With the buzz about Activision and its growing toxic reputation, a more exhaustive look at the gaming industry’s treatment of women is necessitated.

CEO of PlayStation, Jim Ryan, was also critical of Activision’s lacking response to the situation and their continued defence of CEO Bobby Kotick. However, change starts at home – and PlayStation is now facing accusations of the same problems.

Former IT security analyst, Emma Majo, has filed a lawsuit against Sony in California on Monday. The suit claims that the company is liable for discriminating against female employees and for wrongfully firing Majo after she spoke up about the discrimination within the company.

Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that Sony has violated the United States’ Equal Pay Act. Female employees are not as well compensated financially and are often passed up for promotion in favour of promoting male employees. Majo even claims to have been ignored by a manager who only ever responded to men. She was continually passed over for promotions, which she claims is a common experience for female employees, and was fired after submitting a gender bias complaint to the company.

Majo notes that Sony claimed her termination was due to the closure of an internal department, but Majo never even worked in that department.

Sony representatives have yet to provide an official statement regarding these allegations.

Majo is also seeking court approval to extend the suit to a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all women who have worked for PlayStation in recent years.

Unfortunately, gender bias seems to be an ongoing issue in the gaming industry since its origins. As players and staff, women have often been made to feel less respected than their male counterparts. Having a feminine voice, I’ve endured my fair share of abuse in the online gaming sphere. And where voice chat is not involved, men assume every player is male until stated otherwise. It’s an exclusionary environment, and the problems with the player base are also reflected in the development sphere.

Only last year, Ubisoft was called out for similar issues. According to the organisation ‘ABetterUbisoft’, none of the staff demands for a better and more inclusive environment have been met. Will we ever see real change in the industry, or is it going to be this routine series of waiting for the controversy to blow over without enacting change?

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The post Former PlayStation Employee is suing for Gender Discrimination first appeared on Get2Gaming.

All eyes are on Activision Blizzard since the publishing of an investigative report by the Wall Street Journal. The article directly implicated Activision CEO Bobby Kotick in perpetuating sexual misconduct during his tenure and suppressing calls to fire other top executives for doing the same.

Activision Blizzard staff have since held a virtual walkout for those still working from home, and in-person walkouts for those that are working at the Activision Blizzard offices.

The walkout was called by the ABK Worker’s Alliance hours after the report went public.

Activision Blizzard employees have also demanded for the immediate resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick. He has yet to concede.

Upper-level executives responded by holding a series of all-hands meetings with staff in order to boost worker’s morale. Staff were, however, unimpressed by the contents of the meeting.

Statements from staff members at the company have claimed that the meetings were nothing more than one-sided listening sessions with pre-screened questions with executives, and included a pre-recorded message from Mike Ibarra. Staff weren’t given any opportunity to voice their frustrations in the meeting, and I imagine it felt more like an indoctrination session than a ‘morale boosting’ affair.

Kotick did not speak during any of the meetings with Activision, Blizzard, or King employees. The board seems to have decided to continue their defense of Bobby Kotick and has made no actions to remove or even reprimand the CEO.

Rather than terminate Kotick from his role, Activision Blizzard seems to be hoping the situation will blow over.

Many of Activision’s shareholders, and big names in the industry such as the CEO of PlayStation (Jim Ryan), are showing solidarity with staff and those affected by calling out Activision’s inaction or joining staff in protest.

The attempts to win over their employees seem to have been maintained by Activision for a while now. They apparently gave employees a week off for Thanksgiving. However, obvious pandering and forcing staff to sit in on one-sided meetings isn’t going to do anything to erase the issues brought up by the ABK Workers Alliance.

No doubt, as this situation gains more public attention the staff and public alike will only be more frustrated with the company’s inaction.

Journalist Ben Fritz shared details in a Twitter thread.

Content warning for rape and assault:

A woman who worked at Call of Duty studio Sledgehammer said she was raped twice by her supervisor after she was pressured to drink heavily. She reported the incidents to HR, but the company took no action. pic.twitter.com/WcVBPTdJCK

— Ben Fritz (@benfritz) November 16, 2021

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The post Activision Blizzard employees disappointed with internal response to CEO criticism first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Considering my last post maybe leaned further towards “bosses can be good sometimes, actually”, time to get back to punching up at some good ol’ fashioned worker-exploiting overlords!

Employees working at Activision Blizzard have filed a lawsuit for unfair labor practices and policies surrounding unionization, though this is far from Blizzard’s first time with issues of malpractice. Earlier this year, the work environment has been proven to be very unwelcoming towards women and people of color, even abusive at times. Our Emma Regan has expertly covered the various violations and reports regarding Activision, which you can read by clicking here and checking the short list below. For now, it is enough to know that many of the company’s workers have engaged in assault, harassment and racial discrimination, along with one known result of a co-worker’s actions leading to another losing her life.

