While the actions shared by Kotick promise positive change, the developers responsible for organizing the Activision Blizzard Walkout say those changes still fall short of what employees need from leadership. ...
For every GDC, Chris Zukowski recaps the conference not by the best talks but by the best slides so that you can get back to making your games and not watching talks. Here's the latest roundup. ...
As employees at Activision Blizzard prepare for today’s Walkout for Equality, streamers, developers, and gamers from around the world are showing their support through charitable donations, game boycotts, and by signal-boosting the event.
Since news broke last week of widespread allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination at Activision Blizzard via a legal complaint from the state of California, many top male developers there, both current and former, have responded with shock and dismay.
Another month, another batch of Games With Gold. As always, these games are only “free” if you have an active Xbox Live Gold membership, or subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Without further ado, August 2021’s Games With Gold are:
Despite the fact that you still can’t get one, Sony has sold 10 million PlayStation 5 units to date. Sony revealed that figure in a press release today, alongside a fascinating wrinkle: The PS5 is apparently outpacing PS4 sales over the same time frame. It’s yet another statistic indicating that next-gen consoles on…
Organisers of today's staff walkout at Activision Blizzard are pressing ahead with the protest, saying the statement released by company boss Bobby Kotick overnight "fails to address critical elements at the heart of the employee concerns".
Activision Blizzard employees announced strike action last night, in protest against the company's response to a recent lawsuit from California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing which alleged a "frat boy" work culture that created "a breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women".
Activision Blizzard immediately went on the offensive when news of the lawsuit initially hit the headlines, calling it "irresponsible behaviour from unaccountable State bureaucrats that are driving many of the State's best businesses out of California". Senior company executive Fran Townsend later doubled down on the attack in an email to all employees, describing the legal action as "truly meritless and irresponsible".
Roccat's excellent Vulcan 100 mechanical keyboard is 50% off at Amazon UK today, dropping from £140 to £70. That's an outstandingly good price for a full-size UK keyboard with an aluminium chassis, per-key RGB backlighting and tactile Titan switches.
Razer's Blade laptops are expensive, especially when they're specced out with the best possible components - but wait a year, and they start to become more sensibly priced. That's the case now, as last year's Blade Pro 17 gaming laptop, once sold for £2235, is now retailing for £1499. That's a decent deal for a 17-in laptop with a 300Hz screen, RTX 2080 Super graphics card, 10th-gen Core i7 processor and 512GB of storage. What takes this to the next level are the free gifts you get with it - including £700 worth of Razer gear in all. Here's what you need to know.
Sony announced the August 2021 PlayStation Plus games, and the lineup includes Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and two others.
The post August 2021 PlayStation Plus Games Include Plants vs. Zombies appeared first on Siliconera.
A new open letter signed by almost 500 current and former Ubisoft employees announces their solidarity with the workers at Activision Blizzard, demands movement from their own leadership, and calls for systemic change across the entire video game industry, Axios reports.
Today, during Idea Factory International’s Online Summer Festival livestream, the publisher announced the localization of the upcoming crossover between Senran Kagura and Hyperdimension Neptunia Senran Nin Nin Ninja Taisen Neptunia: Shojo-Tachi no Kyoen.
The western title will be simply Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars and it’ll come in 2021. For now, no new platforms have been added and the game is coming only for PS4 as in Japan.
Yet, Idea Factory International isn’t new to adding more platforms in the running, so you never know.
Voiceovers will be in Japanese while subtitles will be in English. A limited edition has also been teased but not revealed.
The announcement came with the first English trailer and an extensive look at gameplay, which you can enjoy below.
Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars, which will finally bring the Senran Kagura series back to consoles, will release in Japan for PS4, developed by Tamsoft and published by Compile Heart. It has just been delayed to Sept. 16, 2021 in Japan.
Apparently, Idea Factory International won’t make western fans wait for too long this time around.
Today third-party developers had some really interesting news to share about upcoming Microsoft Flight Simulator add-ons.
The first announcement comes from Orbx, which revealed EU Great Britain Central, a landmark scenery package that doesn’t focus on a single city, but instead covers a large portion of the UK. It features almost 500 points of interest including plenty of details added to seven major cities.
Welcome to Great Britain Central, our first landmark region pack for Microsoft Flight Simulator, designed especially for “low-and-slow” pilots who love to explore and discover new regions, and for those who want to enhance their VFR flights in the area.
Stretching from Liverpool and North Wales up to Newcastle, this region pack captures hundreds of unique landmarks and attractions ready to be explored, from the busy cities such as Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool, to coastal tourist towns such as Blackpool, Scarborough and Whitby, all have been designed to greatly enhance any flight in the region.During exploration, you can expect to find hundreds of uniquely modelled POIs, including:
In addition, the following cities/towns have received an upgraded cityscape adding many unique buildings and giving each city a unique look and feel:
As more and more details surface about the California lawsuit against Activision Blizzard over workplace harassment and sexual misconduct, many at Ubisoft are standing in solidarity with their colleagues in an open letter demanding accountability.
