In The News
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Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai released the “Restoring Internet Freedom” proposal. The proposal will remove restrictions President Barack Obama’s administration put on companies.
“Pai’s 200-page proposal would eliminate all but one of those net neutrality protections in a bid to stop the federal government from ‘micromanaging the internet.’ The proposal goes to a vote on December 14,” Gamasutra’s Alissa McAloon reports.
The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation is weighing in on loot boxes. “‘What occurs with ‘loot boxes’ does constitute gambling by the definition of the Victorian Legislation,’” a compliance department employee responded on a Reddit thread, GamesIndustry.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports.
Gazillion Entertainment, which is closing Marvel Heroes after its partnership with Disney ended, has now laid off all its employees. “Ex-Gazillion staff are also reporting that they’re not even being paid their severance or PTO, and that their medical insurance will end next week,” Kotaku’s Luke Plunkett reports.
Rovio Entertainment ate a 19% tumble in shares after posting its first earnings report since its initial public offering. “Rovio missed on both profits and sales, which sent its stock down 18.87 percent in mid-day trading on the Helsinki exchange, dipping below its IPO price,” VentureBeat’s Chris O’Brien reports. “The company blamed increased spending on users for denting profits for the three months ending in September.”
HoloTouch is suing Microsoft over HoloLens patent infringement. GamesIndustry.biz’s James Brightman reports that HoloTouch “alleges that Microsoft infringed two of its patents going back over a decade … The patent infringement suit filed requests a jury trial and triple damages because Microsoft ‘wilfully’ knew about the HoloTouch patented technology.”
Civilization 5 designer Jon Shafer left Paradox Interactive after only 6 months. Polygon’s Charlie Hall reports that “In March, Paradox announced that it had brought Shafer on full-time to start a new project. Earlier this week they parted ways due to ‘creative differences.’”
New hires are heading to Playground Games “for new open world action RPG,” PC Gamer’s Joe Donnelly reports. “Ex-Battlefront 2 senior producer Sean Eyestone is on board … chief designer Will Kennedy and combat designer Juan Fernandez di Simon sign up.”
Schick Hydro is partnering with The Game Awards. “[Anastasia] Tobias described Schick Hydro as a challenger brand that’s continually evolving, and that’s why it has chosen to spotlight indie games and developers at The Game Awards this year. She said that as a brand that invests in innovation, it’s important for Schick Hydro to support other innovators, too,” AListDaily’s Steven Wong writes.