General Gaming News II: Steam Helpdesk Site Leak

[Corrderio]

Some google fu is suggesting it's more #MeToo and a dash of corporate legal strongarming than specific industry shenanigans, but yeah, info still seems scarce.

That's what I've seen too. Something about sexual harassment allegations

[Salodin]

Basically, someone in upper management was a sexist douche, up to and including withholding promotion based on sexual harassment. People went to sue, but the company counter sued and said their contracts obligated them to go through mediation instead of a jury. The workers were like wtf, we did? And then raised hell so that going forward there was no arbitration clause in their contract, but this was only for employees going forward. It was not going to be retroactive to current employees, including the ones sueing, and so more chit chat happened and now were at a small walk out.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[Melena]

Honestly, I think forced arbitration needs to go out the window when there's the potential federal workplace violations occurred. But that will never happen.

[Insanecyclone]

[theshun]

There's an article from a year ago where a female Riot dev presented an idea that everyone shot down and hated. After some time passed, she had her male friend present it the EXACT same way, which was widely praised and implemented. There's upper management who farts on people and slaps asses and junk. It's to everyone, not just a single gender. Other men who have sexually harassed women, the women reported to HR, and the dudes got promotions and the females got ignored/reprimanded.

As for the mediation thing, almost every company has you sign this type of thing, which is trash. However, Riot has only forced mediation on people trying to sue for sexual harassment but not for other issues, which most are claiming that means there's some major shit going on that Riot wants to keep off of public record.

[6souls]

Starbreeze Studios (Payday) Faces Funding Issues, May Not Survive the Year

As blatantly stated in Starbreeze’s recent financial report going over figured from Q1 of 2019, the company currently doesn’t have the money to continue operating for the long haul. “Starbreeze and some of its subsidiaries have been in reconstruction since December 3, 2018,” stated the report. “The company currently lacks sufficient secured funds to continue operating for the coming 12 months and a liquidity shortfall is expected before mid-year 2019 if no additional funds are provided.”

Stabreeze’s first-quarter sales saw the publisher bring in a little over $4.9 million dollars of which Payday 2 was said to accumulate over $2.7 million. However, earnings for the quarter were in the negative with Starbreeze losing $11.08 million.

Current CEO of Starbreeze Mikael Nermark outlined his goal for the coming months in light of this situation. “My main task is to secure financing for the company’s future operations. This involves both long-term financing we can use to build the Starbreeze of the future, but also making sure that the assets we have determined are unrelated to the core business are managed in a commercially viable way,” he said in the report. “Once this financing has been secured, we will be able to look ahead and present a more detailed strategy for the future.”

https://www.dualshockers.com/starbre...-out-of-money/
https://www.starbreeze.com/sbz-media...rt-Q1-2019.pdf

Starbreeze Sells Dhruva Interactive to Rockstar

Rockstar Games is proud to announce that it has agreed to acquire the leading Indian game developer and game art production studio Dhruva Interactive from Starbreeze AB.

Founded in 1997 by Rajesh Rao and headquartered in Bangalore, Dhruva Interactive was India’s first ever game development studio. Under Rajesh’s leadership the studio grew to a staff of nearly 300 talented developers specializing in every aspect of art and design. Dhruva Interactive has contributed to the development of games from dozens of high-profile international videogame companies.

While existing client projects will continue uninterrupted, the team will operate as part of Rockstar India alongside approximately 500 talented team members already working in Bangalore on Rockstar’s ground-breaking games.

“Dhruva Interactive has been a beacon of Indian game development for decades and we are excited to bring them into the Rockstar family,” said Daniel Smith, Studio Manager of Rockstar India. “The addition of the Dhruva team to the existing talent at Rockstar India will expand the studio’s capabilities and reinforces our belief in and commitment to the local development community.”

Rajesh Rao will work with Rockstar Games in the near term both to support the transition and to advise on how to continue strengthening the game development community in India.

“Rockstar Games are the undisputed leaders of innovation and creativity in modern game development, said Dhruva CEO and Founder Rajesh Rao. “Dhruva Interactive was founded with the aim of creating a world-class game development community in India, and so bringing the Dhruva team under the Rockstar Games label is further proof that we have succeeded in creating a talented team that can contribute to the best games in the world while helping to create a thriving local game developer community in India.”

[Nitsuki]

Solution: just go to Epic!

[6souls]

Microsoft x Sony - Streaming Games Partnership

Sony Corporation (Sony) and Microsoft Corp. (Microsoft) announced on Thursday that the two companies will partner on new innovations to enhance customer experiences in their direct-to-consumer entertainment platforms and AI solutions.

Under the memorandum of understanding signed by the parties, the two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective game and content-streaming services. In addition, the two companies will explore the use of current Microsoft Azure datacenter-based solutions for Sony’s game and content-streaming services. By working together, the companies aim to deliver more enhanced entertainment experiences for their worldwide customers. These efforts will also include building better development platforms for the content creator community.

