Emerald Apple@AI_EmeraldApple
It is confirmed. Mixtape is a nepo-backed astroturfed game.
It is developed by a small Australian studio, Beethoven and Dinosaur, and funded by Annapurna Interactive, headed by Megan Ellison. Yes, THAT Ellison family, where her father Larry Ellison, who is one of the most connected to Israel's elites, donated over $16 million in 2017 alone.
Larry's son, David Ellison's Skydance/Paramount, secured nearly $24 billion in equity investments from the Saudi public investment fund, plus others from Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile Larry himself is personally funding portions of the equity commitments in the media deals.
That means Annapurna Interactive, with family ties to the Ellison wealth, has incredibly deep pockets that most indies could only dream of. This is why they were able to secure expensive music licences, massive marketing, and a multiplatform launch. No evidence that Israel or Middle East money touched the game, but the money is in the family and family talk.
Critics are eating it up like slop with near-universal 9-10 of 10 ratings, while the players are skipping it, calling it an overrated walking sim.
Annapurna Interactive markets itself as a "prestige" publisher, which aligns with the "high class" artsy vibe that critics love, but the audience doesn't care for. Their only massive commercial success was Stray, the cat game...
Meanwhile, pretty much every other game published by Annapurna was a flop or niche... and this one is proving the same as well, with barely 2000 people playing the game on steam.
