Five things on Friday #394
Celebrating one year with Buttondown 🙌🏻
Things of note for the week ending Friday February 7th, 2025.
#394
INTRO
Happy February one and all. Do you see daffodils pushing through? I know I do. Gazing out from my kitchen sink across the top of my herb garden (sits on top of the bin shed; revelatory) and the green shoots of spring are starting to show.
It’s lovely.
Normally I kick off this intro with a bit about what I’ve been up and how things are but this week we’re not going to do that (mainly because the house sitch remains unchanged) instead, I want to celebrate one whole year of being with Buttondown. Yay!
I covered off a lot of why I love Buttondown so much when they asked me to do an interview with them a few weeks back BUT one thing I also promised way back when I made the switch was that while Buttondown isn’t free for me to use, Five things on Friday will always be free.
Every edition states:
100% of all your dollar will go on Buttondown fees (and anything left over at the end of my first year with Buttondown will go direct to men’s mental health charity, CALM). Promise.
And here we are at the end of year one, February 25’s money has just left my account so I need to add it up.
Thanks to a budget app I use called Emma, I can see this really quickly.
Drum roll please…
That’s right, after a year of going ‘please donate to help running this thing’ we are officially over £120 up.
£124.43 up, to be precise.
And as a man of my word, here’s the donation to CALM/Campaign Against Living Miserably.
Thank you to everyone that has supported Five things on Friday’s move to Buttondown. When your money isn’t helping Buttondown keep the lights on, it’s helping CALM do the same.
Tell you what, it’s really nice to know that readers of Five things on Friday are as sexy as they are generous.
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UPDATE:
I shared this update on Bluesky and a very nice follower slid into my DM’s and said ‘I missed this, so consider it rounded up to £150’ - in exchange for reminding you all that it’s good to talk to someone. A friend, family, or just direct to CALM. Thank you (you know who you are).
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If you want to contribute in the same way - with a one off donation or a regular subscription - then details are in the footer of this newsletter :)
WOO!
Right then, speaking of the newsletter, we better get back to writing one.
On with the things then?
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TO THE THINGS!
THING 1. DO DO DOECHII
First I read about THAT performance at the Grammys. THEN I tried to find a decent stream of it (all I found was this Dailymotion link) BUT THEN… oohhhhh OH THEN, I found the Tiny Desk Concert and friends, this is just so good it hurts.
Full screen. Turned up to 11, please.
THING 2. THE AD INDUSTRY DOESN'T CARE ABOUT DEI
…and it’s getting harder to pretend it does.
Keano back with another banger…
The advertising industry doesn’t care about DEI, it cares about appearing to care. Performative activism is really handy when you don’t want anything to change. Avoiding long-term structural transformation is really easy when you can distract everyone with a float at Pride.
…after banger…
With so much attention thrown at DEI and how inclusive adland is becoming, you’d assume the gender and ethnicity pay gaps would be obliterated by now. Yet, both the gender and ethnicity pay gaps widened last year. According to the latest IPA Agency Census, the gender pay gap increased from 15.2% in 2023 to 19.7% in 2024, in favour of men. The ethnicity pay gap increased from 21.6% in 2023 to 32.7%.
…after banger.
And when you do read it, you should know that I’ve seen the hate mail from men called Steve. That’s not a joke.
At a time when companies are scaling back their DEI programmes (Google quietly dropped its diversity recruitment goals earlier this week), the ad industry could do well to ACT and show it actually cares.
Vs oh I don’t know, making another pledge.
Read it.
Share it.
Shout about it.
THING 3. THIS WEEK IN VIDEO GAMES
Last week I told you that hitherto Microsoft Exclusive racer, Forza Horizon 5, is coming to PlayStation 5 in the spring.
Hell hath frozen over; it’s even available to wishlist on the blimmin’ PlayStation Store!
I said something like, “Microsoft’s business model shift is happening right before your very eyes” - well, this week, there are even more rumours that Microsoft Studios’ approach to a cross-platform strategy for its key titles will continue to grow with HALO and Gears of War both PlayStation-bound.
Incredible scenes.
And to be clear, this makes sound financial and business sense.
It is inarguable that Xbox has not won this generation’s console war (fact check: I can’t be right all the time).
Therefore it is in Microsoft’s (specifically, Satya Nadella’s - because, pound to a penny, that’s where this direction has come from) interest to put its games where they can make money. Hardware is so often a loss-leader, why drive dwindling players to a platform where you can’t win and you’re making a loss, when you can charge players a premium for buying games outright at places where they can’t access Xbox Game Pass?
If you can’t win on hardware then you can win on software and services (or S&S as we call it). Xbox shifting to a broader S&S play means it gets to keep its player-centric promise of ‘Day One on Xbox Game Pass’ for its first party releases and then, sometime later, release that same title for £70 a pop on PS5 (where PS5 owners will lap it up).
In short: if Sony has a great lemonade stand, why wouldn’t sell them lemons?
Good luck to them.
And with Switch 2 right around the corner, you can tell this continues to make more and more sense for Xbox.
Keep watching, this year gonna be fuuuuuun.
