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Why Video Game Press Events Sometimes Go Horribly Wrong
24.6.2021
With the recent apology from CI Games, the studio creating Sniper Ghost Warrior: Contracts 2 who organized a particularly offensive press event, it’s cast my mind back a couple of decades, to the era when I would often go on such trips. It got me thinking about how easily games journalists can...
Activision Shareholders Vote To Keep Paying CEO Bobby Kotick A Ton Of Money
21.6.2021
Long-time Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick eked out another lucrative victory today at the company’s annual shareholder meeting with a narrow vote of 54% in favor of maintaining his generous salary and millions in annual bonuses. The win comes after a year-long campaign by CtW Investor Group...
E3 2021: 20 Games Missing From The Show
16.6.2021
Silence screams volumes. Over the past five days, video game publishers have shouted announcements for the biggest games from the rooftops. But that chorus has been drowned out by the far more deafening din of what wasn’t announced at E3 2021.Read more
Investors Still Think Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Makes Too Much Money
9.6.2021
Grass is green, the sky is blue, and Bobby Kotick is still rich. Earlier this year, Activision halved the CEO’s pay and annual bonus target after he spent years pulling in tens of millions of dollars (even after laying off employees), resulting in sustained pressure from investors. A group...
Activision Hires Yet Another Former Republican Big Wig
4.6.2021
It seems that Activision has a type. After hiring former George W. Bush-era counterterrorism appointee Frances F. Townsend and controversial Trump administration member Brian Bulatao in March, the mega-publisher has now rounded out its ranks with a third ex-member of a Republican Presidential...
EA Hires Call Of Duty Boss To Lead Battlefield Team
3.6.2021
Electronic Arts has appointed Byron Beede as the new SVP and general manager of the Battlefield series. Beede previously spent nearly 20 years at Activision Blizzard, where he most recently worked as the executive vice president and general manager of the Call of Duty series.Read more
Blizzard Sends Cease-And-Desists To Diablo II: Resurrected Modders
27.5.2021
Several mods for last month’s Diablo II: Resurrected alpha test were recently pulled offline following a wave of cease-and-desist letters. One creator says Blizzard even went as far as to send a private investigator to his home to serve the warning in person.Read more
BlizzCon Is Skipping 2021 Due To Continuing Covid-19 Concerns
26.5.2021
Citing the complicated nature of coordinating a live event for thousands of people, evolving California in-person event guidelines, and the fluctuating status of the global covid-19 pandemic, Blizzard has announced BlizzCon will be skipping another year. Read more
Black Ops Cold War’s Multi-Team Elimination Is Almost Blackout 2.0
24.5.2021
A lot of new stuff arrived with Call of Duty’s mid-season “Reloaded” update last week. It’s easy to get distracted by the ‘80s Action Hero event’s challenges and modes, but hidden in the mix is “Multi-Team Elimination,” a Fireteam mode for Black Ops Cold War that’s worth checking out. Read more
Report: Netflix Looking To Hire Video Game Executive
21.5.2021
Netflix, the streaming service responsible for episodic masterworks like Selling Sunset and Too Hot To Handle, is looking to hire veteran gaming industry execs, according to a new report in The Information.Read more
Over 500,000 Cheaters Are Now Banned From Call Of Duty: Warzone
16.5.2021
Call of Duty Warzone developer Raven Software recently announced that over 30,000 new Warzone accounts were banned. According to the studio, that brings the total number of banned accounts to over half a million. Read more
Activision Cuts Ties With Call Of Duty Voice Actor Following Sexist Remarks
9.5.2021
Activision has cut ties with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s Ghost voice actor Jeff Leach after a video montage was released showing him using sexist and misogynistic insults and language. Leach also voiced Ghost in Warzone.Read more
Riot Co-Founder Courageously Tweets, Deletes ‘Critical Race Theory’ Dog Whistle
23.4.2021
“Critical race theory” is the right’s latest buzz phrase in service of silencing discussion of America’s racist past and how it informs the country’s still very racist present. Last night, Riot co-founder and chairman Marc Merrill tweeted and quoted an article about how critical race theory is...
Call of Duty Gets '80s Map For Season Three
22.4.2021
Following yesterday’s Warzone nuke events, Call of Duty’s Season Three has officially begun for both Black Ops Cold War and Warzone. Season Three introduces a “new” Warzone map, while Cold War gets new multiplayer maps, weapons, operators, Zombies updates, and more. There’s also a new 100-tier...
Here's The E3 (And Not-E3) 2021 Press Conference Schedule So Far
16.4.2021
Last year, amid a mismanaged pandemic and sweeping social distancing regulations, the Entertainment Software Association called off its annual E3 event. But the stretch between late May and early November was positively littered with digital showcases and press conference conferences. If...
Korean Overwatch League Player Shares His Experience With Anti-Asian Racism In America
10.4.2021
As opening day for the fourth season of the Overwatch League looms, Korean players on North American teams are dealing with the precipitous rise in anti-Asian racism. On April 5, Eui-Seok “Fearless” Lee, main tank for the Dallas Fuel, talked about his experience being Korean and living in America...
The NFT Bubble Might Be Bursting, But Streamers And Esports Orgs Are Still Getting In On It
9.4.2021
As of last month, the age of NFTs was officially upon us. As of this month, it might be on its way out. Average prices have declined by as much as 70% since a peak in February, according to Bloomberg. That, however, has not stopped big-name streaming and esports figures from announcing their...
MLB The Show Coming To Game Pass, LEGO Star Wars Delayed Again, Sony Closing PS3 Store In July, And More
3.4.2021
This week on Morning Checkpoint we watch a very rich person forget to pay their bills, learn how valuable your old Pokemon cards might be, find out which games will be free on PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold next month, and learn about more delays.Read more
Oops, Activision Forgot About The Streisand Effect
1.4.2021
I can’t fully express how little I care about Call of Duty: Warzone or any leaks thereof. What I do love, however, is giant gaming conglomerates making fools of themselves, and Activision Blizzard really stepped in it this morning when it used draconian copyright law to try to cover up a trivial...
Activision Blizzard Hires Former Trump Administration Member Once Decried As ‘Bully’
30.3.2021
Today, Activision Blizzard announced the promotion of Blizzard chief commercial officer and the chief operating officer Armin Zerza to CFO of the whole company. What it did not announce to the public is that it has also hired a new chief administrative officer: former Donald Trump administration...