Episode 140: E3, WISE FWOM YAW GWAVE (News Show)
E3 lives, Stadia dies, and Twitch continues to make bad moves that alienate its community. Also: Saudi Arabia and Tencent look to step up investments, and a beefy labor report.
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Episode 139: Yves Guillemot Can’t Fix Ubisoft’s Culture Problems (News Show)
Ubisoft leadership has all but given up on fixing the company’s culture as Tencent increases its ownership stake. Also: NPD for August 2022, GameStop bleeds, Square Enix reconsiders how it approaches studio ownership, 343 loses its leader, and Microsoft and Sony continue to butt heads in the UK over Activision acquisition.
Read MoreEpisode 137: Embracer Group Ate Middle-earth Enterprises for Second Breakfast (News Show)
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.
Read MoreEpisode 136: Activision Is Bleeding Players (News Show)
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.
Read MoreBonus Episode 5: Equity and Underrepresentation in Game Development with Code Coven
We talk a lot about diversity, equity, and inclusion on this show. Manda sat down with Code Coven’s founder, Tara Mustapha, and marketing coordinator, Myleah Lofland, earlier this year to discuss how Code Coven is changing the industry for the better by helping to foster and develop the talent that will lead gaming to its…
Read MoreEpisode 133: The Video Game Industry Celebrated Pride with a Bear Market (News Show)
The Video Game Industry Celebrated Pride with a Bear Market (News Show): The pandemic boon is quickly becoming a memory as inflation, rising prices, and a thin release slate put pressure on developers and publishers. Also: Activision workers list demands for workplace safety, the Communications Workers of America back Microsoft’s Activision acquisition, and Québec may be set to quash its local game scene.
Read MoreEpisode 132: Slurping From The Game Firehose (News Show)
There was a lot to learn from the 2022 Keigh3 / Not-E3 / Game Mess showcases, and we’ve got beefy trend analysis for you! Also: NPD for May 2022, Microsoft takes more union-positive steps, EA and Ubisoft slash executive compensation, Activision shareholders do lots wrong (but one thing right), and a double FAFO!
Read MoreEpisode 131: GameStop is Bleeding (News Show)
GameStop revenues are up, but other indicators are looking ugly. Also, Microsoft takes steps toward supporting unions, Xbox cloud gaming evolves, EA tries to repair Pride damage and more. You can support Virtual Economy’s growth via our Ko-Fi and also purchase Virtual Economy merchandise! TIME STAMPS [00:00:29] – GameStop Earnings [00:06:35] – Investment Interlude [00:10:15]…
Read MoreEpisode 130: A Soft Boiled Quarter (News Show)
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!
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