Written By: Max Mitchelson
Welcome to the Weekly Gaming Round-Up!
Despite an ordinarily slow period in games after the holidays, this week has been especially eventful. Games are on everybody’s mind as Gamestop’s stock continues to rise to historic levels. Activision Blizzard claims it cannot interview diverse candidates, and there’s fallout after a Fallout: New Vegas mod was removed from Nexus.
Joy-Con Drift Lawsuits are popping up left and right with the European Commission looking into complaints. In other news, Konami continues to not make games, but despite some speculation, Konami has not dissolved its game development teams.
Monday, Jan. 25
Gamestop’s shares rose by 18 percent, closing at $76.96, thanks to a short squeeze driven by the investment subreddit WallStreetBets, according to Game Industry Biz.
Shares of the struggling games retailer have been rising for the better part of last year due to online faith in the company and the release of the new console generation boosting sales. However, beginning last week, share prices exploded, ending at $76.76 on Friday
Enthusiastic investors from the subreddit, among the others, bought heavily into GameStop forcing short-sellers to buy back shares, driving the price even higher.
Since Monday, Gamestop shares have reached over $300, Melvin Capital and other firms closed their short positions taking big losses, and restrictions have been placed on buying $GME, $AMC, and other securities.
Tuesday, Jan. 26
After online speculation about Konami’s recent corporate restructuring signaling an end of Konami’s gaming production wing, the company released a statement to IGN denying the rumors.
On January 15, Konami announced a corporate restructuring to investors, where three of its production divisions would be shut down. However, after an online concern, a Konami spokesman clarified the statement.
“The announcement made refers to an internal restructure, with production divisions being consolidated. We have not ‘shut down’ our video gaming division,” said the spokesman to IGN.
In an update to the article, a Konami representative said that the divisions weren’t so much as shut down as consolidated to streamline communication and its ability to react to market conditions.
On Wednesday, Jan. 27
Lawyers representing Activision Blizzard, claim that a proposal submitted by the AFL-CIO to diversify their workforces is "unworkable," according to a Vice report.
The AFL-CIO labor federation first sent a proposal to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this month. As a shareholder, it asked Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts to adopt policies to ensure qualified women and people of color are in the initial pool of candidates for open positions.
This method to increase diversity workplaces has been widely adopted by companies in the United States. Activision Blizzard has implemented a similar proposal when considering director and CEO nominees. But an attorney representing them said that it is not possible for all hires.
“A policy that would extend such an approach to all hiring decisions amounts to an unworkable encroachment on the Company’s ability to run its business," said an Activision Blizzard attorney in the Vice report.
On Thursday, Jan 28.
A massive Fallout: New Vegas mod, released earlier this month, has been removed from Nexus by the developers after a team member allegedly posted pedophilic content.
After the controversy first broke Wednesday night, another member of the team, Phobos95, acknowledged it on the Discord server and announced that ZuTheSkunk, the team member responsible, has been banned from the server and removed from the team.
Project lead Thomas 'tgspy' spoke on behalf of the dev team early Thursday morning and announced an update to the mod to remove questionable and criticized content. He announced his departure from the team soon after, and the mod has been set to hidden on Nexus.
"It's sad to see so many years of my life devolved into this, but as I've said for years if even a single person has enjoyed the mod, then I'm happy," he said according to a Eurogamer report.
On Friday, Jan. 29
On the heels of another Nintendo Joy-Con Drift class-action lawsuit in Canada, the European Commission has confirmed it is looking into Nintendo’s widely criticized controllers.
According to an IGN report, the European Commission (EC) is considering The European Consumer Organization’s (BEUC) investigation into Joy-Con Drift. If the EC decides to pursue the issue, it could compel Nintendo to change its practices if Nintendo is found guilty of breaking EU consumer law.
“Early obsolescence is a growing concern for all consumers. The Commission is determined to act against such trends and to empower consumers in the green transition,” said Didier Reynders, the Commissioner for Justice, in an official statement.
EGD’s Weekly Gaming Round-Up gives a quick look into the newest news in the games industry. From blockbuster triple-A games and indie startups and mods, the Weekly Gaming Round-Up covers it all.
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