🎮 - Issue #50! 🎉🎉🎉  August 8th 2020

Sugar rush financials don't mean we've dodged the COVID bullet

One of this week's big headlines was Nintendo making bank over the last three months. This was primarily from Animal Crossing: New Horizons really hitting its stride in terms of sales, but that 400% increase won't last forever, especially when you realize the drought of games that Nintendo has.

This is representative of the industry as a whole. While Sony and Microsoft have games announced that are sure to be next-gen launch titles, the drought that's hitting Nintendo is sure to hit them later down the road. It will be interesting the next quarter compared to this one. I'm pretty sure that console sales will be through the roof, but it will be interesting to see how game sales perform a few months after next-gen hits.

Image credit: Nintendo

gamesindustry.biz  

Conflict minerals: Which gaming companies may have funded human rights abuses in 2019?

This one is a deep dive into the weeds, so get your coffee and buckle up for a whole world that you've probably never considered.

Articles like these are important to know about because it's important that we know how our products are being made. Some will not care, while others will take a huge interest in it. This process of buying the materials needed to create the technology that we love is incredibly complex, so no company on here is 100% perfect.

However, Apple does well with being transparent of where it's getting its materials and the struggles the go through to try and make it ethical. This is a bright spot for Apple, who has been in the hot set over the past few weeks.

Microsoft and Sony, the companies creating the coveted next-gen consoles, are included in this report. Microsoft is doing well with its reporting but Sony doesn't seem to taking it seriously enough. This might have an impact of those who are concerned about ethical business practices and their decision for next-gen.

These were the biggest ones that stuck out to me. There's a lot in this article, so dive in and educate yourself!

Image credit: Marko Deichmann

gamesindustry.biz  

Microsoft cuts xCloud iOS testing early as its future on Apple devices remains unclear

Apple is once again in the hot seat this week because of their rigid app rules. Last week we talked about the 30% pay cut and how it's a tough deal for smaller developers, but this week we're looking at two tech giants and an app that could revolutionize game streaming.

Based on different people's takes about what this means, it looks like xCloud streaming won't make it to iOS devices in full form. I hope I'm wrong, but I think Apple's demands are too high and Microsoft isn't willing to meet them. It also seems like people are taking Microsoft's side on this issue, saying that Apple is in the wrong for requiring such a high pay cut and being anti-consumer.

Apple has announced that services like xCloud and Stadia violate App store guidelines because there would be too many games to go individually review through the services. This is incredibly limiting for a lot of apps but it signals a dark future for gamers on iOS.

What do you think about this?

Image credit: Microsoft

theverge.com  

Blizzard employees share salary details amid unrest over pay disparity

This is a huge, breathing story from this week that's constantly updating. Jason Scheier broke this article and has been keeping it updated via his Twitter page. Since it's publishing, multiple employees have come out about their issues with wage that's not enough to make ends meet.

Right now, Blizzard employees are creating a list of demands for fair pay that they hope to present to Blizzard's management soon. This is one of the biggest unionized efforts in the game industry to date.

It's absolutely insane that some employees are being paid less than half of the median for their position in the industry. I've talked about this before, but it's simply people in power abusing lower employee's passions by paying them less than they deserve. I'm willing to bet a large portion of these employees like Blizzard games and the opportunity to work on them, which is why they've put up with this low pay.

Now, these people are coming together to demand more after the wildly successful year Blizzard has had. My fingers are crossed that the employees come out on top.

Image credit: Blizzard

gamesindustry.biz