Stopthatgirl7
Hey, y’all! Just another random, loudmouthed, opinionated, Southern-fried nerdy American living abroad.
This is my lemmy account because I got sick of how unstable kbin dot social was.
Mastodon: @stopthatgirl7
- 66 Posts
- 50 Comments
Joined 10M ago
Cake day: Mar 07, 2024
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- www.theverge.com
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- 2M
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A few weeks ago, [Microsoft exec Sarah Bond said](https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/10/24267339/microsoft-xbox-android-purchase-games-us-court-ruling) that in November, “players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox App on Android.” It’s almost December and the feature still isn’t live, but Bond says it’s not Microsoft’s fault.
The problem, as she puts it, is that Microsoft would only be able to do it once a court order takes effect that [forces sweeping changes for Google’s Play Store on Android](https://www.theverge.com/policy/2024/10/7/24243316/epic-google-permanent-injunction-ruling-third-party-stores), like opening it up to competition and ending the requirement for apps to use Google Play Billing.
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- gameinfinitus.com
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- 2M
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The possibility of a Dragon Age collection, similar to BioWare’s 2021 Mass Effect Legendary Collection, presents notable challenges, according to a recent [interview](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/rs-gaming/dragon-age-the-veilguard-john-epler-interview-1235147001/) with BioWare’s Director of Product Development. With experience at BioWare dating back to the original Dragon Age: Origins in 2009, Epler expressed enthusiasm for the idea, while acknowledging the difficulties due to the series’ engine diversity.
Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II were developed using BioWare’s custom Eclipse Engine, while the third game, Dragon Age: Inquisition, was built using Frostbite, EA’s proprietary engine, initially designed for the Battlefield series. This contrast creates a significant technical hurdle for a remaster. In the interview, Epler noted, “I think I’m one of about maybe 20 people left at BioWare who’s actually used Eclipse,” emphasizing the uniqueness of each title’s engine.
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- www.forbes.com
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- 2M
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Dragon Age: The Veilguard arrived with pretty solid critic scores, racking up [an 84 on Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/game/dragon-age-the-veilguard/ "https://www.metacritic.com/game/dragon-age-the-veilguard/"), translating into what appear to be pretty solid sales, at the very least, putting up the highest playercount EA or BioWare has seen on Steam, with seemingly good console performance as well.
But after the critic reviews come in, user scores go live, and it was exceptionally easy to predict how they were going to split between players who had played the game, and ones that likely hadn’t. See if you can spot the difference.
* Steam – 77% “Mostly Positive” scores
* PlayStation – 4.45/5 stars
* Xbox – 4/5 stars
* Metacritic – 3.4/10
You can guess which three platforms there require you to own the game to rate it, and which one does not.
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- www.gamesradar.com
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- 3M
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A three-year fight to help support game preservation has come to a sad end today. The US copyright office has denied a request for a DMCA exemption that would allow libraries to remotely share digital access to preserved video games.
"For the past three years, the Video Game History Foundation has been supporting with the Software Preservation Network (SPN) on a petition to allow libraries and archives to [remotely share digital access to out-of-print video games in their collections](https://www.copyright.gov/1201/2024/comments/Class%206\(b\)%20-%20Initial%20Comments%20-%20%20Software%20Preservation%20Network%20and%20Library%20Copyright%20Alliance.pdf)," VGHF explains in its [statement](https://gamehistory.org/dmca-2024-statement/). "Under the current anti-circumvention rules in Section 1201 of the DMCA, libraries and archives are unable to break copy protection on games in order to make them remotely accessible to researchers."
Essentially, this exemption would open up the possibility of a digital library where historians and researchers could 'check out' digital games that run through emulators. The VGHF argues that [around 87% of all video games released in the US before 2010 are now out of print](https://gamehistory.org/87percent/), and the only legal way to access those games now is through the occasionally exorbitant prices and often failing hardware that defines the retro gaming market.
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- gamerant.com
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- 3M
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A new rumor alleges that Microsoft may have slowed down development on PS5 ports of **Xbox **first-party games. As part of an unexpected strategy shift, [Xbox](https://gamerant.com/tag/xbox/) started publishing games from its first-party back-catalog on PS5 earlier this year, but it seems negative fan reactions might have compelled Microsoft to relax its porting efforts, at least temporarily.
Xbox's multiplatform push kicked off with an initial roster of four first-party games, namely *Hi-Fi Rush*, *Sea of Thieves*, *Pentiment*, and *Grounded*. Out of these games, [*Sea of Thieves* particularly enjoyed tremendous success](https://gamerant.com/sea-of-thieves-playstation-ps5-sales-report/) with over one million copies reportedly sold on PS5. It didn't take long for more rumors to start rolling in about which other Xbox first-party games could make the jump to PlayStation platforms, but so far, Microsoft has only confirmed that *Doom: The Dark Ages* and *Indiana Jones and The Great Circle* will come to PS5 in 2025.
