Chucklefish--the makers of War Groove, Starbound, and Witchbrook, as well as the publisher or Risk of Rain, Inmost, and the upcoming Wildfrost--has just announced a massive pay raise for all employees. This is to help with the rising cost of living, which has skyrocketed in the UK in recent months.According to Chucklefish communications manager Alexis Trust, "Management at Chucklefish just announced a £4k pay increase across the company to help with horrid bill increases." In a subsequent tweet, Trust added that’s on top of a 10 percent raise that was given out back in April."Feel extremely lucky right now," they added.
Rising prices of pretty much everything is a major concern in the UK these days. According to the Office for National Statistics, inflation was over 10 percent in July, up from 9.4 percent in June. Food, housing, and energy account for the lion’s share of rising prices as well as recurring expenses for most human beings.
Energy is of course a particular problem for gamers. Poor government policies and a virtual cartel in the UK energy industry certainly don’t make saving easy, but there are a few things gamers can do to save a few shillings over the course of the year. As noted by The Guardian’s Alex Hern, Xbox Series X owners can save over £100 just by avoiding the console’s standby mode. An Energy Saver setting can help bring that price down, but it’s not a default setting for the Xbox Series X.
PS5 owners, on the other hand, can rest assured that their console’s Rest Mode only uses a bit more power than when it’s turned off. Most consoles use around £0.15 an hour while being played, although the Nintendo Switch is generally a bit less than that owing to its mobile nature.