Video Game Culture Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Faze Clan’s Nicholas “Nickmercs” Kolcheff has directly responded to TwitchCon’s recent mask and COVID vaccine mandate by saying a Faze event will be doing the opposite.Kolcheff’s statement comes as both Faze Clan and Twitch are holding events in San Diego, California this month, with TwitchCon recently reversing its policy on no masks or vaccination documents after backlash.“Masks will be required indoors, as well as either proof of vaccination or a negative covid test,” said Twitch. “Let’s make the ultimate squad up safe and accessible for everyone.”Within 30 minutes of Twitch’s statement on the same day (August 12), Kolcheff quote tweeted Twitch saying Faze Clan’s event would have “no mask requirements, [and] no vaccine requirements,” (via Eurogamer).The MFAM and I will be doin’ our thing down in SD, it’ll be poppin’ all weekend.

Nintendo‘s headquarters in Kyoto, Japan after a small fire broke out inside the building.The original story from Japanese news publication NHK reports that the fire broke out on Monday (August 15) at 1PM local time at the publisher’s development building (translation via VGC).Eight fire engines were dispatched to the headquarters, but the small blaze was quickly distinguished by employees before they arrived. It’s been confirmed that no one was harmed in the fire.According to police cited in the original report, desks and chairs in a room on the third floor were caught in the fire.Emergency services are still investigating the origins of the fire, but it’s being reported that conditions at the scene suggest that it was caused by an electronic device that was being charged.

Twitch has changed its COVID-19 guidelines for TwitchCon, with attendees now required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative test, as well as wearing a face mask while indoors.TwitchCon is set to take place next month in San Diego, with players able to meet streamers and take part in “legendary cosplay contests, rivals tournaments, meet and greets, rare loot, panels, artist alley” and witness an “epic” musical performance.However, following criticism from some fans about the lack of COVID-19 safety precautions, Twitch has now updated the entry requirements for the three-day event.“We’ve heard from many of you that you want a safer TwitchCon, so we’re updating our policy,” said Twitch in a Tweet. “Masks will be required indoors, as well as either proof of vaccination or a negative covid test.

Nintendo and a contracting firm it uses in its main office in the United States.This is the second time this year that Nintendo has received such a complaint, with attention being drawn to workplace conditions in the gaming industry. The complaint was filed earlier this week (August 8) and alleges that Nintendo, alongside its contracting firm Aston Carter, established “coercive rules”.

Twitch streamer Clara ‘Keffals’ Sorrenti woke up on August 5 to armed police raiding her home, pointing an “assault rifle” in her face. It follows a campaign of harassment she has experienced whilst streaming on Twitch, and she has now pleaded for help.In a video posted to her YouTube channel (via PC Gamer), Sorrenti detailed a harrowing experience with London (Ontario, Canada) police, where they raided her home, armed, after “every city councilor in the city of Ontario” received an email stating that she possesses an illegal weapon, had killed her mother, and planned to go to City Hall and shoot “every cisgender person” in sight.After being taken into custody, she claims the police took the email seriously despite it being “riddled with grammatical errors” and appearing more like “something a troll would say”.

Quantic Dream‘s reported history of toxic workplace culture and has denied accusations of homophobia and misogyny.Back in 2018, French publications Le Monde, Mediapart, and Canard PC published stories alleging a harmful work culture at Quantic Dream, the studio where David Cage serves as co-CEO and scriptwriter. Quantic Dream ended up suing, alleging that the reports had damaged the studio’s reputation.In a recent interview with Edge magazine (via Eurogamer) Cage discusses the company culture at Quantic Dream, and defends its response to the allegations of a toxic workplace environment:“When you’re accused of things that go against everything you believe in, everything you’ve done in your life, it hurts.

