In The News
Weekend in review:
Xbox boss Phil Spencer isn’t a fan of DLC exclusive to platforms, according to GameSpot’s Eddie Makuch, and “He immediately recognises the irony of this situation … “‘People always knock me on this; I’ve been on record… I don’t love the idea or practice of us paying so other platforms can’t play or use a certain gun in a game or do a certain level,’ he said.”
A designer and Naughty Dog are alleging sexual harassment, and refuting said allegations. Polygon’s Owen S. Good reports that David Ballard claimed “Saturday that he was terminated in February 2016 after informing the studio and the human resources department of its parent, Sony Interactive Entertainment, of the harassment allegations.” You can find a portion of Ballard’s tweets below:
Naughty Dog replied, saying, “‘We have not found any evidence of having received allegations from Mr. Ballard that he was harassed in any way at Naughty Dog or Sony Interactive Entertainment.’”
Check out a walkthrough of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ upcoming desert map with PC Gamer’s Christopher Livingston. Here’s a snippet: “What I find instead is a sprawling battle arena crowded with desert trees, cacti, and a surprising number of buildings. It’s immediately noticeable how much more variation there is to…”
Speaking of PUBG, over 320,000 cheaters have been banned.
Interested in interviews with game developers? Venture Beat’s Dean Takahashi interviewed Oculus’s Jason Rubin, Bonfire Studios’ Rob Pardo and Middle-earth: Shadow of War creative director Michael de Plater in 3 separate pieces over the weekend. Here are portions of each interview:
Rubin: “But there is this feeling that a certain scale of developer isn’t in the business. Generally speaking, that’s because the biggest developers and publishers have…”
Pardo: “Oftentimes, you’re always thinking, ‘I want to have this great product.’ But what I’ve found is that you need to really be focused on the here and now, the people you’re working with, and doing things in the right way.”
De Plater: “De Plater said that he doesn’t view the Siege Battles as a pure grind. One reason is the Nemesis System, which records the choices you make and what you do once you capture, kill, or shame the Orc captains. As you progress through each battle…”
When you go to Hooters, what do you expect to see? Before you snicker at your computer and think the answer to yourself, try Sonic the Hedgehog. Kotaku’s Brian Ashcraft reports that Sega is doing “a Sonic Forces promotion with Hooters … The Sonic themed food is a chili dog, which makes sense because Sonic loves chili dogs. Besides that, Hooters has…”
A United Kingdom lawmaker is taking a look at loot boxes to see if they violate gambling laws. “Daniel Zeichner, a Labour MP from Cambridge, posed two questions to Karen Bradley, the U.K.’s secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport,” Good reports. “Zeichner’s formal questioning comes on behalf of a constituent, who wrote in Reddit’s r/Games forum that he met with Zeichner about the subject.”
The NBA once again reaffirmed its interest in esports with managing director Brendan Donohue saying esports is “‘a long-term play’” for them, according to GamesIndustry.biz’s James Batchelor. “‘We expect this to be around for decades, so the primary goal is building an audience, doing that in the right way, and creating an environment where our players can be successful.’”
Nintendo wants to shrug off its family-only vibe. Maybe not all the way, but it’s definitely showing a little shoulder. The Wall Street Journal’s Takashi Mochizuki writes that “Nintendo Co. is encouraging some producers of violent or risqué videogames to provide content for its Switch console … While Nintendo plans to stay loyal to families and casual game fans, it also wants to battle Sony and Microsoft for mature users, with the hope of extending the appeal of the Switch.”
Apple is in a bit of trouble over allowing games that “promoted violence and killings commonplace in the Philippines’ war on drugs” on its store, Reuters reports. “The group listed 131 organizations from numerous countries as supportive of the Oct. 10 complaint to Apple, among them groups working on human rights, youth and drug policy reform.”
IGN gobbled up Humble Bundle, but it wants you to know it’ll still be the same on the inside. Glixel’s Brian Crecente writes that “the company will maintain its offices, culture and team with ‘IGN helping us further our plans. We will raise even more money for charity.’”