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There is a significant leadership change happening over at BioWare. Casey Hudson and Mark Darrah will both be leaving the game studio. Casey Hudson, often credited with being the lifeblood behind the Mass Effect series, and Mark Darrah, who has led The Dragon Age franchise, have decided to move on from BioWare. Most recently, Hudson was the GM of the studio and Farrah was the Executive Producer of Dragon Age. You can see the official statement from Laura Miele, Chief Studios Officer of EA here.
Black Friday spending was…down? You read that right. After sales for video games and video game related products were setting records all year, the 2020 Black Friday numbers were down. Digital spending was down 10% year over year. Speculation says that this may be due to the current market constraint on consoles. Those who are waiting for next gen systems who would normally be buying games on Black Friday may be waiting until they upgrade their systems. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on game sales all year. Rebekah Valentine at gamesindustry.biz has the full story.
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has released their economic impact report for 2020. In the report, it is announced that the gaming industry directly employs more than 143,000 people in the United States. The industry also directly generates $40.9 billion in economic output. The purpose of this report is for the ESA, a trade association, to influence policy makers in Washington and to ensure they understand the impact the industry has on the country. Brendan Sinclair at gamesindustry.biz has the full story.