According to Kotaku, EA has just hit a jaw-dropping $8 billion sales record - which would be great news for everyone, except for the Battlefield 6 developers the company laid off just a few months prior. Nothing says "we're doing great" quite like clearing out your talent roster before cashing in a historic payday.
This is the kind of corporate move that would get a villain booed off stage in a cutscene. EA essentially hit a new high score and forgot to credit the players who helped them get there. The timing is, to put it generously, extremely awkward.
Control 2 built on a budget
In more surprisingly wholesome news, Kotaku also reports that Remedy managed to put together Control 2 for a surprisingly low budget. For a studio known for delivering cinematic, mind-bending experiences, pulling that off on the cheap is genuinely impressive - like speedrunning AAA development without glitches.
It's the kind of story that makes you root for the underdog. While EA is out here burning piles of cash and still somehow laying people off, Remedy is apparently doing more with less. Respect the efficiency, honestly.
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth DLC could be on the table
Rounding out the news dump, Kotaku hints that we could be getting DLC for the third part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. Details are thin, but the possibility alone is enough to send the FF7 fanbase into full theory-crafting mode - which, let's be honest, they were already in.
Whether that means more Intergrade-style expansions or something else entirely remains to be seen. But given how much story Square Enix is juggling with this trilogy, more content is probably a good thing - assuming they don't pull an EA and announce it while firing half the development team.
The takeaway
It's been a chaotic news cycle even by gaming standards. EA is swimming in gold coins like a corporate Scrooge McDuck while former employees update their LinkedIn profiles. Meanwhile, Remedy is out here being quietly competent and FF7 fans are already refreshing their feeds for DLC announcements. Same old gaming industry, different day - source: Kotaku.
