NIKKEI 225
23,185.12-353.98(-1.50%)HANG SENG
23,459.05+183.52(+0.79%)CRUDE OIL
40.02+0.73(+1.86%)
MSFT Sep 2022 150.000 call
| Previous close | 68.00 |
| Open | 68.00 |
| Bid | 70.55 |
| Ask | 71.85 |
| Strike | 150.00 |
| Expiry date | 2022-09-16 |
| Day's range | 68.00 - 68.00 |
| Contract range | N/A |
| Volume | 1 |
| Open interest | 1.16k |
- Editor's pickTechCrunch
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will get EA Play on November 10th
Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers would be able to access EA Play for no additional cost. Console players will be able to activate their complimentary EA Play subscription on November 10th. Microsoft is also launching the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S on November 10th.
- Motley Fool
Did You Miss This Valuable Info in Take-Two's Last Earnings Report?
During the company's fiscal 2021 first-quarter conference call, CEO Strauss Zelnick hinted that price increases are likely coming for some games on the next-generation consoles. In June, Take-Two quietly noted in its announcement release for NBA 2K21 that it was increasing the price for the game on Sony's PlayStation 5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X from the usual $60 to $70. During the fiscal first-quarter conference call in August, Zelnick was asked if this price increase is specific to NBA 2K or coming to other titles.
- Bloomberg
Cyberpunk 2077 Publisher Orders 6-Day Weeks Ahead of Launch
(Bloomberg) -- Polish video game developer CD Projekt Red told employees on Monday that six-day work weeks will be mandatory leading up to the November release of the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077, reneging on an earlier promise to not force overtime on the project.Red, a subsidiary of Poland’s biggest gaming company CD Projekt SA, has been criticized previously for engaging in “crunch,” an industry term for excessive overtime in game development. The practice often lasts for weeks and can stretch out for months or even years. CD Projekt Red co-chief executive officer Marcin Iwinski last year told gaming website Kotaku that the company would be avoiding mandatory crunch and was “committed” to allowing employees to work without overtime.But an account from a CD Projekt Red employee recently as well as an email to staff earlier this week indicate that the company hasn’t lived up to its word. The employee, who asked not to be named discussing private information, said some staff had already been putting in nights and weekends for more than a year.In the email, CD Projekt Red studio head Adam Badowski wrote that he was optimistic about the state of Cyberpunk 2077, which stars Keanu Reeves, and that they had just sent the game to be certified for release on Sony Corp.’s PlayStation and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox. Now, he wrote, it was time to fix the game’s many lingering bugs and glitches.“Starting today, the entire (development) studio is in overdrive,” Badowski wrote, elaborating that this meant “your typical amount of work and one day of the weekend.” The extra work would be paid, as required by Polish labor laws. Many other video game studios don’t pay for overtime.“I take it upon myself to receive the full backlash for the decision,” he wrote. “I know this is in direct opposition to what we’ve said about crunch. It’s also in direct opposition to what I personally grew to believe a while back -- that crunch should never be the answer. But we’ve extended all other possible means of navigating the situation.”In a post on Twitter Wednesday, Badowski said CD Projekt employees can continue to count on bonus payouts amounting to 10% of the company’s annual profit. This could prove to be a lucrative sum, as analysts estimate the Warsaw-based company’s net income will rise 11-fold to 2 billion zloty ($520 million) in 2020. CD Projekt had 1,079 employees at the end of June.“It seems that most investors take into account that in a highly competitive industry where programmers and graphic designers are the main asset, the company has to offer high bonuses in order not to lose its staff and compensate any crunch,” said Tomasz Rodak, an analyst at BOS Bank.CD Projekt’s Chief Financial Officier Piotr Nielubowicz responded to Bloomberg questions in an email saying that Cyberpunk’s Nov. 19 launch date won’t be changed, adding that the studio is working to eliminate most bugs at “the last straight,” -- the main reason it asked employees to work an extra day.Shares in CD Projekt fell 3% to close at 418.4 zloty in Warsaw. Trigon analyst Kacper Kopron said in a research note that the news about crunch may weaken sentiment to stock, even as the risk of further postponement of Cyberpunk release is minimal.Last year, Iwinski and Badowski told Kotaku that they were looking to make CD Projekt Red a more “humane” place to work.“We are known for treating gamers with respect,” Iwinski said. “I actually would [like] for us to also be known for treating developers with respect.”(Updated with bonus information in seventh paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
