It's been less than one month, and the industry has already suffered more than 3,500 lost jobs. Also: The Circana report for December 2023 and the full year, a few investments, and a discussion about some challenging changes to the U.S. tax code. Oh, and a bit about that weird Palworld game.

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TIME STAMPS

• [00:11:08] - Circana report on U.S. Video Game Spending for December and Full Year 2023
• [00:27:19] - Investment Interlude
• [00:34:06] - Quick Hits
• [01:00:58] - Labor Report

SOURCES

• SAG-AFTRA and Replica Studios Introduce Groundbreaking AI Voice Agreement at CES | SAG-AFTRA
• Replica Studios Agreement for Digital Voice Replicas FAQs | SAG-AFTRA
• SAG-AFTRA's AI Voice Acting Deal Was A Powder Keg Waiting To Go Off | Aftermath
• AI Content on Steam | Valve
• Report: 3D Realms and Slipgate may have been hit with more layoffs | Game Developer
• Employees Say 'Sizable Portion' Of Gearbox-Owned Studio Has Been Laid Off | Aftermath
• Playtika reduces staff by 10% | GamesIndustry
• Discord is laying off 17 percent of employees | The Verge
• Thunderful Group to restructure operations for strengthened long-term competitiveness | Thunderful Games
• A Difficult Update about our Workforce | Twitch
• Changes at Riot and the Road Ahead | Riot
• An Important Update about Riot's Future | Riot
• Wimo Games reportedly shuts down | GamesIndustry
• Astra Fund repositions as "thinky" publisher Astra Logical following layoffs | Game Developer
• Playtika reduces staff by 10% | GamesIndustry

INVESTMENT INTERLUDE

• Phoenix Labs execs regroup to form Critical Path Games | Game Developer
• Second Dinner raises $100 million to continue growing Marvel Snap | Game Developer
• Tencent completes majority ownership of Dying Light dev Techland | Game Developer
• Outsourcing studio Obelisk nets $2 million to create original horror title | Game Developer
• Rocksteady founders have a new, post-Suicide Squad studio | Polygon