As part of the memorandum of understanding, Sony and Microsoft will also explore collaboration in the areas of semiconductors and AI. For semiconductors, this includes potential joint development of new intelligent image sensor solutions. By integrating Sony’s cutting-edge image sensors with Microsoft’s Azure AI technology in a hybrid manner across cloud and edge, as well as solutions that leverage Sony’s semiconductors and Microsoft cloud technology, the companies aim to provide enhanced capabilities for enterprise customers. In terms of AI, the parties will explore incorporation of Microsoft’s advanced AI platform and tools in Sony consumer products, to provide highly intuitive and user-friendly AI experiences.

“Sony is a creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology. We collaborate closely with a multitude of content creators that capture the imagination of people around the world, and through our cutting-edge technology, we provide the tools to bring their dreams and vision to reality,” said Kenichiro Yoshida, president and CEO of Sony. “PlayStation® itself came about through the integration of creativity and technology. Our mission is to seamlessly evolve this platform as one that continues to deliver the best and most immersive entertainment experiences, together with a cloud environment that ensures the best possible experience, anytime, anywhere. For many years, Microsoft has been a key business partner for us, though of course the two companies have also been competing in some areas. I believe that our joint development of future cloud solutions will contribute greatly to the advancement of interactive content. Additionally, I hope that in the areas of semiconductors and AI, leveraging each company’s cutting-edge technology in a mutually complementary way will lead to the creation of new value for society.”

“Sony has always been a leader in both entertainment and technology, and the collaboration we announced today builds on this history of innovation,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Our partnership brings the power of Azure and Azure AI to Sony to deliver new gaming and entertainment experiences for customers.”

Going forward, the two companies will share additional information when available.

New Trademarks from Atlus & Sega

Atlus - "Shiotama" & Sega Games - "Beyond Bliss"
https://twitter.com/trademark_bot/st...96375540854784 | https://twitter.com/trademark_bot/st...45715679485952

[6souls]

NIS (Disgaea) is having Financial Issues After Releasing a Mobile Title, Can't Afford to Pay Employees

According to reports from various Japanese news outlets (and relayed through Twitter user HDKirin), Nippon Ichi Software is in dire financial straits. The development and publishing company has been suffering for quite some time due to poor sales of their titles in Japan. And now it seems, due to debilitating issues surrounding their latest mobile title Disgaea RPG, NIS can no longer afford to pay their employees.

In order to raise enough money to pay for the development staff’s labor costs, NIS has resorted to an MS (Moving Strike) Warrant. A MS Warrant is a stock term, a method of raising funds that otherwise cannot be acquired through the normal means of borrowing from banks or investors, due to already being deficit.

The company raises money buy selling their stocks at a cheap price. Security companies profit greatly from buying said cheaper stocks while that company’s investors are ultimately the ones who lose the most since the stocks they currently hold lose money and lead to the stock’s overall decline.

Japanese site Ha-Navi confirms that Disgaea RPG is the main cause for this last decline that resulted in the company unable to pay wages. On March 19th of this year, the title — a collaboration effort between NIS and Forward Works (a subsidiary of Sony) — began service.

https://www.dualshockers.com/disgaea...ncial-trouble/
https://twitter.com/HDKirin/status/1129583006660800512
http://ha-navi.com/ns-msw
https://forwardworks.com/blog/disgae...-01/index.html

[Corrderio]

I heard about that earlier. Quite an oof.

[Kirin]

I thought mobile games were supposed to be a cheap investment development wise with huge upside. The trade off being shorter lifespans.

To me it sounds like all of NIS's creativity and drive left with the team after Disgaea 4, and theyre just treading water.

[6souls]

Riot Games Refuses to Change their Arbitration Clause Due to "Ongoing Litigation"

The company confirmed that it will keep its requirement that employees’ sexual-harassment or discrimination complaints be handled through arbitration, rejecting employee demands.

According to the company: “Ultimately, given the complexities of ongoing litigation, we will not change our employee agreements while in active litigation. We know not everyone agrees with this decision, but we also know everyone does want Riot to continue to improve.” Riot Games plans to create a council on diversity and inclusion, and has invited “a diverse group” of employees to take part in reviewing aspects of its code of conduct.

Management also celebrated the protest later on in the official statement. “The Rioter walkout was an important moment in our company’s transformation, and it reaffirmed our commitment to keep fighting to make this the company we believe it can be.”