Netflix’s subscribers are playing the games included with the TV and film streaming service.Since last year, Netflix has offered a number of games with its streaming service – which will reportedly increase to 50 by the end of this year – that can be downloaded separately at no extra cost.Data from CNBC and Apptopia indicates that of Netflix’s 221million subscribers, the games have been downloaded 23.3million times and average daily users of around 1.7million – or less than one per cent of the service’s subscribers.With more streaming services creating competition for Netflix, this strategy of mobile games is undoubtedly being used to set itself apart from other services. That said, Netflix lost around 1million subscribers earlier this year, which was less than its projected loss of 2million.Whilst Netflix is adding the likes of Spiritfarer and a number of titles from Devolver Digital to its games service, there are also some original titles based on actual Netflix series’ on the way as well.

Ubisoft’s Beyond Good And Evil 2 has a new lead writer – Sarah Arellano.The prequel to 2003’s Beyond Good And Evil was first teased in 2008 before officially being announced at 2017’s E3 conference with a trailer, though no release date was confirmed.Since then, updates on Beyond Good And Evil 2 have been few and far between. In 2020, creator Michel Ancel retired from the games industry but said work on Beyond Good And Evil 2 was “going super well,” before promising “beautiful things to be seen soon.”However, he said the same thing about Wild which was quietly cancelled in 2021.Earlier this year, it was reported that Beyond Good And Evil 2 was still in pre-production.

The Machinery‘s users, which was shared on Twitter on August 1, the development of the alternative game engine to Epic Games‘ Unreal Engine has stopped (via PC Gamer and GameDeveloper).“Thanks so much for supporting The Machinery,” the email said. “Unfortunately, we’ve reached a point where it’s no longer possible for us to continue in the current direction… We really appreciated you being a part of the Our Machinery Community.

Bungie against the Destiny 2 player who was threatening the studio’s employees.Back in June, Bungie filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Twitch streamer Luca Leone, also known as MiffysWorld, for cheating, reselling Destiny 2 assets and threatening Bungie employees. Some of the repeated threats involved mentions of burning down the studio’s offices, telling employees to “keep your doors locked” via their Twitter alias Inkcel.Two months later, it’s now been revealed in a ruling issued in June by the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario, Canada that the threats were much worse than originally reported (via PC Gamer).

P Money has released ‘Outplayed’ in partnership with London-based Tundra Esports, with footballer Virgil van Dijk starring in the music video.Today (August 4), Tundra Esports described ‘Outplayed’ – a track created by P Money, an ambassador to the group – as “the first official grime gaming song.”You can watch the music video for ‘Outplayed’ below:Speaking to NME, P Money shared that he’s “always loved” music and gaming and grew up playing games such as Zelda, Streets Of Rage, FIFA and Sonic The Hedgehog. However, the musician says he’s “never really heard artists such as myself – rappers and MC’s – really dive into that world within their music, even though we all played games or still play some form of game.”On the inspiration behind ‘Outplayed’, P Money explained that he is “driven by the gap I see between music and gaming” and says that “grime, to me, blends really well with games – maybe it’s the sounds producers use that are similar to the sounds in games.”“[‘Outplayed’ is] not necessarily just for us to gain a wider audience, it’s for gaming and music as a whole,” added P Money.

Tencent is reportedly looking to raise its stake in Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry publisher Ubisoft.According to a new report from Reuters, Tencent apparently expressed interest in the French publisher and is looking to raise the five per cent stake it placed in 2018.Two sources claimed that Tencent is aiming to “become the single largest shareholder” of Ubisoft with another stake purchase. At this time it’s unclear how much the company is planning on owning of the company.Additional sources said that Tencent does plan on purchasing the extrastake from the Guillemot family – the current CEO of Ubisoft – which own 15 per cent of the firm.

Mortal Kombat series co-creator Ed Boon has implied that there will not be an announcement made regarding Mortal Kombat at Evo 2022.Boon’s quote tweet was in response to a now-deleted tweet from IGN claiming that “The developers behind Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken and Guilty Gear are all expected to make announcements during Evo 2022.”The implication is that while the other aforementioned series may get announcements, there will not be a Mortal Kombat-related announcement at the fighting game community event.

Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) will be set in a fictionalised version of Miami, and players will follow a female protagonist.In an article published today (July 27), Bloomberg has claimed that GTA 6 will feature the series’ first female character – a Latina who will be one of two leading characters. Speaking to Bloomberg, sources familiar with the project say that the pair of characters are influenced by Bonnie and Clyde.Bloomberg‘s report also claims that GTA 6 will be set in a fictionalised Miami and its neighbouring areas, though the game was initially designed to feature “large swaths of North and South America.”It also states that due to developer Rockstar‘s ongoing efforts to tackle crunch culture within its projects – along with the project’s scale and issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – GTA 6 is taking longer to create. To get it released earlier, Rockstar is reportedly going to update the game with new missions and cities regularly post-launch.Because of GTA 6‘s slow production, developers interviewed by Bloomberg have claimed that the game is “at least” two years away from launching.Bloomberg has also reported that besides trying to move away from crunch, Rockstar also wants to avoid using Grand Theft Auto‘s satirical humour to “punch down” on marginalized groups.

Aspyr Media‘s Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic remake has been put on hold, following the abrupt firing of two senior developers.According to a report published by Bloomberg last night (July 26), Aspyr Media has placed development for Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic on indefinite hold.Bloomberg adds that earlier in the month, studio heads at Aspyr told employees that the project had been paused while the studio looked for “new contracts and development opportunities.”Along with the indefinite delay, Aspyr also reportedly fired the art director and design director for the remake.The report also alleges that Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic has suffered an unsustainable development cycle. An anonymous source familiar with the project told Bloomberg that too much time and money had been put into making a demo of the game for Lucasfilm and Sony, while multiple developers said the game was more likely to release in 2025, rather than Aspyr’s projected 2022 launch.Some staff at Aspyr claim that Saber Interactive, which joined the project in May 2022, could take over development completely.When Saber Interactive’s participation was announced, Embracer board member Matthew Karch said that while the team was “fully confident that the game is going to be fantastic,” the scope of the project means it will take time to complete.“It’s a massive, massive product and massive products require a lot of effort and a lot of time to make good.

The annual European version of the Twitch event was held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands earlier this month, whilst another yearly event is held in North America each year.Next year’s Paris event will take place in the summer, after the inaugural European TwitchCon was hosted in Berlin, Germany in 2019.“Attending TwitchCon offers a technicolour experience of everything that makes Twitch unique,” said Twitch CMO and EVP, International Doug Scott.“The memories and community bonds formed on our service are visible for all to see during a weekend of extraordinary entertainment, knowledge sharing, competitive gaming and, above all, fun. We cannot wait to bring the community back together again in San Diego this October and at TwitchCon Paris next year.”This year’s San Diego TwitchCon event will run from October 7 to 9, with tickets going on sale early next month in August.The exact size and scope for TwitchCon 2023 in Paris is yet to be revealed, but statistics suggest it may have to be bigger than this year’s event.

FaZe Clan has officially gone public on the Nasdaq Stock Market in a deal evaluating at £607million ($725million).As reported by Axios, the gaming company officially began trading publicly on Nasdaq yesterday (July 20) shortly after its SPAC (Special-purpose acquisition company) merger with B.Riley Principal 150 Merger Corp.According to the publication, this is the first gaming company targeted at Gen-Z (those born between the late ’90s and early ‘2010s) consumers to go public and will now go on to trade under the name “FAZE”.The deal of £607million ($725million) is lower than the original one billion dollar valuation that was reported last year when the merger was announced.FaZe Clan is officially a publicly traded company. $FAZE pic.twitter.com/QjrOhJ9ffx— FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) July 20, 2022However, after FaZe Clan officially went public, it was reported by PC Gamer that the deal prompted an immediate selloff of FaZe stock, as well as a 25 per cent decrease in its valuation on the first day.“I understand why other companies have been criticised for going public via the SPAC vehicle.

Square Enix is selling a Final Fantasy 7 action figure from November 2023, and it comes with a digital NFT that carries the risk of becoming inaccessible.The Cloud Strife figure will be priced at £108 ($129.99) but fans have the chance to opt for the Digital Plus Edition at £133 ($159.99). Pre-orders for the figure are open now, though the Digital Plus Edition is exclusive to the Square Enix store.The Digital Plus edition comes with an “exchange ticket” which fans can redeem for an NFT, which is a digital version of the figure that can be “enjoyed on PC and smart phone.” The description confirms, “The digital certificate of authenticity uses blockchain technology known as NFTs”.Anyone purchasing the figure will need to create an account with NFT platform Enjin and download their Enjin Wallet app, with limited time available to redeem their digital certificate and figure.

