Epic layoffs, EA's FIFA fallout, and the future of gaming haptics
Exploring Epic's extensive layoffs, EA's triumph over FIFA following their split, and the frontier of haptics tech with insights from expert David Parisi.
This week episode finds a hard-working Joost at an investor summit in Las Vegas, while Laine regales with tales of a weekend spent at the New York Renaissance Festival.
Just as one game engine is quieting down in the headlines, another is catching some unfortunate press: Epic Games is laying off 16% of its workforce--just over 800 employees. It’s gotta be hard for the company to be simultaneously competing with Valve, Unity, Roblox, and Apple. With the release of new development tools, Epic is betting big that creators can develop new Fortnite concepts that will expand the player base and increase engagement. Laine and Joost chew over Epic’s shift to a creator-backed revenue share business model, and at the very least, we’re happy everyone’s getting six months of severance and healthcare.
“FIFA scored an own goal.”
We look at what the first-week release of EA’s Sports FC 24 tells us about Electronic Arts post-FIFA. While initially pessimistic, Joost is increasingly convinced FIFA made the wrong move by dumping its licensing agreement with EA. While there may be more contracts for EA to chase over, they now have much more value without FIFA standing in the middle. And Laine, for their part, learns that soccer games are still a thing.
“One thing that haptics devices … really play on is this novelty effect, the sense that what you're feeling is unprecedented. And the question all haptics devices have to grapple with is ‘how long does that novelty effect last?’”
And just in time for the release of Assassins Creed Mirage, we bring on haptics expert and College of Charleston professor David Parisi to discuss the new AC-branded haptics shirt tie-in, developed by OWO. Dave takes us on a deep dive into the history of haptics in games, the difference between vibration and electrical stimulation, and whether wearable haptics will ever exceed its novelty status. Learn more about Dave’s work in his incredible book Archaeologies of Touch: Interfacing with Haptics from Electricity to Computing.
Listen in!