People used to pay one standard price for their favorite games in a one-off transaction. But now, many game companies are offering their games for free, supported by in-game purchases. This is called the live service model.
Today, the first episode of a week-long series about the video game industry. We investigate the promise and pains of the live service model and explain how it turned the industry upside down.
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
Gaming provides entertainment and community for billions of people worldwide. However, video games haven't always been accessible to those with disabilities. But this is changing.
Today, in the next installment of our series on the business of video games, we explain how accessibility has become an increasingly important priority for game developers and how advocates pushed them to this point.
Related episodes: Forever games: the economics of the live service model (Apple / Spotify)
For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.
A new version of the popular board game Catan aims to make players wrestle with a 21st-century problem: How do you develop and expand without overly polluting the planet?
Under the glare of the lights in New York's Time Square, a Nigerian chess master makes his bid to break the world record for the longest continuous chess game to raise money for children back home.
The new show Fallout is based on a hugely successful video game series known for its sardonic, very dark comedic sensibility, and its violence. It's set in the game's post-apocalyptic world – an America divided into factions wrestling for control of an irradiated wasteland. When the hopeful Lucy (Ella Purnell) steps out of the comfortable life she's known in an underground vault, the world she's confronted with is harsh, brutal, merciless – and kinda funny.
Monopoly is one of the best-selling board games in history. It was invented by a woman, who for a long time didn't get credit for her idea. What else is hidden in the game's history? Find out here.
Princess Peach steals the show in diverse roles like Dashing Thief, Ninja and Mermaid. These delightful transformations elevate a game otherwise weighed down by lackluster boss fights.
Is the future of artificial intelligence in video games playing out in a cyberpunk ramen bar? Tech companies would like you to think so, but game writers aren't so sure.
While nearly 20% of American gamers identify as LGBTQ+, according to a study from GLAAD and Nielsen, less than 2% of all games include LGBTQ+ characters or storylines.
In early January 2023, John Cheeks saw that the winning Powerball numbers online matched his lottery ticket. But when he tried to redeem the prize, he was told it was a "mistake." Now, he's suing.
At Disney's earnings call, CEO Bob Iger shared plans for a major investment in an Epic Games partnership. Also, a new Moana movie is heading to theaters, and Taylor Swift's concert film to Disney+.
Final Fantasy 7 is more than an iconic PlayStation game. It's a multimedia empire embracing novels, short stories, spin-off games — even a movie. We round up the best of it ahead of Rebirth.
Gaming giants Nintendo and Ubisoft each released new takes on old series this week in Another Code: Recollection and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. We review what makes each worth exploring.
