The Game Business Show

This week, we return to Arc Raiders developer Embark to look at the game one year on from its launch. The shooter went up against Battlefield and Call of Duty and came out smiling, with 16 million sales. But since the start of the year, it has faced numerous challenges and player numbers have tumbled.Chris speaks with CEO Patrick Söderlund and executive producer Aleksander Grøndal to hear about the game’s journey so far, how they’ve adapted to the challenges, the reaction to its new update ‘Frozen Trails’ and whether it should add a PvE mode. They also discuss advising other studios, AI controversy, The Finals, not being just a live-service studio, Patrick’s new role at Nexon and Hollywood’s interest in their games.

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Welcome back to The Game Business Show! This week, we bring you a packed industry breakdown featuring Circana's Mat Piscatella, accessibility expert Jenna ‘Jennisary’, and gaming industry veteran Bing Gordon.

We reveal it was Marvel’s Wolverine, not GTA 6, that actually moved PS5 hardware in September. And we look at why Xbox console numbers continue to slide despite Gears of War: E-Day’s release. We also look at the impact of removing Call of Duty from Game Pass on Day One, and what to make of the latest Nintendo Switch 2 numbers.

Mat also discusses the potential impact of Grand Theft Auto and the variety of different games in the September charts.

Plus, Jenna makes the commercial case for having blind and visually-impaired game accessibility options in your title, while EA legend Bing Gordon talks about his new book: Everybody Wins.

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This week, we chat to Meta's VP of Horizon Sax Persson to discuss its new prompt-based game development tools: Horizon Create and Horizon Studio.

We discuss the rise of UGC, whether it undermines the traditional game business, whether AI-made games are an opportunity for professionals, and the battle between Meta, Google and Roblox. Enjoy

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It’s a jam-packed edition once again. On the Show, we’re joined by Poki’s Romy Halfweeg to discuss the rapid rise of web-based game platforms, and consultant Cassia Curran comes on to chat video game pricing.

Plus, we discuss the shock closure of BioWare, and tease a bit of our upcoming interview with ‘father of PlayStation’ Ken Kutaragi. Enjoy!

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In this week's edition, Chris is joined by Commodore CEO Peri Fractic (real-name Christian Simpson), A Star Wars actor and YouTuber who now runs one of gaming's most iconic brands.

In our chat, we discuss the success of the C64, the appeal of its 'digital detox' flip phone, the company's partnership with Cyberpunk, its move to publishing video games, growing to Atari levels and more. Enjoy!

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It's a mega edition of The Game business this week, featuring two huge interviews. Our big focus is on Activision’s bid to regain fan trust with this year’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, featuring insight from chief marketing officer Tyler Bahl. We discuss leaving PS4, Xbox One and Game Pass, returning to Nintendo, the disappointment of Black Ops 7, the GTA 6 opportunity, press coverage and the surprise success of the Black Ops 1 and 2 PlayStation ports.As well as that, we also have an interview with Lucasfilm Games VP Douglas Reilley and Fuse Games boss Matt Webster to discuss a more independent approach to making Star Wars games, and what comes next for Star Wars: Galactic Racer.

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This week, we speak to Velan Studios leaders Guha and Karthik Bala, who run the studio behind the new Star Fox remake on Nintendo Switch 2.

The Balas, who had previously founded Vicarious Visions, discuss how they won over Nintendo, how they keep costs low as an independent US developer, working with big IP, taking risky bets and finding a 'middle way'.

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In today's bumper The Game Business Show, we're joined by leading analyst Joost van Dreunen as we discuss the perils and opportunities from a rapidly consolidating video game industry.

We also reveal how the GTA 6 and Zelda reveals boosted console sales, how PS5 physical games performed last month, who came out top in September, and there's a small interview with Pearl Abyss Europe CEO Lybee Park about Crimson Desert, too.

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In this edition, we welcome Philip Holt, the boss of State of Decay developer Undead Labs. The studio has just declared its independence from Xbox, but has had to lay off a 'significant' number of staff as it prepares to release State of Decay 3 next year.

We discuss the studio's new independence, why it didn't find a buyer, whether it has enough to finish the upcoming horror game, the business realities facing smaller teams and his "irresponsible" approach to transparency. Plus, lots more!

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In today's bumper edition of the Show, we discuss the layoffs in the games media, plus we have two interviews. The first is with the leaders of Bloober Team and Broken Mirror Games about finding weird horror titles akin to Backrooms in the film world.

Plus, we chat to New York Games Week's Guy Blomberg about the surprise soft launch of the event next week.

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We chat with four leaders from EA's Criterion studio about how it made Battlefield with three other international studios, and whether the studio is still the same one that made those Need for Speed and Burnout games.

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In today's The Game Business Show, Chris speaks with Tencent’s Yong-yi Zhu at Gamescom. The two discuss Tencent's bid to find the next Larian or FromSoftware, the success of Chinese-made games in the West, the company's ambitions for Hollywood, and the advice he gives Tencent's huge army of studios. Enjoy.

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In today's edition, Chris dives into the changes at Xbox and why the cuts - although brutal - are necessary and sensible. Plus, two leading localization experts chat about the challenges in releasing games in other markets, and the impact of AI on the translation sector.

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We speak to the head of Rainbow Six: Siege Joshua Mills about the challenges that followed last year's major X update, the hack that took out the game over Christmas, life under new Tencent ownership, how to handle GTA 6, younger vs older players, and, erm, Moana.

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This week, we're joined by Japanese video game industry expert Dr Serkan Toto, and we talk about the state of the Japanese video game industry, the dominance of Nintendo, impact of China, the rise of PC and lots more.We then welcome Lyrical Games' Blake Rochkind to discuss the $40 price point of Valor Mortis, and why the publisher felt they had to go low during a hyper competitive moment for the video game industry. We also talk broadly about the rise of AA (or rather III) video games.Plus, Nex Playground secures more funding, and more!

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In this bonus edition of The Game Business Show, Chris talks to Balatro publisher PlayStack about how the hit poker game has transformed the company, why it's not looking for a 100% hit rate, and what it expects from its new owners.

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We speak to Joe Brammer, CEO of Bulkhead, which has just launched the smash hit 100-player first person tactical shooter Wardogs.

Just nine months ago, the studio was under threat from going under after Tencent no-longer wanted the team. Now, it’s had one of the surprise hits of the year, with two million games sold in Early Access after just one weekend.

In this interview, Brammer discusses the shock success of the game, the impact on the team, the reality of crunch within the studio, his attempt to run his own video game showcase, and how he’s looking to scale-up to handle the demand for Wardogs.

Enjoy.

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This week, Chris looks at the potential of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in the month GTA 6 launches, Ubisoft talks about its Player Council, Geoff launches a foundation, and Kojima gets closer to Xbox.

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We speak with Maverick Games bosses Harinder Sangha and Mike Brown about being dropped by Amazon, the "offensive" offers it received from other publishers, the state of the racing genre, taking on Forza, and its dream of becoming the greatest game developer in the world. It’s a good one!

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In today's edition, Chris shares the latest data from the GTA 6 Netflix reveal, including its impact on PS5 and Xbox Series S and X.

Transcription by ESO. Translation byMeanwhile, Newzoo consultant Ronan Patrick comes on to discuss GTA 6, the fate of consoles, the rise of sequels, friendslop and more.

Plus the latest stats from Gamescom!

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit https://www.thegamebusiness.com/subscribe