News
Since its inception, the Epic Games Store strat was to throw money at developers to secure exclusives, and burn millions to give away free games every week. This being a money sink is not surprising, but revealed today in the Epic v. Google trial was confirmation that it is indeed still not profitable. Epic VP/GM Steve Allison testified on the witness stand that focus is still on growth. Reminder that we learned during Epic v. Apple that Epic’s goal was to secure half of all PC gaming revenue.
After two years of research and production, Fredrik Knudsen’s ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ examining EVE Online is here. And it’s six hours. Six hours. EVE has over 20 years of community lore spanning the rise and fall of empires, espionage, piracy and everything in between - so settle in and enjoy this monumental documentary.
Following a successful launch, Lies of P director Ji Won Choi has confirmed plans for and showcased some art from forthcoming DLC. He also mentions some balance and QOL changes, a couple of which are huge improvements. Watch the full Director’s Letter here.
Continuing an awful 2023 trend, Bungie sadly confirms staff layoffs across various departments, as well as delays for upcoming game Marathon and Destiny 2’s expansion, The Final Shape. Despite Sony’s $3.6 billion USD acquisition commitment, job security now appears uncertain, with ex-employees already sharing their concerns on social media.
Ahead of Alan Wake 2 releasing on October 27th, Epic Games have unveiled a clever promotional tie-in, in the form of a playable custom Fortnite island. Alan Wake: Flashback is a ‘reimagining the iconic story’, available now with island code 3426-5561-3374. We’ve seen these sort of collabs before, but this is a bit more involved, substantial and creative. Perk of a good relationship I s’pose!
Ensuring not another day goes by without games journalists googling exec headshots, long-time Bethesda SVP Head of Publishing Pete Hines has retired to ‘start an exciting new chapter’. Bethesda praised Hines’ authenticity, integrity and passion in a statement on Twitter.
It was already the best selling game of all time, but at this year’s annual Minecraft Live, it was announced that they’ve sold over 300 million copies. This puts Minecraft over 100 million ahead of the next best selling game, GTA V. Crazy.
While consumers celebrate 2023 as a ‘great year for games!’, a lot of those who make them weren’t as thrilled. Stephen Totilo at Axios looked back over the year, and spoke to developers: over 6,000 industry jobs were cut in 2023, with major studios like Epic and EA making significant staff reductions. The impact extends beyond development roles, affecting DNI and HR jobs, and disproportionately impacting women. Unions may offer a solution as the industry adjusts to post-pandemic working conditions.
As the ink dries on the final steps of Microsoft’s acquisition, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has announced he will only stay on til the end of the year - closing out his 33rd year at the company under Phil Spencer’s leadership. Kotick’s time at the helm was marred by various controversies such as; discrimination lawsuits, allegations of union busting, unfair labour practice complaints and layoffs amid record profits. Hopefully a change in leadership will help turn things around.