The GamesIndustry.biz Microcast

This week, Rebekah, Matt, Brendan and James dive deeper into Rebekah's recent investigation into GlobalStep. For those who haven't read the full article yet, we explore some of the accusations the UK-based QA company -- formerly known as Testology -- faces. Claims include the "culling" and "ghosting" of staff, incorrect pay, and a stifling culture built on fear and zero-hour contracts. We discuss the full findings of the investigation, as well as how such a culture has been sustained, and what other companies might learn from GlobalStep's mistakes. As always, you can get your daily dose of news, insight and analysis into the world behind video games at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We have a double episode of the GamesIndustry.biz Podcast today, following developments over the weekend at Ubisoft as the publisher attempts to reign in its abuse problems.  James. Matt and Haydn take a deep dive into the situation at Ubisoft, after several high-level staffers departed the company amid mounting abuse allegations.  CEO Yves Guillemot, previously lauded for steering Ubisoft away from a hostile takeover by Vivendi, now finds himself heading a company which faces one of the largest abuse scandals in games industry history.  After that Rebekah, Matt, Marie, and Mike tackle the wider issue of systemic abuse in the games industry. The discussion springboarded from an article by narrative designer Kim Belair, which addressed the need for a movement, rather than a moment, in the wake of these allegations.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt, Brendan, Chris and James gather around their respective mics to discuss the biggest industry stories of the past week. Once again, we've refrained from commenting on the ongoing stories of abuse and harassment as we don't feel the podcast is the right forum for this discussion. But you can find our in-depth coverage through the links below. Ubisoft's Maxime Béland resigns amid abuse allegations Nintendo condemns abuse as allegations spread across Smash Bros. community Evo CEO dismissed, event cancelled amid accusations of misconduct and abuse Ubisoft to restructure its editorial team in wake of abuse allegations IGDA criticizes industry for ignoring harassment allegations Leaders, members, sponsors depart top WoW guild amid assault, abuse allegations EA urges employees to come forward with experiences of abuse The main discussion this week follows 2K Games' revelation that NBA 2K21 will be priced at $69.99/£64.99 -- $10/£5 more than the current gen versions. With IDG Consulting expecting more publishers to follow suit, we discuss the implications of a price hike for AAA games, whether it can be justified in a series so divisive over its use of microtransactions, and what this means for lesser-known and new IP trying to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with $70 established hits. You can get your daily dose of news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt, Brendan, Marie and Chris are on hand to discuss the biggest games industry topics of the week. The most prominent subject has been the latest wave of allegations concerning abuse, bullying and harassment that have emerged across the industry. As the podcast is not the best forum for such a discussion, we instead direct you to our detailed coverage on the site: Industry's abuse problem brought into focus by latest wave of allegations Abuse in the industry isn't down to a few "bad apples" | Opinion Ubisoft and Insomniac face allegations over mistreatment of women Twitch will issue permanent suspensions to abusers on its platform Assassin's Creed Valhalla creative director leaves project Ubisoft reportedly places executives on leave amid abuse investigation This episode focuses primarily on the subject of game length, following comments from former PlayStation executive Shawn Layden, who said he would "welcome the return of the 12 to 15 hour game." This has reignited the ongoing debate about whether video games are too long, particularly in the AAA space. The team offers their thoughts on whether the biggest games are too big, and whether Layden is correct in calling this model "unsustainable." We also discuss recent comments from Xbox boss Phil Spencer, who said the cellphone-style payment program All Access will be "critical" to selling Xbox Series X. As always, you can get more news, insight and analysis into the world behind video games at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the podcast, Rebekah, Matt and Brendan are joined by new regular guest Mike Williams, of former GamesIndustry.biz and current USGamer fame.  In lieu of an formal E3 event this year, Electronic Arts went ahead with its own branded online presser, EA Play. Depending on who you ask, the show was either an exciting glimpse into what the publisher has to offer in the coming years, or a lacklustre display will little of note.  But the publisher, which has long held onto dreams of its own highly-lucrative and DRM-riddled digital storefront, announced it was backtracking on the idea and would return to Steam. Combined with a renewed focus on the Nintendo Switch, there’s a lot of change afoot at EA.  Finally, The Last of Us Part may have been met with critical acclaim, but the discussion of the game was tainted somewhat by highly restricted review embargoes.  