The 8bA Podcast is a podcast bringing you the latest and greatest geeky news of the past week.

NEWS ITEMS

Activision Blizzard. IGN reports that the Microsoft and Activision Blizzard deal has gone through, and that Bobby Kotick will step down as CEO as of January 1, 2024. Although Kotick will receive at least $390M in stocks and incentives, the Communication Workers of America union views the buyout favorably, as Microsoft has committed to remaining neutral with regard to unionization discussions.

Animal Crossing. IGN and GameInformer report that Nintendo is once again teaming up with LEGO to develop five Animal Crossing sets. They will release in March 2024 and feature Isabelle, Tom Nook, Kapp’n, and a few villagers (Rosie, Bunnie, Marshal, and Julian). The sets have a similar structure and feel to the Mario and Donkey Kong-themed sets. Prices range from $15-75.

CD Projekt Red. Eurogamer reports that employees at the Polish development studio have formed a union in response to three rounds of layoffs that affected 159 staff members across various studios. The union is part of the national OZZ IP union. Membership, however, does not extend to Vancouver-based staff or anyone not on a Polish contract.

EPIC. The Verge reports that the Unreal Engine developer is changing the pricing structure of the software for individuals not involved with game development, such as film- and automakers. The new structure will move to per-set pricing, which is consistent with software like Creative Cloud. Unreal Engine will continue to use its current pricing structure for game developers, and educators and students will still be able to use it for free.

IGN, meanwhile, reports that EPIC and Psyonix will no longer allow item trading in Rocket League to bring the game in line with its other properties that have item shops. The claim is that this will allow Rocket League vehicles to come to other EPIC games, supporting cross-game ownership. The change will go into effect on December 5th.

PlayStation. The Verge reports that Sony will be bringing cloud-streamed PS5 to various regions throughout October. This is a feature available to PlayStation Plus Premium members. Japan will be the first region on October 17th, followed by Europe on the 23rd, and finally North America on the 30th. Sony has not announced which titles will be available yet but will include those from the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, digital games players own like Resident Evil 4, Genshin Impact, and Fortnite, and trials for games like Hogwarts Legacy and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Stardew Valley. Polygon reports that Festival of Seasons, a Stardew Valley concert tour by SOHO Live, will be starting an international circuit on February 17th, 2024. Eric Barone (ConcernedApe) announced tour dates and locations on Twitter, but notably the tour will include Boston on 2/23 and NYC on 2/29. Tickets are now on sale.

Unity. TheVerge and GameInformer report that CEO John Riccitiello is retiring, effective immediately. Unity’s interim CEO, James Whitehurst, is an advisor at Silver Lake, a private equity firm that owns roughly 9% of Unity. This comes in the wake of the disastrous pricing fee structure announcement that Unity has since walked back.

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“1-UP” is by Professor Shyguy. You can find his work at https://professorshyguy.bandcamp.com