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.
Triple-A game development is unsustainable. No matter whether your game succeeds or fails, the corporate machine is grinding developers up and spitting them out by the thousands. Things need to change.
The console market is going through major changes as hardware prices stay high and first party needs to pivot audience strategy. Nintendo may be struggling to find a break-even for its Switch successor, prompting a…
In the wake of 2020’s bombshell revelations about Activision’s miserable culture and history of defending sexual abusers, we hoped that Microsoft would be a better steward for the company’s 13,000 employees. With 1,900 laid off…
We think it’s safe to say that no one anticipated just how miserable 2023 would be for the amazing people creating the games we love. And while this year did bring us a deluge of delight in terms of the games, the play experiences were overshadowed by the trauma and despair of the more than 10,000 people who found themselves out of work… some just a few days before Christmas.
Embracer Group gorged itself during the pandemic when debt was cheap. Now, it’s scrambling to lay off hundreds of people to “win.” Also, Circana report for October, Epic wins against Google, and more.
With Microsoft’s Activision acquisition closed, the Xbox leadership team has reorganized in some unexpected ways. Also: Microsoft and Capcom earnings, more layoffs, Paradox says goodbye to Harebrained Schemes, Unity boots John Riccitiello, and we have the latest Circana report on U.S. Game spending.
The industry’s labor situation is reaching a boiling point, as Epic Games sacrifices employees on the altar of its fight against Apple and Google. Also: Unity has burnt its goodwill to the ground, voice actors…
Unity couldn’t have made a bigger mess of its reputation in the game development community. Also: Microsoft’s big leak, GameStop earnings, Circana report for August, SAG-AFTRA fires a shot at video game publishers, and more.
The Microsoft/Activision deal is still alive. And now, Ubisoft has been folded into the conversation with control of cloud streaming rights. Also: Earnings (Square Enix, Sony, Take-Two, Embracer Group), The July 2023 Circana Report on U.S. Video Game Spending, Xbox’s new moderation system, and a listener question about the Xtra Small Small.