Here at Goonhammer, we know that it’s hard to keep track of all the news happening all the time in the games industry. So much is always going on with games of all sorts, and their related media, it can be a real blink-and-you’ll miss it situation.
That’s why every week, we round up five of the biggest stories in the gaming sphere from the past week in the Games Industry News Roundup. Our trusty news boy, Dan “Swiftblade” Richardson, is at the very real and cool Goonhammer newsdesk with the scoop.
A quick note before we start our regularly scheduled roundup here, folks. This past week was host to the most cherished of summer traditions celebrated atop the corpse of E3: Geoff Keighley’s Summer Birthday Bash, better known as Summer Games Fest, as well as several other major showcases from big industry names like Sony and Devolver Digital.
I’ll be talking about none of that here.
Why? Because Marcy has already done an excellent job covering them, of course. No need for me to do double work.
If you’re curious about any of these shows, the reveals, and Marcy’s thoughts on them, check out her articles linked here. Then come back here to read about some of the other things that happened in the last week.
- Recapping the Wholesome, Women-Led, Latin American, and Southeast Asian Game Showcases
- Recapping the PC Gamer and Death Stranding Showcases
Thank you again, Marcy, and now it’s time to return to the roundup. If we cross our fingers and believe hard enough, maybe there won’t even be any layoffs this week!
Call of Cthulhu Publisher Announces New CEO
Chaosium, the publisher behind the popular Call of Cthulu RPG series, announced last week that Neil Robinson, the former COO for the company, would be stepping into the role of CEO.
Robinson is the first to hold the role of CEO within Chaosium, and is a co-owner of the company.
The announcement comes in the wake of the departure of Mike Mearls, the former Executive Producer of RPGs for Chaosium. Mearls posted on his LinkedIn three days ago that he’d left Chaosium after a 14 month stint to step into the role of Creative Strategy Director at Asmodee. Mearls made a name for himself during his time at Wizards of the Coast, where he was a rules designer for the games third and fourth editions and one of the lead designers for fifth edition. Mearls still intends to work with Chaosium to wrap up the handful of projects he’s still involved in.
Mearls is replaced by Brian Holland, the longtime Marketing Director at Chaosium.
The announcement for the new CEO and Executive Producer of RPGS comes with a swather of additional new faces to new roles. These include Bridgett Jeffries as the first Community Manager for Chaosium, and Maciej Górkowski as a Production Manager.
Mass Effect TV Show Finds Showrunner
While Amazon’s deal with Games Workshop to produce Warhammer TV has understandably been generating a whole lot of buzz, it’s not the only show Amazon is working on that’s based on a beloved sci-fi franchise. Last November, Amazon announced that it’s working on bringing Mass Effect into show form, and now the series has a showrunner: Doug Jung.
Jung’s most notable credit is as co-writer for 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, alongside Simon Pegg. Jung’s other credits include writing work on Mindhunter, Banshee, and The Cloverfield Paradox. His first credit as showrunner is for the soon to be released historical drama series Chief of War, starring Jason Mamoa.
Other major names attached to the Mass Effect TV series include Daniel Casey (10 Cloverfield Lane, F9: The Fast Saga) and Karim Zreik (Daredevil, Jessica Jones). EA’s Michael Gamble is set to be the show’s executive producer.
Wizards of the Coast Updates Magic’s Online Card Database Program
Wizards of the Coast gave a major facelift to Gatherer, the official online database for Magic: The Gathering cards, earlier this June, representing the biggest leap forward for the site since its inception two decades ago.
“Over the coming weeks, you may notice some visual changes to Gatherer as you browse your favorite cards, search for obscure combos, or dive into Magic’s deep card history,” reads the official press release on Wizards’ site. “This update is all about making Gatherer feel cleaner, more modern, and easier to use—whether you’re on desktop, a tablet, or your phone. We will be phasing this update, so some of you will see the new version while others may see the old Gatherer look as we roll these changes out.”
As of this writing, the site’s undergone a complete overhaul of it’s visuals, and Wizards states that it intends to continue to update the website with new features and accessibility improvements through 2025. Wizards of the Coast is still keeping the exact nature of these added features under wraps however, with the promise to reveal more about them when they’re ready to do so.
TCGPlayer Union Negotiates Better Severance Package for Members
The showdown between the unionized workers at TCGPlayer and its parent company, eBay, has seemingly come to an end. While it appears that eBay is still going through with closing the Syracuse office for TCGPlayer, union members won major concessions in negotiations with the online auction juggernaut.
After sustained pressure from boycotts, online backlash, and motions filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), eBay vastly improved the severance package being offered to TCGPlayer employees who’re being laid off. These include 20 weeks of severance pay at $2.50 above current wages for all members of the bargaining unit, 6 months of medical coverage, 7 months of mental health benefits, and a $1,250 ratification bonus for all those in the bargaining unit.
“This severance agreement makes sure that our members will land firmly on their feet as we all move forward,” TCGUnion-CWA writes in their statement on social media. “We are so grateful for the support the TCG community has shown us, and we would not have made it this far without you all. Thank you for standing with us in solidarity and being such great allies in our fight.”
“eBay could only beat our union by closing down the entire Authentication Center and leaving town. We live in a time of unchecked corporate power, and still we bring them to the table again and again. From Syracuse to Louisville, workers everywhere deserve rights, respect, and dignity on the job.”
As of this writing, eBay still plans to close down the Syracuse office fully this August, before moving all operations for TCGPlayer to Louisville, Kentucky, within one of eBays largest distribution centers in the USA.
Major Games Manufacturer Plans First Factory Expansion Outside of China
One of the largest board game manufacturers in the world, Panda, announced last week in a report to Boardgamewire that it’s expanding its operation for the first time outside of China due to uncertainty over the ongoing Trump Tariffs.
Panda, who makes game components for board games ranging from from small time Kickstarter companies all the way to massive publishers like Asmodee, Stonemaeir, and Leder Games, was founded in 2007 and currently only operates in China. Following the 154% tariffs imposed by the United States on Chinese imported goods earlier this year however, Panda began looking for solutions outside of their home soil.
This led them to a collaboration with Brazilian game manufacturer Kawagraf. Kawagraf’s manufacturing credits include Zombicide, Exploding Kittens, and The Mind. Panda has partnered with Kwagraf to launch Panda Brazil, which will operate within Kwagraf’s facilities.
Michael Lee, the CEO of Panda, says that this partnership with Kwagraf will offer US based consumers “A reliable path for navigating the current US tariff challenges while maintaining the high production standards Panda is known for”.
The first Panda products manufactured from this facility, located in São Paulo, are expected to arrive within the next few weeks on US shelves.
Bonus: The Talking Heads Release Official Music Video for “Psycho Killer”
Look, I write about a whole lot of stuff that is a real kick in the spiritual teeth.
Hell, this was a fairly positive roundup, which was admittedly refreshing after a rough few months post-tariffs. But there’s plenty of horrible, stomach churning stuff I didn’t get to this week. Like known corporate ghoul David Zaslav getting even more power over Warner Brothers’ streaming catalog as the company splits in two, more industry layoffs at Outplay Entertainment, or the truly vile stuff Ubisoft was doing to its female employees.
All of that stuff is important. You should read it. It’s good to be informed. But sometimes, I don’t want to include stories in the roundup that make me a little more jaded each week. Sometimes, I want a little roundup treat for your favorite newsboy. I want to write about stuff that rips. The stuff I love. Stuff like the Talking Heads.
Did you know that the Talking Heads released a music video for “Psycho Killer” last week? When I first saw it pop up on my YouTube recommendations, I admit it really didn’t register with me as anything special. “Psycho Killer” is one of their most popular tracks, and it’s also forty-six years old. I figured this was a remaster or something of that ilk.
But no, as it turns out, the Talking Heads never released a music video for “Psycho Killer”. The video I’d ignored on YouTube is THE official video, released to celebrate the fifty year anniversary of the band’s debut at CBGB.
And in perfect Talking Heads fashion, the video is weird! Real weird! Nobody even gets psycho killed!
The music video is directed by Mike Mills (20th Century Woman, C’mon, C’mon) and stars Saoirse Ronan. It follows Ronan’s unnamed character over the course of thirteen days, as her drab and repetitive life drives her deeper and deeper into a frantic mania. She isn’t a psychotic murderer like the song’s title might imply, but you get the sense watching the video that this is someone who’s right on the edge of snapping, maybe even violently. It’s one long internal nervous breakdown made external, a wild spiral caused by the nightmare that is overwhelmingly mundane modern life, which will inevitably explode in a spectacularly awful way. Watching the music video is as engrossing as it is stressful, by the end Ronan is so unhinged it seems like she could sweetly smile and then strangle someone at any second. It perfectly captures the essence of “Psycho Killer”.
It’s a personal delight to see one of my favorite bands still contributing to the creation of bold artwork through their music, decades after they’ve all gone their separate ways.
Thank you for indulging me, and now that I’ve exorcised the joy from my body through this bonus segment I will dutifully return to reporting on the terrors next week.
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