From the gaming giants to the little stores that think they can, there is a growing amount of buzz surrounding the futures of the gaming distributors.

Let's take a look at a couple pieces of news making the rounds in the development world!

Discord hit big numbers

Image credit to the Discord Store!

With Steam and the arrival of the Epic Games Store, it seems that a lot of people forget that Discord is even in the race. But the plucky chat gone game store has something to prove it it's big brothers, and it is that they can absolutely do just as well.

Discord has now raised over $USD 280 MILLION in funding for the game store, which is nothing to scoff at considering that it is mainly known as a gaming chat platform.

The stand-alone store has plenty to offer in the way of indie games, and it is quietly competing with all of the big wigs in the business.

In fact, when Epic Games announced that they are Dev friendly and offering a royalty split of 12/88, Discord offered a stunning 10/90. It may not be getting as much hype, but independent developers have definitely taken notice.

Especially if they don't plan to use the Unreal Engine that Epic is waiving the fees for by taking it out of their own cut!

Who can say no to 90% of their profits? No wonder the funding for Discord has gone off the charts!

It's Storming at Blizzard

Image credit to Blizzard!

Ever since the change of leadership, and what could arguably be one of the most questionable Blizzcon's to date, things have looked even more uncertain for the gaming giant, Blizzard.

The last couple of days have brought more news that has raised the collective eyebrows of professional and casual players alike. Blizzard has always had an incentive program for employees in what could almost be considered a "voluntary severance package". I.E. an entire year's pay in one lump sum after so many years with the company. In an effort to cut costs, Blizzard is now lowering the number of years required to take this deal and is expanding the availability to other departments like IT and QA.

One hundred employees in Ireland have taken the voluntary severance package as of yesterday as they leave the company en masse. Keep in mind this is the main office for customer support in Europe.

Which raises the question, how many more employees will decide it is time to move on to greener pastures since the current decline?

It is well known that since the latest take over by the new CEO that came from Activision that the first thing discussed was cutting down on their expenses.

However, it does appear they are still hiring developers and artists in droves for the upcoming games that they are supposedly working on. But the backlash and sceptic shadow will continue to be cast until something promising comes from them.

Check out the comment section on their latest video that was meant to be a feel-good tribute to the last year:


What do you think the future holds for Discord and Blizzard? Let me know below!


Stay tuned for more similar content and e-sports!!

Have a fantastic day,

@SammoSK