The Gamebiz Podcast

Let's talk about PlayStation's Live Service Strategy™

All sources are in the show notes. All opinions are my own.

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Topic

(0:53) - Amazon Game Studios’ boss has stepped down

(4:28) - Xbox’s The Initiative studio has seen a “fast and furious” wave of senior departures in the past 12 months

(11:43) - Ampere Analysis: Console market grew to record $60bn in 2021

(15:27) - Topic of the week

Show notes

Amazon: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/amazon-game-studios-boss-has-stepped-down/

Initiative: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/insiders-describe-fast-and-furious-exits-from-xboxs-perfect-dark-studio/

Ampere article: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-03-01-ampere-analysis-console-market-grew-to-record-usd60bn-in-2021

Topic of the Week: https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/1488759075672309762?s=20&t=MqL2AeeHLs-8HYUbLHH2rQ

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-03-21-playstation-to-buy-jade-raymonds-haven-studios-sonys-first-developer-in-canada

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/25/22996376/sony-playstation-spartacus-subscription-game-pass-rumor-ps5

https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/1506310640092299276?s=20&t=uv-HilgOTitJ5Ql6bSbjCA

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-01-31-sony-buying-bungie-for-usd3-6-billion

https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/2/22914016/sony-playstation-live-service-games-launch-march-2026?utm_campaign=theverge&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

First episode of 2022 and what a topic to be coming back to cover. This episode I'll be going over Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard for a near $69bn (nice).

All sources are in the show notes. All opinions are my own.

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Topic

(1:12) - What is this deal?

(3:30) - What does it mean for Xbox?

(10:46) - What does it mean for Activision Blizzard?

(13:21) - What does it mean for Sony?

Show notes

IGN acquisitions comparisons 

https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-activision-blizzard-acquisition-comparison

Xbox - https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1489343287035150340

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-01-18-xboxs-activision-blizzard-is-about-more-than-beating-sony-opinion

https://www.axios.com/microsoft-activision-blizzard-phil-spencer-45dbec0a-652c-4f1d-9397-730752562d00.html

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/xbox-is-pushing-phil-spencer-to-line-up-a-successor/

Activision Blizzard - https://dotesports.com/business/news/activision-blizzard-employees-voice-concerns-microsoft-acquisition

https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsofts-videogame-boss-and-the-long-battle-to-reinvent-the-company-11643912561

Sony - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-01-20-sony-says-it-expects-games-to-stay-multiplatform-due-to-contractual-agreements

https://twitter.com/XboxP3/status/1484273335139651585

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sony-shares-fell-7-following-news-of-xboxs-activision-blizzard-deal/

Last episode of 2021!!!!! And it's a short and sweet one too. Ubisoft making NFTs for their games, why don't they just NFT themselves at this point. 

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News

(0:50) - Judge dismisses Wolfire’s antitrust lawsuit against Valve

(2:23) - Sony is planning a new subscription service, code-named Spartacus

(4:36) - PlayStation acquires Valkyrie Entertainment

(7:11) - Bungie's toxic workplace culture

(8:08) - Ubisoft adding NFTs in games

(10:43) - Kickstarter is moving to blockchain

(12:49) - Thoughts on Ubisoft and Kickstarter news

Shownotes

Bungie Toxic workplace - https://www.ign.com/articles/bungie-report-battle-soul-work-culture-harassment-crunch

Wolfire lawsuit against Valve - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-22-judge-dismisses-wolfires-antitrust-lawsuit-against-valve

PlayStation Game Pass - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-03/playstation-plans-new-service-to-take-on-xbox-game-pass

PlayStation Acquisition - https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-fifth-acquisition-valkyrie-entertainment

Ubisoft NFTs - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-12-07-ubisoft-adding-nfts-to-ghost-recon

Kickstarter - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-12-09-kickstarter-shifting-to-the-blockchain

I'M NOT LAZY (too lazy to write a real description :P)

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News

(0:48) - Bobby Kotick is very sus 

Topic of the week

(13:51) - Devolver Digital goes public

Shownotes

Bobby must go - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-16-report-activision-blizzards-kotick-knew-about-sexual-misconduct-allegations-for-years

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/11/17/bobby-kotick-resignation-shareholders/

Devolver - https://www.devolverdigital.com/propaganda/devo

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-04-devolver-digital-valued-at-usd950m-as-it-floats-on-london-stock-exchange

Good question, I'll tell you why if you listen to it. I'm back, soft of. Let's catch up on some news from the last 3 weeks. 

