EA Shuts Down Visceral & The Future of AAA Single Player Games | The Video Game Pals Episode 26

Thompson is MIA this week, but the Pals have their most packed show since E3 season! We've got hot updates around IGNxHumble Bundle & the loot crate controversy, the wave of sexual harassment claims finally hitting the games industry and the future of AAA single-players games. PLUS: OHHHHH GOT UM! -Buy or Sell DA NEWS: 1. IGN has posted their review of A Hat in Time, the first Humble-published game since their acquisition of the company: http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/10/16/a-hat-in-time-review https://twitter.com/GameOverGreggy/status/920093855369781250 2. The UK government has responded to the ongoing loot box controversy that’s dominated the conversation around games as of late: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-10-17-government-response-to-loot-box-concern-is-predictably-non-committal 3. Former Naughty Dog, David Ballard Speaks out About Sexual Assault: https://twitter.com/DBal/status/919284577566412801 https://www.naughtydog.com/blog/an_important_statement_from_naughty_dog 4. Video Game forum NeoGaf has gone dark after sexual assault allegations surfaced about the site’s owner, Tyler “Evilore” Malka: http://www.usgamer.net/articles/neogaf-goes-dark-after-sexual-assault-allegations-against-founder 5. Sony Music is launching a new publishing arm for games that will release games in Switch and PC: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-is-publishing-nintendo-switch-and-pc-games-un/1100-6454129/ 6. Nintendo Switch 4.0.0 update: https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/18/16501642/nintendo-switch-video-capture-save-data-transfer-update https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/19/16504088/nintendo-switch-wireless-headphones-headset-update https://kotaku.com/the-switchs-new-video-capture-function-isnt-great-1819691383 7. Activision made headlines this week for the patent of technology for a matchmaking system that encourages players to buy microtransactions: http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/news/how-activision-uses-matchmaking-tricks-to-sell-in-game-items-w509288 8. EA is shutting down Visceral Games, the team behind the Dead Space series, and makinf significant changes the formerly upcoming Star Wars game being helmed by former Uncharted Director/Writer Amy Hennig: https://www.ea.com/news/an-update-on-the-visceral-star-wars-project https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/17/16490960/ea-closing-visceral-games-star-wars-game-delayed https://twitter.com/ToddStashwick/status/921025091252584448 https://twitter.com/zachulon/status/921390010955284480 Polygon’s Samit Sarkar titled, “EA’s Star Wars ‘pivot’ is a vote of no confidence in single-player games” which is going to be the jumping off point here for our meat and potatoes: https://www.polygon.com/2017/10/18/16491188/ea-star-wars-visceral-games-single-player Meat and Potatoes: Are games as services, online games and loot boxes killing AAA single player experiences? We’ve seen loot boxes creeping their way into more and more single player games and with Activision Blizzard reporting over 3 billion dollars of revenue coming exclusively from in-game purchases, and the lengthy life of GTA Online, it’s no surprise publishers are looking to get a piece of that pie. We’ve regularly discussed our concerns that critical darlings like Dishonored simply don’t seem to sell enough to warrant their continued existence in the current games climate. So, what do we think the future of AAA single player games is? Music: "Swanky Ballroom Party For Sophisticated People" by Adhesive Wombat - @adhesivewombat The Video Game Pals is The Pals Network's weekly video game podcast where we talk about video games, the news and how it all makes us feel. The Pals: Sean: twitter.com/SeansSoapbox Pete: twitter.com/Loud_Pete Andy: twitter.com/Tiger_Millions Thompson: twitter.com/RelicVampire