Riot Games employees Indu Reddy, Ronnie Blackburn, and Jocelyn Monahan — the three leaders behind last week’s employee walkout — released their own statement this past Friday. “We’re disappointed leadership doesn’t seem to be considering any major changes to their active policy.” The employees, however, stated that they have been “blown away by the passion, solidarity and vulnerability that workers who support the walkout are showing.”

https://www.dualshockers.com/riot-games-wont-budge/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ployee-protest

Marvelous President Haruki Nakayama to Step Down Due to Poor Health

Haruki Nakayama, the current chairman, president, and CEO of Marvelous Inc will be stepping down from all his positions in June due to declining health. Current Vice Chairman (and Executive officer of Amusement business of Marvelous, Inc.) Shuichi Matoda will take over as Chairman following the company’s 22nd meeting of shareholders on June 18th.

Marvelous made the announcement this past Monday, explaining that Nakayama is retiring as he has been in poor health for a few years and is taking time for rest and recuperation. The change of president will be formally voted upon at the 22nd annual meeting of shareholders on June 18, as well as at the board of directors meeting that follows.

https://www.dualshockers.com/marvelo...ident-resigns/
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...n-june/.146645

Capcom has "Numerous" Unannounced Titles Being Developed with the RE Engine

Following the reveal of Capcom’s financial information for the past fiscal year recently, the publisher was asked about future games that are being developed with the RE Engine. While not outright giving away what those titles might be, Capcom did respond to the question by divulging that the game engine is being used for a variety of projects in the future.

“While we are unable to comment on the specific number of titles or release windows, there are numerous titles currently being developed internally with the RE Engine,” said Capcom in response to the inquiry.

Furthermore, Capcom also commented on next-generation game development and specifically how it relates to the RE Engine. “The games we developed using the RE Engine during this current hardware generation have received critical acclaim, and from the early stages of building this engine, we kept the ability to augment it for next-generation development in mind,” the publisher stated. They continued on saying, “as such, we view the RE Engine as one of our strengths that will contribute to next-generation game creation.”

https://www.dualshockers.com/capcom-...n-development/
http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/d...18_full_03.pdf

Ubisoft has Three Unannounced AAA Titles in Development to be Released within the Next Year

Alongside the release of Ghost Recon Breakpoint, which is set to arrive later this year on October 4, Ubisoft stated that it has three other AAA titles that are slated to launch in this fiscal year. Ubisoft went one step further and also clarified that all three of these games will launch in the company’s fourth quarter of the fiscal year, which means that they’ll all arrive between the start of January and the end of March.

https://www.dualshockers.com/ubisoft...g-fiscal-year/

[arus2001]

I thought mobile games were supposed to be a cheap investment development wise with huge upside. The trade off being shorter lifespans.

To me it sounds like all of NIS's creativity and drive left with the team after Disgaea 4, and theyre just treading water.

The problem is that too many think they can push poorly developed products with poor update schedules backed by a decent IP and get away with it. Bluntly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened with a bigger IP sooner, but I guess Namco or SE having more money to throw around helps to mitigate their own mediocre products. Sadly, even what some tend to laud within the mobile scene as good games are still pretty pathetic if you take an objective look at their content and various in-game systems.

I like to shit on E7 lately because there's still way too much they could do to better the game, but you've got the white knights taking the dev side, or the people so pussywhipped by gacha systems that the thought things could be different is sacrilege. From what we know, they plan on going a year between major story updates (and thus PvE content), but I know I could literally sit down and write something of comparable length to what exists now and at a definitely higher quality in a single night. That's how bad I feel their story presentation is, but at the same time, how easy it could be to further expand everything with the veritable copypasta the game is between stages/encounters.

[Petitssk]

I thought mobile games were supposed to be a cheap investment development wise with huge upside. The trade off being shorter lifespans.

To me it sounds like all of NIS's creativity and drive left with the team after Disgaea 4, and theyre just treading water.

Definitely wouldn't say that. Greatly enjoyed both installments of Yomawari and recently played A Rose in the Twilight as well. Despite both being seemingly simple, they were much more enjoyable than I would have thought initially. All the more reason why these news are concerning, was hoping to see more from the people involved with those games, so they better not go under.

[xElipsis]

I'll be at Momocon this weekend with some friends. One of them is a big Suda51 fan, so we will probably go to the big news reveal like we did last year. I think it gets live streamed, but I will try to post details for those interested.

[6souls]

http://www.twitch.tv/gennabain

[Melena]

Ouya, the kickstarter android console is dead.

https://kotaku.com/ouya-the-tiny-kic...cia-1834948331

[Kirin]

Ouya, the kickstarter android console is dead.

https://kotaku.com/ouya-the-tiny-kic...cia-1834948331

Razer: Thanks. I hate it.

[xElipsis]

Travis strikes again No More Heroes PC/PS4

[fantasticdan]

So apparently, people have been streaming TV shows, movies, anime, gay porn and memes on twitch under the banner of 'artifact' (as in that dead valve card game) on twitch for the past couple days, with tiny gifs/videos of artifact gameplay in the corner. Not sure what's up, but it's still going on, just watched deadpool and monty python and the holy grail lol.