Axios Gaming

April 20, 2022
Happy Wednesday. Stephen here.
I had a headache before writing the newsletter. Now it's gone. This thing is medicine.
Todayâs edition: 1,291 words, 5 minutes.
1 big thing: Netflixâs gaming hope
Image: Netflix
Netflix tried to get ahead of some bad news this week by hyping a gaming announcement, part of the companyâs strategy to pep up investors worried about the streaming giantâs future.
Why it matters: Netflix reported its first-ever quarterly loss of subscribers yesterday, triggering a full seasonâs worth of takes to binge-read.
- Execs are floating offering cheaper ad-supported tiers and cracking down on password sharing.
- Theyâre also talking a lot about games.
The details: Netflix announced a mobile game and animated series based on the card game Exploding Kittens on Monday, which offers âan early glimmerâ of its gaming strategy, company COO Gregory Peters told investors yesterday.
- The mobile game is set to launch via Netflixâs phone app next month, with the animated series to follow next year.
- Future versions of the game will have elements from the series, and âall art and design will be inspired by the show,â a Netflix rep told Axios.
- That kind of âinterplay,â as Peters put it yesterday, is âan initial step on a long road mapâ for linking its show and movie content to its games.
Netflix currently offers 17 games, with four more announced for May.
- Gaming is not yet based on the splashy originals model, as Netflix initially builds its mobile gaming library with titles that mostly have or will appear on other platforms too.
- The May offerings include a new release of casual dragon-hatching game Dragon Up and a port of the more complex Moonlighter, a 2018 indie game about owning a magical weapons shop by day and going on monster-slaying adventures at night.
- The company has acquired three game studios since September, setting up potential for homegrown exclusives. (Yesterday, Co-CEO Reed Hastings called them âsmall acquisitions to build up the know-how and the creative chops to be able to make some really great games.â)
Between the lines: Netflixâs gaming plans currently look like a subscriber retention effort and marketing play rather than a plunge into direct competition with gamingâs biggest companies.
- Netflixâs initial moves are focused on giving people more to do with their Netflix app.
Be smart: Gaming is a notoriously hard business to make money in, but Netflix sees gold there.
- âWe think that we can build a big revenue and profit stream by adding games,â co-CEO Theodore Sarandos told investors.
- Itâs a more viable move at the moment, he added, than adding live sports.
2. Metaâs next VR games
Image: Meta, Sony Pictures
Metaâs second annual showcase of virtual reality games for its Quest headset included titles involving Ghostbusters, The Walking Dead and the NFL.
Driving the news: The company formerly known as Facebook is leveraging some very famous brands to try to improve adoption of the headset formerly known as the Oculus Quest.
Some of the games showcased:
- NFL Pro Era, which puts gamers virtually on the field, seeing a game through the eyes of a football player.
- Moss: Book II, a Quest version of an adventure game that stars a mouse and had otherwise only been playable on PlayStation VR.
- Ghostbusters VR, a ghost-catching game that can be played with up to three other people.
- The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners â Chapter 2: Retribution, a sequel to the first-person zombie game.
- Ruinsmagus, a ânarrative-driven action Japanese role-playing game,â a genre that is rare in VR gaming.
Not shown today was the previously announced VR version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which could indicate that it wonât be out until next year.
Between the lines: Meta doesnât share sales numbers for its headset, but its Quest 2 headset is considered its most successful product by industry observers, reaching several million users.
- That's sizable but far from a number that would classify VR as mainstream.
- Meta nevertheless has pitched VR as crucial to its overall metaverse push.
Be smart: Meta wants momentum for its VR games, but its biggest rival in the field, Sony, is set to release PlayStation VR 2 sometime in the next year or two.
3. More on Nintendo labor claim
The Nintendo labor claim we covered yesterday alleges the gaming company and contracting agency Aston Carter âdischargedâ (read: dismissed) an employee due to the worker's efforts to join or form a labor organization, according to a redacted copy of the filing obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: The document slightly narrows the still-vague claims, which will now be investigated by the National Labor Relations Board.
- The alleged infractions include surveillance and interference with the employeeâs legally protected right to conduct âconcerted activitiesâ like discussing wages in a manner that's part of labor organizing.
- A potential sticking point, beyond the merits of the contentions, is who would be culpable, Nintendo or Aston Carter. Contact information for both was used in the filing, but big companies often use contract agencies in part to not have to deal with these types of entanglements. (Neither has commented on the matter.)
Whatâs next: The redacted document is all the public will likely see for now unless the charging party comes forward.
- A regional office of the NLRB will investigate, with results of that investigation expected in 7-14 weeks, according to organization estimates.
- At that time the board could dismiss the charges or pursue a case.
4. Need to know
đ©đ»ââïž The state of California is proceeding with its effort to appeal the misconduct settlement between Activision and the federal government, according to a new court filing.
- Thatâs despite the recent firing of California's top lawyer on the case, which had been followed by the resignation of another lawyer who expressed concern about the stateâs commitment to pursuing Activision.
đ° A showdown is looming over planned âgolden parachutesâ for top Activision executives, as proxy firm Glass Lewis is advising stockholders to approve Activision's acquisition by Microsoft next week but to vote against the exec payment plan. It says the plan makes it too easy for leaders to cash out. In an SEC filing, Activision pushed back.
đŹ Dwayne Johnson will executive produce the movie version of 2021 hit co-op game It Takes Two, according to Variety. He might even star in it.
đ” Microsoft and original Halo composer Marty OâDonnell have settled their lawsuit over music for the franchise, Eurogamer reports.
đ§± The walls in Elden Ring that would break after 50 hits were a glitch that has since been patched, IGN reports
5. Worthy of your attention
Esports stars have shorter careers than NFL players. Hereâs why. [Jonathan Lee, The Washington Post]
âWhen youâre a 20-year-old, you can be all in games 24/7 and be super happy, right?â [former professional gamer Dennis âThreshâ] Fong said. âBut when youâre in your 30s and 40s, youâve got more real life responsibilities. You may have a family, you may have a kid, you may have stuff going on in your life. ⊠I still love games, I still play games, but itâs not a priority for me.â
Many of the professional gamers from the early 2000s retired for those very reasons. As they got older, the time they put into training didnât justify the meager winnings and salaries they received in return. And now with the rise of streaming, many pro gamers opt out of the big leagues to capitalize on familiarity and fanbases developed during their esports days to become content creators.
6. Check chart before buying
Screenshot: Sega website
The newly announced Sonic Origins may be a remaster of four classic Sonic games, but it's thoroughly modern in presenting players with a complicated purchasing decision.
- The game will be sold in a basic version or one that includes three optional downloadable packs of extra content, two of which can be bought separately.
- The additional packs include features like "hard missions," "character animation in the main menu" and "camera controls over the main menu islands."
- Players are used to being asked to pay extra for additional characters or music, but making added menu animations a premium addition is ... innovative.
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đŠ Find us on Twitter: @megan_nicolett / @stephentotilo.
Couldn't think of a good 4/20 joke.
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