Hello gamers, it’s been a strange week for tech and gaming, but also a familiar one. Major layoffs continue to hit some of the biggest titans in the industry, and retailers and hardware manufacturers announce new controversial subscription-based models for their products. Plus the looming spectre of NFTs has reared its ugly pixel head at the Olympics.
Here are six tech and gaming stories you might have missed this week.
6. More layoffs hit Tech & Gaming
The tech and gaming industry continued to be hit by immense layoffs this week, as some of the biggest companies in the industry announced major restructuring.
Destiny 2 studio Bungie has announced that it’ll be cutting 220 jobs, making up 17% of the company. Additionally, another 155 employees will be moved to PlayStation, and Forbes predicts around 40 or so staff will be moved to create a new sub-studio under Sony for a new game.
Despite the success of Destiny 2‘s latest expansion The Final Shape, and the studio’s previous layoffs in October last year, the studio is still struggling due to “enduring economic conditions”. The remaining staff will be focusing exclusively on Destiny 2 and Marathon in the near future.
Intel has also announced plans to lay off 15,000 employees as part of their plan to cut $10 billion in costs by 2025. In a blog post written by CEO Pat Gelsinger, he cites that “Our revenues have not grown as expected — and we’ve yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI. Our costs are too high, our margins are too low.”
An earlier report by Reuters this year revealed that Intel had disclosed a USD $7 billion loss, making it the worst operating loss in the company’s history.
5. EB Games launches controversial subscription for their store
Games retailer EB Games launched a new paid loyalty program this week called EB World-Plus, leading to massive scrutiny.
The EB World Plus loyalty program is a paid monthly subscription, offering “Buy X, Get 1 Free” offers, free gifts, discounts on digital currency and more. Those who join the service for 12 months (for a “lucrative” $49) will get a themed ramen bowl and chopstick set.
The announcement has mostly been criticised online, with many quick to speculate if this is a desperate cash grab to slow the decline of physical retail game stores.
Either way, our thoughts go out to all the workers at EB Games who will have to upsell this.
4. Logitech wants you to pay a subscription to use its mouse
In more “useless subscription” news, Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber announced in an interview with The Verge potential plans for a mouse you could use forever. The downside? You’ll have to pay a monthly subscription for it.
The company wants to improve the longevity of its products and lower its carbon footprint significantly. One of the ways it plans to fix that is by providing software updates to hardware made to last.
Logitech has been one of the biggest (and arguably best) hardware manufacturers in the space. I’ve owned a Logitech G502 Hero gaming mouse for over 5 years now, and it’s the best mouse I’ve ever used.
But let’s not beat around the bush here, there is no way anyone will want to pay a subscription fee just to use a mouse. It truly feels like we’ve reached the late stage of the enshittification of this business model. I want to own the thing I buy, especially if it’s hardware.
Spotify already showed us this year the drawbacks of this with Car Thing, a piece of hardware that exclusively runs a single software. When the company decides it’s better to cut their losses, they’ll just shut off the software, leaving your hardware as a useless piece of junk. If Logitech follows suit, this could be counterintuitive to the company’s desire to reduce its carbon footprint.
Thankfully, this idea is still just a proof of concept, and hopefully, the negative backlash this inspires might scare Logitech out of pursuing this more down the line.
3. Borderlands movie releases next week
Everyone’s favourite looter shooter is finally hitting the big screen this week, marking another big entry in the video game adaptation space.
The new sci-fi comedy film stars big heavy hitters including Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Cate Blanchett and Jamie Lee Curtis and is releasing in theatres on August 8th.
Borderlands follows a group of eccentric Vault Hunters tracking down an immense fortune on an alien planet. Along the way, they get stopped by raider gangs, alien monsters and other strange characters on the planet.
If you’re looking for a new film with a bunch of action set pieces and unique visuals, be sure to catch a ride to theatres to watch this one next week.
2. Friend.Com has become the saddest product ever.
A bizarre viral video of an AI necklace dropped this week, and it’s set the internet on fire just because it’s just so weird.
Friend is a wearable AI pal that lives inside a necklace that you can speak to. It communicates to you using text messages and push notifications on the phone it’s paired to. If this sounds like a lame prototype to Samantha from Her, you wouldn’t be far off.
But the product itself is the least interesting thing about Friend. The company and its Gen-Z owner are steeped in messy drama with a rival start-up.
Founder Avi Schiffmann was first ridiculed for acquiring the domain name Friend.com for almost USD $2 million. The controversy further escalated when a rival start-up owner claiming to be a former friend of Avi claimed their idea was stolen. He makes this claim via a video of him rapping on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Needless to say, the AI tech space continues to be an off-putting den of weird nerds with too much money pissing it down the toilet for clout.
1. No more Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games Due to NFTs
Everyone is loving the Olympics right now, and there have been so many great feel-good stories and historical moments playing out this year. From Simone Biles revolutionising gymnastics, Kim Yeji inventing cunt at sharpshooting, or heavy metal band Gojira performing at the Olympic Opening Ceremony.
You know who isn’t having a good time at the Olympics though? That’s right, Mario and Sonic.
According to a report from Eurogamer, the IOC had decided against renewing the license, choosing to focus on e-sports and NFTs instead.
The last Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games came out in 2020, based on the Tokyo event. The series started as an all-time classic on the Nintendo Wii and was great for showing off some of the more obscure sports at the Olympics.
There was a new game that came out, however. It’s called Olympics Go! Paris 2024, and it’s a free-to-play mobile and PC game. The game includes 12 Olympic sports and includes NFTs. Needless to say, this thing has flopped harder than that one diver trending on Twitter right now.
Image Credit: Mario & Sonic At The Olympics / Nintendo & Bloomberg / Getty Images
The post No Mario & Sonic At The Olympics And EB Games Enters Flop Era: Tech & Gaming News From This Week appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
