"Over the past six months, the cost of key components — especially memory (DDR) and storage (eMMC) — has risen significantly... we’ve worked hard to absorb these cost increases for as long as possible. However, at current levels, it’s no longer something we can sustainably carry on our own."

Let's say Product A and Product B both have the same price. Then, let's say the price of Product A goes up, while the price of product B stays the same. This does not mean that product B got cheaper!

Reminder that Epic's last mass layoff was to ensure the business was sustainable, so no further layoffs would be necessary. www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/n...

Anyways. Have always said physical games will stick around so long as the console mfgs support them and, well, let's call this pricing strategy change a new headwind for physical games.

I remember when a lot of folks really pushed back a year ago at the idea that physical games would start getting more expensive compared to digital. Good times.

Jackson Holliday has been using axe-handle bats lately after breaking his hamate bone. It’s because of Fortnite. Kind of. Heston Kjerstad plays Fortnite with Corbin Carroll, who also broke his hamate bone. Carroll told Kjerstad to relay a message to Holliday: try the axe handle

Was just looking at some Circana research that says 14% of people that received gift cards during the holiday still haven't used them. What are you doing peeps? Use the gift cards!

White Shadows at $0.99 in the PlayStation sale is an absolute steal for folks who are into Limbo-esque games. Wow. store.playstation.com/en-us/produc...

I have no desire to play MLB The Show online beyond the requirement for the multiplayer program. Is that it? Am I finally free? Am I fixed?

Disney is exiting a $1 billion partnership with OpenAI after it was announced the tech company would be shutting down its Sora generative video app. https://bit.ly/3PsVk8m

LOL. LMAO, even.

Take me back. I could play Jeanne D'Arc for the first time.

Multiple game studios have recently closed because their titles couldn't compete with established live-service games like Fortnite. Meanwhile, you can also literally work on Fortnite and get laid off and Tim Sweeney remains a billionaire. Something has to change. The time is now. uvw-cwa.org

It's not even 8AM west coast yet. FFS.

According to Circana's Player Engagement Tracker, Fortnite led in US Feb Monthly Active Users across both PlayStation (35% of actives playing) and Xbox (31%). The avg PS player engaged with Fortnite for 16 hours in the month (vs 21 last Feb), with Xbox players averaging 15 hours (vs 19 last Feb).

BREAKING: Epic Games is laying off more than 1,000 workers today, sources tell Bloomberg News. Story hitting shortly

US Nintendo Switch 2 hardware installed base compared to other consoles after 9 months in market (Feb 2026 for Switch 2): PS5 +29% PS4 +30% Wii +34% Switch +45% PS2 +56% XBO +61% XBS +73% 3DS +96% 360 +120% NGC +139% WiiU +302% Source: Circana Retail Tracking Service

Wake up, babe. The spiritual successor to the "the Switch story is exhausted" article just dropped.

$20 is $8

This past weekend, the new movie Project Hail Mary was a smash hit, bringing in nearly $141 million at the box office. But many years ago, before he was writing novels adapted into mega-hit films, Andy Weir was fired from his dream job... at Blizzard Entertainment. Excerpt from my latest book:

Two more leadership exits take place at Xbox

According to Circana's PlayerPulse, 62% of US players of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth were aged 35 or older. That number goes to 77% if you go 30+. www.gamesradar.com/games/final-...

Circana Player Engagement Tracker - US Top 10 Titles by Total Weekly Active Users (Not Concurrent) - W/E March 14, 2026 - Slay the Spire II takes top spot on US Steam. - Cyberpunk 2077 reaches Xbox top 10 with Game Pass. - Ghost of Yotei jumps to 16th from 54th on PS with Legends mode update.

Some of the best art direction and art that's ever been or ever will be in a video game. If you've never played it it's well worth battling the controls to experience this world.

What's most important about any piece of market research is to accept only the pieces you agree with and/or explicitly apply to yourself and reject everything else. Also, it's important that your sample size of one will always be the single most important and accurate measurement of anything.