In an open letter, Ubisoft alum are organizing efforts to support Activision Blizzard workers, criticizing how the company is handling sexual misconduct, both at Ubisoft and at Activision Blizzard. Organizers say that signatures include many from the Asia, Europe, and North American offices, with a call for accountability from leadership, including demanding accountability from Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. "It should no longer be a surprise to anyone: employees, executives, journalists, or fans that these heinous acts are going on," reads a part of the letter obtained by Axios. "It is time to stop being shocked. We must demand real steps be taken to prevent them. Those responsible must be held accountable for their actions."
Over the past week, new details have been uncovered following a lawsuit filed by the State of California against Activision Blizzard. The suit centers around allegations that focus on workplace harassment, sexual misconduct, and various other labor law infringements. Now, a new report shows off more about what the reported "frat-boy culture" refers to, this time surrounding what is being dubbed the Bill Cosby suite.
Detailed in a new report from Kotaku, there is photographed documentation of the Cosby Suite that is named in the lawsuit. In the social media posts obtained by the site, it is further supported that more than just the named Alex Afrasiabi was involved in the alleged workplace behavior, though Afrasiabi remains front and center in the latest findings.
The suite wasn't just a name. The developers seen in the obtained images show the men involved posing with pictures of Bill Cosby alongside the presence of alcohol. Alcohol during industry events is nothing new. However, this particular suite reportedly took things to the next level, not only drawing inspiration from Cosby, but one caption by a person involved proclaiming the suite to be a place of "gathering hot chixx for the Coz" when talking about potential hookups.
Valve announced their portable PC gaming machine earlier this month and the interviews and details about the Steam Deck have been rolling in steadily since. Among them, courtesy of another IGN interview, are some of Steam Deck's origins. President and co-founder Gabe Newell says that the Deck began as a "natural conversation" about how Valve would contribute to PC gaming in the future, and also dished some of the early names from the Deck drawing board.
The English version of Mary Skelter Finale release date falls in September 2021 in North America and October 2021 in Europe.
The post Mary Skelter Finale Release Date Announced appeared first on Siliconera.
Senran NinNinNinja Taisen Neptune: Shojo-Tachi no Kyouen will appear outside of Japan as Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars this year.
The post Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars PS4 Will Appear in 2021 appeared first on Siliconera.
Unique items from the Idol Manager x Kamen Joshi collaboration can be yours if you enter this contest
The post Contest: Win Kamen Joshi x Idol Manager Items appeared first on Siliconera.
The PlayStation 5 has hit a huge milestone: The console has officially surpassed 10 million sold, and it managed to do so in less time than it took even the PlayStation 4. ...
Dr. Mario World, one of Nintendo's recent forays into the world of mobile games, is going offline this November. Once the game's online features go dark, it will no longer be playable whatsoever. ...
Amazon Games’ New World launched in closed beta last week. When they aren’t having their expensive GPUs melted by the massively multiplayer online role-playing game, users may also be treated to some anti-Amazon truth-spitting courtesy of a player curiously named AmazonOfficial.
Nearly 500 current and former Ubisoft employees have signed an open letter in solidarity with Activision Blizzard staff following a recent lawsuit that called the World of Warcraft and Overwatch studio "a breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women". The letter also slams Ubisoft leadership's "empty promises" in response to allegations of "systemic discrimination, harassment and bullying" within the company, and proposes an industry wide collaboration to agree a set of "rules and processes for handling reports of these offences".
Addressing Activision Blizzard staff, the open letter, shared by Axios reporter Stephen Totilo on Twitter, begins, "We hear you and want to loudly declare our solidarity with you. Over the past week, the games industry has once again been rocked by revelations that have long been known by too many of us. Revelations that a year ago many were hearing about Ubisoft."
"It is clear, from the frequency of these reports," the letter continues, "that there is a widespread and deeply ingrained culture of abusive behaviours within the industry. It should no longer be a surprise to anyone: employees, executives, journalists, or fans that these heinous acts are going on. It is time to stop being shocked. We must demand real steps be taken to prevent them. Those responsible must be held accountable for their actions."
Today Kadokawa Games had more news, assets, and information to share about its upcoming strategy simulation JRPG Relayer.
First of all, we meet Captain Gillian, commanding officer of the hypergravity starship Asterism. He used to be a pilot and has the tactical acumen of a fierce warrior. His past hides many other events, but we’ll have to play the game to know more.
