In early August, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma outlined a multiyear plan to return Microsoft’s gaming division to player and revenue growth. One of its four priorities, described as “Connection,” involves expanding Xbox properties into movies, television, consumer products, sponsorships, and live experiences. Now, Xbox appears to be putting that strategy into action.
Remedy Entertainment, a well-known client of Sweet Baby Inc. and the studio behind the Alan Wake series, removed mandatory pronoun selection from its job applications, according to a report from Smash JT.
The gaming industry stands at a critical crossroads, one where creativity and innovation are increasingly threatened by corporations seeking legal dominance over fundamental gameplay elements. At the heart of this issue lies the unsettling reality of the “gameplay mechanic patent”—a trend that began when Warner Bros. secured exclusive rights to its Lord of The Rings Nemesis System and has now intensified with Nintendo’s recent patent of a core creature-capturing mechanic.
A supposed insider claiming to be a contractor working on BioWare’s upcoming Mass Effect 5 revealed that EA and BioWare might be shifting strategies in the wake of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s epic failure.
In one of the more egregious narratives to come out of the twenty-four-hour news cycle’s coverage of the assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, NBC News attempted to create a connection between alleged assassin Luigi Mangione and the video game Among Us.
By filing her lawsuit against YouTuber Smash JT (while subsequently revealing his home address to the world), Alyssa Mercante was caught in an embarrassing lie. To make matters worse for the former Kotaku Senior Editor, the gaming community rallied around Smash JT, helping him raise the $25,000 he needed to mount his legal defense with attorney Ron Coleman of the Dhillon Law Group.
Naughty Dog closed The Game Awards last night with a trailer for its new sci-fi adventure Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The trailer released on YouTube at the same time, but Naughty Dog disabled comments to prevent the avalanche of hate that it clearly knew the game would create. However, that hasn’t stopped the trailer’s dislike ratio from absolutely exploding.
Remember when EA was widely regarded as the worst game company and publisher in the world?
Their reputation was built on scummy practices, pay-to-win loot box controversies, and a history of destroying well-known game studios—either by shutting them down or blaming gamers for their poorly made games. Who could forget the infamous “don’t like it, don’t buy it” comment from EA? It seemed like every week brought another news story exposing EA’s questionable behavior.
Another BioWare whistleblower has come forward to correct and clarify some of the information previously reported on the internal strife at the EA-owned developer and Dragon Age: The Veilguard sales numbers.
The gaming world has a new contender for the crown, and its name is Marvel Rivals. Less-than-a-week after its highly anticipated release on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, NetEase Games has announced an astonishing milestone: the game has surpassed ten million players worldwide. Even more impressive, the game appears to be gaining steam with its audience rather than cooling down after a blazing hot start.
Disgruntled BioWare employees keep popping up to whistle-blow on the failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and expose a toxic echo chamber within the company culture. However, according to sources, the troubled EA-owned developer might see changes in the near future.
Entertainment and pop culture are at a crossroads. Games like Dustborn and Concord have failed spectacularly due to their adherence to DEI and ESG principles within the framework of "woke" ideology. Now, with movies and games seeming to move back to a more universal...
A potential buyout of French game developer Ubisoft, the studio behind Assassin’s Creed, has stalled as the Guillemot family fights to maintain control over the company.