882 - 03/03/24 Bobby Blackwolf Show - Octopath Traveler Temporarily Delisted, More Gaming Industry Layoffs

The Bobby Blackwolf Show

I finished Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and moved on to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and no, you don't actually know the story, so be wary of spoilers. (Not from me, though!) Octopath Traveler has been delisted temporarily from the Nintendo eShop, most likely due to the change in publisher. Toys For Bob, the studio that brought us Skylanders, is leaving Microsoft after the Activision merger. Sony Interactive performed a Reduction in Workforce this week, closing several studios and canceling other projects in flight. EA has also performed layoffs this week, cancelling several licensed games that were in development. The interesting part of their announcement is how much it actually costs to lay off employees and cancel license deals. This leads to a discussion about if games are really more expensive to the consumer or not, and if the rising game budgets are sustainable given inflation. Then we talk to Rob about how he hasn't started Final Fantasy VII Rebirth yet.