🕹️Xbox to go

Happy Monday! According to a designer at CD Projekt Red, one of their best side quest designers will still have 90% of their pitches denied.

—Derek, Tim

MAIN QUEST: DMA opens fire

The EU has initiated investigations into major tech companies including Meta, Apple, and Alphabet (Google), for potential breaches of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). These investigations come amidst concerns of uncompetitive practices within the tech industry. If found guilty, these companies could face fines of up to 10% of their annual turnover. Notably, this move follows recent fines imposed on Apple by the EU and the Epic v. Apple lawsuit in the United States.

The investigations focus on anti-steering practices, lack of user choice, and unfair data usage policies. The EU alleges that Apple and Alphabet hinder apps from freely communicating with users regarding payment options. At the same time, Meta is accused of unfairly requiring payment to avoid data usage for advertisements. Additionally, concerns are raised about Google's preference for its goods and services in search results. These investigations, expected to take around 12 months to complete, signify the EU's commitment to ensuring open and contestable digital markets in Europe, addressing issues directly impacting billions of users worldwide.

Step Back: While Epic’s fight against mobile stores is well known, the decision around Meta has potential implications on the most popular mobile games monetization option: free-to-play with advertisement removal microtransaction.

HUD

• 🚫 The Chinese government is moving to ban the use of Intel and AMD chips on government computers and “state-owned enterprises”, along with phasing out the use of Windows OS for Chinese-produced options. China is a major market for both Intel and AMD.

• 🎮 In a recent interview with Polygon, Xbox Phil Spencer did not confirm the rumors of a handheld Xbox device, but he went into pretty good detail on what features he would want to be included if they did release a handheld device.

• 🤝 Last month Crash Bandicoot and Spyro developer Toys for Bob decided to go independent following January’s layoffs at Microsoft. The studio will still work with its former parent company, as they have reportedly agreed to a partnership for Xbox to fund Toys for Bob’s next project.

MAJOR W

• 🎂 Today is the 30th anniversary of the Elder Scrolls series and Bethesda confirmed they are in early development for Elder Scrolls VI.

• 🆓 Cyberpunk 2077 will have a free trial for PS5 and Xbox this weekend. The 2020 title had a turbulent launch but recovered greatly before launching its Phantom Liberty expansion which over 20% of all players purchased.

F IN THE CHAT

• 🗓️ XDefiant still has no official release date. An anonymous insider quoted: “The neverending hunt to chase COD and add pointless stuff always breaks the current build.”

• 👎️ Larian’s CEO had to step in to stop players from blaming Wizards of the Coast for Larian deciding not to develop a Baldur’s Gate 3 DLC or Baldur’s Gate 4.

CAREER CORNER

• Editorial Writer, Fortnite — Epic Games (Cary, NC)

• VP, Marketing Innovation and Technology — Take-Two Interactive (New York City, NY)

• Project Manager, Mobile — Pixowl (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

HIVE MIND

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