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Mini news bites.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (KCD2) just hit 1m sales in 24hrs. A banging game in the perfect release window. You know what, when I might have to make this 1m and 1.
Congratulations to friend-of-FToF, Video Games Industry Memo, for hitting 100 editions (and hello to the new subscribers who found their way here from there).
What is James playing?
I’m still chipping away at HADES (two clears and counting), NO MAN’S SKY has finally fix the aquatic planet bug (so I’m back there again), and, as noted, I will almost certainly pick up KCD2 at some point.
ALSO: HURRY UP ASSASSIN’S CREED SHADOWS (I have pre-ordered, half out of excitement, half out of solidarity).
What’s on your playlist?
THING 4. IT'S BEEN A WHILE, LET'S TALK ABOUT THE METAVERSE
For those of you new to the newsletter (hello), you should know that I’ve been calling BS on most marketing gak about the absolute vaporware known as ‘The Metaverse’ for the best part of three years now.
I checked, it was pretty regular from Jan 2022 onwards- and then I’d say literally any edition from that year works…
And while the noise has died down a fair bit (most of the web3/crypto/metaverse grifters - you know who they are - have moved onto Gen AI now) every now and then it rears its ugly head to remind us that yes indeed, people are still trying to make it a thing.
Which brings us bang up to date with this absolute stonker as reported by Business Insider:
Quote [emphasis mine]:
In a post titled "2025: The Year of Greatness," shared on Meta's internal forum Workplace, Bosworth said its Reality Labs division plans to launch half a dozen more AI-powered wearable devices.
"We need to drive sales, retention, and engagement across the board but especially in MR [mixed reality]," he wrote. "And Horizon Worlds on mobile absolutely has to break out for our long-term plans to have a chance. If you don't feel the weight of history on you, then you aren't paying attention."
He added, "This year likely determines whether this entire effort will go down as the work of visionaries or a legendary misadventure."
‘Legendary misadventure’.
That’s one way of stating a $60bn loss, I guess.
Thing is, I was kind of with the whole ‘rallying the team’ vibe right up until he mentioned Horizon Worlds on mobile.
💀 💀 💀 💀 💀
Horizon Worlds! It’s still a thing!
Incredible.
Now look, I don’t mean to sound harsh BUT I would hazard a guess that a platform experience that has a reported MAU of less than 200,000 and a DAU of just 900 users (note: these are 2023 numbers, they could’ve gone up by now… hey! no laughing at the back), would probably just need to be place that people actually wanted to visit full stop before getting its mobile strategy right - but hey, that’s just me.
I’m also an excellent fan of Bos’ repositioning of the problems of Horizon being bad blamed on his team (vs oh I don’t know, the leadership) but that’s beside the point.
And look, as I have said in these newsletter pages before: the Meta Quest 3 is the best consumer-ready/friendly VR experience available today. That’s not up for debate. And Meta’s ambitions for AI-infused smartglasses are also not something I plan to argue on.
What I do find hilarious is Meta’s myopic obsession to make tHe MeTaVeRsE a thing simply refuses to go away.
The world - and the word - has evolved and the emperor’s clothes have been called out my guy.
Let it go.
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Meanwhile, on actual metaversal (🤮) platforms (you know, the ones where they have users).
Roblox Game, Brookhaven, has been acquired by Voldex.
What’s Brookhaven? Well, Variety lays it out nicely:
Created by Roblox user Wolfpaq in 2020, “Brookhaven” is described as a place to “hang out, roleplay, interact, craft unique narratives, live in big houses, drive fun vehicles and explore the city.”
A consistent top-three title in terms of concurrent users on Roblox, “Brookhaven” boasts 60 billion visits and more than 120 million monthly active players, per Voldex data.
As of June 2024, the top 10 games and developers on Roblox averaged $30 million in earnings each over the prior 12 months, a five-time increase in that metric since 2019. Overall earnings across the Roblox community have topped $2.8 billion since 2018.
OK great but who is Voldex?
Founded by a Minecraft server developer back in 2015, Voldex shifted to Roblox in 2018 and since then has made it its mission is to be “the home of the most engaging and enduring experiences that bring players together.”
To that point, Voldex also owns Roblox’s top driving game, Driving Empire, as well as its most popular NFL game, NFL Universe Football.
Voldex says that the acquisition of Brookhaven will bring the developer’s user base to over 145 million monthly active users (MAU).
Voldex buying Brookhaven up says it all.
Building successful games on these platforms is the new oil.
And look, I don’t want to sound like a dick about it but I predicted this kind of thing would happen in August last year.
In the the first long read of Five things on Friday #383, entitled ‘Thing 1: Why buy an agency?’, I said:
I say again: the successful Fortnite and Roblox creators of today are the money trees of tomorrow.
And hey, tomorrow is already here.
Get moving.
..
PS. Ben Sarraille is good on this, as ever.
THING 5. FANCY LIVING UNDER THE SEA?
It’s one way of getting away from *waves vaguely all this I suppose.
