DomsPlaying

Meta’s Zuckerberg Plans Deep Cuts for Metaverse Efforts Meta Platforms Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg is expected to meaningfully cut resources for building the so-called metaverse, an effort that he once framed as the future of the company and the reason for chan...

This tends to happen when a segment loses literal billions of dollars.

I feel for everyone impacted. So many losing their jobs. It sucks because the main reason it's happening is Zuck throwing money at what was clearly a buzzword, not a business.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Source:

ir.netflix.net/investor-new...

Some sort of sale for WB felt inevitable.

Just wasn't betting on Netflix. Not sure it will be the best steward for the gaming biz in particular. No mention of games in the PR!

We might be looking spin-offs (best case) or closures (worst) for teams like NetherRealm, Rocksteady.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Is the Biggest New Third-Party Game Launch on Xbox Game Pass of 2025 - Xbox Wire Sandfall Interactive’s phenomenal debut RPG, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, is the biggest new third-party game launch on Xbox Game Pass of 2025.

Much-deserved success for Expedition 33, being the top new 3rd party release on Game Pass in 2025.

The RPG had upwards of 5M units sold, last I saw.

It joins the likes of Palworld and High on Life to earn this honor for Microsoft's subscription service.

news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/1...

Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment Yacht Club Games needs its next title, Mina the Hollower, to be a success.

Here's the Bloomberg piece:

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Intriguing read below using Yacht Club Games as a prime example of navigating a tricky indie market.

How can it follow-up the success of Shovel Knight while churning thru capital & downsizing?

It may seem dramatic to call Mina the Hollower "make or break;" that's just reality.

Looks like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond has settled at an 83 on OpenCritic.

While a bit below my expectation, still sounds like a really good game in the series' pantheon, even if certain elements didn't hit for everyone.

opencritic.com/game/16868/m...

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond reviews are up today right?

I'm thinking 87-88 on OpenCritic. Feels like critics eat up this franchise, now especially so after the Remaster and the long wait until this point.

You?

Bungie admits that Destiny is struggling to attract new players Developer and publisher Bungie has said that its smash hit sci-fi MMO Destiny has fallen short when it comes to bringin…

It's almost as if the series needs a "clean slate" refresh, a Destiny 3 if you will, that should have been planned & in development well before Final Shape.

I really hope the rumors of a D3 are true. It's just.. Bungie's timing might be a bit too late.

www.gamesindustry.biz/bungie-admit...

Embracer sells two more companies from its acquisition spree era, as Remnant and Neverwinter firms offloaded | VGC Arc Games and Cryptic Studios have been sold by Embracer…

The way it be selling off subsidiaries it once gobbled up, Embracer might have to change its name to Excluder or something.

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/embrace...

I nominate this press release from EA for "Most PR Headline of the Year."

"Multi-Award Nominated Battlefield 6 Offers Special Free Trial of the Best-Selling First-Person Shooter of 2025"

investor.ea.com/press-releas...

These new officially licensed Crocs are designed to look like an Xbox controller, buttons and all | VGC The Xbox Classic Clog collaboration launches today…

Better scoop them up now before the price goes up two or three times over the next year!

🙄

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/these-n...

I am low-key hooked on that game, ever since I started it during my recent flight!

Fantastic gameplay loop.

Part of why this doesn't sting as much for MS is that Xbox Hardware is a notably smaller portion of revenue compared to its content and services counterpart.

Plus it's a traditionally lower margin business.

Still, multiple price hikes point to misjudgments made by management.

‘They didn’t plan at all’: Xbox reportedly warning of yet another potential price increase | VGC Global DRAM shortages could soon affect Xbox consoles…

The Xbox hardware business has become a running joke that isn't funny.

It's why I think the future for MS is 3rd party partnerships, like ROG.

At what point are Spencer, Bond & executives held accountable for poor decision-making that has led to this?

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/they-di...

