The Fallout Of Activision Blizzard’s Massive Layoffs

Yesterday, at the exact moment Activision Blizzard chief executive officer Bobby Kotick hopped on a quarterly earnings call to inform shareholders that his company had just gone through a “record year,” employees across the publisher of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and more were being brought into conference rooms and informed that they were…

Super Smash Bros. Melee Events In Four States Ban Wobbling After Tennessee Ruling

Last week, the Super Smash Bros. Melee community in Tennessee fired the first shot in the modern wobbling war when they announced that most of the competitions in their state would ban the controversial Ice Climbers technique. Since then, tournament organizers in four more states have decided to follow suit, setting a standard for their…

I Made A Sex Club In The Sims And Everyone Got Pregnant

I’ve been playing a lot of The Sims 4 recently. There was a huge sale on Origin, so I bought about 75 percent of the expansions and various other DLC, and though I started fairly tamely (I made myself! And then my housemate!) it didn’t take long until I was double-fisting mods and cheats into…

Call Of Duty Blackout’s ‘Ambush’ Mode Forces You To Play Smarter

At first mention of Ambush, Black Ops 4’s most recent Blackout limited-time mode, I initially gave a dramatic groan and cringed. I love playing Blackout, but I loathed the idea of being limited to snipers, melee, and rockets only. I’ll try every mode at least once, but it was sheer stubbornness that kept me playing…

Far Cry New Dawn Adds A New Way To Replay Outposts

Far Cry New Dawn introduces Outpost Escalations, which not only give you the option to reset and recapture an outpost, but which also increase the difficulty of the enemies inside of the outpost. This allows for a chance at greater rewards to spend on your main base of operations, allowing you to outfit that base…

Apex Legends Needs A ‘You’re Welcome’ Button

In Apex Legends, when you pick up ammo a teammate has dropped for you, or an item that they’ve pinged on the map, the game prompts you to press a button to say “thank you.” I press it every time, because it’s the nice thing to do. The game won’t let you say “You’re welcome,”…

Pokémon‘s Former Rival Yokai Watch Is Having A Terrible Time In Japan

In 2014, the popularity of Yokai Watch exploded in Japan. It seemed like Pokémon was going to be eclipsed and overtaken. For a time, it was. That summer in Japan, there were massive lines for the latest Yokai Watch toys. Children, mine included, memorized the show’s theme song and dance. Level-5’s Yokai Watch was a…

The Folks Who Protest Valentine’s Day In Japan

On Valentine’s Day in Japan, women traditionally give men chocolate. Each year, a group of protesters gathers to march, carrying signs that read “Pulverize Valentine’s Day” and “Making out in public is terrorism.” On Valentine’s Day in Japan, there is also a practice of giri (obligation) chocolate, with women feeling compelled to gift their male…

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Luca Boni is an artist based in South Africa. You can see more of Luca’s work at his ArtStation page

Big Destiny 2 Figures Are Very Furry

Fancy toy company 3A are continuing to bring out some beautiful Destiny figures, with the latest being these very fluffy Titans. Standing at 1/6 scale, just like 3A’s other Destiny efforts, these are probably a ways off (they were only just shown off at Wonder Festival Winter), and if the last figures are anything to…

2000 Fans Are Basically Playing Football Manager With A Real Team

The point of playing Football Manager is that you can pretend to manage a big club, but a bunch of fans of French side Avant Garde Caennaise have taken that one very big step further, and are now helping run their actual team. As the BBC report, fans of the club are able to download…

Activision Blizzard Lays Off Hundreds Of Employees

Publisher Activision Blizzard has begun its long-rumored layoff process, informing employees this afternoon that it will be cutting staff. On an earnings call this afternoon, the company said that it would be eliminating 8% of its staff. In 2018, Activision Blizzard had roughly 9,600 employees, which would mean nearly 800 people are now out of…

Sony Says It’s ‘Open For Business’ On PS4 Cross-Play, But Developers Disagree

In a recent interview with Game Informer, the chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios said that the company was “open for business” when it comes to cross-play between PlayStation 4 and other consoles. The makers of games like Smite and Wargroove say that’s not the case. “People keep saying, ‘Why doesn’t Sony allow more…

Red Dead Online‘s Next Update Will Combat Griefing, Rebalance Weapons 

Red Dead Online will be receiving a large update on February 26th, Rockstar Games announced today. This update will add new daily challenges and rebalance some weapons. It will also implement some of the changes Rockstar first revealedback in January. In their news post, they explained in more detail how many of these changes will…