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Not Even Call Of Duty Devs Are Safe From Layoffs
25.1.2024
On January 25, Microsoft announced an almost 9 percent reduction of its workforce in the company’s gaming division, totaling nearly 2,000 staffers who’ve lost their jobs across Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Xbox. Some of these folks worked on Call of Duty, one of the industry’s biggest and most...
Call of Duty: Warzone Devs Worked Overnight To Fix Busted Update
18.1.2024
Call of Duty: Warzone and Modern Warfare III’s Season 1 Reloaded update launched midday on January 17—and almost immediately broke both FPS titles. The Reloaded update promised anti-cheat improvements, adjustments to the Zombies mode, new cosmetics, new multiplayer maps, and more, but the launch...
The Best Video Game Surprises Of 2023
21.12.2023
2023 was a rough year for a lot of people. But even a shitty year like this one can offer up tiny moments of happiness or wonderful trinkets that we can all enjoy for a bit before we go back to doomscrolling on whatever social media service we’re using as the best Twitter replacement. Read more
Now Is The Time For Universal Video Game Accessibility Guidelines
2.11.2023
As Kotaku’s resident Soulsbud, I was stoked to check out the action-Soulslike RPG Lords of the Fallen when it debuted back in mid-October, so I booted it up and immediately navigated to the settings menu. This is always my first stop when starting any game, to ensure I can actually play the thing....
It Looks Like Starfield Has Major Accessibility Problems
31.8.2023
Reviews have started pouring in for Starfield, the highly anticipated and allegedly gargantuan space RPG from Bethesda, which comes out worldwide on September 6. And though the reviews are mostly positive, and reports suggest that this may be the least buggy Bethesda launch yet, one content creator...
Genshin Impact Voice Actors Say They Aren’t Getting Paid, Want Game Unionized
14.7.2023
Genshin Impact is one of the biggest, most successful video games in the world, bringing in tens of millions of dollars a month for developer/publisher miHoYo. However, according to some voice actors involved with the popular game, they don’t get paid for months, and it’s causing some to possibly...
Call Of Duty Now Tricks Cheaters With Fake Enemies
30.6.2023
Developers Infinity Ward and Raven Software have introduced new anti-cheat tech that’ll troll Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone 2.0 hackers in a hilarious way: introducing hallucinations that only cheaters can see.Read more
A Game So Good It Could Have Been Hexen III
4.7.2022
In the mood for a retro-style FPS, I dug around the new releases on Steam, and poked at a few, not really clicking. Until, that is, I found Hands Of Necromancy, and then played it all weekend. This is a Hexen-like FPS, with enormous, sprawling maps, a whole bunch of weapons, an array of enemy...
Activision Blizzard Clears Itself Of Any Wrongdoing
16.6.2022
Nearly year after an explosive lawsuit by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing kicked off a firestorm of sexual harassment and discrimination allegations at Activision Blizzard, a Board of Directors working group investigating the company has released its findings. Led by...
Activision Blizzard Recognizes QA Workers' Union
10.6.2022
Bobby Kotick announced today that Activision Blizzard will recognize Raven Software’s union of quality assurance testers. He promised that “we will engage in good faith negotiations to enter into a collective bargaining agreement” with Communications Workers of America.Read more
The Human Toll Of Fallout 76’s Disastrous Launch
8.6.2022
“No one wanted to be on that project because it ate people. It destroyed people,” one former developer on Fallout 76 told Kotaku. “The amount of people who would go to that project, and then they would quit [Bethesda] was quite high.” Read more
Dragon Age QA Workers Votes Unanimously To Form Labor Union
6.6.2022
This morning, quality assurance testers on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf unanimously voted to form Canada’s first video game labor union. They filed the motion on April 20, and the election concluded 16-0 in favor of unionizing. This came after the devs mounted an organized campaign focused on bad pay...
Microsoft Promises To Play Nice With Future Unions Too
2.6.2022
Microsoft is trying to strike a more conciliatory tone with organized labor as it looks to get its $69 billion mega video game merger with Activision Blizzard OK’d by the Federal Trade Commission. Vice chairman and president Brad Smith wrote that the company is “committed to creative...
Xbox Boss Says He Will Recognize Raven Software's Union After Acquisition Closes
26.5.2022
In today’s internal all-hands meeting with Xbox Game Studios employees, Head of Xbox Phil Spencer said that he would recognize Raven Software’s union. This came after the QA testers at Raven voted to form the first labor union at a major studio.Read more
Reggie Fils-Aime: Companies Need To ‘Embrace’ Unions If That’s What Employees Want
24.5.2022
In an interview yesterday, former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime was asked about his thoughts on unions, which currently barely exist in the video game industry. Fils-Aime’s answer was not a ringing endorsement of unions, with the former exec saying they aren’t good or bad, just...
Gaming Gets Its First Union At A Major U.S. Studio
23.5.2022
Despite months of negative talking points by Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard, quality assurance staff at its Raven Software studio voted to unionize Monday, becoming the first union at a big studio in the U.S. The successful vote comes with talk of labor organizing picking up across...
Activision Shareholders Approve Xbox Deal, But Wall Street Has Doubts
28.4.2022
Shareholders at Call of Duty and Overwatch 2 publisher Activision Blizzard voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve a $69 billion sale to tech giant Microsoft. The deal gives golden parachutes to top execs at Activision, including embattled CEO Bobby Kotick. But despite gaming’s biggest...
Dragon Age 4 QA Devs Say They're Unionizing Over Bad Pay And Covid Safety
27.4.2022
The video game industry is currently undergoing a small but unprecedented wave of developer organizing. Last week it even reached the halls of famed RPG maker BioWare, where a group of QA contractors working on Dragon Age 4 revealed their intention to unionize. The two biggest reasons why? Bad...
BioWare Contractors Supporting On Games Like Mass Effect Seek To Unionize
25.4.2022
Keywords Studios developers working in support of Dragon Age 4 maker BioWare are seeking to unionize. That’s according to an April 20 application filed with the Alberta Labor Relations Board. The staff is preparing for a union vote following recent labor organizing efforts at other game...
The Nintendo of America Contractors Who Feel Like Second Class Workers
22.4.2022
A union-busting complaint recently filed with the National Labor Relations Board accused Nintendo of America and contract worker agency Aston Carter of surveillance, retaliation, and other unfair labor practices. According to four sources familiar with the incident, that complaint, first reported...