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Virtual Economy

Jul 15, 2026

Joining us on this episode is friend of the show Mat Piscatella, Executive Director and Video Game Industry Adviser at Circana. Our discussion includes the state of the industry, the component crisis and hardware costs, first party’s changing strategy to focus on the biggest spenders, and just what the heck is going...


Jul 7, 2026

Since 2022, the industry has slid into chaos and disarray, with developers and players abandoned by platform holders and publishers. Now, we’ve reached a tipping point, and only we can rescue ourselves. We’ll discuss Microsoft’s self-inflicted destruction, Sony’s anti-preservation attacks, and the...


Jun 12, 2026

Between GameStop and Ryan Cohen’s clownery and new Xbox leadership’s 100-day death march, it’s another grim moment for the game industry. Former OpenAI head (now Xbox CEO) Asha Sharma laments the hardware crisis caused by… AI. We’re all trying to find the guy that did this, after all.

Look… Sharma is no...


May 7, 2026

Ryan Cohen was only offered store credit as trade-in value for his time as GameStop CEO, so he’s trying to buy eBay in one of the most foolish business moves we’ve ever seen. Also: Circana Report on U.S. Video Game Spending for March 2026, Microsoft, EA, Remedy, Earnings, the latest labor happenings, and Pearl Abyss...


Mar 30, 2026

With Epic laying off 1,000 people, the game industry job market has gone from “extremely chilly” to “nearing absolute zero.” Also: a recap of GDC’s challenged year, Circana Report on U.S spending for February 2026, some interesting new investments, NetEase divestments, and a heckin’ FAFO.

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