Uncharted 2, Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us with Naughty Dog, has announced he is returning to games development and establishing a new studio titled Wildflower Interactive.In a video posted to Straley’s Twitter page which was captioned, “It’s finally happened!! We’re doing a thing!!” he explained that he had some news to share. “In 2017 I left the industry not sure whether I wanted to make games anymore, but the longer I was away I kept thinking about this medium and everything yet to be done and everything I wanted to do still.”Straley explained that he had an idea that “kept following” him and so he teamed up with some friends and began to prototype.

Project GG director Hideki Kamiya has shared a few more details about the upcoming PlatinumGames title. When asked about Project GG in an interview with Famitsu, Kamitya shared that PlatinumGames co-founder Atsushi Inaba told him that “PlatinumGames will make this kind of game from now on.”“In response to that idea, I expanded it to the current large-scale projects,” shared Kamitya. This seems to tie into Inaba’s statement from earlier this year, which claimed the company would pivot to creating live service titles.Kamiya added that “personally, I didn’t expect [Project GG] to be a game like this”, suggesting the idea has changed significantly from its original concept.Kamiya mentioned that Project GG will have a core feature that’s distinct to it, akin to Bayonetta’s Witch Time and The Wonderful 101’s Unite Morph, although the project as a whole won’t be in the same vein as those games.

Wizards of the Coast has finally announced it will show Dominaria United, the upcoming 93rd expansion for Magic: The Gathering, in a special Twitch stream on July 21.With Alchemy Horizons: Baldur’s Gate and Double Masters 2022 releasing back-to-back, Wizards of the Coast has been relatively quiet by its standards, with the only announcements being language changes and the Explorer Anthology 1.11 months after its initial announcement, Dominaria United will be shown in more depth to fans on a special live stream on the Wizards Twitch channel.

Ubisoft employees have addressed why developers avoid communicating with fans where possible, especially around the launch of a new title.Joe Hobbs, lead prop artist at Ubisoft Annecy, shared his thoughts via his Twitter page where he wrote that team members who are open online about their involvement with Ubisoft titles regularly receive abuse from “fans”, which has led to employees deciding to avoid associating with their achievements publicly.“I’ve received death threats in the past over Division 2. It’s unacceptable,” said Hobbs, before continuing, “The harassment that game develops receive is utterly disgusting and I see it in the comments of most devs who say pretty much anything.”Hobs then goes on to suggest that if players want devs to be more open and communicative, it cannot be met with demands and threats when they do make the decision to do those things, especially when such fans seem to be unaware of how games are made and which decisions certain roles are responsible for.Other developers responded in the Twitter thread by Hobbs to confirm that comments and abuse from fans has driven them away from social media “to the point I avoid saying anything about what I work on,” said Ubisoft artist Chris Goodridge.

Roblox has had a selection of internal documents stolen, which have now been posted online.According to a statement from Roblox, the publication of the documents is part of an extortion effort against the company. The statement given to Vice reads: “Roblox has been actively investigating a phishing incident, which involved a Roblox employee being targeted by cyber criminals [through social engineering tactics/using highly personalized scare tactics].”The statement continues, “These stolen documents were illegally obtained as part of an extortion scheme that we refused to cooperate with.

