At the recent GDC convention, we had an absolute whirlwind of game streaming announcements from both Google and Apple. Google announced their offerings, Google Stadia, will be playable on any Google device with any controller and will be fully cloud based. Apple on the other hand will have Apple Arcade, which will allow people to play iOS games on Apple devices, along with a rotating catalog of games. We also go over Microsoft’s Project xCloud. If that wasn’t enough, we have rumors of two new Switch consoles, and a seemingly endless amount of new Xbox‘s.
We wrap things up with a dive into the recent messy divorce of Bungie from Activision. What do we know? Is there one party that should take the blame? Similarly, there is an absolute crisis happening in the game development world. The recent massive layoffs from EA and Activision are just the latest in a recent string of layoffs and studio closures. Give it a listen!
What’s Inside
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- Google Stadia, Apple Arcade, Project xCloud: What a whirlwind of gaming service rumors, we went from it being a “future technology” to some serious competition. Google Stadia boasts full 4K gaming on any Google capable device and compatibility with any controller that can connect to the device you’re using. Anything would be more attractive than their controller offering though. Apple Arcade would be similar to Xbox Gamepass, in that you are paying a subscription service for a rotating catalog of games. However they do have some big names signed with them, notably Lego and Disney. To be thorough, we compare Microsoft’s Project xCloud.
- New Nintendo Switch and Microsoft Xbox rumors: We have two very plausible Nintendo Switch rumors that would be similar to their 3DS line. A new lower feature, lower cost option that is more durable; And an upgraded pro-esque version with a higher price point. The Switch is seemingly the unofficial 4DS. Meanwhile there are rumors of many new Xbox consoles coming out with a slurry of code names to match them. Some are more plausible, like a soon-to-be-released disk less Xbox One, ranging all the way to a new console generation (we have our money on the name being Xbox Turtle.)
- Activision and Bungie split, gaming industry layoffs: Bungie has split and placed blame on yet another mega publisher. They were supposed to have a 3-game/10-year Destiny franchise, but apparently, both decided it wouldn’t be worth continuing together after just two games. Exact details are fuzzy, but based on their similar split from Microsoft, the knee jerk reaction is that Bungie is the source. Especially with their Bungie friendly contract/agreement. Meanwhile the game development industry is on some seriously tenuous footing. Following large 2018 losses, both Activision and EA have had massive layoffs of 4 and 8% respectively. Along with the rise in game studio closures and other layoffs recent, what has happened to the industry? With gaming more popular than ever, why is everyone struggling?
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