In The News
Steam is changing user reviews to try and curb “review bombing.” Games like Grand Theft Auto V have experienced this disgruntled player reaction, which involves mass amounts of users leaving negative reviews on a game to drop its overall score.
“To understand why we think this is a problem at all, we first need to talk a bit about the goals of User Reviews, and the associated Review Score,” the announcement reads. “So why is review bombing a problem? On the one hand, the players doing the bombing are fulfilling the goal…”
The Department of the Interior just got a little more fun. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke had a Big Buck Hunter Pro arcade machine installed in the DOI’s cafeteria. Zinke has also issued a challenge to DOI employees in the form of “‘Secretary’s Shotgun Showdown,’ a fun employee competition on the game, with the winner earning bragging rights and a personal visit with the Secretary,” the press release reads.
Twitch is promoting voter registration on National Voter Registration Day and it’s looking for partners, affiliates and broadcasters to participate. It’s Sept. 26, so get registered!
Congratulations to Xbox’s Phil Spencer on his promotion. He’s now executive vice president of gaming at Microsoft, VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports. “Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella informed employees today that Spencer had a new title and he is now part of the senior leadership team, which has 16 top execs at Microsoft.”
H1Z1 manager Anthony Castoro would like a “thank you” from Brendan Greene. Castoro told IGN’s Tom Marks that “there wouldn’t be PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds without H1Z1.”
(Credit: Liz Edwards)
Overwatch art in 3D! That’s not the only 3D gaming art Liz Edwards has up on her ArtStation page, either. Luke Plunkett at Kotaku reports that Edwards “was a 3D character artist at Total War developers Creative Assembly.”
YouTube streamers can now promote sponsorships. “Fans can now purchase digital goods and support their favourite creators with a monthly payment of $4.99,” GamesIndustry.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports. “The new sponsorship model will replace the ill-fated paid channel service which launched in 2013.”
Laws of War, Arma 3’s newest DLC, came to be thanks to a disaster involving the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Polygon’s Charlie Hall writes. The DLC focuses on life after a war and the dangers that still remain even after fighting has stopped. “The story begins in 2010 with a research project that spun slightly out of control…”
BBG Entertainment has acquired Boulder Dash (remember that game?) from First Star Software. It’s available for Android, iPhone, PC and Mac.
CODumentary, Devolver Digital’s Call of Duty documentary, is out. “CODumentary charts the shooter’s ‘incredible’ rise to fame—exploring its place in the early 2000’s FPS landscape, through to its juggernaut status today,” Joe Donnelly at PC Gamer explains. It’ll cost you $4.68 to rent or $8.70 to buy on Steam (currently 33% off) and $2.99 to rent or $9.99 to buy on Amazon (it’s free if you have Amazon Prime).
Unity Machine Learning Agents SDK is in open beta. Unity “released a new machine learning toolkit in open beta that’s designed to let Unity devs (making games or anything else) incorporate AI agents capable of teaching themselves new tricks,” Gamasutra’s Alex Wawro reports.
Twitch Prime’s ad-free streaming is available in Mexico.
Luminosity Gaming has another PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds team. Dot Esports’ Scott Duwe reports that “The new roster includes Bruno ‘aXt’ Habitzreuter, Joseph ‘Tecnosh’ Touma, Tiago ‘SkipNhO’ Lannes, and Mateus ‘yeTz’ Duarte. All four players have history in other battle royale games, like H1Z1.”
Log in to Hearthstone today and you’ll get 100 free gold.