There are few things worse than yet another company laying people off… and EA has committed the sin of obfuscating job losses. Also: Earnings season is underway, the Circana report for December 2024 and the full year, a recap of the GDC State of the Industry report, and more.

You can support Virtual Economy's growth via our Ko-Fi and also purchase Virtual Economy merchandise!

TIME STAMPS

• [00:00:49] - EA Takes a Tumble
• [00:12:58] - Microsoft Q2 FY25 Earnings
• [00:19:38] - Capcom Q3 FY25 Earnings
• [00:25:39] - Circana Report on U.S. Video Game Spending for December 2024 and Full Year 2024
• [00:35:25] - Learnings from the GDC State of the Industry Report
• [01:05:38] - Investment Interlude
• [01:14:06] - Quick Hits
• [01:25:21] - Labor Report
• [01:38:15] - Listener Questions
• [01:50:18] - FAFO

SOURCES

• Electronic Arts Pre-Announces Preliminary Q3 FY25 Results | EA
• Electronic Arts EVP Jacob Schatz sells shares worth $215,174 | MSN
• Earnings Release FY25 Q2 | Microsoft
• Consolidated financial results for the 3rd Quarter of FY2024 | Capcom
• Meta Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Results | Meta
• The drone pilot who took out an LA firefighting plane pleads guilty to escape prison | The Verge

INVESTMENT INTERLUDE

• Pocketpair launches publishing business [Pocketpair Publishing] and announces first publishing partnership with SURGENT STUDIOS. | Pocketpair
• Virtuos acquires three studios to 'significantly augment' development support capabilities | Game Developer
• Board game distribution major Alliance gets $39m buyout bid as owner Diamond Comics files for bankruptcy protection | BoardGameWire
• Closing of Easybrain divestment | Embracer Group

LABOR REPORT

• BioWare Studio Update | BioWare Blog
• Reflector confirms more layoffs after Unknown 9 falls short of expectations | Game Developer
• Phoenix Labs Lays Off Most of Its Staff | Phoenix Labs on LinkedIn
• Ubisoft Layoffs and Closures | Ubisoft Leamington on LinkedIn
• Fast Travel Games Lays off 30 People | Fast Travel Games on LinkedIn
• Studio co-founded by Dr Disrespect closing after three years working on new FPS | PCGamesN