Console Costs Continue to Rise

Sony announced last week that it will raise prices on its consoles. Find out how much each will go up. Also, citing diminishing engagement in Fortnite, Epic Games makes massive cuts. This and all the latest news for the week. Let’s go!

Epic cuts

Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, the Unreal engine and other properties, announced it plans to lay off over 1,000 employees. 

In a letter sent to employees and posted online, CEO Tim Sweeney says the company is spending significantly more than it is making, and that the company needs “to make major cuts to keep the company funded.”

Citing Fortnite engagement as a major factor, Sweeny says the company “had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season.” 

“What we now need to do is clear: build awesome Fortnite experiences with fresh seasonal content, gameplay, story, and live events,” says Sweeny. Meanwhile, the staff that remains working on Fortnite says they cannot fully understand how the layoffs will impact the game this year and beyond. 

Epic also posted on Twitter that the company will shut down three Fortnite modes: Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and Festival Battle Stage. In the post, the company states “we've built a lot of Fortnite modes, and in some cases we failed to build something awesome enough to attract and retain a large player base.”

The cuts at Epic come only a few weeks after Fortnite raised the price of their online currency called V-Bucks to “help pay the bills.”

Console prices continue to increase

Sony announced last week that they plan to raise prices globally on their current generations of consoles. Blaming “pressures in the global economic landscape,” Sony said in a press release it was a “necessary step to ensure [they] can continue delivering innovative, high-quality gaming experiences to players worldwide.”

The new prices that go into effect this week are:

• PlayStation 5– $650 (up from $550)
• PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – $600 (up from $500)
• PlayStation 5 Pro – $900 (up from $750)
• PlayStation Portal - $250 (up from $200)

When the PlayStation 5 was released in 2020, the retail price was $500 for the disc version and $400 for the all-digital edition. Since then, Sony has raised console prices twice, with the disc version costing 33% more than launch and the digital up 50%.

The PlayStation is not the only console announcing a price increase. The Nex Playground announced it would raise its price from $250 to $300 starting April 1.

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Xbox Partner Preview

Xbox held their Partner Preview last week, showing off third-party games coming to the system. You can check out everything announced, but here are a few of our favorites: 

Artificial Detective

A post-apocalyptic game where a robot must identify why humanity mostly disappeared. Artificial Detective is expected to release in 2027.

Serious Sam: Shatterverse

Serious Sam returns. Well, actually five of them, as they come from across multiple realities to stop a common enemy. Serious Sam: Shatterverse is slated for this year. 

Alien Deathstorm

A new game from the developer behind Sniper Elite and Atomfall. A first-person shooter that has players facing off against hordes of alien beasts. No release date for this one. 

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn

Planned for Spring of this year, the new game based on the hit show and book series is apparently influenced by Mass Effect. 

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

📀 Beginning in May, digital copies of Nintendo Switch 2 games will cost $10 less than physical versions. 

😢 A new study says that post-game depression is real, with deeply immersive games like RPGs affecting players the most. 

💰 How much does it cost to make a major video game in North America? Estimates say at least $300 million.

😨 Romero Games studio CEO Brenda Romero says she feels “like the industry's in a really horrible place,” and that “we were there in the '80s for the crash, and this is definitely crashier.”

🖥️ If your computer has an Intel graphics card, Crimson Desert currently will not run on your machine. 

👎🏽 Sony closed another internal studio, Dark Outlaw Games. 

📉 A new report says that Nintendo is cutting Switch 2 production by a third due to weak U.S. sales.

🤖 The studio behind The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is using generative AI to “iterate faster,” while Capcom says it will use it to speed up production.

🦾 Meanwhile, more than half of board game designers who responded to an industry survey say they use generative AI in their work. 

📺 Xbox and Netflix are reportedly “kicking around” subscription bundle ideas that would pair the movie-streaming service with Game Pass. 

🦊 Nintendo is reportedly planning to release a major Zelda remake and a new Star Fox game this year.

🔚 Hideo Kojima says his goal with Death Stranding 2 was to have players enjoy it “all the way to the end.”

New Releases this week:

3/30: Aether & Iron (PC)
3/31: Grime 2 (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
3/31: Super Meat Boy 3D (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
4/2: Darwin's Paradox (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)

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