FaZe falls short, Bungie bungles layoffs, and Netflix can't convert
And a hearty welcome to AFTERMATH, the new worker-owned games journalism outlet
This week’s episode features the return of our hosts from their respective adventures. We hope their absence has made your heart grow fonder.
Joost was busy wowing Danish audiences with facts and figures about the game industry. Laine was, consecutively, at a sheep and wool festival, in Los Angeles, planting garlic on a farm, and making popcorn at a floating film festival.
After a big and hearty recap, your hosts dive right in to the latest news: this week marked the launch of Aftermath, a new independent, worker owned media outlet about games Internet culture. Founded by four ex-Kotaku journalists, we wanted to give a big high-five to everyone working over there. Read their launch essay, and chip in to help support sustainable journalism!
Aftermath is the bright spot in what's otherwise a dire news roundup. Laine and Joost give you the highlights on FaZe's Icarus-like fall from grace, as it recently got picked up by the Esports company GameSquare for a fraction of its IPO price. Meanwhile, Bungie is laying off workers even as it's pushing to wrap up on the latest Destiny 2 DLC--news that won't do much to endure the already disappointed player community. And lastly, Laine could barely contain their schadenfreude as Netflix recently admitted that less than 1% of its subscribers play games daily on the platform. Laine and Joost discuss what's at stake when corporations have no option but to make the arrow go up into the right.
Meanwhile, stay tuned for future episodes which will include interviews with David Neiborg about his new book, co-authored with Maxwell Foxman, Mainstreaming and Games Journalism, as well as executives from Minecraft and InWorld.
Listen in!