Down an easy-to-miss turnoff on the A48 just outside Chepstow on the Welsh border, the gentle rumble of trucks, cranes and people at work mixes with birdsong in what is an otherwise peaceful rural setting. It is a crisp and sunny winter morning when I visit and, at first glance, the site appears to be little more than prefab containers and a car park. Yet, behind the scenes a group of men and women with expertise in diving, marine biology, technology, finance, construction and manufacturing are building something extraordinary. They have come together with a single mission statement: to make humans aquatic.
As nuts as this sounds, I really love this idea. Because, why the hell not? And hey, I’m all for unknown millionaires spending their money an actually interesting things. You crack on mate.
BONUS SECTION
THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT BUMP US OVER FIVE THINGS BUT DUE TO TIMING AND SELF-IMPOSED WRITING RESTRICTIONS ARE LIMITED TO PITHY COMMENTARY ONLY.
ENJOY.
The Death of Social Media by my good friend and pal Jonathan Stringfield is an excellent read. Mandatory reading for most marketers.
The Fantastic Four First Steps teaser trailer finally dropped - and it looks great (yaaaay).
The Fantastic Four First Steps posters finally dropped - and they look like bad gen AI (booooo).
The Fantastic Four First Steps new minimalist ones were rushed out quick (can’t think why) and they’re just fantastic (yaaaay).
Sticking with trailers, Jurassic World Rebirth looks cheesy af and I’m here for it!
This is a fun wrap up of one specific part of the LEGO Fortnite work I led the strategy for last year.
How the other half fly: inside Heathrow’s revamped VIP lounge (envy).
I mentioned in Thing 4 that Meta was laying into Realty Labs to help make the metaverse a thing. It could be worse, they could also allegedly creating and enforcing a toxic pattern of silencing women in the workplace.
Sorry, what’s that? You want a live YouTube channel of non-stop Tom & Jerry? I gotchu.
Someone pointed out to me this week that if I did what I did back then today then I guess I would be called a ‘creator’ - sure, whatever. But hey, ‘Plans for the Summer’ is a nice time capsule glimpse to the start of the best job I’ve ever had.
LADY GAGA released her latest single, ABRACADABRA, last week (during the grammys) and while I COULD link to that, instead I’m going to link to this PHENOMENAL reaction video. Next time some berk is wanging on about ‘fans’ and ‘fandoms’ and building brand LOVE, show them this.
This is a lovely profile piece on lovely man and Aardman designer / director Gav Strange.
This 83inch OLED LG TV is 40% off. Y'know, in case you wanted to drop three and a half grand on a telly.
If you made this far and you have already watched the Tiny Desk from Thing 1, then you should watch this accompanying piece from Music Shed. There’s something just mega wholesome from a jazz musician/teacher/producer who just CARES and gets it. Ah man, it’s good.
Tim Sweeney (just about the only person I can agree with when it comes to visions of the M word) is quite happy to [continually] spend billions on making Apple and Google make everything fairer for developers (read: Epic/Fortnite). This is nuts. Admirable. But also nuts.
I can’t go home currently because of the black mould in my house (most of it is gone now; we’re nearly there) but it could be worse, I guess.
YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.
Here we are! You made it!
I am behind on my correspondence (forgive me, I am living out of a suitcase; did I mention?) BUT thank you to all of you that wrote back regarding the newsletter tips in the last edition. ‘Timely!’ - ‘Really helpful!’ - ‘You’re so right about just writing the damn thing’ - yes, yes, and yes!
So go! Publish! Put words out there! Be free to express yourself and you might - you MIGHT - find an audience :)
As for me, well, I think we’ve got one more weekend of not being at home left until we can finally go back to the house. It’s been a long old week - a brief trip to the hospital left me a bit discombobulated (I’m fine), the general home upheaval has also thrown things around a bit…
(tldr: we had a flood back end of September, called insurance in October, they came in November, they wanted to start work before Christmas (we said NO), so it kicked off in in January, then more problems were found, dehumidifiers were put, then more problems were created… and then we moved out - it’s been a lot).
HOWEVER.
BE THAT AS IT MAY.
I had three new pieces of client work walk in the door this week (while in recovery on the hospital bed, hilarious) which was nice; a spot of award entry writing, some training, and then a dash of pitch doctoring (which I actually love). Unexpected but v. welcome.
So all in all, I think I think (when the house gets its final damp test next week) I think we might see the end of the tunnel and then start making some proper plans for 2025? Maybe? I think? Possibly?
Oish.
AND FINALLY.
Thank you, again, to all of you that have contributed to the running costs of the Buttondown subscription over the past 12mths.
It’s the first February edition so we go again. Starting off -£23 in the red and then, well, we’ll see where end up come end of January 2026. Same deal: as soon as costs are covered, the money goes to CALM.
Until next time, friends.
Whatley out x
Five thing on Friday will always be free.
However, if you want to chuck a couple of quid directly to the running costs then you can do that at these links:
You can sign up to an annual sub (no minimum amount required - people have dropped £20-£50 on this link, which is nice).
Or a one off pay whatever you want donation right here.
100% of all your dollar will go on Buttondown fees. Anything left over at the end of each year with Buttondown will go direct to men’s mental health charity, CALM. Promise.
In 2024 we raised over £120, what will we do in 2025? It’s up to you.