[Post 490] Why The $183 Billion Video Game Industry Can't Quit Microtransactions

Summary

The video game industry cannot quit microtransactions. 

In fact, two of the largest video game companies in the United States — Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive — now make the overwhelming majority of their money from live-service games, subscriptions and in-game purchases, according to their recent earnings reports.

Microtransactions are purchases that users make inside a game using real money. They show up as subscriptions, virtual currencies, and character customization options, among other examples.

Popular live-service titles such as Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Clash Royale were built around this revenue model. Game publishers must provide updates throughout certain game life cycles to retain player attention, which is where the term "live service" comes from. Gamers pay for those updates through season passes or subscriptions.Gamer backlash from the early attempts at in-game purchases caused the video game industry to shift its approach to these subscriptions and bundling purchasable content.

"The industry is really moved to more of a what they call a battle pass system, or some kind of packaging of seasonal content," said Mat Piscatella, executive director of video games at Circana. "Those systems have found much warmer response because I think people are finding that they're getting more value, and more reliable value for their money."

In-game spending has become a high-stakes issue in addition to a lucrative business. Electronic Arts' live-services operations made the company $5.6 billion in its most recent quarter, according to the company's latest earnings report. Epic Games, which created the popular Fortnite franchise, took Apple to court over an in-game payment system that the developer released inside Fortnite in order to bypass Apple's App Store fees. In Europe, app stores and so-called loot boxes are a major focus of tech regulators.

Watch the video above to learn more about microtransactions, the backlash involved, and where the industry goes from here.

[Post 489] Disney’s Fight To Save ESPN From Cord Cutters | CNBC Documentary

Summary

For more than 40 years, ESPN has reigned supreme as the king of sports media. Growing its business by consistently raising the price of its fee to cable TV providers, ESPN now generates more than $16 billion in annual revenue. But the business of media is changing rapidly. In the past decade, about 40 million U.S. households have cut the cord on traditional cable TV. ESPN must adjust to find customers that aren’t subscribing to the cable bundle as new competitors including YouTube TV, Apple, Amazon, Peacock and perhaps Netflix bid on packages of live sports. This CNBC documentary examines ESPN’s strategy to fend off larger streamers and questions its sustainability in a digital-first world.

[Post 488] How Tesla Became The Most Popular Car Brand In Norway

Summary 

Norway has had massive success with EV adoption, with 82% of new cars sold in the country last year being electric. This high adoption rate can be attributed to the generous subsidies that Norway has offered to electric vehicle owners as well as the country’s investment in charging infrastructure. Tesla’s sales in Norway represent only a sliver of the 1.8 million vehicles the company delivered last year, but Norway’s importance to Tesla goes beyond cold hard cash. Tesla’s early foothold in the country has made Norway the perfect proving ground for the company and acted as a poster child for the EV transition as a whole. As a result, Tesla CEO, Elon Musk has taken a number of trips to the small Nordic country and has often praised Norway’s support of electric vehicles. Norwegians were the first European customers to receive deliveries of the Model S in 2013 and it quickly became the country’s best-selling car. Today, that title has been transferred over to Tesla’s Model Y. But with competition from other EV cars from automakers including Toyota, Skoda, Volkswagan and BYD heating up, it remains to be seen if Norwegians will continue to choose Tesla in the future. To learn more about Norway’s success with electric vehicle adoption, check out CNBC’s documentary:   

[Post 487] Why The French Love American Fast Food

Summary

Despite its reputation for gastronomy, France has become an American fast-food mecca. Between 2019 and 2023, more than 1,300 fast-food restaurants opened in the country, and over the past decade, sales increased by 61%. McDonald’s has the biggest stronghold because of its first-mover advantage. But Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, KFC and Five Guys are expanding their reach. New players like Popeyes and Krispy Kreme moved in for the first time in early 2024 as French consumers continue to seek affordable and convenient food options.

[Post 486] How The Shadowy World Of Organized Retail Crime Works

Summary

CNBC goes inside the shadowy world of organized retail crime, revealing how a crime ring stole millions of dollars of beauty items that ended up for sale on Amazon, according to authorities. For months, we got exclusive access to major investigations by the California Highway Patrol, making arrests and serving search warrants. Ulta Beauty CEO Dave Kimbell, in a first in-depth interview by a corporate leader about organized retail crime, says more needs to be done by the online marketplaces to curb the sale of stolen items.

[Post 485] HR Insider’s Secrets: Here’s What Companies Aren’t Telling You About Layoffs

Summary

Shopback, PropertyGuru, Meta, eBay and Dell. These are just a handful of companies that carried out mass layoffs in the first quarter of 2024 alone.

What are the sure signs that a retrenchment is headed your way? How to tell if your job is safe? If you do get laid off, should you hide it from your next potential employer? We find out the answers from an HR professional who agreed to bare all the facts on condition of anonymity. 

[Post 484] Can The Sony PlayStation Remain The Top-Selling Gaming Console?

Summary

The Sony PlayStation changed the gaming industry’s landscape when it was introduced to players 30 years ago. The PlayStation 2 went on to become best-selling console of all time, a title it still holds today. But the company has its fair share of challenges ahead with the ever-changing gaming sector. Just last year, Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard threatened the landscape of gaming exclusivity. And Sony faces some headwinds with lower demand and industry-wide layoffs. Sony has continually adapted and evolved over the span of the past three decades, but can it continue to hold strong in the console wars? CNBC spoke with Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan, former SIE Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden and other experts to find out.