Episode 75: Activision is laying people off… in this economy. (News Show)

Mar 20, 2021

Activision is posting record quarters. Its CEO has been awarded approximately $200 million in bonuses. The company just laid off at least 50 people in the middle of a pandemic. Also: EA’s FIFA Ultimate Team problem, Riot’s CEO cleared of harassment allegations, a ton of M&A news, and more.

TIME STAMPS

• [00:01:52] - Microsoft and Bethesda close $7.5B deal with comments on the future
• [00:11:50] - Sony becomes co-owner of EVO fighting game competition
• [00:15:29] - 2K Games acquires PGA dev HB Studios, signs deal with Tiger Woods
• [00:16:10] - Epic acquires Capturing Reality
• [00:16:42] - Zombies, Run dev Six to Start acquired by OliveX
• [00:17:21] - Super League Gaming to acquire Mobcrush
• [00:19:55] - Keywords Studios purchases majority stake in Tantalus Media
• [00:20:34] - THQ Nordic incorporates new studio for Gothic Remake
• [00:22:13] - Embracer Group stuffs war chest for acquisitions
• [00:22:57] - Jade Raymond’s new studio with backing from Sony
• [00:24:00] - Omeda gets investment to reboot Epic’s Paragon
• [00:26:05] - TinyBuild goes public
• [00:26:22] - Rogue raises Series A funding
• [00:26:45] - Overwolf raises Series C funding
• [00:27:57] - My.Games invests in Espresso Publishing
• [00:28:15] - Ubitus gets investments from big industry players
• [00:28:47] - Incredibuild raises $140 million from a single investor
• [00:29:54] - Roblox finally goes public
• [00:30:29] - Quick Hits
• [00:51:45] - Activision Blizzard lays off during a pandemic amid record earnings
• [01:05:32] - Riot clears CEO of harassment allegations
• [01:10:06] - Loot Boxes under fire as Germany cracks down and EA staff go rogue

SOURCES

Merger, Acquisition, and Investment Stories

• Officially Welcoming Bethesda to Team Xbox (Xbox Wire) - https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/03/09/officially-welcoming-bethesda-to-the-xbox-family/
• Welcoming Evo into the PlayStation Family: https://www.sie.com/en/blog/welcoming-evo-into-the-playstation-family/
• Tiger Woods Inks Long-Term Exclusive Deal with 2K: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210316005275/en/Tiger-Woods-Inks-Long-Term-Exclusive-Deal-with-2K
• Epic has acquired Capturing Reality - https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/news/capturing-reality-is-now-part-of-epic-games?sessionInvalidated=true
• Zombies, Run dev Six to Start acquired for $9.5m (GamesIndustry) - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-03-08-zombies-run-dev-six-to-start-acquired-for-usd9-5m
• Super League Gaming to Acquire Mobcrush - https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/03/11/2191124/0/en/Super-League-Gaming-to-Acquire-Mobcrush.html 
• Keywords Studios Enters Australia with acquisition of 85% interest in Tantalus Media Pty Ltd: https://irpages2.equitystory.com/websites/rns_news/English/1100/news-tool---rns---eqs-group.html?article=31716382&company=keywords
• Alkimia Interactive to develop Gothic Remake (THQ Nordic): https://www.thqnordic.com/article/alkimia-interactive-develop-gothic-remake
• Introducing Haven, a new Montreal-based independent studio: https://blog.playstation.com/2021/03/16/introducing-haven-a-new-montreal-based-independent-studio/#sf243985526
• Omeda raises $2.2M to relaunch Epic’s dead Paragon as Predecessor (GamesBeat) - https://venturebeat.com/2021/03/09/omeda-raises-2-2m-to-relaunch-epics-paragon-as-predecessor/
• London Stock Exchange welcomes tinyBuild Inc. to AIM - https://www.londonstockexchange.com/discover/news-and-insights/london-stock-exchange-welcomes-tinybuild-aim?lang=en
• Rogue raises $2.5m in Series A funding (GamesIndustry) - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-03-10-rogue-raises-usd2-5m-in-series-a-funding
• Announcing our $52.5M Series C and What is Next for the In-Game Creator Economy (Overwolf): https://medium.com/overwolf/announcing-our-series-c-and-what-is-next-for-the-in-game-creator-economy-693bedd4c01c
• Embracer Group Issues New Shares: https://embracer.com/release/embracer-group-successfully-completed-a-directed-issue-of-36000000-new-b-shares-raising-proceeds-of-roughly-sek-7-6-billion-approximately-usd-890-million/
• MY.GAMES INVESTS IN ESPRESSO PUBLISHING TO BOOST ITS HYPERCASUAL DIVISION: https://my.games/en/news/105
• Ubitus usher in the cloud game era - http://www.ubitus.net/en/release/en20210317.html
• Incredibuild gets $140M to speed up games and other software development with distributed processing tech (TechCrunch): https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/17/incredibuild-gets-140m-to-speed-up-games-and-other-software-development-with-distributed-processing-tech/ 

General News Stories

• Activision Blizzard Esports Restructuring, 50 Employees Face Layoffs (The Esports Observer): https://esportsobserver.com/abe-restructure-layoffs/
• Sources: Alienware terminates League of Legends global sponsorship following sexual harassment allegations against Riot Games CEO (Dot Esports): https://dotesports.com/news/sources-alienware-terminates-lol-global-sponsorship-allegations-riot-ceo
• Riot Games board finds no wrongdoing by CEO Nicolo Laurent, denies misconduct allegations in new court filing (Washington Post / Launcher): https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/03/16/nicolo-laurent-lawsuit-riot-games/
• Loot boxes to generate $20bn by 2025 (GamesIndustry) - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-03-09-loot-boxes-to-generate-usd20bn-by-2025
• German legal reform to set new standards for loot boxes (GamesIndustry) - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-03-09-german-legal-reform-poses-new-threat-to-loot-boxes
• EA investigating allegations of staff selling rare FUT cards - https://twitter.com/EASPORTSFIFA/status/1369761277636005888?s=20
• AN UPDATE ON OUR PLAYER ITEM INVESTIGATION: https://www.ea.com/games/fifa/pitch-notes/news/fifa-21-player-item-investigation-update?isLocalized=true