Saudi Arabia welcomes EA as Xbox Game Pass unravels
Plus: Peacemaker gives Epic Games a headache and Riot launches Game Dev Resource hub.
It has been a struggle this week. Video games have finally pushed me over the edge. It feels like I have been smashing my cranium against a brick wall for eternity without making such much as a dent. Each wobbly step forward only results in disappointment and dismay. Sure, I've seen some neat stuff along the way, but was it all worth it? Is this all there is? The infinite trudge. A slow march against an all-consuming tide of meaningless, merciless chaos?
Good lord. Baby Steps has ruined me.
I've used what little sanity I had left after playing Bennett Foddy's latest wonderfully wicked opus to wrestle with a newsweek that felt like a plague sent from the ancients. Every Monday, I pray for a 'quiet one' and the universe responds with a proverbial boot to the face. This time around, it felt like the cosmos was wearing steelies.
That's steel-toe-cap boots for those of you outside the UK.
In the span of just five days we've seen EA sell its soul to Saudi Arabia and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Microsoft raise the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate by 50 percent (don't worry, the company said this is actually a very good thing for players), and more layoffs at studios like Starbreeze and Funcom.
The upside is that eventually we'll hit rock bottom and from there it's a straight shot back to the top. At least, that's what wobbling around as a onesie-clad manchild has taught me. Woah woah woah. In Baby Steps of course. Who do you take me for?
Epic Games pulls, tweaks, and reinstates Peacemaker emote in Fortnite over fascist connotations
via Fortnite Status (Epic Games) on X // Here's a weird one that might serve as a cautionary tale about he perils of unchecked IP coagulation. Epic Games this week removed a Peacemaker dance emote from Fortnite over fears it might feature subtle Nazi imagery that connects with the show's Season 2 storyline. Basically, some people wondered whether one pose was designed to mimic a swastika in a subtle nod to the fact Peacemaker Season 2 partly takes place in an alternate dimension where the United States has become a fascist paradise. Can you imagine? The emote has since been altered and reinstated after Epic hopped on the blower to Warner Bros. and confirmed "there were no creative intentions to connect the Peaceful Hips Emote and the current Peacemaker storyline."
Saudi Arabia is taking EA private alongside other investors
via Game Developer // I know, I know. You've been seeing this headline making the rounds all week, but allow me to refresh your memory because I think this it's going to take a while to sink in. U.S. publisher Electronic Arts—the publisher behind a preposterous number of major franchises like The Sims, Battlefield, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, EA Sports FC, and more—is being acquired for $55 billion by a consortium of private investors that includes Saudi wealth fund PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. That last one is the investment firm established by U.S. president Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, so EA has essentially been bought by a nation plagued by human rights abuses and the star spangled lunatic's lackey.
EA says $55 billion take-private won't result in 'immediate' layoffs
via Game Developer // Here's a chaser to wash down that shot. Shortly after announcing its $55 billion take-private, EA published an internal FAQ sent to reassure employees there won't be any "immediate" layoffs in the wake of the deal. The company also pledged to foster a culture of creativity, pioneering, passion, determination, learning, and teamwork' under its new owners. Those are purportedly the same values it currently cherishes, although we noticed that EA didn't use words such as "inclusion" and "diversity"—which are, at the time of writing, plastered all over the company's People and Culture page. What could that mean?
JPMorgan's $20 Billion EA Deal Marks Win Over Private Credit
via Bloomberg // Are you seeing a trend here? Completing our trilogy of EA-related must reads is this report from Bloomberg that breaks down how the buyout's reliance on $20 billion of debt financing from JP Morgan & Change—the largest debt commitment ever by a single bank for such a deal—could impact the private equity industry. Notably, Bloomberg claims the debt will be sold through high-yield bonds and leveraged loans with a rating in the single-B range. According to U.S. business intelligence firm S&P Global, it's a grade used to denote "speculative" bets that are "more vulnerable to adverse business and economic conditions."
Microsoft reworks Xbox Game Pass and hikes price of Ultimate by 50 percent
via Game Developer // Microsoft continues to excel at cramming its entire foot into its mouth. The company followed its recent round of mass layoffs and studio closures by increasing the price of Xbox console hardware in the U.S. (for the second time this year). Bad times. Now, it has raised the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate by 50 percent and reworked the entire service around three tiers to provide "more flexibility, choice, and value to all players." How did the news go down with subscribers? Well, the website used to cancel Xbox Game Pass subscriptions seemingly crashed within minutes of the news being announced, which says it all really.
Riot Games launches Game Dev Resources hub to help aspiring developers
via Riot Games // Here's a cool thing. League of Legends maker Riot Games has compiled a bunch of resources it believes could be useful for developers looking to sharpen their craft. The company's newly-launched Game Dev Resources page features a bunch of educational videos and technical blogs published by the company in recent years. A Riot spokesperson said the page is meant to be a freely accessible font of knowledge that can be used by anyone who's looking to break into the game industry.
Starbreeze making layoffs after scrapping D&D project to refocus on Payday
via Game Developer // Swedish publisher Starbreeze is laying off 44 people after cancelling its upcoming D&D title, codenamed Project Baxter. The company said it now intends to double down on the Payday franchise, which has also endured its fair share of troubles lately. Starbreeze emphasized it will attempt to redeploy some members of the Baxter team internally. The news comes pretty late in the day when you consider Baxter had been handed a tentative 2026 release date.
Dune: Awakening maker Funcom laying off staff months after 'biggest release' in studio history
via Game Developer // Dune: Awakening appeared to deliver the goods and then some for developer Funcom. The studio said the online survival title became its "fastest-selling game ever" after amassing over 1 million sales within weeks of launch, and pledged to throw its weight behind the project in a big way. Now, just a few months later, the company is making an undisclosed number of workers redundant in a purported effort to funnel resources towards "new content, features, and enhancements" while driving towards a console release. It's hard not to balk at a studio laying off workers just months after declaring unprecedented success, but that's the modern video game industry in a nutshell.