Sony forced reviewers to remain tight-lipped on certain story elements which turned out to be a controversial move given the content and Sony’s marketing approach.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The GamesIndustry.biz team share their initial thoughts on Sony's long-awaited reveal of the PlayStation 5. Recorded mere minutes after this week's showcase ended, we share our first impressions on the line-up, the overall presentation, and (of course) the final design of Sony's next-generation console. Along the way, we discuss the diversity of the games' protagonists, question Sony's growth strategy for the next generation, and weigh up how the showcase stands compared to both Microsoft's previous effort and the E3 conferences missing from 2020.  We also pick out favourite games from the line-up and debate whether we want the disc-based or digital-only edition of the console. As always, you can get your daily dose of news, insight and analysis into the world behind video games from www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As you'll hear, there is no regular podcast this week.  In light of the ongoing protests against racial injustice and police brutality, we recognise that our team is currently not diverse enough to contribute significantly to the discussions. Instead, we're using this week to recommend other podcasts that have already commented on the deeper issues at hand, and that you might find worth listening to on an ongoing basis. Please give a listen to: Spawn On Me: A Lesson In Blackness by Khalief Adams, Parris Lilly, Blessing Adeoye Jr, Cameron Hawkins and streamers Pikachulita and Zombaekillz (More from Khalief and Blessing on Kinda Funny Games Daily June 6, 2020) Throwndown 287: We've Been Here by Torrence David, Andre Tipton and Richard Bailey Jr Techish: #BlackLivesMatter, Profiting off Black Culture, Deleting Trumps Tweets, Space X Launch by Abadesi Osunsade and Michael Berhane EXP Podcast 575: A Conversation Only Somewhat About Games by Scott Juster and Jorge Albor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt, Brendan and James discuss the biggest stories of the past week, starting with speculation about the potential release window for GTA 6. Rumours circulated that a spike in marketing commitments found within Take-Two's financial documentation placed the launch of GTA 6 around 2024 -- but Brendan's ready to shatter that hope. Elaborating on his piece from last week, our North American editor explains why it's far more likely the that surge in marketing spend is more likely to coincide with a major push into sports games than a new Rockstar release. We also unpack David Braben's recent comments about how physical games could more or less go away in three years' time. We look at where physical media stands in the general world of entertainment, and what the Frontier CEO really meant about its diminishing importance. As always, you can get your daily dose of news, insight and analysis at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt, James, Marie and Chris are on this week's podcast to discuss the biggest stories of the past week. We start with comments from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who suggests tech and digital industries (including video games) are unlikely to adopt remote working on a permanent basis as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. On a similar note, we discuss commnets from Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick on how lockdown measures have accelerated the trends towards digital distribution, and how games have an advantage over film, TV and other forms of entertainment when it comes to producing content remotely. Finally, we look at the recent milestone announced for PlayStation Now: 2.2 million subscribers. A significant uptick over the past year, but still lagging behind Xbox Game Pass. What is it about Microsoft strategy that gives Game Pass the advantage and why, in the grand scheme of things, does it not currently matter to PlayStation? As usual, you can get your daily dose of news, analysis and insight into the world behind video games at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt, Rebekah, Chris and James gather around their mics to discuss the biggest stories of the past week - primarily Epic Games. The company debuted the first footage of Unreal Engine 5 with a technical demo that also gave us the first glimpse of gameplay on the Playstation 5. Around this unveiling was also the news that the revenue limit at which Epic will claim royalties from Unreal-powered games has been raised to $1 million, and plans for the Epic Online Services SDK, which will enable other developers to implement cross-play into their titles. Plus, Fortnite is heading to Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 at launch, so we discussed the potential for current multiplayer hits on the next generation of consoles. We also touched upon the new PlayStation Studios branding and how the platform holder will create a stronger identity for its first-party titles. You can get your daily dose of news, insight and analysis into the world behind video games at www.gamesindustry.biz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices