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
Looks like it’s time to look over a new week of news stories in the gaming sphere, I hope everything was normal this week…
It’s a wild one this week, folks.
Polygon Sold and Staff Laid Off
Pour one out for Polygon, folks. One of the largest gaming related news publications on the internet, Polygon was sold by its parent company Vox Media last week as part of a deal with Valnet, and much of the site’s staff was promptly laid off as a result.
Valnet, who owns multiple click-bait article websites like Screen Rant, Game Rant, Fextralife, and Comic Book Resources, purchased the website for an undisclosed amount. CEO Hassan Youssef shares the typical polite excitement with the purchase in a press release, writing, “This moment marks a powerful reaffirmation of our deep commitment to gaming, a space we’ve passionately invested in for years. The addition of Polygon not only strengthens our editorial muscle but also amplifies our ability to deliver unmatched value to both audiences and advertisers.”
While these pleasantries portray a bright future for Polygon, the reality for the site’s staff was very different. According to former staff members’ social media accounts, over twenty people were laid off from the website’s staff, many of them senior members of the team.
“I’m no longer with Polygon. If you’re hiring, please consider the many talented writers and editors now on the market,” Former Editor-in-Chief and Co-founder of Polygon, Chris Plante, wrote on his social media profile. “Every one of them deserves a spot on your staff. I won’t be talking more about the sale because I wasn’t involved. Going to hang out with my kid. Taking wins where I can.”
Among those laid off is Charlie Hall, the head editor for Tabletop games at Polygon, and a major voice in reporting news stories in the world of tabletop games.
Hall wrote on his LinkedIn profile about being let go, saying “I am no longer with Polygon, and I am immediately available for work. I am proud of what my colleagues and I have accomplished over nearly 13 years. I was hired as part of the first big wave of recruits, and left a Fortune 500 company to effectively join the circus. I don’t regret a single moment. I was Polygon’s first and only features writer, later a senior reporter, and then a senior editor. I leave my position today as the first, and so far only, tabletop editor assigned to a desk at a major media outlet here in the United States.”
Vox Media Union, which represents writers at Vox Media outlets like Polygon, was outraged by the sale, which was occurring during a period of negotiation between the Union and Vox Media, calling it underhanded and disrespectful to the writers at Polygon and the good faith bargaining process.
“Arguably even more demoralizing is Vox Media’s decision to sell a lauded games website to a company known for alleged exploitative conditions and for devaluing rigorous journalism in favor of churning out content,” the union wrote in a statement on social media, “Vox Media’s lack of respect for Polygon’s reputation in games media, the hard work and passion of its staff, and the robust community of gamers and fans who support it could not be clearer. Losing Polygon to such a company is not just a loss for Vox Media, but for our industry and internet culture as a whole.”
While Polygon is still active and putting out new articles, the days of the website as one of gaming’s premier voices is likely gone, probably to be replaced by a zombified version of the site designed to farm clicks.
CMON Releases Long Overdue Financial Report, and It’s Real Bad
The sword of Damocles hanging over CMON’s head finally fell last week as the company finally released it’s long delayed financial reports for the past fiscal year, and hoo boy. It’s not just very bad, it’s actually somehow way worse.
Earlier in March of this year, CMON put out a profit loss warning to investors predicting that the company could see a loss of between $1.4 to $2.1 million from fiscal year 2024. Following this warning, CMON failed to produce the FY 2024 annual report by the necessary deadline, and was banned from the Hong Kong Stock exchange until it published the report.
The report, published last week, does show that CMON came out in the red last year, but not within the predicted amount. With all said and done, CMON’s profit loss for FY 2024 is over $3 million.
This loss exceeds the profits that the company posted for the past three years, which combined to a total of $1.68 million between 2021-2023, and is only eclipsed by CMON’s $5 million loss in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. CMON claims in the report that the rising cost of living internationally is the main culprit for the declining sales leading to this loss.
This financial loss, combined with the tariffs on goods imported from China to the US, which accounts for almost 40% of the company’s sales, is likely why CMON shut down development of new games and laid off a large number of its staff last week. In the financial report, CMON notes that the company intends to increase production capabilities and availability in European markets, hoping to find new success there now that the US market is so volatile.
Whether or not this strategy will work is unknown, but it’s safe to say that CMON will be forced to step back as a major player in the gaming market for some time while the company licks its wounds.
Electronic Arts Hits Staff with Mass Layoffs, Cancels Unannounced Titanfall Project
The hits just keep coming this week, don’t they?
According to a report by who else but the Columbo of games journalism, Jason Schrier, Electronic Arts laid off 300-400 positions last week across multiple subsidiary companies, including 100 positions at Respawn Games.
EA representative Jason Higgs told Schrier in a statement that, “As part of our continued focus on our long-term strategic priorities, we’ve made select changes within our organization that more effectively aligns teams and allocates resources in service of driving future growth.”
The cuts at Respawn in particular led to the cancellation of two unannounced projects, one of which was reportedly an extraction shooter set in the Titanfall universe.
This is the second round of major cuts at Electronic Arts owned studios this year, with the first wave hitting BioWare squarely in the jaw following Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which sold approximately 1.5 million copies, missing its sales expectations of 3 million copies sold. The studio was reduced to less than 100 active employees, with all focus being placed on the next mass effect game.
Microsoft Plans to Raise Prices for Xbox Games and Consoles Later this Year
In a post on their website on May 1st, Microsoft announced that the company is increasing the cost of its Xbox consoles and accessories, effective immediately, while first party games for the system will increase to $80 starting this holiday season.
“We understand that these changes are challenging, and they were made with careful consideration given market conditions and the rising cost of development,” writes Microsoft. “Looking ahead, we continue to focus on offering more ways to play more games across any screen and ensuring value for Xbox players.”
These increases aren’t small, particularly in the United States, with consoles going up around $100 to $120 across the board. While Microsoft has increased the price of the Series S in other regions previously, this price hike flies in the face of Microsoft’s commitment in 2022 to maintain the price on current generation Xbox consoles as the PlayStation 5 prices increased in the United States.
According to reporting from BBC, tariffs are likely a major player in these price hikes, as many of the components and accessories for Xbox consoles are made in China. Other sources for the increase include shifting currency exchange rates and a “general rising cost of business.”
Microsoft increasing the prices of its first party games to $80 marks the second major publisher to do so with their games. The first to do so was Nintendo, who faced backlash from the gaming community at large for increasing the cost of first party games on the upcoming Switch 2 to $80. With both of these big names now onboard the $80 games train, it’s very likely the other top publishers in the industry will follow suit.
Games Workshop Announces the Warhammer Heroes Winners for 2025
Well, that was a brutal roundup. Let’s end on something lighter.
Last Tuesday, Games Workshop announced its new Warhammer Heroes for 2025 on the Warhammer Community website, highlighting hobbyists from around the world with a refreshing focus on diversity and inclusivity in the Warhammer space.
The Warhammer Heroes program, which debuted in 2018, is put on annually by Games Workshop on it’s Warhammer Community website. From there, anyone can submit the name of a person they find deserving of the title of Warhammer Hero, as well as the reasoning for why they should be included. The contest aims to recognize “those who go the extra mile to champion the hobby and help their fellow fans by running tournaments, hosting hobby nights, and bringing people together through their shared love of Warhammer”, and winners of the award are treated to a commemorative medal, an awards ceremony to honor their achievement, and a permanent place of honor in Warhammer World.
This year, fourteen new heroes were selected by Games Workshop. As many other international companies have shied away from highlighting diversity, Games Workshop went against the grain by selecting several heroes who promoted a more inclusive hobby space, such as Hannah Wilson, Steve Morrison, Gustavo Darío Vásquez Durán, and Ruth Margarita García López. Several other Heroes made a difference by running hugely successful charity events, like Robert E. Allen III, or becoming cornerstones of the community in their country, like Gelber Ricardo Cueva Núñez and Tom Megens.
The full list of the Heroes for 2025, as well as previous years, can be found on the Warhammer community website.
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