Xbox and was the former head of design on Halo Infinite, has founded his own studio, called Jar Of Sparks.In a recent IGN interview, Hook explained that Jar Of Sparks will focus on creating AAA action-adventure games and aims to “create a new generation of narrative-driven action games” with “immersive worlds.”Alongside Hook, other founding members include the lead narrative designer of the Batman: Arkham trilogy, Paul Crocker, as well as Doom producer Greg Stone, and Steve Dyck, who helped create the Halo series and NBA Street. Jar Of Sparks has also been formed in conjunction with NetEase.Although in the early stages of forming its core team, Hook estimated that Jar Of Sparks’ first game will arrive in three to four years.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has found a link between problem gambling and loot boxes in games, and it has called for game companies to step and “improve protections” for children in a new press release (via GamesIndustry.biz).These findings follow a call for evidence on the impact of loot boxes by the UK government back in 2020, with this release now calling for the in-game purchases to be made unavailable to children unless approved by a parent or guardian. More specifically, Xbox’s parental controls were mentioned, with the government wanting to build on protections like this, otherwise legislation will be considered.“We want to stop children going on spending sprees online without parental consent, spurred on by in-game purchases like loot-boxes,” said culture secretary Nadine Dorries.“Games companies and platforms need to do more to ensure that controls and age-restrictions are applied so that players are protected from the risk of gambling harms.

Halo franchise, and it even fires rockets and plays the iconic theme.Apparently, a world first from YouTuber Jairus For All, a video from June 3 shows off the rocket launcher in action, which fires actual rockets at a target. That said, the project wasn’t so easy to get working properly (via PC Gamer).After a misfire, the SPNKR fired a rocket straight into the ground, missing its target, with the laser sight also not working properly.

James Gunn and Suda51 have taken to Twitter to confirm they’re not involved in the recently announced Lollipop Chainsaw remake.Yesterday (July 5) it was confirmed that the game’s original producer Yoshimi Yasuda will be working on the remake through his Dragami Games studio alongside “a combination of development staff from the original version”.However, it’s since been revealed that neither creative director Suda51 nor co-writer James Gunn will have any involvement in the new project.Taking to Twitter, Gunn said he only heard about the project “a couple of weeks ago” from Suda.“I neither endorse nor condemn it,” he added. “I simply don’t know anything about it.

Creative Assembly is developing a new triple-A melee combat game and is currently hiring for new roles.According to Creative Assembly’s careers page, shared via Reddit, the Total War developer is  currently looking for a senior combat designer for a “new project” set in a medieval fantasy setting, who will “contribute to delivering world-class combat gameplay and emotion.”The job role also indicated that the hired developer will  need to bring their “in-depth understanding and passion for 3rd person melee combat coupled with experience in designing, developing and balancing combat systems.”It’s unclear at this time whether the new project  will be  a new Total War game, but the specifications also add that it’s desirable if the hired developer has familiar  knowledge with “previous Total War games, especially Total War: Warhammer.”Additionally, Creative Assembly clarifies that it’s essential the hired person will need to have a “deep understanding of third-person action melee combat  as both  a designer and  a  player” as well as good knowledge of “motion and animation design.”It’s also stated that the new project will need someone who has experience delivering a Game as a Service – meaning the mystery title will likely include monetized features.Creative Assembly has yet to publicly announce it’s developing a new triple-A title and seeing as how it’s still looking for a senior combat designer, progress is likely in the early stages.Last month, Sega announced Hyenas, a new multi-platform multiplayer shooter from the Total War developer.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) manual to the internet.The feat was finally accomplished on July 1 last week, as project lead Peebs announced that the last game manual, 90 Minutes European Prime Goal, had been uploaded (via Kotaku).Every single English language SNES manual scan can be found here, with each listed in number and then alphabetical order, with links to each scan as well.Peebs is a Twitch streamer, who for the last eight years has been beating every SNES game they could find, and they’ve been helped by almost 100 people in the effort to get clean manual scans for every single title.We did! The last one! The final English SNES Manual!A Scan for "90 Minutes European Prime Goal" has been provided to us by our good friend @wiredcontrol !Hell yeah, it feels great to finish a project.— Peebs – SNESManuals.com (@PeebsSNES) July 1, 2022The site includes differing versions for some of the English scans, with European and Australasian PAL versions, North American or both making appearances depending on regional differences. It also isn’t technically every game ever released in the West, with some titles getting unique releases, but it is close.As noted on the site, one of the last games the team needed was a “unique PAL manual.

itch.io is currently hosting a bundle for abortion funds in the US, and for $10 (£8.25) players can get almost 800 games.The bundle is set to end on July 14, with $47,243 (£39,014) of the $50,000 (£41,291) goal raised at time of publication (July 4). The minimum cost of the bundle is $10, but itch.io allows players to donate as much above that number as they would like.There are currently 792 games in the bundle, which have an estimated value of over $3,000 (£2,477).A statement attached to the bundle reads: “100 per cent of the proceeds from this bundle will go to the National Network for Abortion Fund’s Collective Power Fund, which moves money directly to abortion funds across 20 plus US states, with a particular focus on the South and Midwest (where it is often most difficult to get access to abortions).Folks, the indie bundle for abortion funds is live.The bundle contains over 700 creations, among which is my game Lieve Oma.It's worth over $3000, and you can get it for $10 or more.All proceeds go to the National Network for Abortion Fund.Please donate, RT and share! pic.twitter.com/sCuLYUBNX6— florian veltman (@FlorianVltmn) July 4, 2022“NNAF’s partnerships with these abortion funds provide direct resources and funds to many of the people most impacted by Roe v.

Sega has announced it will be matching donations to “accredited non-profit organizations supporting reproductive rights selected by our team members” in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.In a statement shared on Twitter, Sega stated: “At SEGA, we stand for equality and believe the ability to make choices about one’s body is a human right.

Sucker Punch has released a blog post which shuts down the circulating rumours that new Sly Cooper and Infamous games are in development.As reported by PCGamer, rumours had begun to sprout regarding upcoming instalments of the aforementioned series’. Well, Sucker Punch has saved fans the anguish of hoping for something that isn’t happening by releasing a blog post denying the validity of these rumours.“As our games continue to grow in scale and complexity, they require the full attention of our studio.

Kotaku, the reason Skull & Bones hasn’t been cancelled despite its tortured development is an agreement between Ubisoft and the Singaporean government.Kotaku senior reporter Ethan Gach quote-tweeted an article from Eurogamer regarding the rumoured November release of Skull & Bones.In the tweet, Gach said the game is on the way regardless of how development goes because of an agreement between Ubisoft and the Singaporean government. For those unaware, Skull & Bones is being developed by Ubisoft Singapore, a studio that has mostly worked with other Ubisoft studios to develop the Assassin’s Creed series.Was originally aiming for early summer.

Unity has laid off approximately 200 workers as they “realign some of [their] resources.”Unity is one of the most used game engines in the industry. While Epic Games and its Unreal Engine tend to cater to larger developers, Unity targets the indie market.

Sonic Team head Yuji Naka has confirmed that Michael Jackson created music for Sonic The Hedgehog 3.In a tweet posted today (June 23), Naka – who was also the producer for Sonic The Hedgehog 3 – confirmed a long-running rumour that Michael Jackson created music for the game.“Oh my god, the music for Sonic 3 has changed, even though Sega Official uses Michael Jackson’s music,” said Naka, expressing disappointment over Sega’s decision to change the music of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 for its re-release in Sonic Origins.One of the tracks changed in Sonic Origins is ‘Carnival Night Zone’, one of the songs that Jackson was rumoured to have created. In the below video, you can listen to the new tracks created for Sonic Origins in comparison to their original counterparts in Sonic The Hedgehog 3.Shortly after confirming Jackson’s involvement, Naka shared a picture of Jackson’s Neverland Ranch from above, which he says he took “when we went to his house in his helicopter”.This is a picture taken by me with my camera when we went to his house in his helicopter.

Call Of Duty: Warzone stream.Vips said the slur whilst playing Warzone on Twitch with fellow Red Bull driver Liam Lawson, (via PC Gamer), which followed a previous incident where Vips turned down a pink Red Bull cap and called it “gay”. Lawson said at the time “Juri, you can’t say that.”Red Bull issued a statement on June 21 that read:“Red Bull Racing has suspended junior driver Juri Vips from all team duties with immediate effect, pending a full investigation into the incident.“As an organisation we condemn abuse of any kind and have a zero-tolerance policy to racist language or behaviour within our organisation.”pic.twitter.com/DGC49HvSqt— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) June 21, 2022This was followed by a statement on Instagram from Vips yesterday (June 22), where he offered an unreserved apology for the incident:“This language is entirely unacceptable and does not portray the values and principles that I hold.