Video game Halloween costume report
I was not expecting this!
I had to take a break from writing this newsletter mid-day to rush to my kids’ K-5 school and watch them and their classmates march in a Halloween costume parade.
He dressed in a Juan Soto Mets uniform. She’s a Minion.
They’re in third grade now. That means I’ve been to this parade for four years, and, yes, I keep an eye out for video game costumes.
This year, there were were a few Pokémon costumes, a few Minecraft ones, some Marios, a Sonic, a Link and I think I spotted a Princess Peach.
But, by far the most popular video game-themed Halloween costumes were for Fall Guys, the free-to-play multiplayer game with cute, wobbly… guys.
I did not expect this at all!
And there were kids dressed as various Fall Guys in just about every grade.
My theory: The game might be more popular than I thought, but also just makes for fun costumes.
These Fall Guys costumes are like giant balloons that surround your body, making you a walking blob. Fun!
Item 2: In brief…
👀 Grand Theft Auto maker Rockstar Games has fired dozens of workers in the UK and Canada over what its publisher called “gross misconduct.” But a labor group called it a case of union-busting, Bloomberg reports.
Bloomberg: “All of the employees were part of a private trade union chat group on Discord and were either members of the union or attempting to organize at the company, the union spokesperson said.”
🚫 The Japan Patent Office has rejected a Pokémon monster-capture patent that is tied to efforts by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company to find Pocketpair’s popular Palworld game liable for patent infringement, Games Fray reports.
😮 Roblox’s daily active user count soared to 151.5 million for the three months ending September 30, the company announced this week.
The regional breakdown: 26.1 million users in U.S./Canada, 33.9 million in Europe, 46.3 million in Asia-Pacific, 45.2 million in the rest of the world (the category with the biggest growth)
Daily active users for the same stretch in 2024 totaled just (!) 88.9 million.
📉 Capcom’s Monster Hunter Wilds appears to be struggling, with the latest in the company’s typically sure-fire series selling just 160,000 copies over a recent three-month stretch this summer, VGC reports.
Wilds is lagging prior franchise releases and turning ice cold after the game’s 10 million-copy early 2025 launch.
🏡 Nintendo is expanding its hit 2020 Switch game Animal Crossing New Horizons in January, with a paid graphical upgrade for Switch 2 users and a free Switch/Switch2 update that adds a hotel and support for playing classic Nintendo games inside ACNH.
🤔 Headline I can’t believe is real, but is: Love and Deepspace Devs Respond to Player Complaints That Their Dark-Skinned Custom Characters Are Invisible in Cutscenes
💰 A provocative read: “Gambling Is Killing Sports and Consuming America,“ an opinion piece about the negative impacts of sports gambling. The piece posits that EA’s Madden NFL games became a gateway to young adults obsessed with gambling apps such as Draft Kings and Fan Duel.
Item 3: The week ahead
November 4
Highly acclaimed 1000 x Resist (PlayStation, Xbox; already out on Switch and PC), Age of Empires IV (PS5, already out on Xbox and PC), Satisfactory (PlayStation, Xbox, already out on PC) and Football Manager 26 (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, mobile) are released.
November 6
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (Switch 2) is released.
That NYT piece is excellent. And it's largely the same story in every part of the world where this thing is legal. I can't make three steps without seeing a sports betting or casino ad in my corner of Europe.
They're pretty much the only industry here that's always flush with cash and advertising, no matter the economy. I saw like three *different* Luka Modric (big-name footballer) gambling ads IRL in the last few weeks alone; you'd think the guy's kids would starve if he wasn't falling over himself to promote bookies and casinos lol
Lol literally just saw a Fall Guy tonight.