However, it seems the [announcement of *Indiana Jones* coming to PS5](https://gamerant.com/indiana-jones-game-great-circle-ps5/) may have led to a shift behind the scenes at Xbox in terms of its multiplatform strategy. Reputable insider eXtas1s, who routinely breaks accurate Game Pass news, stated in a recent tweet that Microsoft has either "paused" or "slowed down" the PS5 ports it's currently working on. The insider emphasized that this doesn't mean those Xbox first-party ports for PS5 are canceled, just that Microsoft is possibly re-evaluating them in some capacity at the moment.
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- www.pcgamer.com
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- 3M
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Larian director of publishing Michael Douse, never one to be shy about speaking his mind, has spoken his mind about [Ubisoft](https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/tag/ubisoft/)'s decision to disband the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown development team, saying it's the result of a "broken strategy" that prioritizes subscriptions over sales.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is quite good. PC Gamer's Mollie Taylor felt it was dragged down by a very slow start, calling it "a slow burn to a fault" in an overall positive [*review*](https://www.pcgamer.com/prince-of-persia-the-lost-crown-review/), and it holds an enviable 86 aggregate score on Metacritic. Despite that, Ubisoft recently confirmed that the development team has been [*scattered to the four winds*](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/ubisoft-made-a-good-prince-of-persia-game-so-of-course-its-disbanded-the-team-shortly-after-release/?utm_source=twitter.com\&utm_medium=social\&utm_campaign=socialflow) to work on "other projects that will benefit from their expertise."
This, Douse feels, is at least partially the outcome of Ubisoft's focus on subscriptions over conventional game sales—the whole "feeling comfortable with [*not owning your game*](https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-director-says-gamers-will-get-more-comfortable-not-owning-games-and-hes-not-wrong/)" thing espoused by Ubisoft director of subscriptions Philippe Tremblay earlier this year—and the decision to stop releasing games on Steam, which is far and away the biggest digital storefront for PC gaming.
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- kotaku.com
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- 3M
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Yesterday, Twitch suspended an account that belonged to streamer and famous [YouTuber Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt](https://kotaku.com/popular-wow-streamer-hires-youtubers-who-leeched-off-hi-1840377137?_gl=1*14e4ns*_ga*ODE3ODM5ODIyLjE3MjA0NjY0NTg.*_ga_V4QNJTT5L0*MTcyOTA5ODkzOC4xNzYuMS4xNzI5MTAwNDkxLjI4LjAuMA..) after he made racist comments about the death of Palestinians in Gaza. Now, the YouTuber has responded to the temporary ban with a surprisingly clear-eyed assessment of the controversy and what led up to it.
“I don’t really want to mince words or, ‘oh I wasn’t justifying or promoting \[the genocide],’” He said during [a new 20-minute long video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSI-N-QHNTQ) on the subject. “I said something about it that was disgusting.”
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- kotaku.com
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- 3M
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Twitch streamer and famous [YouTuber Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt](https://kotaku.com/popular-wow-streamer-hires-youtubers-who-leeched-off-hi-1840377137) has had his [zackrawrr account](https://www.twitch.tv/zackrawrr) banned after a racist rant about Muslims and Palestinians killed in Gaza went viral on social media. “My bad,” he shared on X (formerly Twitter) following an online backlash. “Looking back on it, I was way too much of an asshole about the Palestine thing.” His other Twitch channel, [Asmongold](https://www.twitch.tv/Asmongold), remains up.
[In addition to playing games](https://kotaku.com/space-marine-2-saber-ceo-asmongold-youtube-comment-1851650858?_gl=1*389w2o*_ga*MTM1ODc4MTMxOS4xNzIxMzEwNzc3*_ga_V4QNJTT5L0*MTcyODkxMjM4MC4xMDMuMS4xNzI4OTEyNzU2LjYwLjAuMA..), Hoyt frequently livestreams extended chat sessions where he comments on other people’s YouTube videos or whatever topics are gaining traction on his dedicated subreddit. In the midst of a recent livestream, he began talking about Israel’s war on Gaza, which the Gaza Health Ministry says has killed [over 40,000 Palestinians since it began](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2023/10/9/israel-hamas-war-in-maps-and-charts-live-tracker) just over a year ago following the October 7 attack by Hamas.
“If you want to consider a genocide as a systematic killing of a group of people they have genocide built into Sharia law right now so no I’m not going to cry a fucking river when people who have genocide that’s baked into their laws are getting genocided,” Hoyt said during [a portion of the stream that was clipped](https://x.com/CapriSunnPapi/status/1845897719203737655) and shared on social media (the original VOD doesn’t appear to be online). “I don’t give a fuck. They’re terrible people. It’s not even a question. It’s crazy people don’t see it that way. They’d be doing the same thing.”
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- www.pcgamer.com
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- 3M
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[CD Projekt](https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/tag/cd-projekt/) joint CEO Michał Nowakowski has issued a strongly worded response to accusations that the studio "is in a lot of trouble right now" because of "diversity hires," saying the people peddling such nonsense need to "stop looking for conspiracy theories."
