GYGO: Meta is Still Betting Big

Hello and welcome to Get Your Game On! Did you miss me? I, Maddi, am back again for another dose of news this week. I am still just as into Dicey Dungeons as I was last week, so not much has changed on that front. But if YOU have played anything you think we should know about, let us know in the comments, or, if you’re a member of our Patreon at the Sega Genesis tier or higher, drop us a recommendation in our Discord! If you feel so moved as to pitch us, our editors’ inboxes are cursed with a terrible, unsettling hunger, and we would love for you to feed them. Anyway, here’s the news. 

The Metaverse Is Unprofitable (for Now)

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, posted a loss of $2.8 billion in Q2 for its VR division. This follows a loss of $2.96 billion in Q1. Despite that, Mark Zuckerberg still seems optimistic about people’s willingness to use the metaverse to hold meetings with Bitmoji-esque versions of their coworkers or whatever. To account for rising costs, Meta Quest 2 headsets have gone up by $100, bringing the cost of the 128 GB unit to $400 and the 256GB unit to $500. Gamers can also expect to pay extra for refurbished units and accessories.

Ousted Ubisoft Director Is Back, This Time at Tencent

Back in 2020, allegations of sexual assault and harassment rocked the games industry. Amid these allegations, Ubisoft creative director Ashraf Ismail was accused of lying about his marital status and abusing his power while carrying on extramarital affairs. In June, Ismail stepped down from his role at Ubisoft and was later formally fired.

Now, though, Axios has reported that Ismail has been working at Tencent since Tencent’s Montreal studio opened in July 2021. This was seemingly meant to be kept quiet, as Tencent never announced the hiring, and Ismail’s LinkedIn page does not mention his work for the studio.

In other news…

Grand Theft Auto 6 will feature a female protagonist. All of the people you would expect to be mad about this are mad about this.

During the Annapurna Interactive Summer Showcase, Cardboard Computer (the studio behind Kentucky Route Zero) announced they are working on their next game.

USgamer is shutting down.

The VMAs now have a “Best Metaverse Performance” category.

Madison Butler

Madison Butler is Sidequest’s self-proclaimed jock editor. She co-founded the blog Critsumption and once got really into powerlifting via Fitness Boxing for the Nintendo Switch. She tweets at @_maddilo.