Live Service Gaming, SAG-AFTRA Strike News, & an EVO 2024 Recap! - Renegade Arcade Reloaded #3
Welcome to the 3rd episode of Arcade Reloaded! Neoplasmic is joined by AllysonSparkles and newcomers ScottishSoul and Rynkoth as they discuss recent video game news and releases, including the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike! Plus, a conversation about live service games and their impact on the industry! Finally, a recap of the EVO 2024 fighting game tournament that took place from July 19th to the 21st! Bring extra quarters and tell us you got next here at the Renegade Arcade!
In the aftermath of the recent strikes which affected Hollywood, news of a SAG-AFTRA strike taking place in the gaming industry is sure to raise questions. According to the union, actors and performers are seeking pay increases, mandatory break time, on-set medics for motion-capture and physical performers, and AI protections. SAG-AFTRA has released a statement and provided resources for its members to utilize to discover which projects are struck and which may continue under interim agreements signed by industry publishers. Here at RPC, we support the actors’ union and hope to see them succeed in their negotiations! Please visit the SAG-AFTRA website for more details on how you can spread the word and support the union.Thank you!
In other news, it has been an eventful couple of weeks since we last posted an episode of the podcast! We’ve seen the releases of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, EA College Football 25, Anger Foot, Dungeons of Hinterberg, and many more successful games, as well as a ton of announcements from both Evolution 2024 (also called EVO), the fighting game tournament which took place one week ago (as of this writing) in Las Vegas, and the even-more-recent San Diego Comic-Con, which is still ongoing as I type this. As we mention in the podcast, fighting games definitely had their moments, including the stunning Street Fighter 6 tournament win by PunkDaGod, who cemented their status as the top SF6 player in the world.
Capcom also had a new trailer to share featuring Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury and King of Fighters fame, while their rivals/partners at SNK revealed a new character for their upcoming Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves release, as well as DLC featuring Vice and Mature for King of Fighters XV. Oh, and they shadow-dropped a Steam release for SVC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom, which is awesome! Meanwhile, Bandai Namco also teased the return of classic Tekken character Heihachi Mishima, an eagerly anticipated revelation that surprised many fans of the series.
Not to be outdone, Arc System Works showcased their fourth season pass DLC for Guilty Gear Strive, which revealed a new character named Unika, as well as the returning Venom and Queen Dizzy. In a shocking reveal, Lucy from Cyberpunk Edgerunners was shown to be the fourth character available in 2025 through the expansion pass. Cool news for those of us who’ve seen the anime (it’s great and you totally should watch it), and I cannot wait to utilize those monowire whips to decimate my foes in Strive!
Riot Games’ 2XKO, formerly known as Project L, was also featured during the event, and is shaping up to be a great example of how to do a modern tag-team fighter right. Characters are huge on screen and expressive, animations are smooth as silk and reflect personalities well, and the game has solid mechanics and an awesome presentation. The game has an alpha test coming up on August 8th, which I’ve signed up for already, and will be available as a free-to-play release, whenever Riot decides to unleash it upon us. We’ll definitely keep you posted!
Finally, Ally, Ryn, Scottish, and I take a look at the impact that live service games have on the video game industry, including the pervasive use of microtransactions to increase revenue and foster a sense of FOMO (that is, the fear of missing out on trends) among their consumer base. In the old days, players could simply earn or unlock in-game cosmetic items such as custom armor pieces or a new character in a fighting game simply by playing the game. Now, that’s a bitter memory, as online titles like the First Descendant require us to pay real-world money in order to customize our character’s armor or even their facial features and hair.
While many live service games are initially free-to-play, which is designed to attract players, eventually the games will either force players into a situation where they must spend money to progress at all, or simply “encourage” them to buy the latest, trendiest skins so they don’t get *gasp* left behind (I’m looking at you, Fortnite). While the solution to this may appear to be simple, i.e. “Just don’t buy anything,” I’d argue that having a cool way to showcase your character is (and always has been) a vital part of playing games. Additionally, as Scottish said during our conversation, many players who are neurodivergent do make in-game purchases on impulse, and game publishers are all too willing to take advantage of this fact. Unfortunately, the industry will continue to prey upon all of us in search of higher profits, and the only way to affect any kind of change is to vote with our wallets.
Alright, that’s enough of my rambling. Please check out the episode and let us know what you think in the comments below! Until next time, Renegades, take care of each other!
*Credit to Kakuchopurei for the EVO highlights video, WhatCulture for the First Descendant microtransactions video, and IGN for the 2XKO gameplay video!
We have provided resources for those who wish to support the victims of the Israel-Hamas war: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/, https://www.ifnotnowmovement.org/, https://itch.io/b/2120/games-for-gaza, https://www.instagram.com/palestineredcrescent/, https://buildpalestine.com/2021/05/15/trusted-organizations-to-donate-to-palestine/, https://www.npr.org/2023/10/13/1205235922/help-israel-gaza-humanitarian-organizations.
For the past several days, I’ve wondered how to approach the dismantling of Game Informer magazine, as well as its website and social media presence, by GameStop management. After 33 years of publishing, the entire editorial and design team was laid off on Friday, August 2, and the website was gutted and turned into a single landing page. While the demise of yet another pillar of print publications in the video game space is not unexpected news in this era of the internet, I’d still like to take a look back at Game Informer’s history, what it means to me, and how much it meant to the industry at large.