logo
episode-header-image
May 2024
14m 52s

Why are so many people in gaming losing ...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Epic Games. Microsoft. Riot Games; owners of the biggest computer game titles in the world and part of a gaming industry which has been valued at $200 billion. That’s more than the music and entertainment industry combined. It’s not all plain sailing though.

Epic Games, which created Fortnite, recently cut 870 jobs. Microsoft, which now owns Activision-Blizzard; famous for the Call of Duty and Red Dead Redemption series, announced 1,900 job losses earlier this year. League of Legends maker Riot Games reduced their workforce by 10%, which meant 530 job cuts. It’s estimated that 18,000 jobs have been lost over the past couple of years. BBC gaming expert Mel Ramsay explains what’s going on. Also, Harriet in the UK and Francis from Canada share their experiences of being laid off. They give their views on the impact on the gaming sector and how to improve things for employees.

And we take a quick look at the computer game sector in Nigeria, where the demand for home grown mobile gaming is taking off.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk Presenter: Alex Rhodes Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Josh Jenkins and Adam Chowdhury Editor: Verity Wilde

Up next
Yesterday
Will the Divine app revive six-second loops on social media?
Divine, a short-form video-sharing app, lets users create and share videos which are just six seconds long and repeat on a loop. It’s inspired by Vine, an app founded in 2012 that, at its peak, had more than 200 million monthly active users. It helped launch the careers of some o ... Show More
9m 38s
Aug 21
So bad it’s good: How the Chinese cow movie ‘Niu Lai’ became a box office hit
Niu Lai, a low-budget Chinese animation film about a cow in a dream sequence, is going viral. Released on August 5, it earned less than $1,500 in its first ten days. But then — following snarky comments, bad reviews and widespread mockery by Gen-Z — the film found a larger audien ... Show More
12m 47s
Aug 20
Is it okay to run shirtless in public?
Do you run without a a shirt on ever? Lots of people have opinions on this topic and in some parts of the world it’s something you’re just not allowed to do. We hear from runners around the world for their take on the decision to run without a shirt one - for both men and women.A ... Show More
12m 45s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2024
Activision Blizzard: What Microsoft Got for $69 Billion
Last year, Microsoft closed its takeover of Activision Blizzard, the maker of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and Candy Crush. In the months that followed, interest rates rose, expectations changed, and Microsoft Gaming eliminated 8% of its workforce. Jason Schreier is the author of Pla ... Show More
36m 47s
Oct 2024
What happened to Activision Blizzard?
The video game industry is bigger than movies and music combined. As part of our ongoing Skin in the Game series, we’re chatting with journalist Jason Schreier about the rise and fall of Blizzard, the company behind such games as World of Warcraft. It’s a story about the push and ... Show More
8m 21s
Jul 2025
Assessing Xbox’s Layoffs, Game Cancellations, and Studio Closures – Unlocked 698
As expected, layoffs at Microsoft and Xbox did happen this week, and they were unbelievably brutal. Approximately 9,000 people reportedly got laid off, multiple games were canceled, and entire studios were shut down. We sort through the wreckage on this week's Unlocked. 00:00 - I ... Show More
1h 19m
Nov 2023
Fortnite, GTA VI, and the fate of AAA games
In episode three of our video game miniseries, The Verge's David Pierce and Polygon's Russ Frushtick and Chris Plante discuss the state of the industry's blockbuster games like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, Overwatch, Fortnite, and others — and what they signal for the future o ... Show More
1h 16m
Dec 2023
Critical hit for China’s online gaming industry
From the BBC World Service: New rules limiting in-game purchases have wiped nearly $80 billion in market value from China’s two biggest gaming companies. The move is an attempt to curb what officials see as growing trend of online gaming addiction. We analyze the blow to the indu ... Show More
7m 26s
Feb 2024
The Gaming Industry Is About To Explode
tail spinning
1h 3m
Apr 2020
Fortnite Was a Blockbuster for Epic Games, What’s the Encore?
In the ever-changing video games industry, Epic Games, the maker of the incredibly popular Fortnite multi-player game, considers whether it could become a PC-games distribution platform. Harvard Business School’s Andy Wu discusses his case, “Epic Games.” 
18m 11s