A new Blizzard union, EA buyout challenged by politicians, and advances in horror game design - Patch Notes #27
We've made it through yet another week, friends, in a year where that has truly never felt like a given. Intrepid news editor (and usual Patch Notes author) Chris Kerr is off at Gamescom Asia at the moment, so I'm just subbing in and trying to bring Chris' usual brand of good humor and cutting insight to the table. If I fail, know it's only because he simply can't be replaced!
Onward, then, to the news and happenings of the last week (give or take)!
US senators concerned about 'foreign influence' in EA buyoutvia Game Developer // One of the biggest stories to land last week—and possibly, one of the biggest of the year—was the news that EA confirmed a massive $55 billion buyout, funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, American private equity fund Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner's investment firm Affinity Partners. United States Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren sent two letters this week to to U.S. treasury secretary and Committee of Foreign Investment chair Scott Bessent and Electronic Arts CEO Andrew, expressing concern about "foreign influence and national security risks" in the deal.
EA employees and UVW-CWA slam Saudi-led EA buyout, call for regulatory scrutinyvia Game Developer // Senators aren't the only parties concerned about last week's massive buyout news. As noted in our news item this week, workers (in partnership with United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433) released a statement criticizing the move.
"EA is not a struggling company," the unnamed workers said in their statement. "EAs success has been entirely driven by tens of thousands of EA workers whose creativity, skill, and innovation made EA worth buying in the first place. Yet we, the very people who will be jeopardized as a result of this deal, were not represented at all when this buyout was negotiated or discussed."
Blizzard Entertainment Platform and Technology workers unionize under CWAvia Game Developer // Over 400 employees at Blizzard Entertainment's Platform & Technology department stepped up and successfully voted to unionize under CWA this week. This group includes workers with a wide variety of job titles including graphic designers, engineers, and project managers on Battle.net, as well as workers in localization, quality assurance testing, and customer support in on other Blizzard products.
Silent Hill f lacks 'iconic' characters - and that's fine?via Game Developer // In the first of two features on iconic survival horror franchises to grace our site this week (it is spooky season after all!), senior editor Bryant Francis walks through the latest iteration's character design, finding a great deal to like in its different take on Silent Hill.
How Capcom designed Resident Evil Requiem with different camera angles in mindvia Game Developer // Regular Game Developer contributor Alessandro Fillari interviewed Resident Evil Requiem game director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa at Tokyo Game Show, teasing out just how important perspective (and player choice) can be to a successful horror experience.
Welcome Letter: Design RoomVia Design Room // This week, former Polygon features editor Matt Leone broke cover with a new site devoted to longform features about games: starting with this welcome letter, and an absolute banger of an oral history on the creation of Shadow of the Colossus. Leone and partners are looking to do regular longform features—with a focus on those meaty oral histories—and support the site with subscriber-funded extras.
As a brief note of disclosure, I worked with Matt during my own time as a Polygon staffer from 2013-2015.
