Steam Families, Unity Runtime Fee Canceled, Smash Battle Royale + more!

Duration: 08:53

Timestamps:

0:00 haha imagine

0:10 Steam Families out of beta

1:45 Unity cancels Runtime Fee

3:11 Smash Bros Battle Royale

4:40 QUICK BITS INTRO

4:47 Microsoft lays off 650 workers

5:24 Xbox bringing back friend requests

6:09 EU org denounces 'tricking' gamers

7:03 Star Wars Jedi: Survivor removes Denovo DRM

7:39 "Mental Health Action Shooter"

NEWS SOURCES:

KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY

Valve revamps family sharing with Steam Families

https://youtu.be/b248W74jcFc?si=XMUNbASGHDCEBHYq

https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/4605582245626919824

https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/steam-families-is-live-and-you-can-all-play-at-the-same-time-231044827.html

multiple family members can play the same game as long as there are enough copies in the shared library https://lmg.gg/NxQjG

“up to 6 close family members” https://lmg.gg/H65O1

Children cannot leave the family themselves https://lmg.gg/CXH4u

you only get ONE family PER YEAR https://www.gamesradar.com/games/steam-says-you-officially-only-get-one-family-per-year-as-its-new-game-sharing-feature-goes-live/

people don’t just hop families!

CUT & RUN-TIME

Unity cancels the Runtime Fee LOL

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/unity-cancels-runtime-fee

https://unity.com/blog/unity-is-canceling-the-runtime-fee

John Riccitiello https://www.resetera.com/threads/its-almost-a-decade-since-ex-ea-ceo-john-riccitiellos-we-ask-you-for-a-dollar-to-reload-remark.375684/

guess paying 5 executives 150 million in compensation in a year didn’t work out

https://www.reddit.com/r/Unity3D/comments/16jnty8/if_you_are_wondering_why_unity_is_losing_money/

but also increasing prices of the Pro and Enterprise tiers; 8% for Pro https://lmg.gg/jZjZx

25% for Enterprise https://lmg.gg/jZjZx

SMASH ROYALE

New game concept that combines platform brawler and battle royale; a “Smash battle royale”

https://readwrite.com/prototype-40-player-smash-bros-battle-royale-gets-playtest/

https://twitter.com/OdysseyStudio/status/1833914287276134512 @0:48

cool team-assist mechanics to help you “when your gang gets absolutely starched by one of the devs who’s already played for 2,000 hours” https://lmg.gg/R6jTX

Masahiro Sakurai apologizes to players who spent “hundreds or even thousands of hours” in Smash Ultimate

https://www.eurogamer.net/super-smash-bros-director-so-sorry-to-fans-playing-for-thousands-of-hours

the apology https://youtu.be/-49L25Q0YAU?t=42 @0:42

Time should be thought of as a cost @1:02

QUICK BITS

FEEL THE BURN TODAY

Microsoft laying off another 650 game workers, related to Activision purchase

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/report-microsoft-is-laying-off-another-650-game-workers

instructs Xbox social media accounts to go dark to avoid the “feel the burn” debacle from last time

https://x.com/tomwarren/status/1834232600019263590

https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/microsoft-torches-multiple-xbox-studios-then-tells-you-to-feel-the-burn-with-the-most-tone-deaf-controller-launch-of-all-time

original headline https://x.com/Wario64/status/1787859509081489421

Phil Spencer claims in internal memo “no games, devices or experiences” will be cut https://www.gamefile.news/p/microsoft-gaming-layoffs-xbox-650

THE FRIENDS WE REQUESTED ALONG THE WAY

Xbox bringing back friend requests after a decade

https://www.techradar.com/gaming/microsoft-is-testing-friend-requests-on-xbox-series-x-a-feature-thats-been-missing-since-the-xbox-360-days

https://twitter.com/Xbox/status/1833928739677167669

https://www.tomsguide.com/gaming/xbox/friends-requests-return-to-xbox-for-the-first-time-in-over-a-decade

MICRO-INFRACTIONS

EU consumer group files complaint against major companies for tricking users into purchases

https://www.reuters.com/technology/videogame-firms-hit-with-eu-complaint-over-tricking-consumers-2024-09-11/

https://www.beuc.eu/press-releases/consumer-groups-denounce-video-games-manipulative-spending-tactics

https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/09/12/real-life-money-for-in-game-products-eu-consumers-group-files-complaints

DENU-GO

EA/Respawn remove Denuvo DRM from Jedi: Survivor 17 months after release, alongside other fixes

https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/denuvo-drm-removed-from-star-wars-jedi-survivor-alongside-new-pc-optimisation-patch/

Patch notes https://www.ea.com/games/starwars/jedi/jedi-survivor/patch-notes?isLocalized=true

they bolded it lol https://lmg.gg/kZ7h5

https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/star-wars-jedi-survivor-pc-patch-9-removes-denuvo-brings-cpu-ray-tracing-and-stutter-improvements/

SHOOT ANXIETY IN THE FACE

“Mental Health Action Shooter” gets FDA clearance to treat stress

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/deepwell-dtx-videogame-therapy-fda-clearance/

https://www.deepwelldtx.com/

https://www.meta.com/experiences/zengence-take-aim-with-every-breath/7982150971811780/

EDITOR: screen record and play video

Not your typical meditation game. “This is positive mental health at full throttle”. https://lmg.gg/HIhqB

Research continues to find benefits of (moderated) gaming https://fortune.com/2023/05/02/stanford-researchers-scoured-every-reputable-study-link-between-video-games-gun-violence-politics-mental-health-dupee-thvar-vasan/amp/

FLAPPY BIRD

Also Flappy Bird is coming back I guess. Millennials are very excited. Anyway