(Waiting for a fellow old to make the joke that Breakout is technically the Best Breakout Game.. 😆)

Megabonk withdraws from The Game Awards: "It's an honour but I don't think it qualifies for Debut Indie Game" Vedinad, the force behind Megabonk, has withdrawn from consideration as Best Debut Indie Game at next month's The Game …

While I think this is an exercise in semantics, just change it to "Best Breakout Game" & be done with it.

Use the category to highlight popular "breakout" hits from lesser-known developers or newer teams. Most devs have worked on other games before!

www.gamesindustry.biz/megabonk-wit...

What a start for Battlefield 6 in the States.

Could this be the year a game dethrones Call of Duty for best-selling title?

(I wouldn't bet on it. Yet it's certainly a possibility!)

Also, Switch 2 continues its record pace, 3% above PS4 launch-aligned.

Ubisoft Shares Surge As Trading Resumes After Results 'Restatement' Shares in Ubisoft rose sharply as they resumed trading on the Paris stock exchange Friday, a week after the French video game company stunned investors by postponing its results announcement without a...

Sometimes an earnings delay is just an earnings delay.

Personally, I think a "new" Ubisoft sticks around after this restructuring. At least for a couple years.

I also said from the start that the Vivendi takeover wouldn't happen. Then again, who knows!

www.barrons.com/news/ubisoft...

Xbox Partner Preview | November 2025: Everything Announced From Our Amazing Partners - Xbox Wire Xbox Partner Preview returned today, shining a light on our third-party partners with world premieres, new announcements, DLC reveals and much more.

How many more times will we see 007 before March? Over/under set at 5.5.

Take the over, just like betting on the number of new Dave the Diver DLCs.

"1st person, deckbuilding, roguelike dungeon crawler" Vampire Crawlers hits all the indie keywords, huh.

news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/1...

Developer of breakout hit Dispatch calls AI a creative solution for developers ‘who aren’t creative’ | VGC Dispatch’s developer has come out against the use of AI tools in the creative process…

"AI feels like a production solution, not a creative one. Maybe it’s a creative one if you aren’t creative."

👀 👀 👀

Mic drop moment.

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/develop...

Yea, the RPG category is kind of odd every year. One of those that isn't always representative of the best, often it's more the most popular!

Bingo. I was just saying this to a group of friends, it's nominated everywhere except GOTY!

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and PlayStation lead The Game Awards 2025 nominations | VGC Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2, and Ghost of Yotei are the most nominated games…

Now that it's official, I'll say Yotei should be up for GOTY over DK or KC.

The fact that South of Midnight isn't up for the best music award is borderline criminal.

And I really hope Avowed takes home Best RPG, but that category is straight up stacked.

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/clair-o...

The Game Awards 2025 Nominations Have Been Revealed, And You Can Find Them All Here The Game of the Year nominees leaked ahead of time, but all of the categories will be revealed today.

Looks like TGA GOTY nominees have leaked.

(I maintain year-end awards should be done at the end of Dec or, ideally, in January.)

This year looks like a two horse race between Expedition 33 & Silksong.

What really shows is 2025 has a ton of great games.

www.thegamer.com/the-game-awa...

After making $8.5 billion from GTA 5 and saying it had "no current plans" for layoffs, GTA 6 publisher announces nearly 600 layoffs and $140 million in canceled projects As recently as February, Take-Two's CEO said no layoffs were planned

This is the same CEO that said there wouldn't be layoffs then laid off staff a couple months later.

www.gamesradar.com/gta-6-publis...

"When we set a date, we really do believe in it."

Yet another reminder that executives just be sayin' stuff.

😂

This just in:

Grand Theft Auto VI set to be a launch title for Xbox Series PC (MSRP of US$ 1,000).

It's not a Rockstar game unless it's delayed at least a few times!

Grand Theft Auto VI is now scheduled to launch on November 19th, 2026.

www.take2games.com/ir/quarterly...