1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 It’s been less than one month, and the industry has already suffered more than 3,500 lost jobs. Also: The Circana report for December 2023 and the full year, a few investments, and a discussion about some challenging changes to the U.S. tax code. Oh, and a bit about that weird Palworld game. You can support Virtual Economy’s growth via our&amp;nbsp;Ko-Fi&amp;nbsp;and also purchase&amp;nbsp;Virtual Economy merchandise! TIME STAMPS [00:11:08] - Circana report on U.S. Video Game Spending for December and Full Year 2023 [00:27:19] - Investment Interlude [00:34:06] - Quick Hits [01:00:58] - Labor Report SOURCES SAG-AFTRA and Replica Studios Introduce Groundbreaking AI Voice Agreement at CES | SAG-AFTRA Replica Studios Agreement for Digital Voice Replicas FAQs | SAG-AFTRA SAG-AFTRA’s AI Voice Acting Deal Was A Powder Keg Waiting To Go Off | Aftermath AI Content on Steam | Valve Report: 3D Realms and Slipgate may have been hit with more layoffs | Game Developer Employees Say ‘Sizable Portion’ Of Gearbox-Owned Studio Has Been Laid Off | Aftermath Playtika reduces staff by 10% | GamesIndustry Discord is laying off 17 percent of employees | The Verge Thunderful Group to restructure operations for strengthened long-term competitiveness | Thunderful Games A Difficult Update about our Workforce | Twitch Changes at Riot and the Road Ahead | Riot An Important Update about Riot’s Future | Riot Wimo Games reportedly shuts down | GamesIndustry Astra Fund repositions as &quot;thinky&quot; publisher Astra Logical following layoffs | Game Developer Playtika reduces staff by 10% | GamesIndustry INVESTMENT INTERLUDE Phoenix Labs execs regroup to form Critical Path Games | Game Developer Second Dinner raises $100 million to continue growing Marvel Snap | Game Developer Tencent completes majority ownership of Dying Light dev Techland | Game Developer Outsourcing studio Obelisk nets $2 million to create original horror title | Game Developer Rocksteady founders have a new, post-Suicide Squad studio | Polygon Virtual Economy https://www.virtualeconcast.com <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/29634353/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/166780583