on Web3, NPD for December shows a bit of lift, and (as we grimly expected) we’re in the layoff bad times.
We’re SO close to the end of earnings season. This week: Square Enix, Nintendo, Take-Two, Unity (and a discussion about that brutal Bloomberg expose about CEO John Riccitiello). Also: Strange happenings at Studio ZA/UM, Remedy details Control 2 publishing deal, the EU gets prickly about Microsoft’s proposed Activision acquisition, and more.
With Microsoft and Sony falling short on subscriptions, is our future still an all-you-can-eat buffet? Also: Earnings for Microsoft, Sony, Capcom, Paradox, Remedy, and Sega; Embracer shutters recently acquired and rebranded Studio Onoma, and Marvel Snaps up huge mobile revenue.
Embracer Group’s latest spending spree nets them one of the world’s most recognizable IPs (and much more). Also: Unity slumps amid hostile takeover, Take-Two posts losses on Zynga acquisition, Nintendo is in the hot seat again, Activision commits to the union-busting bit, and NPD for July 2022 as spending continues its slide back to pre-pandemic levels.
Call of Duty is in a slump, and Activision is waiting out the clock until the acquisition having reportedly canceled a long in-development mobile World of Warcraft game. Also: Earnings, GameStop’s terrible NFT marketplace, Square Enix’s bananas comments about its former Western teams, and more.
Minecraft is taking a hard line against those who would abuse the game with crypto and blockchain schemes. Also: Earnings season begins with Capcom, Microsoft, and Sony, ABK workers walkout again, Rockstar on the mend, and Meta jacks the price of the Quest 2 by $100.
This episode is a bit of all of your faves. We have some interesting earnings stuff to discuss (Embracer Group, EG7, Thunderful, and CD Projket), the labor report is getting saucy, and we get to talk about funding for indies!
No really. They’ve sold 165 million copies. Do you really need more? It’s a busy earnings show, but we coast through it smooth as Strauss Zelnick’s haircut. On this episode: Zynga, Nintendo, Sony, EA, Roblox,…
Let’s talk about Elden Ring! So… which class did you roll? Have you found any good weapons? Why is that angry giant shouting at me?! Oh wait… uh… shoot… news… um… OKAY! Call of Duty…
It’s almost time to say goodbye to the 3DS and Wii U eShops… but what about all that lost software? Also: Microsoft moved fast to acquire Activision when stocks tanked, Team17 promises change, Paradox has hard work ahead, and the NLRB hears arguments on Raven QA unionization.