Of America

Sega Of America employees have become the first a major US video games studio to ratify a union contract. The contract covers guarantees minimum yearly pay increases for around 150 staff through 2026.

In case you were wondering, yes, the games industry is still undergoing a period of mass layoffs. According to a new report, the latest round seems to be from Nintendo of America ahead of the release of the much-anticipated Nintendo Switch successor which appears to be slated for a 2025 launch.

Recent reports have suggested that Nintendo of America underwent significant restructuring, resulting in the layoff of approximately 120 contractors. Apparently, this move is part of an effort to reorganize the testing operations at Nintendo's Washington state headquarters.

Workers at Sega of America, a division of Sega Sammy Holdings Inc., have officially ratified their union contract, as reported by Bloomberg. This makes it one of the first major North American video-game companies to take this step, which could bode well for future organized labor pushes in the industry.

Nintendo of America is reportedly cutting around 120 contractor jobs as part of a restructuring of its testing department ahead of Switch 2’s launch.

Today, workers at Sega of America union AEGIS-CWA have announced they have ratified their first contract with Sega, less than a year after their recognition as a legal union.

Workers at Sega of America voted Tuesday to ratify their first collectively-bargained contract with the U.S. arm of the video game company, granting new protections and raises for about 150 full-time and temporary employees.

Red Thread Games and their publisher Spotlight by Quantic Dream have announced that Dustborn will launch on 20th August 2024 across PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox One and PC. Check out the new gameplay trailer.

Shuji Utsumi has been appointed President and COO at Sega, as well as Representative Director CEO of Sega of America, and CEO of Sega Europe.

GTA 6 is likely to get delayed and won't be released globally until closer to the end of 2025.

Nintendo of America has launched its Black Friday digital games sale.

Sega of America has been accused of attempting to lay off staff in response to their bargaining efforts.

Back in August of this year, it was announced that Sega of America employees would be forming a union—the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA)—alongside the Campaign to Organise Digital Employees (CODE-CWA). 

Nintendo of America has announced a range of Black Friday deals.

2023 has seen a wave of unionization across the video game industry, with new unions popping up at companies like ZeniMax Media and Sega of America. Now Nintendo of America president Doug Bowswer has commented on the possibility of a union at his company. 

If the gaming year of 2023 has taught us anything, it’s that there are always going to be gaming stories that you can’t predict because they are just too “scandalous,” too “weird,” and, at times, too “funny.” There are many stories we can talk about for each topic, but we will focus on the email leaks that happened to Microsoft thanks to the FTC trial they had regarding their Activision Blizzard purchase. Those emails let loose tons of information, including how they wanted to buy a certain company, which got the Nintendo of America President to be asked about that “event.”

The Nintendo company has been pushing the Nintendo Switch console into its seventh year. It’s hard to believe we’re still sticking around with this console. It’s proven incredibly popular, but that doesn’t mean some ideas are not being kicked around for what’s next. We’ve seen a flood of rumors hit the web about what we can expect for the Nintendo Switch 2. Recently, Inverse had the chance to speak with the Nintendo of America president, Doug Bowser; during their conversation, we got a look into the insight behind the idea of competing with graphically powerful consoles and how the transition will be handled for its successor. 

Rumors about the Nintendo Switch 2 console have been circulating for at least a couple of years now, but they have intensified in the last few months after credible sources revealed that the new Nintendo console has been shown behind closed doors at Gamescom.

With the lengthy process of regulatory approval over, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard King is now a done deal. Following the deal’s closure and first steps, Microsoft Vice Chair & President Brad Smith released a blog reiterating the company's2022 agreement to labor neutrality that the company came to with the Communication Workers of America year. That agreement is set to go into effect 60 days after the acquisition deal closed.

The Writer's Guild of America has reached a tentative agreement with studios and streamers to end their record breaking strike. And to celebrate, publisher Black Mask has launched a Kickstarter for an anthology titled General Strike: Calexit and Other Tales of Fighting the Good Fight full of stories rooted in "the struggle for economic equality."

No matter the company or the “field” they are in, there are always certain “constants” that they try to achieve. The biggest one is that they desire every year to be good, profitable, memorable, and a “banner year” for the company in some form. This can be especially true in the gaming space, as companies need to perform well every year to prove they can go up against their competitors and maintain their slice of their market. For 2023, there’s little doubt that Nintendo has had a year for the record books, and not just on the gaming side of things.

Whether we like it or not, the role of Mario is no longer solely owned by Charles Martinet. He has been the gaming icon’s voice for many years, and gamers have gotten used to how he sounds as the character. So much so that when a certain animated movie came out and cast Chris Pratt in the role, many weren’t amused. However, as noted by both Martinet and Nintendo, he’s not leaving the company, nor is he retiring from voice acting. Instead, he will be the newly created role of “Mario Ambassador.” A title that still has some things to be explained.

The Nintendo company is at an interesting point right now. Their current console is reaching its seventh year of being available. That has some wondering just when this console is on its way out the door and making room for the successor. At any rate, IGN recently spoke with the Nintendo of America president on the now-aging console platform, and it’s still in high demand within the marketplace.