Episode 202: The Last Gasp of a Brutal Year (Season Finale)

2025 has continued the trend of layoffs, consolidation, and privatization. The gulf between AAA and everyone else is widening, as the AI bubble strains before an inevitable burst. With November's Circana report coming in bleak after months of stronger performance, 2026 will continue to challenge us all.

BUT... there is reason to hope. Unions are growing in number and reach and studios doomed by AAA mega-corps are finding a way to survive. We need to stick together to not only survive, but thrive.

You can support Virtual Economy's growth via our Ko-Fi and also purchase Virtual Economy merchandise!

TIME STAMPS

• [00:07:28] - Circana Report on U.S. Video Game Spending for November 2025
• [00:27:31] - Sony and Tencent Settle Light of Moritram Lawsuit
• [00:28:43] - Investment Interlude
• [00:37:27] - Quick Hits
• [00:43:53] - Labor Report 

SOURCES

• Sony and Tencent settle lawsuit over "slavish clone" of Horizon: Zero Dawn | GamesIndustry

INVESTMENT INTERLUDE

• Tencent makes minority investment in France's Drama Studios | GamesIndustry
• Disney to Invest $1 Billion in OpenAI in Major Deal That Boosts Sora in Hollywood | The Hollywood Reporter
• Bandai Namco sells Limbic Entertainment to "private investor" | GamesIndustry

LABOR REPORT

• Naughty Dog Studio Orders Employee Overtime for 'Intergalactic' | Bloomberg (Paywall)
• Days after launching their first indie game, everyone responsible for publishing it was laid off: 'We had a Slack channel with everyone in it, and then you see them leaving one by one' | PC Gamer
• We are crowd funding Wreckreation | Three Fields
• Funcom may have closed down Metal: Hellsinger studio The Outsiders, but its co-founder and Battlefield vet David Goldfarb says it's not over yet | PC Gamer
• The Studio Behind Doom Just Unionized | Kotaku