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News

(0:33) - FIFA ending exclusive partnership with EA Sports

(3:28) - Xbox sales and Xbox Game Pass growth slowing

(6:06) - PlayStation Sales numbers

(8:44) - Sony forms 'PlayStation PC’ and God of War PC port coming

(10:53) - Former Apple Arcade head leading PlayStation's mobile strategy

News Quickie

(12:58) - Cyberpunk 2077 next gen upgrade

(13:27) - September 2021 NPD: PS5 Snaps Nintendo Switch's 33-Month Hardware Win Streak

(15:03) - Topic of the Week

shownotes

FIFA - https://hypebeast.com/2021/10/fifa-ea-sports-end-exclusive-partnership-deal-info

https://twitter.com/BRGaming/status/1450130185228103684

Xbox - https://www.axios.com/xbox-microsoft-subscription-gaming-d047cf43-e9b4-4a33-bd25-1ab2c0ad9346.html

https://twitter.com/BenjiSales/status/1448635480887730177

PlayStation sales - https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ps5-sales-reach-13-4-million-worldwide-ps-plus-passes-47-million-users/1100-6497482/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f

https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/1453752309918404618

https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/1453744621469769733

PlayStation PC and GoW - https://twitter.com/shinobi602/status/1450848857215193088

https://twitter.com/Nibellion/status/1450838857390362631

https://twitter.com/BenjiSales/status/1450851414784229376

PlayStation Mobile - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-10-12-former-apple-arcade-head-leading-playstations-mobile-strategy

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/playstation-has-seemingly-appointed-apple-arcades-former-content-boss-to-lead-its-mobile-push/

September NPD - https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/10/september-2021-npd-ps5-snaps-nintendo-switchs-33-month-hardware-win-streak

https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1450087102755004423

https://twitter.com/Nibellion/status/1448614327334866945

Blockchain Gaming - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-10-18-valve-ban-deals-blockchain-gaming-a-big-blow-opinion

Back with another week of talking about changes in gaming. First AAA studio changing to a 4 day work week. Yakuza series creator leaves studio. Topic for this week is summarizing PlayStation acquisitions and partnerships so far this year. They have certainly been amassing some fire power.

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News

(0:39) - Edios Montreal and Eidos-Sherbrooke Studios will be the first AAA studio to shift to a 4-day work week

(3:09) - Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi departs from studio with leadership changes

News quickies

(5:22) - Bunch of acquisitions announced

(7:15) - Sony's Play At Home program did well

(7:54) - MEG3 remake in the works?

(8:26) - GTA trilogy is real

(9:12) - Topic of the Week

Show notes

Edios - https://www.eidosmontreal.com/news/eidos-montreal-and-eidos-sherbrooke-shifting-to-the-4-day-work-week/

Yakuza - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-10-08-new-leadership-at-yakuza-studio-as-series-creator-toshihiro-nagoshi-departs

Acquisitions - https://nightschoolstudio.com/joining-netflix/

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-09-29-firesprite-acquires-fabrik-games

https://blog.playstation.com/2021/09/30/welcoming-bluepoint-games-to-the-playstation-studios-family/

Play-At-Home - https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/10/play-at-home-pushes-over-60-million-downloads-on-ps5-ps4

MGS3 remake - https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/konami-is-set-to-revive-metal-gear-castlevania-and-silent-hill/

Bluepoint IGN - https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-acquires-bluepoint-next-game-playstation-exclusive

Housemarque GQ - https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/housemarque-sony-playstation-acquisition

Just two weeks after I posted the Epic v. Apple update, we actually got a judgment made on the court case. Lots of losers in this week's episode of the podcast but also some winners, like Insomniac Games.

