In this issue:

PRESENT
-16000 Videogame Developers Have Lost Their Jobs Since 2023-
-Adventure and Class: the Fine Balance of Burberry-

PAST
-The Handsome Devil That Got the World Smoking-
-A Martyr’s Death-

“Fuck it... That's really the attitude that keeps a family together, it's not ‘we love each other’, it's just ‘fuck it, man.’”
— Louis C.K.

✦Top Trends✦

Consumer Trends

The Videogame Industry Is Collapsing, 16000 Layoffs In One Year

The past few weeks have seen a whirlwind of gaming industry layoffs, with some hard-to-ignore numbers.

In 2023, around 11250 lost their jobs.

Just one month into 2024, and we're already at 6000 layoffs. That's halfway to last year's total.

✦Why Is This Happening?✦

The gaming industry got too excited during early COVID and grew too fast without thinking of the consequences. Now they’re brutally cutting down to get more effective, and it’s hurting thousands of people.

IGN interviewed one developer who said:

According to PCGamer, developers have often experienced other studios snatching up laid-off talent, but this time is different - nobody needs/wants more workers. These developers have nowhere to go.

PCGamer also shared this insane graph, where every dot represents a worker.

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Twitter says:

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King says:
“The fact that Microsoft is knee-deep in AI equity and is laying off thousands cannot be a coincidence - they have a 50-year plan.”

✦Mini Stories✦

-Breakdancing BitCoin Dad, TikTok Fights EU, San Fransisco, Dead Celebrities-

🕺 A girl on TikTok accused her 65-year-old father of abandoning her for breakdancing - he replied with a video of him breakdancing.

In an attempt to share “funny trauma”, Madi Hart took to TikTok to open up about how her father, Ben Hart, “abandoned 1 wife and 4 kids” to pursue amateur breakdancing.

The TikTok blew up and garnered 5.3 million views, and yesterday her father replied with a video on X to clear up some details. The internet blew up again when Ben answered. He mostly thought her video was funny, whilst trying to clear up what he says were false claims. But that’s not why he blew up…

Ben cut in some (pretty dope) footage of him breakdancing in a BitCoin shirt, in front of an American flag next to a Bitcoin flag. And for this, people are siding with him. Here’s his full reaction and response to Madi’s TikTok.

🔙 Tech leaders who abandoned San Fransisco are returning.

During the past few years San Francisco has gone from tech innovation heaven to crime-ridden hell. This had much to do with the work-from-home revolution; tech leaders started working from sunnier, less tax-heavy places, such as Miami and Austin. So, rich tech jacked up the cost of living in San Francisco, and just left - leaving lower classes to commit crimes to afford anything.

But now big players like Elon Musk and OpenAI are investing their time and resources back in the city. The industry that left is now eager to return, drawn by the city's tech revival and AI innovation. According to WSJ, there's even tech money trying to make the city safer and better for business.

🤺 TikTok is fighting Europe.

The EU is investigating the app for… you guessed it, harmful content for minors. TikTok claims that they've made the app safe(r) for teenagers, and keep younger kids off it altogether. Now, they're ready to show the EU how they've been working on this.

The EU is auditing how TikTok decides what videos people see, and if those choices are harmful. The EU is also worried about kids falling into "rabbit holes" of endless harmful videos.

Worst case scenario: TikTok could be fined a lot—up to 6% of their yearly revenue. This could also go on as long as it wants; there's no set time for when this investigation has to be done.

💀 New creepy trend: AI-written biographies, released one day after celebrities die. 

Mediocre AI-made biographies started popping up like a game of whack-a-mole when Toby Keith died two weeks ago; one of them had a disclaimer saying it might all be fake.

Some of these books are on Kindle Unlimited. That means the authors get paid per page read. Others are cheap buys, like a biography of Norman Lear for $3.25.

Amazon does allow AI-generated books but not if they’re junk. Some get taken down, and others, inches across the line from being junk, stay up. How much these actually sell is impossible to know. But with few reviews and those reviews being pretty bad, they’re probably not flying off the virtual shelves. Still, it’s pretty wild.

Fashion

How To Be Elegant and Extreme, with Burberry

• In 1910 Claude Grahame-White was the first person to fly between London and Manchester in less than 24 hours. He did it whilst wearing Burberry garbadine.

