Culture

Google Play Halves Its Cut Of Devs’ First $1 Million

Google Play developers will see service fees on their first $1 million every year reduced from 30% to 15% starting on July 1, Google vice president of product management Sameer Samat announced today. “Helping developers build sustainable businesses is a core part of Google Play’s mission,” Samat wrote on the Android Developers blog. “We work…

Activision Blizzard Esports Announces Layoffs [Update]

Activision Blizzard Esports will lay off around 50 employees, according to a report released today by Sports Business Journal. UPDATE: Reports suggest the total figure of laid-off employees is actually closer to 190. The layoffs come as a cost-saving and restructuring measure, according to the company. While the company emphasized the pandemic as a cause…

Bandai Namco Speaks Out Against Anti-Asian Racism In America

In an official statement released on Twitter this morning, Bandai Namco took a public stance against the spike of anti-Asian racism in the United States in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic. “As a company based in Japan, the recent rise in anti-Asian hate has truly hit home for our employees,” the tweet reads. It…

Riot Games Says It Finds No Evidence Of Wrongdoing By CEO Accused Of Sexual Harassment

A three-person special committee tasked with reviewing a third-party investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent announced to the company’s staff today that it found “no evidence” of misconduct and recommended no action be taken against the executive, the Washington Post reports. The news comes the same day that Riot…

Fortnite’s Awful Banana Man Is Finally Dead

Early (and I mean early) this morning, Epic Games unveiled the next season of its mega-popular battle royale shooter Fortnite. As is often the case, there’s a bunch of cool, new stuff for players to mess around with in-game, but in my mind the biggest development is the death of Fornite mascot Peely, the terrible…

I’m Having Some Trouble With Outriders’ Crossplay

Last month, a demo for Outriders dropped on most every platform but the Switch. Then, yesterday, Microsoft announced that this latest buzzy looter-shooter would join the Xbox Game Pass library on launch day, April 1. Presumably, whatever overlap exists between the 18 million people who subscribe to Game Pass and the however-many-millions-or-not-millions of people who…

Jade Raymond Forms New Studio, Working On Unannounced Game For PlayStation

Former Assassin’s Creed producer and EA manager Jade Raymond announced the formation of a new Montreal-based independent studio called Haven today. Its first project will be a brand new IP being developed for PlayStation, she wrote in a post over on the company’s blog. “And so today I’m announcing Haven, an independent studio where many…

Here’s Everything Coming To And Leaving Game Pass Soon

In case you got the wrong impression, Xbox Game Pass isn’t just a vehicle to play games that start with a Bethesda loading screen. Here’s everything coming to Xbox Game Pass in the next few weeks: March 16 Undertale (Cloud, Console, PC) March 18 Empire of Sin (Cloud, Console, PC) Nier: Automata (PC) Star Wars:…

Stadia Exclusive Super Bomberman R Online Is Coming To PC And Consoles So People Can Play It

Launched exclusively on Stadia on September 1, Super Bomberman R Online is all the explosive cartoon fun of Super Bomberman R plus a 64-player online battle royale mode that plays out across multiple game boards. Today Konami announced the game is coming soon to consoles and PC with crossplay, so those poor Stadia players can…

Animal Crossing‘s Next Free Update Is A Boon For Designers

Animal Crossing: New Horizons will celebrate its one-year anniversary with cake delivered to all players in its March 18 update, but the real present is 50 new slots for the normal and pro designer, and the ability to customize fans, umbrellas, flags, and photo stands. We’re heading back into the spring, where all of this…

2K Signs Tiger Woods, Buys The Studio Behind PGA Tour 2K21

From 1998 through 2013 golf superstar Tiger Woods was the face of EA’s PGA Tour series of video games. Now Woods is back in the video game business, only this time he’s signed an exclusive long-term contract with 2K as the face, executive director, and consultant on the PGA Tour 2K series. Along with the…

Track: It’s Better People | Artist: Oasis | Album: Roll With It (single)

Fortnite‘s Season 6 Is Wilderness Themed

Fortnite’s Season 6 is here, following a solo event rather than a multiplayer one. Called “Primal,” it features a forest area, weapons crafting, and wildlife. While most Fortnite seasons start with multiplayer events, Season 6’s event was a solo one, playable the first time players boot up the game. Without spoiling too much for those…

PlayStation Communities, A Service I Didn’t Even Know Existed, Is Going Away

This week marks the first and last time I have ever heard of PlayStation Communities, a service that apparently let users hang out in custom forums/group chats on the PS4 and talk about specific stuff. When passing the news around here, only a couple of colleagues had even been aware of its existence, let alone…

So Help Me, I Like The Fortnite Joy-Cons

Let’s get this out of the way: I don’t like Fortnite. But I am seriously considering these new Fortnite Joy-Cons, because good Lord, those colours are wonderful. Thats a lovely, rich shade of blue there on the left, but on the right, have mercy. Not even that stupid banana face can ruin it. Yellow—and I…

Ratchet & Clank Weapons, Ranked

This weekend, I played through the “re-imagined” 2016 Ratchet & Clank for PlayStation 4 (free via PlayStation Plus this month). And I started feeling that familiar itch, the itch to compile an underexplained list. As such, here’s how I rank the weapons in its arsenal based on various criteria: Omniwrench Pixelizer Buzz Blades Warmonger Pyrocitor…

Fan Fixes GTA Online Load Times, Rockstar Makes It Official

Earlier this month, GTA Online player t0st found a way to cut down the game’s load times by 70%. It must have been a clean, effective fix, because Rockstar themselves have taken a look, agreed with it, and will soon make it part of an official update. As PC Gamer report, Rockstar investigated t0st’s work,…

Fortnite Team Banned From Major Tournament After Player Tells Epic Exec To Kill Himself

I don’t know much about Fortnite, but I’m going to guess harassing an Epic executive probably isn’t a winning strategy. A Fortnite competitor named Wrigley tested this controversial technique on Saturday night, tagging Epic chief creative officer Donald Mustard in a tweet that read “literally fucking k!ll your$elf” for some undisclosed reason. Several letters were…

Ghost Of Tsushima Devs Didn’t Think Those Fast Load Speeds Were So Special

If you played Ghost of Tsushima, you were likely floored by how fast it loads. Despite taking place on an enormous open world, you can fast-travel from one end to the other in seconds, which might give you the impression that Sucker Punch, the game’s developer, employs literal wizards. That’s not the case. What’s more,…

How A Halo Symbol Ended Up In The Snyder Cut

If you look closely, you might spot a random symbol from Halo in Zack Snyder’s Justice League. It appears on Deathstroke’s sword and seems to have been added accidentally. As spotted by PCGamesN, it really looks like a rune symbol from the Halo series has snuck its way into director Zack Snyder’s bigger and newer…