Activision QA employees at Raven Software form a union

Microsoft purchase of Activision Blizzard is causing concern for smaller game developersLast month it was announced that Microsoft was acquiring Activision Blizzard for around £50billion, followed by news at the end of January that Sony would buy Bungie for £2.6billion.Now multiple indie developers have spoken to the BBC about their concerns with the Microsoft acquisition, and what it could mean for them.Director at Kitfox Games Tanya Short – the developer of Boyfriend Dungeon – said: “This Activision acquisition strikes fear in us because it makes it so much more obvious – maybe they could dominate the rest of the year and then what do we do?”“Conceivably, indie games outside of these services might lose engagement as subscribers focus most of their attention on games they can access for free within the service,” adds Yura Zhdanovich, founder and director at Sad Cat Studios.The Federal Trade Commission is set to investigate the deal and whether or not it would harm the competition. FTC Chair Lina Khan is an advocate for a more assertive approach when handling deals.

IATSE is praising the Biden administration’s latest proposals to increase union membership throughout the country. The entertainment industry is one of the most unionized workforces in the nation, but last year only 6.1% of all private sector employees belonged to a union, following a long and steady decline from 16.8% in 1983. Unions in the public sector represent about 35% of workers. Combined, unions represent little more than 10% of the American workforce.

Robin Roberts is clearly still feeling some of that festive cheer, as she revealed on the latest instalment of Good Morning America.MORE: Robin Roberts sparks reaction with candid BTS video of Michael StrahanThe TV host got into a debate with her co-stars after presenting the GMA Play of the Day about how long to leave Christmas decorations up."So how long do you keep the holiday decorations up," Robin asked her fellow hosts Michael Strahan and George Stephanopoulos, to which George responded: "Day after January first."WATCH: GMA's Robin Roberts and Ginger Zee bring fans to tears with unbelievably emotional updateRobin and Michael reacted with surprise, with Michael adding: "That's quick!" although he clearly wasn't prepared for Robin adding: "Ours are still up."As her co-hosts looked at her in shock, she defended herself by saying: "Yes! Not the lights, but yeah, just the wreaths and the things on the door."MORE: Robin Roberts supports co-star on the air after Tom Brady retirement news"Are you serious?" Michael added, as he and George, retorting with: "That's a long time," started laughing, leaving Robin to say: "I feel kind of alone out here." A post shared by Robin Roberts (@robinrobertsgma)Robin divided her co-stars and fans with her stance on Christmas decorationsAs they continued to tease her, Michael even added: "Are you still eating leftovers from Christmas?" Robin shied away and motioned to her earpiece, saying that she was at least getting support from the control room.She posed the topic of discussion to her fans by posting the snippet on Instagram and captioning it: "Help me out here…how long do you keep your holiday decorations up?"MORE: Robin Roberts returns to GMA studios with hilarious video featuring

Robin Williams and George Carlin have filed a lawsuit against Pandora, claiming the platform has been “willfully” streaming the late comedians’ recorded routines without proper licensing.According to Rolling Stone, the families of the comics filed the copyright infringement suit on Monday (February 7) alongside related complaints from fellow comedians Andrew Dice Clay, Ron White and Bill Engvall.The estates claim that the works of both comedians “continue to be exploited, performed, broadcast, and streamed” across Pandora’s platforms without the proper permission and without any “substantive response” to warnings issued by literary agency Word Collections over the past couple years.“While Carlin would have been thrilled for his works to live on through valid licenses and payments, he would have seven dirty words to say about Pandora’s actions and willful copyright infringement, no doubt,” Carlin’s paperwork states.Williams’ estate is seeking $4.1million in damages, while Carlin’s is looking for $8.4million.Rolling Stone reports that the filings allege Pandora improperly offered 27 of Williams’ works through its digital broadcast radio service. The routines in question reportedly derive from the Mrs.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorPandora, the digital music platform owned by SiriusXM, is ripping off comedians by streaming their recordings without properly licensing the works — and has been doing so for years, according to a series of new lawsuits.On Monday, L.A. law firm King & Ballow filed copyright-infringement lawsuits against Pandora on behalf of five comedians or their estates: Robin Williams, George Carlin, Andrew Dice Clay, Bill Engvall and Ron White.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said that he doesn’t believe its acquisition of Activision Blizzard should be blocked by the US Federal Trade Commission.The deal, worth around £50billion, was announced on January 18 but earlier this week it was announced that the US Federal Trade Commission would be conducting an antitrust investigation after fears the acquisition would harm competition.Talking to the Financial Times, Nadella said that the deal would only place Microsoft as the third largest player in the video games industry behind Sony and Tencent. He also believes the fragmentation of the market would prevent it from ever gaining a monopoly.“At the end of the day, all the analysis here has to be done through a lens of what’s the category we’re talking about, and what about the market structure?” said Nadella.“Even post-this acquisition, we will be number three with a low teens (market) share, where even the highest player is also in the teens (for market) share.

Activision Blizzard that Infinity Ward is definitely working on Call Of Duty 2022.The rumours about the followup to Call Of Duty: Vanguard have been circulating since details about the project, codenamed Cortez, were datamined last September.It’s now been officially confirmed that the 2022 instalment of Call Of Duty will be developed by Infinity Ward, the studio behind Modern Warfare.​​“Development on this year’s premium and Warzone experiences is being led by Activision’s renowned Infinity Ward studio,” the company said in a press release. “The team is working on the most ambitious plan in franchise history, with industry-leading innovation and a broadly appealing franchise setting.”Infinity Ward confirmed the news by taking to Twitter.