"Seems we live in times where anyone can record complete nonsense and make a story out of it," Nowakowski said in response to a post on [X](https://x.com/michalnowakow/status/1844689086809805135) by YouTuber Endymion, who has a long history of stridently complaining about diversity and "wokeness" in videogames.
"CDPR talent leaving? We have the lowest rotation of people in recent years. DEI-driven recruitment? We hire based on merit and talent alone, just as we make games driven by artistic vision alone. Why did we choose \[Unreal Engine]? Because it enables us to work on our games more efficiently and we remain cutting edge tech-wise. The Witcher 3’s director left? Well, yeah, more than 2 years ago… Now, can we stop looking for conspiracy theories and go back to making cool stuff?"
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- www.eurogamer.net
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- 3M
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Wikipedia has had to lock down the [Silent Hill 2 Remake](https://www.eurogamer.net/games/silent-hill-2-remake) page after repeated vandalism from editors who refuse to accept that the remake of Konami's seminal horror game released to critical acclaim earlier this week.
Outright lies around the games reception and metacritic score - including one edit that said the game had "received the worst reviews imaginable" - means the page has now been put into a semi-protected state to stop unregistered users from making wild, unsubstantiated claims, including one that said Eurogamer had awarded it 0/5 stars when, in fact, it got top marks.
It's unclear what's motivating the edits, although its presumed by some to have been fuelled by the nauseating discourse that the game is "woke" because of changes made to the characters facial features and clothing.
Alternatively, it may stem from some fans' dismayed that [Silent Hill 2](https://www.eurogamer.net/games/silent-hill-2) has been remade by [Bloober Team](https://www.eurogamer.net/companies/bloober-team)or, indeed, at all.
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- www.gamesindustry.biz
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- 3M
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A new survey has found that over half of gamers prefer to play single-player titles.
According to [Midia Research](https://www.midiaresearch.com/blog/most-gamers-prefer-single-player-games), this game mode is most popular across all platforms – particularly on mobile, with 58% of respondents saying they preferred single-player games.
The data from the survey was collected from Midia Research's Q1 2024 and Q1 2023 consumer surveys across the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Poland, Turkey, and South Africa.
Research found that older gamers were more drawn to single-player titles, with 74% of gamers aged over 55 choosing to play games solo.
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- www.ign.com
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- 3M
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While PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Edition preorders sparked a flurry of eBay listings with huge mark-ups in the West, in Japan Sony has an actual plan to beat the scapers.
As spotted by [Automaton](https://automaton-media.com/en/news/to-battle-ps5-pro-30th-anniversary-edition-scalpers-sony-imposes-conditions-for-ordering-the-console-but-only-in-japan/), the [Japanese PlayStation homepage](https://www.playstation.com/ja-jp/local/campaigns/ps5-30th-register-to-pre-order/) confirms that anyone who wants to preorder the PS5 Pro 30th anniversary edition in Japan has to meet the following conditions: have a PSN account registered in Japan, and have at least 30 hours of PS4 or PS5 runtime on the account between February 2014 and September 19, 2024.
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- www.theverge.com
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- 3M
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An apparent bug was causing game art backgrounds to be replaced by promotional messages and news posts on the PlayStation 5 dashboard for some people on Monday. The images they saw featured promotions for long-expired discounts and ads for new games.
People lamented the change in forums and on social media, saying the game art that previously showed up when they highlighted a game was gone. Instead, the image that would ordinarily show up as a news post in a separate section of the PS5 UI was splashed across the screen behind games like [*Miles Morales*](https://www.reddit.com/r/PS5/comments/1fsudpe/please_protest_the_ads_on_the_homescreen_on/lpnejzv/)*,* [*Hi-Fi Rush*](https://www.reddit.com/r/PS5/comments/1fsudpe/please_protest_the_ads_on_the_homescreen_on/lpn5zxk/), and [*Final Fantasy VII Remake*](https://www.reddit.com/r/PS5/comments/1fsudpe/please_protest_the_ads_on_the_homescreen_on/lpnom6m/).
In a since-deleted post, Daniel Hiatt, product lead for Game Hub and Activity Suggestions with PlayStation, wrote Monday afternoon that the change was a “(new) bug with an existing feature.” Then, by 6PM ET, those game pages are back to normal, as we confirmed on our own PS5s.
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- insider-gaming.com
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- 3M
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In a new Sony Corporate Report, Sony has revealed that PlayStation will use AI and machine learning to speed up its game development.
On page 16 of the report, Sony had that “bolstering technologies that can help creators engage in maximizing the value of their IP in efficient, high-quality ways, including sensing and capturing as well as real-time 3D processing, AI, and machine learning,” and that these technologies will help to deliver its IP “rapidly and at low cost to a broader range of fans.”
The report reveals that PlayStation used machine learning in the production of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 by applying voice-recognition software in certain languages. This process allowed the company to automatically synchronize subtitles with each character’s lines to “significantly shortening the subtitling process.”
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- www.gamesradar.com
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- 3M
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Astro Bot is stuffed with little robot guys cosplaying as gaming icons from across PlayStation history, but the game's lead has now opened up about the one essential character that's missing.
Sure, [Astro Bot's 300 collectible bots](https://www.gamesradar.com/games/platformer/astro-bot-collectibles-bots-puzzle-pieces-warps/) don't cover every single notable game from the platform's three-decade run. Twisted Metal and SOCOM aren't included, for example, despite being PlayStation staples for a time. But the big boys are all here. Whether that's [Sony](https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/tag/sony/)'s own God of War, Ape Escape, and Shadow of the Colossus - or famous faces from other companies, like Tomb Raider and Crash Bandicoot.
Since the joyous platformer jumped onto store shelves, however, more than a few players have complained that Cloud Strife is missing, in spite of how monumentally important Final Fantasy 7 was on the PS1. In fact, publisher [Square Enix](https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/tag/square_enix/) has no presence in the game, with Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, and Nier all omitted, which is particularly strange since the game's free predecessor Astro's Playroom at least makes reference to Cloud's big buster sword.
In an interview with [Game File](https://www.gamefile.news/p/astro-bot-playstation-icons-shadow-of-the-colossus), Team Asobi studio head Nicolas Doucet hinted that the development team had eyed up a Cloud cameo that never got approval from Square Enix. "It's difficult to comment on that," Doucet said. "We really respect the choice of each publisher."
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- www.ign.com
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- 4M
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Sony has doubled the price of PlayStation 4 game Horizon: Zero Dawn following the reveal of its PS5 remaster.
[Eurogamer](https://www.eurogamer.net/playstation-quietly-raises-horizon-zero-dawn-ps4-price-following-remaster-announcement) spotted the price rise in the UK (from £15.99 to £34.99) but the price also rose in the U.S., jumping from $19.99 to $39.99 on the [PlayStation Store](https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP9000-CUSA10237_00-HRZCE00000000000).
Horizon: Zero Dawn has been at the previous price point for years as part of the PlayStation Hits collection, and other entries such as God of War and The Last of Us Remastered have remained at the typical $19.99 price.
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- www.gamefile.news
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- 4M
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Any retailer that sells an online-only video game will soon need to warn customers, at least in the state of California, that the game they’re purchasing may not be theirs to play forever.
That warning will be required in California as of January 1, thanks to AB 2426, a consumer protection and false advertising bill signed earlier this week by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.
The bill makes it illegal for sellers of any digital goods—games, movies, books, etc—to use terms like “buy” or “purchase” during a transaction without the inclusion of a warning about the potential impermanence of what they’re paying for.
“The legislation was motivated by consumers losing access to content,” the bill’s sponsor, assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-CA), told Game File.
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- www.ign.com
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- 4M
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Last week, [Bloomberg reported](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-09-12/annapurna-video-game-team-resigns-leaving-partners-scrambling) that 25 people comprising the [entire staff of Annapurna Interactive](https://www.ign.com/articles/annapurnas-entire-gaming-team-has-resigned) walked out the door in a group resignation. But while some of the circumstances around their departure emerged in the reporting, one pressing question was left unanswered: why?
Having spoken to multiple individuals close to the situation who requested anonymity due to fear of reprisal, as well as an Annapurna spokesperson, IGN has pieced together a somewhat complex answer. Disagreements over the direction of the Interactive division, chaotic departures, communication breakdowns, and a perceived lack of leadership transparency at Annapurna Interactive led to a staff walk-out that has left 25 individuals jobless, Annapurna leaders scrambling, and numerous developers concerned about their contracts with the publisher.
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- www.404media.co
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- 4M
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**So you don’t think these patents are going after any aspect of *Palworld* that players would recognize as a defining feature of a Pokémon game?**
I mean, there's like a mechanic where you throw the spheres, right? And this is a very obvious, in your face system \[that’s very much like Pokémon]. But I think that it will be a lot more technical than this. Nintendo would have dug through every single action inside the game, they would have probably reverse engineered it, and just find ways to sue these guys.
You can bet your life that Nintendo hates this company, and they couldn't find an angle with the character designs. This is why they are not mentioned in their press release. So they come with these technical peculiarities. So I personally believe, if you act like this, you can sue like 90 percent of the game developers in the world. I'm sure there's like thousands of games that have a confirmation screen when you go from sleep mode to resuming the game right, but if you basically trigger the wrath of Nintendo, they will come after you.
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- thegamepost.com
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- 4M
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**Former Bungie chief legal officer Don McGowan credits Sony’s discipline for pushing Bungie to focus on new player acquisition and running Destiny 2 like a business, shedding light on behind-the-scenes changes at the studio.**
Destiny 2 has seen a whirlwind of changes recently, and according to former Bungie chief legal officer Don McGowan, much of that is thanks to Sony’s influence.
In a new post on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7240718454641606656/), McGowan didn’t hold back his thoughts, saying that Sony has pushed Bungie to make much-needed adjustments to how it handles its flagship game, [Destiny 2](https://thegamepost.com/destiny-2-revenant-dungeon-release-date-contest-exotic/).
creator
toIt came out much later here than it did in the US, and you still can’t buy it directly from Valve - you have to go through an authorized third party. But I have seen the Asus ROG Ally in electronic stores. I’ve only seen the Steam Deck at one place, and I think that store has an arrangement to sell it exclusively. I haven’t been out looking in a few months, though.
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- automaton-media.com
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- 4M
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“You can buy a gaming PC for 120,000 yen.” Japanese people have been seeing an increasing number of advertisements worded this way in the past few days. But what else costs 120,000 yen? A PlayStation 5 Pro, as recently revealed by Sony.
The announcement of the PS5 Pro’s steep price tag has caused significant dissatisfaction both in the US and Europe, where the console will set gamers back $700 and €800 respectively. But much like European gamers, Japanese players are faced with paying even more for the console than people in the US. The 119,980-yen price point is equivalent to over $840, based on recent conversion rates.
To make matters worse, Sony recently hiked the price of standard PS5 console models in Japan. On September 2, the suggested retail price jumped from 66,980 yen (about $463) to 79,980 yen (about $552). Apart from severe backlash across social media, this decision caused the console to sell out all over the country in the days leading up to the price increase and even gave the Xbox a boost in sales.
creator
toLuckily, that deal is fine.
https://x.com/jasonschreier/status/1834359607621238858?s=46&t=EUtgwMByNj4sQbVP9INV-Q
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- www.theverge.com
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- 4M
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In a week when Xbox fans were hoping to hear a response from Microsoft to the PS5 Pro, the software giant is making a third round of gaming layoffs instead. [650 employees at Microsoft’s gaming business are being laid off](https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/12/24242695/microsoft-xbox-layoffs-650-employees), part of continued cuts at Xbox after Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Microsoft cut 1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox jobs earlier this year and then [shuttered four studios](https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/8/24151814/microsoft-xbox-layoffs-strategy-changes-arkane-tango) it acquired as part of its $7.5 billion Bethesda acquisition in May. Thankfully, *Hi-Fi Rush* studio Tango Gameworks was eventually saved from Microsoft’s shutdown after Krafton, the South Korean publisher behind *PUBG: Battlegrounds* and *The Callisto Protocol*, acquired the Japanese studio from Microsoft instead.
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- www.bloomberg.com
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- 4M
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The entire staff of Annapurna Interactive, the video-game publishing division of Megan Ellison’s Annapurna studio, resigned this month following a dispute with its owner, according to people familiar with the situation.
Annapurna Interactive President Nathan Gary and his team had been negotiating with Ellison, the daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison, to spin off the video-game division as an independent entity, said the people, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to share the information with the press. When Ellison pulled out of the negotiations, Gary and other executives resigned and were followed by around two dozen other staffers.
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- www.eurogamer.net
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- 4M
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Ex-[Sony Computer Entertainment Europe](https://www.eurogamer.net/companies/scee) president Chris Deering does not believe recent layoffs across the games industry have been a result of corporate greed. Instead, workers who have lost their jobs should "drive an Uber" or "go to the beach for a year" until employment settles.
Deering was a guest on games writer [Simon Parkin's podcast My Perfect Console](https://www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole), where the pair discussed games industry layoffs.
"I don't think it's fair to say that the resulting layoffs have been greed," said Deering. "I always tried to minimise the speed with which we added staff because I always knew there would be a cycle and I didn't want to end up having the same problems that Sony did in Electronics."
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- www.bloomberg.com
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- 5M
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But since [closing](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/technology/microsoft-activision-blizzard-deal-closes.html) the Activision deal last fall, Xbox has made a series of moves that have left fans and analysts baffled about its overall strategy. It has laid off [thousands of staff](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-25/microsoft-cuts-1-900-jobs-in-gaming-including-at-activision), [shuttered studios](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-05-08/xbox-studio-closures-microsoft-plans-more-cost-cutting-measures-after-layoffs) and been unable to articulate a consistent message about how it plans to release games. Xbox fans assumed those big acquisitions would lead to more exclusive games that helped justify their console purchase, but the opposite has happened.
Early this year, Microsoft began [putting some of its former exclusives on PlayStation](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-15/microsoft-is-taking-four-xbox-exclusives-to-playstation-nintendo-switch), starting with smaller, older titles such as *Hi-Fi Rush*. This week, the company announced that another big, new title will follow the same route. *Indiana Jones and The Great Circle*, coming in December to Xbox and PC, will arrive on PlayStation in the spring of 2025.
Ditching console exclusives is good news for players who can only afford to stick to one piece of hardware. And Microsoft was able to squeeze the Activision deal past regulatory scrutiny in part because it promised to continue releasing *Call of Duty* on PlayStation. But Xbox’s release strategy has been so confusing, it requires a massive spreadsheet and a full-time job to keep track of it all.
creator
toThe S not only hobbled Xbox; it’s risking hobbling the entire generation. The only thing that’s honestly saved that from happening is that the Xbox isn’t doing well this generation, so devs can decide to put off releasing on Xbox until they can finagle it to work, or just not bother. Instead of insisting on parity, they should have said games would run but might not have all the features, and said the X was the full premium experience.
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- www.ign.com
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Microsoft has just addressed [Black Myth: Wukong's delay on Xbox Series X/S](https://www.ign.com/articles/new-black-myth-wukong-trailer-ditches-xbox-series-x-and-s-version), issuing a brief statement on the matter on Friday.
"We’re excited for the launch of Black Myth Wukong on Xbox Series X|S and are working with Game Science to bring the game to our platforms," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement, first reported by [Windows Central](https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/hotly-anticipated-black-myth-wukong-is-delayed-on-xbox-for-optimizations-and-now-microsoft-has-responded) and also obtained by IGN. "We can't comment on the deals made by our partners with other platform holders, but we remain focused on making Xbox the best platform for gamers, and great games are at the center of that."
Back [at The Game Awards 2023](https://www.ign.com/articles/black-myth-wukong-has-a-release-date-but-still-no-reply-to-reports-of-sexism-the-game-awards-2023), developer Game Science announced an August 20, 2024 release date for Black Myth: Wukong for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Earlier this month, however, its Summer Game Fest trailer omitted mention of an Xbox Series X/S version.
creator
to“GLHF has confirmed that the “Do’s & Don’ts” document was sent to Reinier and at least one other content creator by Hero Games, a developer and publisher that co-published Black Myth: Wukong according to a LinkedIn post from the company. Hero Games is also a major shareholder in developer GameScience, and as of a 2021 press release was the largest external shareholder of the company.
Reinier sent GLHF a copy of the email sent to content creators and we can confirm that it was sent from a company email address associated with Hero Games. The email signature also contained a Discord username, and the account associated with the sender is listed as a Hero Games employee on their profile in the official Black Myth: Wukong Discord server.”
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[Black Myth: Wukong](https://www.thegamer.com/tag/black-myth-wukong/) developer Game Science is reportedly trying to ban content creators from discussing certain topics in exchange for game codes.
In a [leaked document](https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1aKlZvxWxbPOzldSUdc6CaHmoy80Fl7W_wQt-Ex-vl0k/mobilebasic?pli=1), which at least one content creator has publicly stated they received from Game Science, there is a "do's and dont's" section, telling those who receive a code what they cannot discuss in their content. Here, the document informs those with Black Myth: Wukong codes that they cannot include "politics" and "feminist propaganda" in their coverage of the game, among other topics.
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Fan outcry stems from what many feel is a failure to accurately represent the cultures each character pulls from, including the fact that Mavukia, Kinich, and Ororon — who seem to be inspired by real-life deities like the Maori's Mahuika — are all white. It continues a trend in Genshin Impact that has seen players begging for proper representation.
Now some of the actors behind Genshin Impact’s faces have begun to chime in. Albedo actor, Khoi Dao, published [a statement on X/Twitter](https://x.com/khoidaooo/status/1812140177126723759) calling for change in Genshin Impact.
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[Mass Effect](https://www.thegamer.com/tag/mass-effect/) has two leads, Mark Meer and [Jennifer Hale](https://www.thegamer.com/best-game-characters-voiced-acted-performed-by-jennifer-hale/), but you'll only hear one of them as Commander Shepard per playthrough. [According to player stats](https://www.thegamer.com/mass-effect-legendary-edition-infographic/), most people play as a guy, meaning Mark Meer is their Shepard throughout the trilogy.
However, Meer encourages players to give FemShep a go - purely so they can enjoy the performance of his co-star, Hale. Speaking with [PC Gamer](https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/brosheps-voice-actor-played-so-many-weird-alien-side-characters-in-mass-effect-he-doesnt-mind-if-people-prefer-femshep-im-afraid-youll-be-forced-to-encounter-me-as-niftu-cal-and-blasto-and-any-vorcha-you-run-into/), Meer says that he's a huge fan of her work, and doesn't have any problem with players choosing to only play as FemShep because of her performance.
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“I recall that Dr Disrespect was made aware by the individual that they were underage during the conversation, after which he indicated that this was no problem and continued on,” the former employee says. “There was no confusion. Messages sent after this was acknowledged were no less graphic and in sexually explicit nature than before, and I think more than the categorization of ‘leaning too much in the direction of being inappropriate’ might indicate.”
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Head and body presets can be selected individually and customized to your liking with 40 different complexions that include smooth, rugged, youthful, and freckled skin tones, skin hues ranging from cool to neutral to warm, undertones to those skin tones, and even a melanin slider. Busche tells me BioWare relied on consultation to represent all people authentically. There's a Vitiligo slider (where you can adjust the intensity and amount of it) and sliders for your forehead, brow, cheeks, jaw, chin, larynx, and scalp. You can select your undergarments, with nudity as well because "this is a mature RPG," Busche adds, and use the "Body Morpher" to select three presets for each corner of a triangle and then move a cursor within it to morph your body or head into a mix of these presets. It's an impressive technology I'd like to see adopted in other games.
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“In order to maintain our principles and standards as a studio and individuals, we needed to act,” the studio [wrote in a statement](https://x.com/12am/status/1805341504086622355). “For this reason, we are terminating our relationship with Guy Beahm immediately. While these facts are difficult to hear and even more difficult to accept, it is our duty to act with dignity on behalf of all individuals involved, especially the fifty-five developers and families we have employed along with our community of players.
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*Dragon Age: The Veilguard *is going to be divisive. It already is. When you’ve spent ten years waiting for something with an idea of what it would be in your head, if it’s not that thing, you’re bound to be disappointed. But ultimately, *The Veilguard *is not trying to accomplish the same things *Baldur’s Gate 3 *did. Its focus on action-based systems means we’re probably not going to get the highly reactive, *Dungeons & Dragons*-esque spells and problem-solving mechanics. But it does mean we’re going to get what looks like a frenetic action RPG that continues the story we’ve been waiting a decade for. That might not be what you wanted from *Dragon Age*, but that other game exists.
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[Geoff Keighley](https://kotaku.com/geoff-keighley-layoffs-tweets-sgf-summer-game-fest-1851332390)’s Summer Game Fest begins later this week and people around the world are excited to see all the trailers and teasers. And a new report, corroborated by *Kotaku*, reveals the high price it costs publishers and devs to show their games at the event.
[On June 7, Summer Game Fest 2024](https://kotaku.com/summer-game-fest-2024-geoff-keighley-sets-expectations-1851516386) kicks off with a large streaming showcase featuring new trailers for upcoming games. The yearly showcase has become more important for the video game industry [after the slow death of E3](https://kotaku.com/is-e3-dead-2023-canceled-esa-1851092261), the previous big summer event where new games would get teased and revealed. Millions of people will be tuning in on Friday to see what’s coming next. And if you want to be a part of all this, you just need to spend a few hundred thousand dollars.
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The next Dragon Age is set to get its first big gameplay reveal on June 11, and when it does, it will be with a new name. IGN can exclusively reveal that the latest entry in the Dragon Age franchise, [previously known as Dragon Age Dreadwolf](https://www.ign.com/articles/dragon-age-dreadwolf-title-logo-revealed), is being renamed Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
The news comes with a host of details that shed new light on BioWare’s anticipated RPG, which up until this point has been kept heavily under wraps. Among other things, BioWare confirmed that The Veilguard will feature seven party members, and that it will feature “fun and fluid, moment-to-moment combat” while continuing to center strategy via the unique powers of each companion.
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What could help triple-A games get even bigger right now? According to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, the answer lies in ads.
During a recent [earnings call Q\&A](https://s22.q4cdn.com/894350492/files/doc_financials/2024/q4/Q4-FY24-Transcript-FINAL.pdf), Wilson was asked by an analyst about "dynamic ad insertion" in triple-A titles as a means of revenue. While he thinks it's "still early" for that, he noted its potential as a "meaningful driver of growth" for the publisher.
In fact, internal teams at EA are already exploring "very thoughtful \[ad] implentations," Wilson revealed. For him, the important thing is to build up communities in games, then figure out how ads are potential growth drivers.
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In recent times, triple-A publishers have repeatedly had their lunch eaten — at least, in terms of mindshare — [by more creatively nimble indies](https://aftermath.site/video-games-palworld-helldivers-manor-lords-aaa). *Lethal Company*was last holiday season’s breakout hit, and*Palworld* [followed not long after](https://aftermath.site/palworld-release-record-steam). [*Balatro*](https://aftermath.site/the-nerve-of-balatro-for-being-this-good)and [*Manor Lords*](https://aftermath.site/manor-lords-impressions) have come out of nowhere to tear up the Steam charts, as have mind-bogglingly fast riffs on this new paradigm like the *Lethal Company*-inspired [*Content Warning*](https://aftermath.site/content-warning-game-aftermath-hours-podcast). *Helldivers 2* is both the exception that proves the rule and an example of exactly why big publishers should let studios cook even in the face of only modest success (or failure!). Without*Helldivers 1*, a relative unknown, you don’t get *Helldivers 2*, [the biggest breakout hit of the year](https://aftermath.site/helldivers-2-joel-pc-ps5). Recent triple-A darlings like *Baldur’s Gate 3* and *Elden Ring* come from similar lineages.
Yes, it’s a slow year for triple-A publishers, but that’s what happens when you spend years quietly canceling projects that you’re worried *might *not achieve such a spectacular liftoff as to take over the entire universe. Eventually, it catches up with you. And years from now — already [a record year for layoffs](https://kotaku.com/game-industry-layoffs-how-many-2024-unity-twitch-1851155818) — it’s gonna catch up with the video game industry again.
