Episode 169: The AAA Video Game Industry is in Freefall (News Show)

Triple-A game development as we know it is unsustainable. It doesn't matter if a game succeeds or fails, the corporate machine is grinding developers up and spitting them out by the thousands. Things need to change.  You can support Virtual Economy’s growth via our Ko-Fi and also purchase Virtual Economy merchandise! TIME STAMPS [00:01:29] - Circana Report on U.S. Video Game Spending for January 2024 [00:07:04] - Investment Interlude [00:18:43] - Quick Hits [00:21:25] - Labor Report [00:43:33] - FAFO! SOURCES An Important Update from PlayStation Studios | SIE Blog Difficult News About Our Workforce | SIE Blog Continuing to evolve our business and teams | EA Respawn's Star Wars FPS Is Canceled, But Work on Next Jedi Game, Black Panther and Iron Man Will Continue | IGN Marcus Lehto has departed EA | Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) on Twitter EA cutting "small number" of staff as it sunsets two mobile games | GamesIndustry Supermassive Confirms Layoffs | Supermassive (@SuperMGames) on Twitter British Game Maker Supermassive Set to Lay Off 90 Workers | Bloomberg (Paywall) Die Gute Fabrik is Stopping Production | Die Gute Fabrik (@gutefabrik) on Twitter ESL Faceit Group lays off 15% of staff 2 years after $1.5B merger | GamesBeat Star Citizen developer hit with layoffs amid claims of a "highly toxic company" | Eurogamer Wildlife Studios is laying off 21 percent of its workforce | Game Developer Keoken Studios lays off Four | Koen Deetman on LinkedIn Layoffs at Radical Forge | Radical Forge (@RadicalForge) on Twitter Deck Nine Games lays off 20 percent of staff | Game Developer ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Maker Rockstar Games Asks Workers to Return to Office Five Days a Week | Bloomberg (Paywall) Nintendo Files Lawsuit Against Creators of Switch Emulator Yuzu | Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) on Twitter INVESTMENT INTERLUDE GamerSafer acquires Minecraft-focused Minehut server community | GamesBeat Embracer Group to Sell Saber, Developer of a New ‘Star Wars’ Game Remake, in $500 Million Deal | Bloomberg (Paywall)