The GamesIndustry.biz Microcast

The GamesIndustry.biz editorial team discuss the biggest stories of the past week, starting with the inevitable discourse around Returnal and difficulty in AAA games. The PlayStation 5 exclusive released to critical acclaim last Friday, but while it's designed to be a challenging experience, it has prompted a discussion as to whether intentionally challenging gameplay is viable at the level of $70 AAA releases. We share our thoughts on the alternatives to punishing difficulty, the importance of accessibility and why it is separate from the difficulty discussion, and how indie title Hades has changed expectations for the genre. Next, we reflect on the results of the recent Accenture survey, which showed 66% of gamers are keen to see more titles from socially responsible developers and discuss how to better drown out the 9% that actively don't. Finally, we look at the recent changes at Toys For Bob, the Crash Bandicoot developer that has become yet another Call of Duty support studio. Are Activision's eggs all in this single (admittedly best-selling) basket? As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the next few weeks, we'll be delivering audio versions of some of the best sessions from our recent GI Live: Online event. This week, our head of games B2B Chris Dring speaks to Guha Bala, co-founder of Vicarious Visions and Velan Studios, the team behind Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit and the upcoming dodgeball multiplayer outing Knockout City. The episode explores Bala's career and journey from indie developer to AAA and back again, as well as his advice on finding the magic in your game concept. You can also watch the full session on our YouTube channel. For more news, insight and analysis into the world behind video games, visit www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The entire GamesIndustry.biz team is on hand to discuss the biggest stories of the past week. We start with unpacking the discourse and the original comments around an interview with Days Gone director Jon Garvin, in which he stated that those wanting a sequel should have bought the game at full price when it launched. We discuss the many ways the industry has changed and why most titles are no longer reliant on strong early sales, as well as the disparity between demand for a sequel and whether people will actually buy one. We also look at the implications of Epic adding Itch.io's marketplace to the Epic Games Store and weigh in on Epic vs Apple with our predictions (and concerns) about how the upcoming trial will pan out. Finally, we also touch on Ubisoft's perhaps ill-advised decision to state that the Assassin's Creed-themed Mr Men books are aimed at young readers as well as adults, and why that's probably not a good idea. As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The GamesIndustry.biz team discusses the biggest stories of the past week. First up, we take a look at reports that the Epic Games Store is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in its efforts to rival Steam, where that data comes from, Tim Sweeney's cheerful response and why he might be right. Then, we discuss comments by Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa about how the platform holder may focus more on original IP, and how rarely the company has produced new properties in recent generations. Finally, we share our thoughts on points made in a recent article on GamesIndustry.biz around how design decisions made to improve the user experience can ultimately be twisted to exploit and monetise users. As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Five Games Of is a special series of The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast that explores the evolution of the video games business through the career of prominent developers, executives and more. This time, we explore five games from the career of Brenda Romero, one of longest-running developers in the industry. With a career spanning almost 40 years, we look at how Brenda found her start working on the Wizardy RPG series at the age of 15 and followed its evolution as the games industry matured around it.   The discussion that follows encompasses social games, modding, the long-awaited fifth episode of Doom, the Prohibition Era as inspiration, and supporting a budding young game designer in the family as they achieved their first hit. Title music by Juilan Villareal. As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This special series of The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast talks to developers about the titles that influenced their careers. This time, our guest is Jean Leggett -- CEO of One More Story Games, leadership and career coach, and host of the Games, Grit & Graditude: Real Talk podcast.  Leggett discusses the impact of the Tex Murphy adventure games on her career, her studio, and even her company's game engine, as well as the importance of story and dark humour in taking games forward as a medium.  Game Developer's Playlist is an extension of a series we run on the site called Why I Love, in which developers explore their favorite games. You can find these articles here. Title music by Julian Villareal. [Please note: This episode was recorded a few months ago, hosted by our then-senior staff writer, Rebekah Valentine] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The GamesIndustry.biz editorial team discuss the biggest stories of the past week from across the business of video games. This week, Matt, Brendan, Marie and James elaborate on our recent stance concerning stories about blockchain and non-fungible tokens, and why GamesIndustry.biz will be more cautious about covering this going forward. We discuss the potential benefits and the many, many downsides of this technology as it currently stands. We also reflect of Techland's decision to include abusive tweets in a video update about Dying Light 2, and whether games companies should be doing more to discourage these attitudes and behaviours among their "devoted fans." As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The GamesIndustry.biz editorial team discusses the biggest stories of the past week. This week, we start with the recent wave of new indie publishers emerging, including new publishing arms for Sumo Group, Playtonic Games and Fundamentally Games. We talk about the challenges new publishers face, whether the market is becoming overserved, and whether publishers need a distinct identity or speciality to succeed. Then we expand on our recent 10 Years Ago This Month column, looking back at a period where the games industry was anxious about the rise of social, mobile and free-to-play games. We reflect on the impact the growth of mobile games had on the industry and whether the fears and concerns expressed by veteran developers at GDC 2011 eventually came true. As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The GamesIndustry.biz team discuss the biggest stories from the past week in the business of video games. This week, we start with EA's response to a FIFA Ultimate Team player that racially abused ex-footballer Ian Wright, blaming his in-game counterpart for losing a match. The player has been issued a lifetime ban, a response Wright commended. We also explore Twitch's first transparency report and dive deeper into the missing numbers in order to illustrate the disparity between how the streaming site handles community infractions when compared to abuse, harassment or hateful conduct. Finally, we discuss the most recent reports of a 4K-ready Nintendo Switch and why the platform holder needs to carefully consider its hardware strategy if it wishes to extend the Switch's lifecycle beyond that of its predecessors. As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The GamesIndustry.biz team discusses the biggest stories of the past week, starting with news of Sony revitalising PlayStation VR. With a new headset now in development for PlayStation 5, we reflect on Sony's impact on the wider virtual reality landscape and its strategy with the original PlayStation VR over the past four years. We also debate the importance of software and whether Sony's first-party offering can provide any system-selling experiences -- especially as the platform holder continues to close its most experimental studios -- and what the haptic feedback of the DualSense controller might add to the immersion of virtual reality. After that, we turn to the 25th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise, exploring its ongoing and cross-generational success as well as sharing our thoughts on the announcements from the recent Pokémon Presents broadcast. As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices