🍪 Nintendo’s Patents Collapse, Microsoft Brags Numbers, ...

Hello there, industry watchdogs, hype wranglers. Today’s pulse check swings from record highs to legal lows: Rockstar’s myth machine keeps spinning, EA swears it’ll keep the wheel, Steam’s gravity well looks real, and Nintendo’s patents keep tripping over “prior art.” Buckle up.

GTA 6: Hype by design, not accident

Dan Houser (ex-Rockstar Games, ex-GTA lead) says GTA 6’s black-hole hype exists because GTA games don’t ship often and because each one actually changes shape. Long droughts + real iteration = cultural events.

📢 “They don’t come out that regularly… The way the IP kept evolving made people really excited to play it.”

🦊 Kiki: What do you mean shipping the same thing yearly (hi CoD/EA Sports) isn’t the meta? Scarcity only works if you evolve. Not everyone has Rockstar’s runway, sure — but when you chase taste like Team Cherry, you don’t need a megacorp to build hysteria. 🍪 Chip flips a wall calendar from 2013 to 2025, jaw dropped.

EA’s Saudi-backed take-private: “We keep creative control” (and yes, AI)

Electronic Arts (EA) tells staff it’ll retain creative control if the PIF-led deal closes (with Affinity Partners & Silver Lake). “No immediate changes,” and AI will “put creativity first” by streamlining workflows. Cynics hear: cost focus later, vibes now.

📢 “They’re investing in the creativity that defines EA… AI is a tool to empower our people.”

🦊 Kiki: I don’t know, guys. EA’s credibility with “creativity first” hasn’t exactly been bulletproof lately. Press release says “no immediate changes” — I’ll believe it when the post-close roadmap isn’t just AI and margin slides. 🍪 Chip pins a sticky note: “Circle back in Q1 FY27,” sets a tiny alarm.

Steam gravity: 72% of devs call it a monopoly

A Rokky-commissioned survey (306 execs, mostly 50+-employee studios) says Valve corporation Steam accounts for 75%+ of revenue for most respondents; 72% label it a monopoly. Epic Games / Xbox PC help, but they’re satellites, not suns — yet.

📢 “PC game distribution is more varied… but the old guard remains relevant.”

🦊 Kiki: You don’t need a whitepaper to feel Steam’s gravity. If 3 out of 4 dollars still funnel through one door, that’s market power. Until regulation or a truly better pipeline pays more, we’re all in orbit. 🍪 Chip clings to a tiny Steam logo like an astronaut to a satellite.

Nintendo’s patent push keeps cracking

Japan: JPO rejects a divisional patent attempt on creature capture (cites prior art: ARK, Monster Hunter 4, Craftopia, Kantai Collection, Pokémon Go).
U.S.: USPTO director orders reexamination of the controversial “summon character and let it fight” patent — substantial new questions raised via older Konami Digital Entertainment + Nintendo filings.
Palworld context: Pocketpair, Inc. already altered mechanics (summon, gliding, mounts). Analysts say this weakens Nintendo’s legal aura going into 2026 decisions.

📢 “It is ever more likely that Nintendo will lose,” argues one IP commentator.

🦊 Kiki: This is what happens when IP offices actually dig into prior art. Japan knocks one down, the U.S. re-examines another — you can’t back-patent a genre after the spinoffs go mainstream. 🍪 Chip peeks over a stack of dusty “prior art” binders, gives a thumbs-up.

Nintendo’s other reality: Switch 2 prints money

H1 FY numbers explode: ¥1.1T net sales (+110%), Switch 2 at 10.36M units by Sept 30, Mario Kart World leads software. Full-year forecast raised across the board.

🦊 Kiki: Hardware’s flying. But beyond Mario Kart and Pokémon disappointments, the slate still feels thin. DK Bananza doesn’t sell a console by itself. People are buying the promise of peak Nintendo — and as a Metroid fan, today’s trailer didn’t move me off “prove it.” 🍪 Chip rides a tiny kart across a spreadsheet, then stalls at “software lineup.”

Labor whiplash: layoffs, closures, and alleged union busting

Summary:

Heart Machine: a second October layoff wave hits just before Possessor(s) launches.
Fantastic Pixel Castle (Greg Street): studio closing unless a last-minute rescue appears; MMO “Ghost” likely shelved.
Rockstar Games UK: IWGB – Independent Workers Union of Great Britain accuses the studio of union busting after ~30 layoffs; union vows legal action.

🦊 Kiki: Call it “strategy” if you want — Rockstar’s move looks like a line in the sand. If courts treat this as union busting, we’re staring at a real precedent moment for game labor. Mark it.🍪 Chip plants a small “Workers’ rights” flag on a desk box.

Japan’s publishers vs OpenAI Sora 2

Square Enix, Bandai Namco Entertainment, KADOKAWA Corporation (via CODA) demand that OpenAI Sora 2 stop using their content for training; argue opt-out is not compliant with Japan’s copyright regime.

🦊 Kiki: Everyone’s losing it over AI “training,” but fan art’s been thriving online for decades without lawsuits. If you’re not monetizing it, you’re just creating for fun — same as the artists who made Samus vs Master Chief 3D animations back in the 2000s. The line should be money, not method. 🍪 Chip tapes “Ask before sampling” over a camera lens, side-eyes a data center.