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More than anything, though, it’s a gut punch because it sends a message. The wrong message, really. Xbox had one major studio in Japan - no more. Xbox is making deals with third parties and independent creators, yes - [it’s got something in the pipes with Hideo Kojima, for instance](https://www.vg247.com/hideo-kojima-xbox-letter-of-intent-cloud-project) - but like I said, the first party is your north star. It’s your best foot forward. The message becomes this: Japanese games are not a priority for us.
No amount of [Spencer pow-wowing on the Final Fantasy fanfest stage with the Square Enix CEO](https://www.vg247.com/square-enix-commits-to-better-xbox-support)changes that. No amount of co-marketing money thrown at Persona or Yakuza to get Xbox versions and Xbox logos on the trailers can undo that message. Publishing a Kojima game might help a bit - but not as much as having a beloved Japanese studio in your actual stable. In the end, Kojima is just a gun for hire - whatever he makes for Xbox will be compared to [Death Stranding](https://www.vg247.com/games/death-stranding)and his big new spy franchise at Sony.
And furthermore, if you were a Japanese publisher or developer approached for acquisition, how would you rate the odds of survival for your business based on the evidence before you? Would government regulators trust that Microsoft would be a safe pair of hands for Japanese brands, big or small? In 2019, the year before the Bethesda deal, [Xbox mulled over a purchase of Square Enix](https://twitter.com/stephentotilo/status/1674082528490057734), not for the first time in its history. How much of Square Enix would remain now had the company pursued that takeover?
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Today, one day after Microsoft announced [that it would shut down four of its games studios](https://www.theverge.com/24151047/xbox-shuts-down-arkane-austin-tango-gameworks-microsoft), Matt Booty, head of Xbox Game Studios, held a town hall to discuss the division’s future goals. “We need smaller games that give us prestige and awards,” Booty told employees, according to internal remarks shared with *The Verge.*
For some listeners on the call, it was a surprising goal: Microsoft had just shut down the Japanese developer Tango Gameworks, which was coming off the small, prestigious hit title *Hi-Fi Rush*.
*Hi-Fi Rush*, which was a [surprise release last year](https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/25/23571460/microsoft-hi-fi-rush-tango-gameworks-xbox-developer-direct), was praised for its innovation and charm. The rhythm action game featured music by The Black Keys and Nine Inch Nails, with an art style that evoked the hyper-stylized games of the PS2 era. Just four months after its release, *Hi-Fi Rush* [hit 3 million players](https://x.com/hifiRush/status/1691846131548913781). During the 2023–2024 awards season, the game went on to win a Game Award, a Game Developers Choice award, and a BAFTA.
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EA is reportedly ready to finally release [Dragon Age: Dreadwolf](https://www.ign.com/games/dragon-age-dreadwolf) this financial year.
[Eurogamer Editor-in-Chief Tom Phillips reports](https://www.eurogamer.net/ea-has-two-unannounced-games-to-launch-this-year-one-is-dragon-age-dreadwolf) that BioWare’s upcoming fantasy role-playing game is one of two unannounced games slated for release by March 2025 in publisher EA’s latest financial report.
“We have two unannounced titles in FY25: one partner title expected in Q4, and one owned IP title,” EA said in an earnings slide. “We expect to provide more details on timing at a later date.”
I love BG3, but I’m doing a durge run for the first time and have been really disappointed in the evil option. Like, it wants you to be a crazy, egotistical murder hobo. The dialogue options with your party are so over the top I never choose them, because my character is more of the DL serial killer than murder hobo. There’s zero subtlety if you go down the murder route.
It really feels like Microsoft completely fumbled the bag this console generation. On paper, they should have had it - personally, I went out and got a PC as this generation was starting because I saw all the studios Microsoft had snatched up, and figured I’d need one to play the games that would inevitably be coming out (I can’t physically use an Xbox controller, so an Xbox isn’t an option for me), and…it’s been tumbleweeds almost. They don’t seem to know how to manage studios to make first party games.
I highly doubt they’ll ever do what Microsoft is doing and sell some of their exclusives on the competing consoles, but I hope they’ll start shortening the time between releasing them on PS and on PC. It makes sense financially for them to wait until the prices have started to drop on games to then release them at full price on pc, because they get more money and the new marketing blitz will get some people on PS who didn’t buy it at launch picking it up, but it’s frustrating because it’s such a huge amount of time. Horizon Forbidden West came out in February 2022 but only this month is coming to PC. That’s far too much of a wait.
Nintendo is also sitting on a huge pile of cash and hasn’t done any massive layoffs, so I don’t think they consider themselves as “losing” by any stretch of the imagination.
I think something a lot of folks don’t realize about Nintendo is that it is VERY shaped by being headquartered specifically in Kyoto. I was talking to a friend about it a couple months ago and she told me about an article she’d read of an interview with the president of Nintendo, and him talking about going to Kyoto business owner meetings and talking to people running business that were nearly 1000 years old, and how in Kyoto, Nintendo was still considered a “new” company because it’s only a little over 100 years old. Nintendo is not gonna chase after next quarter’s earnings, but after becoming an “old” Kyoto company.
You’ve completely lost me now. What point are you trying to make, exactly?