🍪 Square Enix Automates the Future, Rockstar Deflects Unions, Krafton Prints Wins, and NetEase Pulls the Plug
Today’s stories feel like one big Rorschach test for the games industry.
Some studios chase efficiency with AI.
Some chase silence through layoffs.
And some chase profit so hard they forget what made players care in the first place.
Let’s break it down.
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⚙️ Square Enix bets big on AI QA
Square Enix wants to automate 70% of QA and debugging by the end of 2027 — partnering with the University of Tokyo to make it happen.
It’s part of their “three-year reboot” to move from quantity to quality while stabilizing major IPs like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Octopath Traveler.
🦊 Kiki: Every company says “we’re focusing on quality,” but what they really mean is “we’re focusing on fewer flops.”
If AI finds bugs faster, great. If it replaces the humans who actually understand what fun feels like — we’re doomed.
🍪 Chip nervously hides under a QA desk marked “Please Don’t Automate Me.”
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💔 NetEase Games shuts down Bad Brain Game Studios
Founded in 2023, Bad Brain Game Studios was a promising Montreal team working on a new IP. It’s now closing this month.
Studio head Sean Crooks says they “poured everything” into the project, but no publishing deal came through — though the IP remains up for acquisition.
🦊 Kiki: It’s wild that we call this “a normal cycle.”
Studios die, teams scatter, and everyone says “good luck on your next adventure” like it’s a farewell card instead of a warning label for the industry.
🍪 Chip holds a tiny candle at a vigil of studio logos.
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🔫 Rockstar vs. Unions, Round 2
After firing 30+ UK employees, Rockstar Games now claims it was about “leaks,” not “union activity.”
The IWGB – Independent Workers Union of Great Britain says it’s a deflection — that the firings were retaliation against organized labor.
🦊 Kiki: Classic Rockstar move: spend a decade on realism in GTA, then forget what realism means in real life.
You can’t build billion-dollar worlds while breaking the people who make them.
🍪 Chip hides inside a tiny cardboard box labeled “Union Safehouse.”
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🧠 Krafton: PUBG profits and AI ambitions
KRAFTON Inc.’s Q3 results are through the roof — up 21% year-over-year, crossing ₩1 trillion in operating profit.
Collabs with aespa, G-DRAGON, and Bugatti boosted engagement, while PUBG Mobile India hit record highs.
Now, Krafton says it’s officially an “AI-first company.”
🦊 Kiki: Translation: “We’re rich, so now we’ll automate creativity too.”
If PUBG 2.0 starts telling me how to play smarter using AI, I’m uninstalling out of principle.
🍪 Chip respawns next to a loot crate labeled “Neural Upgrade.”
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🕶️ Terminator 2D delayed again
Terminator 2D: No Fate gets delayed for the third time, now launching December 12 due to physical assembly delays.
🦊 Kiki: Three delays later, the real title should be No Shipment.
At this rate, Judgment Day will arrive before the collector’s edition.
🍪 Chip checks the calendar and whispers, “Skynet’s laughing.”
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🔮 The cycle continues
Automation, closures, profits, and patience: today’s stories sound less like headlines and more like habits.
The industry keeps optimizing, outsourcing, and postponing, but somewhere in the chaos, players still show up — waiting for something worth the hype.
⚙️ Stay sharp.
🦊 Keep questioning.
🍪 Remember — no AI can debug passion.
