Episode 123: What Sony is *Really* Doing with PlayStation Plus (News Show)

We’re back from GDC and we have a lot to discuss. This week: PlayStation Plus gets a makeover, Bobby Kotick’s buddies accused of insider trading, indie studio bad behavior in the spotlight, and Sony’s own labor issues mount as more women come forward. You can support Virtual Economy’s growth via our Ko-Fi and also purchase Virtual Economy merchandise! TIME STAMPS [00:02:19] - GDC 2022 Recap [00:27:20] - GameStop Earnings [00:42:00] - Investment Interlude [00:56:44] - Quick Hits [01:08:27] - Labor Report (Activision, Undead Labs, Sony, Moon Studios, PMG Report) [01:31:43] - The New PlayStation Plus SOURCES GameStop Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2021 Results | GameStop Activision Blizzard officially settles federal sexual harassment suit for $18 million | Washington Post Activision Blizzard disinvited from speaking at SXSW due to misconduct allegations | Washington Post Activision Faces New Suit From Worker Alleging ‘Rampant Sexism’ | Bloomberg Law Four U.S. Senators Cite Microsoft-Activision Deal Concern in FTC Letter | WSJ (Paywall) Allegations Of Sexism, Bullying, And Burnout: Inside The Microsoft Studio Behind State Of Decay 3 | Kotaku Eight more women allege sexism at PlayStation, intensifying lawsuit | Axios Despite its beautiful Ori games, Moon Studios is called an ‘oppressive’ place to work | GamesBeat Investigating Three Indie Superstars Accused of Emotional Abuse | People Make Games All-new PlayStation Plus launches in June with 700+ games and more value than ever | PlayStation Blog INVESTMENT INTERLUDE Welcoming Haven Studios to the PlayStation Studios family | PlayStation Blog Game Developer Boss Fight Entertainment Joins Netflix | Netflix Roberto Barrera Announces New Role at Netflix | LinkedIn TEQUILA WORKS WELCOMES TENCENT AS A MAJORITY INVESTOR | Tequila Works Welcoming WebAR Development Platform 8th Wall To Niantic | Niantic Saudi Arabia’s PIF ups invest in NCSoft for second largest ownership, shares rally | Pulse Scopely partners with game development team Burlingame Studios, investing $20 million in new studio | Scopely Griffin Fund II Announcement | Griffin Gaming Partners NDreams Receives $35M Investment from The Aonic Group | NDreams U.S. Probes Options Trade That Gained on Microsoft-Activision Deal | WSJ (Paywall) U.S. Probes Meeting Between Activision CEO and Option Buyer | WSJ (Paywall)