Activision Blizzard has announced more Warcraft and World Of Warcraft is coming, some of which in the form of mobile content.As part of the company’s fourth quarter earnings results, a handful of Warcraft announcements were made. This included news that “Blizzard is planning substantial new content for the Warcraft franchise in 2022, including new experiences in World Of Warcraft and Hearthstone, and getting all-new mobile Warcraft content into players’ hands for the first time.”There has been no other mention of what this content will be as of yet, but according to Activision Blizzard the franchise was going strong in 2021 thanks to the inclusion of both the modern and classic game.The company does also note that it “continued to increase our developer headcount in the fourth quarter and added hundreds of talented professionals in 2021,” despite the fact that major layoffs to the Raven Software quality assurance department took place at the end of last year.This led to a strike lasting over a month and the formation of a new union, the Game Workers Alliance, which Activision Blizzard appears to be actively attempting to quash at every turn.

Robin Herman, who broke a significant barrier when she became one of the first female journalists to gain access to players in National Hockey League locker rooms, has died. She was 70 and died Tuesday at home in Waltham, Mass. from ovarian cancer, according to her husband.

Leo Barraclough International Features EditorAmazon Prime Video has acquired the North American and Latin American rights to Anthony Nardolillo’s “7th & Union,” starring Mexican actor/comedian Omar Chaparro (“Pokemon: Detective Pikachu,” “Stuck”). Grandave Intl.

Robyn has announced that she’s had to pull out of headlining upcoming festivals Way Out West, Bergen Fest and PiPfest.The Swedish singer-songwriter took to Twitter earlier today (February 1) to break the news.“It is an understatement to say that I was looking forward to headlining at Way Out West, Pip and Bergen Fest this summer, but circumstances have shifted and I unfortunately won’t be able to for this year. I’m so sorry about this,” she wrote.In a follow-up tweet, Robyn cushioned the blow for fans by updating them on the status of her new music.“But there are many exciting things to come and even though it is taking a little longer, I can’t wait to reunite with you as soon as my new album is ready,” she wrote.

Microsoft is to be investigated by the Federal Trade Commission over their proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard.News broke last month that Call of Duty and Overwatch developers Activision Blizzard were being acquired by Microsoft. But the deal isn’t actually set in stone yet, and now according to Bloomberg, the deal will see the FTC conduct an antitrust investigation over the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

From friends to foes. Rachel Lindsay and Raven Gates are not the first Bachelor alums to become friends while filming the show, but their subsequent feud has been one of the biggest mysteries in the franchise’s history.

Robin Roberts is back to work after nearly two weeks off Good Morning America.MORE: Robin Roberts inundated with prayers as she shares health updateThe TV favorite had been off ill with Covid, and luckily is now on the mend. Her loved-ones and fans are in awe of her, and this was made more than clear in a new Instagram post.The star and her partner Amber Laign run an account for their rescue dog Lukas, and a sweet tribute on behalf of their four-legged friend was posted on Wednesday – Robin's first day back at work.VIDEO: Robin Roberts shares tour inside colourful Connecticut homeA picture of Lukas relaxing on the sofa at the couple's Connecticut home was shared alongside a supportive message.MORE: Robin Roberts convinced that she'll 'get into trouble' over new photo of AmberMORE: Robin Roberts and Amber Laign's 'Lil Man' adoption story is so sweetIt read: "Man….I don’t know how my momma @robinrobertsgma keeps her early morning hours.

Blizzard studio head, Mike Ybarra, has told fans to “stay tuned” for more news on Warcraft, Overwatch and Diablo.The news came via Twitter. When a Twitter user suggested that Blizzard should dedicate more of its time on existing products, Ybarra revealed more.In a tweet, Ybarra explained that “Blizzard is a big studio [with] talented and growing teams”. He continued by adding that “you’ll be hearing more on that from Warcraft and Overwatch“.

Rachel Lindsay is opening up about some of her experiences with former friend and fellow one-time Bachelor contestant Raven Gates!

Call Of Duty: Warzone is in development, with the title apparently coming to Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.According to a Bloomberg report about the future of Activision Blizzard following their acquisition by Microsoft, the next three Call Of Duty titles won’t be Xbox exclusives because of deals made before the purchase.Speaking to four people with “knowledge” of the deal, those titles include the next two instalments of Modern Warfare (with the first expected this year). “The deal also includes a planned new iteration of Call Of Duty Warzone.”The claim was backed up by “credible Call Of Duty leaker” Tom Henderson, who believes Warzone 2 will be released in 2023 alongside the second new iteration of Modern Warfare (currently being developed by Treyarch).Warzone 2 is literally that… Warzone 2.Current gen and PC only… No past weapon integrations etc.

Going back before she moves forward for good. Rachel Lindsay gets candid about her time as the Bachelorette in her new book, Miss Me With That: Hot Takes, Helpful Tidbits, and a Few Hard Truths.

For nearly three years now, fans have been dying to know what happened between Rachel Lindsay and Raven Gates. Unfortunately, Rachel is still keeping the tea close to the vest. “When I ended the friendship with Raven, I made an agreement not to speak publicly about what occurred between us,” Rachel writes in her new book, Miss Me With That. “I intend to honor that agreement. Other than to say that I found myself in a situation where I felt the need to protect and remove myself, these are the only details I’m going to provide. This is my business. This is Raven’s business. This is not for anybody else to know. Your curiosity does not trump my integrity.”