Ah yes, handcrafted stolen fanfiction. Exactly what I shop Etsy for. More seriously, I feel for the fanfiction authors. Not only is someone profiting off your work, but this is the kind of thing that gets the attention of copyright holders that fanfiction authors generally don’t want.
It’s crazy how far micro-transactions and monetizing games have come since Bethesda charged $2.50 for cosmetic armor to put on your horse. If you’d told someone back then that one day an in-game mount would cost more than the game itself they would have laughed you out of the room.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon. I’ve been meaning to get to it for a while. Still early on in the game when it’s still introducing new mechanics, but I’m enjoying it so far. I was kind of skeptical if I’d enjoy a turn-based RPG Yakuza game as much as I’d enjoyed the previous ones, but the combat is winning me over. Being able to summon a flock of pigeons to peck enemies unconsciously certainly helped.
Honestly, it’s refreshing to see someone actually brainstorm solutions to these problems rather than just telling people to get mad. It’s a long shot but a legal win in any major market could see business practices start to change. Like when the EU revamped its privacy laws and suddenly every website gives you the option to reject some of their tracking cookies. Or whatever the impact of China’s new regulations on spending in games actually ends up being. It’s worth the effort at the very least.
EA saw how many studios Embracer has been shutting down and got worried about losing their record for killing off the most game studios.