We also get a video featuring his voice actor, Youji Ueda, whom you may know as Hiroshi Kanamaru in Uppers, and will also appear as Benedict Pascal in Project Triangle Strategy.
On top of that, we get two screenshots (still not final) showing progression menus. The first focuses on the uses of job points to unlock active and passive skills for a character’s jobs.
The second image shows how each character has a role (between Assault, Tank, Sniper, and Scout) and each role can master two types and five jobs. If you change a character’s job, the previously acquired skills will carry over.
Idea Factory International announced the western release for Compile heart’s dungeon-crawling JRPG Mary Skelter Finale.
The game is coming out for PS4 and Nintendo Switch on September 30.
The western localization was announced all the way back in March, but at least now we know when it’s coming.
You can see a trailer below, also showing the bonus dating game “Mary Skelter Locked Up Love” that will be included in the package.
We also get the news of a limited edition proceed at $104.99 available exclusively at Idea Factory International‘s store including the following.
Cris Tales is one of the most colorful and charming games to release in recent memory. It’s no surprise that in a short burst, such as a preview, Cris Tales is highly capable of impressing. Sitting down for the actual full experience, though, is a different story.
While Cris Tales never ceases to be cute and is a feast for the eyes, questionable decisions in the gameplay do rear their ugly head and detract from what could have been a very unique and fun-to-play RPG.
Editor’s note: It’s worth noting that the Xbox version of Cris Tales is suffering from a very frustrating bug that requires the player to constantly turn their controller on and off to solve. You can read more about this here. While it’s a known issue that the developers are working to resolve, we recommend avoiding the Xbox version of Cris Tales entirely until the bug is fixed. This review will instead cover the other functioning versions of Cris Tales.
Cris Tales follows the story of Crisabell, an orphaned girl with a cheerful demeanor despite living in a fragile world that is threatened not only by dangerous monsters but also greedy humans that are capable really screwing up the planet and creating a negative future.
Fortunately, Crisabel learns early on in the story that she is a fabled time mage, a person with the ability to see both into the past and future and, armed with this knowledge, can do things in the present to change the future for the better.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits has been one of the most exciting PlayStation console exclusives since the debut of the console itself. It was originally supposed to launch during the 2020 holiday season before it slipped into this year with a new August 24 date. Unfortunately, developer Ember Labs needs a few more weeks to bring it home.
As such, Kena will now launch September 21. The team posted a tweet explaining that they simply want to give each version of the game those final spitshines of polish.
“The team has been working extremely hard and we feel the extra time is critical to ensure the best experience possible. We know many of you are eager to play and we appreciate your patience as the team continues to work on delivering the best version of Kena,” reads the message.
Kena tells the tale of a young spirit guide who helps shepherd wayward souls into the afterlife. Kena finds herself in a land overtaken by a corrupted blight that only she can stop. She gains tiny helping hands in the Rot, cute little critters that decompose life and follow Kena around to assist in both combat and puzzle-solving. You can learn more about the game’s creation and design by visiting our coverage hub.
Click to watch embedded media
Few game series have the longevity of Square Enix’s crown jewel Final Fantasy. For 24 years, it has grown and changed with each entry, starting with an ambitious open world adventure on NES. Now, going into its sixteenth numbered title and countless side stories, it’s time to look back at where it all began.
Hear that? It's the approaching release date for audio-only action adventure The Vale. The accessible adventure about a blind princess challenges you to combat driven by audio cues and haptic feedback. Developers Falling Squirrel have announced that you'll be able to tackle the adventure yourself next month, although you can also take it for a spin right now in a demo.
The Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters have launched today, bringing versions of the early Final Fantasy games to PC that we hoped would finally be prettier than the not so nice-looking mobile ports we'd been treated to in the past. They are prettier, indeed, and even have new music, but all that was slightly overshadowed by the frankly terrible interface font choice. Fortunately, fans work fast and there are already instructions for "fixing" the pixel remaster fonts just hours after launch.
Idea Factory International's next Switch otome visual novel will be Cupid Parasite. It will show up digitally and physically in 2021.
The post Cupid Parasite Switch Otome Getting an English Release appeared first on Siliconera.
Digimon Survive has been quietly delayed.
The post Digimon Survive Delayed to 2022 Release Window appeared first on Siliconera.
At the employee walkout at Blizzard's Headquarters in Irvine, CA we saw equal amounts of solidarity and exhaustion among participating employees. ...
In 1995, a big exhibition took place in Nara honouring Japan’s first capital city, Fujiwara. Among the sponsors and partners helping out was Capcom, who went to the trouble of commissioning a 27-minute Street Fighter II movie that was only available on VHS at the venue, at the time.
Today Microsoft and 343 Industries provided an extensive look at the upcoming technical preview of the multiplayer of Halo Infinite.
Not only do we get to see plenty of shooting and fighting, but the developers also provided an interesting glimpse at the multiplayer’s customization features that will let you pretty much design your Spartan.
You can check the full video below.
According to an extensive blog post, the technical preview will happen at the following times:
We also get an overview of what we can expect to enjoy when it goes live.
BOT SLAYER
People try all sorts of things to get an advantage in CSGO, PUBG, Fortnite, or any competitive game. But recently, I’ve been stuck watching one player’s gloriously low-rent efforts to improve their sniping.
Today Sega released a massive gallery of screenshots of the upcoming action game Lost Judgment, sequel of the popular Yakuza spin-off Judgment.
We start with more clubs within the School Drama part of the game, and specifically with the Boxing Club, which Yagami will join in order to investigate one of the students. There he will also experience an unexpected reunion. Boxing is similar to normal fighting, but has different rules.
Next is the Bosozoku community, which I guess could be translated with “motorcycle gang.” It’s a Japanese subculture focused on custom motorcycles and often associated with delinquency.
Of course, this involves a racing minigame. You can select among four different bikes with different performance and appearance and each can be modified.
Yagami will also find out that a student goes to a girls’ bar while lying about his age. Obviously, he’ll follow suit. At the bar, you can enjoy interacting with the girls and talking with them. By choosing the right answers during the conversations, the friendship with the girls will be enhanced. Ordering cocktails and playing darts with them also has a similar effect.
As you become more intimate with each girl, you’ll learn about their true selves and their worries, aiming to become a regular at the bar.
Another community Yagami will join is dedicated to skateboarding, where he will be able to showcase his skills.
He will also have to investigate a secret casino, the eSports club, and the photo club.
More images showcase the gadgets Yagami can use during his investigations. The Buzz Researcher lets you hack into someone’s social media and find out about problems to solve, improving your reputation as a detective.
The Sound Collector lets you detect far-away sounds that can lead to more relevant events in town.
Digimon Survive seems to have had its release window moved to 2022, according to TOEI Animation’s most recent financial report, as spotted by Gematsu. The game was planned for a 2021 release and publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment has not announced any changes yet, but according to TOEI’s report it’s now planned for Fiscal Year 2022 on Q3 and beyond, which covers between October 2022 to March 2023.
The game, developed by Witchcraft studio, was originally planned for 2019 and has been moving its release window year by year since then. The main factor mentioned by producer Kazumasa Habu in the official Twitter account @digimon_games in 2020 was how the pandemic affected development on Digimon Survive. It also promised new information in Spring 2021, but the account has been silent since October 2020.
When Digimon Survive does come out, it’s planned to release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. In Japan, there’ll only be PS4 and Switch versions.
There's a lot of chatter these days about how my generation would deal with the Second World War. I can't answer that one for you (and, honestly, I don't really care), but if Hell Let Loose is anything to go by I personally would handle it by climbing into an empty tank, getting lost on the way to the front line and then driving into a tree.
Hell Let Loose is carnage, and it's brilliant. Ostensibly it's an ultra-hardcore WW2 shooter, a lot like renaissance roleplaying gem Holdfast: Nations at War, which I loved in equal measure, but with an extra twist. On top of the slower, more grounded approach to moment-to-moment combat is a simplified real-time strategy layer that can only be fully seen by your team's commander, and it's only the team that manages to balance those two sides effectively that's going to win.
So, how it works: you join a server like you would in Battlefield. Each match is two teams of 50, one commander each. Each squad - again, think Battlefield - automatically gets one Officer, or squad leader. The commander can see a full tactical map, and has the ability to use things like bombing runs and smoke cover to help their team advance, but they can only communicate, via voice, in the officer's channel. The squad leaders meanwhile can communicate in both the officer's channel and their own squad's channel, and then their squad members can just communicate there (or via proximity to anyone nearby, which is where you get a lot of "medic please!" and "thanks!" and "grenade!"). There's also text-based options for team and squad chatter but it's rarely used.
Today Capcom announced its financial results for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2021, which is related to the period that ended on June 30, 2021.
You can find the overall results for the company below, with net sales growing 104.1% year-on-year and operating income growing 120.4% year-on-year.
This marks a new record on both fronts for the company in a first quarter of the fiscal year.
The digital contents segment, which includes games, took the lion’s share of the company’s results, with 43,918 million yen in sales (+104.5 YoY) and 24,455 million yen in operating income (+107.2%).
Among the driving factor for the excellent results this quarter, Capcom cites the release of Resident Evil Village, which “performed well,” passing 4.5 million shipments.
Monster Hunter Rise is also cited, despite the fact that it was released during the previous fiscal quarter. According to Capcom, it “continued to see growth in sales volume thanks to its enduring popularity.”
Digital sales also grew significantly compared to last year, driving profitability due to the higher margins.