Videogame developers at Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM have founded what they're calling "the first recognised workplace union in the UK games industry", operating as part of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain. It's yet another twist in the tale of a once-feted development studio who are now heavily associated with toxic layoffs, alleged fraud and diasporic feuding.

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It must have been a stressful few days for Microsoft. Game Pass changes nobody likes, admitting the first Xbox-branded handheld costs a thousand bucks, having to tell the Israeli military that they need to see other people. Yeesh. No wonder they’re so intent on blowing off steam by taking a scythe to Windows 10 security updates this month, a move that will effectively end official support for the operating system.

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Today sees the release of Éalú, a point-and-click puzzler about a wooden mouse exploring a maze. It's a lovely-looking thing - a "true stop-motion game", as the Steam page puts it, with every frame of animation based on photography of physical props and sets. After watching the trailer, it's no huge surprise to learn that designer, animator and writer Ivan Fisher-Owen has a wider background in puppet-making and gadgetry. He and his partner Dr Emma Fisher-Owen run Beyond the Bark, an inclusive theatrical fabrication company based in Limerick, Ireland ("éalú" is an Irish word for "escape").

Backstage know-how aside, Éalú draws upon Ivan Fisher-Owen's misgivings about the brain-souring effects of being terminally online, with some interesting metaphors for everyday hellsite routines I will try my best not to baldly unpack. I listed Éalú in this week's Maw round-up, and Fisher-Owen got in touch with me afterward to share code and chat briefly about the project's guiding anxieties.

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Starbreeze have cancelled Project Baxter, the co-op live service Dungeons & Dragons game they announced back in 2023. Part of the development team have been transferred to other projects within Starbreeze, while the remainder get to "transition to new roles across the industry".

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Fortnite developers Epic Games have confirmed they'll be redeploying the 'Peaceful Hips' emote added to the battle royale as part of a crossover with superhero show Peacemaker, but with some modifications. This follows the dance being pulled from the game earlier this week, due to Epic's concerns about "creative intentions" in the aftermath of a big plot twist in the TV show.

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Customisable player houses are finally set to arrive in World of Warcraft via early access this December, though that early access will be limited to folks who've pre-purchased the MMO's upcoming Midnight expansion. There can never not be a bit of a catch with moving into new digs it seems, even if you're a virtual orc.

The forthcoming addition of home ownership to WOW was first announced by Blizzard all the way back in November last year at a Warcraft 30th anniversary direct, with the studio finally acting on player cries to inject their adventures with a bit more rearranging of clutter around a place in which you sleep. Let us be paralysed by the mundane terror of picking the right interior decor, they screamed. K, said Blizzard.

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I have been sort of enjoying former Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah's reinvention as a Youtuber who trades insider BioWare anecdotes for merch. He's got an actual T-shirt line, including a T-shirt for babies upon which Mark threatens to "pump NFTs" unless you buy his gear. Respectable Crazy Uncle energy. Maybe don't invite him to your kid's baptism. But maybe do watch his new video about what might happen to EA's many development studios in the wake of the company's $55 billion acquisition by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and the gilded suits of Silver Lake.

The tl;dr/tl;dw is that Darrah thinks EA's various sport game teams, like Madden and EA Sports FC, are probably fine under the new privately-owned EA. Those games bring home a lot of bacon, after all, and EA's new dads in Riyadh are keen on sports in general. He's less confident about the studios clustered under EA Entertainment, and especially those such as Darrah's old joint BioWare who might have more pronounced cultural objections to the new ownership, based on the kinds of stories they tell.

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