Matt, James, Marie and Chris are on this week's podcast to discuss the biggest stories of the past week.
We start with comments from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who suggests tech and digital industries (including video games) are unlikely to adopt remote working on a permanent basis as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
On a similar note, we discuss commnets from Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick on how lockdown measures have accelerated the trends towards digital distribution, and how games have an advantage over film, TV and other forms of entertainment when it comes to producing content remotely.
Finally, we look at the recent milestone announced for PlayStation Now: 2.2 million subscribers. A significant uptick over the past year, but still lagging behind Xbox Game Pass. What is it about Microsoft strategy that gives Game Pass the advantage and why, in the grand scheme of things, does it not currently matter to PlayStation?
As usual, you can get your daily dose of news, analysis and insight into the world behind video games at www.gamesindustry.biz.
Matt, Rebekah, Chris and James gather around their mics to discuss the biggest stories of the past week - primarily Epic Games.
The company debuted the first footage of Unreal Engine 5 with a technical demo that also gave us the first glimpse of gameplay on the Playstation 5.
Around this unveiling was also the news that the revenue limit at which Epic will claim royalties from Unreal-powered games has been raised to $1 million, and plans for the Epic Online Services SDK, which will enable other developers to implement cross-play into their titles.
Plus, Fortnite is heading to Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 at launch, so we discussed the potential for current multiplayer hits on the next generation of consoles.
We also touched upon the new PlayStation Studios branding and how the platform holder will create a stronger identity for its first-party titles.
You can get your daily dose of news, insight and analysis into the world behind video games at www.gamesindustry.biz.
The GamesIndustry.biz team offer their thoughts on last week's Xbox Series X showcase.
Recorded in the immediate aftermath of the presentation -- technically during some of the post-show interviews -- we offer our immediate reactions to the first glimpses of next-generation gameplay we saw. 'Glimpses' being the most appropriate word.
Both Xbox and Ubisoft have since admitted it may have oversold how much insight into upcoming Series X titles the special episode of Inside Xbox would offer. During our discussion, we delved a little deeper into what people expect when companies promise to show "gameplay."
We also weigh up the most promising titles in the round-up, discuss the impact this will have had on their publishers, ponder the next steps for Xbox -- beyond the planned first-party showcase in July -- and even how Sony might be able to improve on this with its first PlayStation 5 showcase.
As always, you can find more news, analysis and insight into the world behind video games at www.gamesindustry.biz.
Matt, Rebekah, Chris and James discuss the biggest news of the past week.
We begin by unpacking Xbox boss Phil Spencer's comments in a recent interview, in which he talked about how Microsoft was taking care to ensure it was "not exploiting" the COVID-19 pandemic and the "big flood" of new users it has brought to gaming.
Then, after a tangent about streaming services and the bizarre communications around the launch of Stadia's free version, we reflect on the ongoing success of Xbox Game Pass, which has already amassed more than 10 million subscribers.
Finally, following leaks around The Last of Us: Part 2, we talk about the challenge of avoiding and preventing spoilers, not only in games but in any form of entertainment.
As always, you can get your daily dose of news, insight and analysis into the world behind video games at www.gamesindustry.biz.