Got about 1/4th of the way through last night. Really enjoying the details, especially around the group of writers for the game. The author also does a great job of putting into words what makes the game great for those who love it. Also, the paper quality is unbelievable. Like, 10/10 paper no lie.

From Circana's PlayerPulse - A little more than 25% of US video game players surveyed in December said that the use of GenAI in development would make them less likely to purchase a game. The majority were neutral or unsure.

At a price tag of about 70 million, building an entire fuckin' theme park expansion is ironically less than it costs to make most AAA games nowadays.

I'm gonna read! A book! About a really good and weird video game!

If you were someone pinging critics with ‘it’s just lighting cleanup’ a few days ago, I need you to use this as a jumping off point to thinking about your susceptibility to talking points and marketing rhetoric more generally. It was right there in front of all of our faces.

Pffff get in line behind everyone who is visiting from the Midwest for the first time.

Good morning West Coast Best Coasters... ICYMI here's the February 2026 US video game market results from Circana thread, if you're into that kind of thing.

OMG. *Looks at just published reporting* Sonuva... I also keep tripping over Resident Evil Generation Pack thinking that it doesn't look right.

In the US for February, Xbox Series ranked 3rd in both units and dollars. PS5 hardware spending was 10% lower in Feb versus a year ago, with XBS -32% and Switch -69%.

Seeing chatter on Resident Evil: Requiem for Switch 2. The game was sold standalone as well as part of the Resident Evil Generation Pack. Combined spending on these two versions would rank #2 on the Nintendo best-selling titles chart for Feb behind the physical only sales of Mario Tennis Fever.

February 2026 U.S. Video Game Market Highlights Thread from Circana - Resident Evil: Requiem debuted as the best-selling video game of 2026 as overall spending in February grew slightly when compared to a year ago, reaching $4.6 billion.

$5 for 2022's Game of the Year is a helluva deal.

This is the only way I will say Pokopia from this point forward.

Where is the accent mark in Pokopia?

"Of course Marathon is autobiography... any run that isn’t completed successfully ends with everything being lost... Thus far Bungie has not been fully razed by the ruinous perils of corporate consolidation... It’s still on a run, but it’s... a pawn in grander, riskier machinations." Damn.

Friendly reminder that February 2026 US video game market results from Circana will be released at approximately 9AM Eastern tomorrow. Switch 2! Resident Evil: Requiem! Other stuff! If you're into that kind of thing, check a 👀

Dear Zonies (Arizona peeps), Listen, we love you here in San Diego. And it's spring break. Welcome. But, I have a favor to ask. Leave the fanny packs and Nike Air Max's at home. Put some flops on. Wear a t-shirt without guns on it. It's cool. Just, like, relax. Sincerely, me

I'll give Marathon one thing, its players are dedicated. According to Circana's Player Engagement Tracker, on Tuesday the average Marathon player played for just shy of four hours on both PlayStation and Xbox, ranking among the top 10 games on both platforms.

The complete and utter failure of the metaverse is a reminder not just of the fact that the future Silicon Valley is force feeding us is not inevitable, but that quite often these oligarchs quite simply cannot relate to real people. @jasonkoebler.bsky.social writes.

On a positive note... the breadth and depth of free World Baseball Classic live content (I love me some Content. Big Content guy) MLB The Show 26 has released over its first week has been jaw dropping. Over a hundred WBC player cards and heaps of playable stuff - it's been amazing tbh.

i'm definitely at the point where i'm suspicious that super positive "leaked" reviews and impressions are essentially market manipulation.

I don't understand.

As a Content Lover, how much Content does Crimson Desert really have to offer? I don't care about anything other than the amount of said Content. I just need Content Quantity. Nothing else matters to me, a Content Aficionado. I want a Bandini Mountain amount of Content. Nothing less.

GDC was defined by anxiety about the future of the games industry and America, even if big companies didn't want to acknowledge it aftermath.site/gdc-2026-xbox-...