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News

(1:14) - Tripwire Interactive CEO faces consequences

(6:44) - PlayStation acquires Firesprite, who?

(10:40) - Thoughts on PlayStation Showcase

(14:00) - Epic v. Apple case over?

shownotes

Tripwire - https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1434576394340737027?s=20

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1435045506779070466?s=20

https://twitter.com/TornBanner/status/1434703859314724864

PlayStation - https://blog.playstation.com/2021/09/08/welcoming-firesprite-to-the-playstation-studios-family/

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-09-08-why-playstation-is-buying-firesprite-one-of-the-uks-fastest-growing-games-studios

https://venturebeat.com/2021/09/08/playstations-acquisition-season-is-about-purchasing-variety-within-limits/

Epic v. Apple - https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/1437146447200333825

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1436372920285204481

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-09-10-judge-orders-apple-to-allow-apps-that-link-to-external-payment-options

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-09-16-does-the-epic-vs-apple-judgement-open-ios-to-more-legal-attacks

https://twitter.com/CNBCnow/status/1436352708680851458

Tim Sweeney's favorite term that's also been used around so much as of late. This week's topic, I dive into what is a metaverse and that problems its facing right now.

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News

(0:31) - China's new policy regulation on youth gamers

(6:18) - Xbox’s Tomb Raider timed exclusivity deal was reportedly ‘worth $100m’

(8:35) - Shawn Laydon says price of making AAA games is becoming too much

(11:40) - Topic of the week 

show notes

China - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-30/china-s-netease-in-talks-to-hire-creator-of-sega-yakuza-series

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/06/shanghai-begins-construction-of-a-898-million-e-sports-arena.html

https://www.ft.com/content/ade15372-a3f6-4b60-807a-06a4fde919dd

Xbox - https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/xboxs-tomb-raider-timed-exclusivity-deal-was-reportedly-worth-100m/

PlayStation - https://www.ign.com/articles/former-playstation-boss-shawn-layden-departure-avoid-burnout

https://www.ign.com/articles/horizon-forbidden-west-ps4-ps5-upgrade?

Metaverse - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-08-20-what-is-the-metaverse-and-why-is-it-worth-so-much-money

Over 800 documents read and documented in an easy to read way, thanks to Sean Hollister @the Verge for putting this article together. I'll be cherry picking what I thought was interesting new information from all the documents released from the Epic v. Apple case.

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No news segment this week, more info on Housekeeping

(0:18) - Housekeeping

(2:55) - Topic of the week

show notes

SWEETHEART DEALS AND PLASTIC KNIVES: All the best emails from the Apple vs. Epic trial

https://www.theverge.com/22611236/epic-v-apple-emails-project-liberty-app-store-schiller-sweeney-cook-jobs

Bit of a reverse this week, long news segment with short topic of the week. I couldn't think of a good inspiring topic, so I just talked about what came to my mind while I was laying in bed.

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News

(0:36) - Update on Starbreeze’s financials

(3:06) - Update on Embracer group: financial results and of course more acquisitions to announce

(7:28) - Outriders developer doesn't even know how many copies the game sold

(9:35) - Epic Games Store begins closed beta for self-publishing

(12:29) - Indie dev and publisher contracts beware

(16:08) - Topic of the Week: Why did Zenimax sell to Microsoft

Show notes

Starbreeze - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-08-18-starbreeze-net-sales-up-in-q2-but-losses-increase-832-percent-year-over-year

Embracer group - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-08-18-biomutants-1m-sales-and-gearbox-easybrain-acquisitions-drive-embracer-sales-to-usd389m

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-08-18-embracers-next-three-acquisitions-are-demiurge-studios-fractured-byte-and-smartphone-labs

Outriders developer - https://www.pcgamer.com/outriders-developer-doesnt-even-know-how-many-copies-the-game-sold/

Epic Games Store - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-08-19-epic-games-store-begins-closed-beta-for-self-publishing

Indie dev and publisher - https://twitter.com/jakefriend_dev/status/1426227560057298952?s=20