The main events of the weekend (January 24-25)

According to an insider, Ubisoft is expecting a mass exodus of employees, 46 U.S. congress members have urged the FTC to thoroughly review the sale of EA, and 5 million people have played Enshrouded — here are the main events in the gaming industry over the past weekend.

• Following the announcement of a new phase of restructuring at Ubisoft, many employees have begun openly criticizing management on internal communication platforms, reported journalist and insider Tom Henderson. While some are demanding a review of the changes, others claim that the management's decisions were the "last straw" for them. According to Henderson, a significant number of people have indicated they plan to voluntarily leave Ubisoft without waiting for the next wave of layoffs. Although Henderson didn't specify an approximate number of employees intending to leave, he suggested it's enough to predict an imminent mass departure.
• A group of U.S. congress members has opposed the upcoming sale of Electronic Arts (EA). Forty-six officials signed a letter to Andrew Ferguson, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urging a careful examination of the deal that would place EA under the control of an investor consortium. The congress members pointed out that the company plans to partially finance the deal with $20 billion in loans, suggesting this could force EA into cost-cutting mode. Ultimately, this situation could lead to layoffs, studio closures, relocation of game development outside the U.S., and restructuring. The congress members emphasized that deals potentially harming workers and worsening the U.S. labor market could violate U.S. antitrust laws.
• No Rest for the Wicked broke its record for peak online players on Steam, thanks to free weekend access and the launch of the Together update, which added a cooperative mode. According to SteamDB, on the evening of January 25, the number of concurrent users in No Rest for the Wicked reached 62,997. For comparison, the previous record was 1.7 times lower, standing at 36,276 users.
• Keen Games announced that the survival game Enshrouded has surpassed 5 million players. It took exactly two years for the title to reach this milestone, as it debuted on Steam in early access on January 24, 2024. The developers also shared plans to launch Enshrouded in full release this fall. According to them, after the release of version 1.0, Enshrouded will be available not only on PC but also on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles.