Episode 148: Dungeons & Dragons, New Coke, and Other Terrible Mistakes (News Show)
Wizards of the Coast squandered goodwill to find itself right back where it started. Also: Earnings season has begun, the GDC State of the Industry report shows developers put the smackdown on Web3, NPD for December shows a bit of lift, and (as we grimly expected) we’re in the layoff bad times. You can support Virtual Economy’s growth via our Ko-Fi and also purchase Virtual Economy merchandise! TIME STAMPS [00:01:17] - Learnings for the GDC State of the Industry Report [00:26:42] - Wizards of the Coast Fizzles OGL Update [00:30:05] - Microsoft Q2 FY23 Earnings [00:41:33] - Investment Interlude [00:45:38] - Quick Hits [00:52:36] - Labor Report [00:57:05] - NPD for December 2022 SOURCES Earnings Release FY23 Q2 | Microsoft Microsoft Corporation Form 8-K | United States SEC Xbox's Phil Spencer Says Microsoft's 10K Layoffs 'Hurts' In Email To Staff | Kotaku A Working Conversation About the Open Game License (OGL) | D&D Beyond OGL 1.0a & Creative Commons | D&D Beyond Unity lays off almost 300 staff | Eurogamer Riot Games to lay off nearly 50 staff as part of "strategic shifts" | Game Developer Hasbro lays off 15% of staff to cut costs | Eurogamer Ex-Sega developer highlights lack of credit for translators | Eurogamer Workers at World of Warcraft studio Proletariat withdraw union petition | Polygon INVESTMENT INTERLUDE Microsoft faces EU antitrust warning over Activision deal - sources | Reuters Playtika tries to buy Rovio | GamesIndustry SKYBOUND ENTERTAINMENT MAKES SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT IN MEGA CAT STUDIOS | Skybound