• In 1911 Roald Amundsen was the first man to reach the South Pole. The whole expedition team wore Burberry garbadine.

• In 1914 British officers fought one of history’s deadliest wars, WWI. They wore Burberry trench coats (hence the name trench coat, they were in the trenches).

✦Here’s the Point✦

Burberry’s history has always been about rugged activity in honorable style. But that doesn’t exclusively mean life-threatening adventure or war.

Imagine a 1940s British country house setting; a rainy walk on dirt roads with a couple of dogs is a daily activity. You might get dirty, and you’re definitely getting soggy. There, Burberry is a given.

But it’s not 1940 today and most people who wear Burberry today don’t live like that. So how does a fashion show truthfully pay homage to British Heritage whilst maintaining some type of modern chic-ness?

✦Daniel Lee’s Got An Answer✦

The challenge in striking this balance is nothing new for creative directors at Burberry. Everyone has had their own take, and this week creative director Daniel Lee showed his adaptation in the 2024 Winter Show.

And honestly? Pretty damn good. It checks all the boxes: British, nostalgic, rugged, elegant. All of that whilst maintaining cuts with modern sensibility.

Here are the 4 best looks:

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King says:
“Burberry is at its best when it plays on its classic side. I’m not much for the funky contemporary adaptations. Daniel Lee does mostly a good job.”

✦Quick hits✦

• Starfield, the long-awaited space RPG by Bethesda, lost 97% of its steam players in less than 6 months. Under 9000 players are playing it on Steam right now. Compare that with Skyrim, a game Bethesda released 13 years ago, with active 25000 players. (PCGamesN)

• YSL’s defense attorney, who is defending the hip-hop labels fight against a gang racketeering charge, was arrested on gang charges following allegations that she contacted a suspect in the shooting of two men. (Complex)

• Giant Rat Cock: A peer-reviewed study with a picture of a giant AI-generated rat penis was redacted because the picture was probably too funny. (VICE)

• Apple is facing a €500 million fine from the EU over Spotify’s antitrust complaint. (The Verge)

• New York City is suing TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Snapchat, claiming they’re behind the epidemic mental health decline among young users. (CNN)

• Crocs, which recently became a publicly traded company, achieved a record revenue of $4 billion in 2023, 11.5% more than last year. (RetailDive)

• MrBeast AKA Jimmy Donaldson was on the cover of TIME, with a 4500-word profile piece called “How He Became the Most Watched Person In the World”. (TIME)

• Nintendo announced its first Nintendo Direct of 2024. It’s set to take place today. (IGN)

PAST

/Advertising

Warning: This Might Turn You Into A Smoker.

The coolest guy you could ever hope to be in the 90s was Joe Camel. He was the advertising mascot for Camel cigarettes, and he was a fly, handsome, slick, suave motherfucker.

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King says:
“Made me instantly go and buy a pack.”

/History

59 Years Ago Today Malcolm X Was Assassinated

On February 21, 1965, a bustling crowd gathered in Manhattan to hear the fiery words of a man who had the world in a chokehold: Malcolm X. Little did his followers know, that he was taking his last breaths that day.

✦The Rise✦

During a pivotal time in the late 1950s, Malcolm X emerged as a leading voice within the Nation of Islam. 

By 1965 Malcolm had fallen out with the Nation of Islam and its leader Elijah Muhammed. Malcolm had accused Elijah of impregnating underage girls and disagreed with his political disposition.

Because of this, Malcolm X left the Nation in 1964, and formed Muslim Mosque Inc, holding a far more inclusive view of the struggle for civil rights.

After the exodus from NOI death threats and attempts on his life became regular. Malcolm avoided car bombings and assassinations for a year, til 21 February 1965.

✦The Fall✦

That day, Malcolm was about to speak in front of a 400-person audience in Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom. He most likely knew the risk he was putting his life by getting on that stage, but it did not stop him.

A fight in the crowd broke loose, and Malcolm’s security went to break it up. The fight was a fake - a distraction.

With the security distracted, three men suddenly appeared from the crowds. One man with a sawed-off shotgun and two men with handguns mowed down Malcolm. 10 buckshot wounds and 21 gunshot wounds left him dead.

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King says:
“Rest easy king.”