The state of California has engaged in a two-year investigation of Activision Blizzard, which luckily, has emboldened various victims of others’ malpractice to be vocal about and protest their mistreatment.

On September 10th 2021, members of the ABK Workers Alliance (A Better Activision Blizzard King) filed the lawsuit for Activision Blizzard’s unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board. Accusations covered include coercive rules, threats, promises of benefits and trying to discourage demand for “a more equitable, stable and diverse workplace”, having hired ‘union-busting’ organisation WilmerHale Lawfirm, so no prizes for guessing what their collaboration entailed.

If this is to be believed of the tweet the ABK Work Alliance has made, then hopefully some good will come out of this horrible sordid series of cases:

If the NLRB rules in our favor, the ruling will be retroactive and we will set a precedent that no worker in the US can be intimidated out of talking about forced arbitration.

— ABetterABK (@ABetterABK) September 14, 2021

This lawsuit and the evidence of the company’s malpractice will likely impact on a lot of the company’s future plans for upcoming games and projects, which is sad, but hypothetically great games not coming out through Activision Blizzard is an extremely small price to pay in exchange for the justice that is sorely needed for those who were made to suffer under their poor workplace conditions. Here’s to hoping that Activision Blizzard and those that helped perpetuate it’s toxic environment are held accountable.

For more info on Activision Blizzard click on the following article titles:

Over 1000 Employees Condemning Activision Blizzard’s Response to Allegations

Blizzard Will No Longer Name Characters After Real Employees

Activision Blizzard: 3 Senior Blizzard Employees Have Left the Company, Including Diablo 4 Director

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The post Activision Blizzard’s NEW Lawsuit: Everything You Need to Know first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Everybody’s favourite cat-collecting game is making its way back into society with this new release

This is a release that we (me, myself, and I) have been waiting years for and it is FINALLY happening.

Yes, I am talking about the Neko Atsume VR for PS4 being released in North America on the PlayStation Store, 3 years after its initial release in Japan.

The cat-collecting game Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector is developed by Hit-Point and was first launched on iOS and Android back in 2014 where it became incredibly popular for its cute kitties and pleasing interior aesthetics.

Neko Atsume VR

Unfortunately, there is some slightly bad news. The VR version of the cat-collecting game is only available on the PlayStation Store in North America for the time being. It is unknown if the game is going to be available in other countries but after waiting 3 years for the game to be available outside Japan.

The game is compatible with PlayStation VR but does not require it and is very similar to the mobile version. Players can attract cats through food and watch them play with the different toys on offer. With over 20 cats to collect, players can get lost for hours relaxing with their virtual kittens.

The game is playable on PS5, but users will have to make sure they have the latest update and some features for the PS4 might not be available.

Here’s a look into what you could enjoy if you’re from North America, from PlayStation Prospect‘s YouTube channel.

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The post Neko Atsume: The VR Edition is Finally Released in the West first appeared on Get2Gaming.

QuakeCon is heading online again this year but Bethesda has promised a lot of developer panels, in-game rewards, and more.

QuakeCon started 25 years ago as a local gathering of id Software fans and has now transpired to one of the biggest gaming events in North America.

On Thursday, publisher Bethesda released its schedule for the three-day event that starts on August 19 and runs to August 21. It is an online event due to the worldwide pandemic and will be streaming on Bethesda’s Twitch account.

QuakeCon 2021 Schedule

The first event starts at 2PM ET (7PM BST) on the first day with id Software and MachineGames celebrating the 25th anniversary of the original Quake game. It is then followed by an in-depth look into upcoming releases and updates such as Deathloop and Fallout 76, which is then followed by an inside look into Elder Scrolls Online and Skyrim retrospectively, followed by an update for Doom Eternal. The day ends with a Fallout 76 endgame guide stream and event-goers have a chance to play the game with UFC’s Rob Whittaker.

The second day starts with a UK stream team build-a-thon for Fallout 76 and is followed by more panels dedicated to Quake and Deathloop. There is then a surprising, yet fun event with WeRateDogs, the popular Twitter account that rates dogs and has over 9 million followers. Other events in the day include more panels on Elder Scrolls Online, a 10th-anniversary interactive panel for Skyrim, and an exclusive music performance by Trivium.

The final day begins with a Doom Eternal “Prayer vs Slayer” and another UK stream team event but this time focusing on Elder Scrolls. There will also be a Doom Eternal Community Bonanza, followed by Fallout 76 CAMP Love it or Nuke it. The last two events of the QuakeCon will be the Quake World Championship Grand Finals and Live Art Creation of Elder Scrolls Online.

In addition to the panels and events, eventgoers can enter to win prizes by watching the streams. Doom Eternal players will have access to free unique skins, badges, and more by logging in between August 19 and September 2. Quake Champions players can also do this until August 21. Meanwhile, Elder Scrolls Online players get bonus in-game rewards for watching at least 15 minutes of the stream after linking their Twitch and ESO accounts.

Bethesda is also celebrating QuakeCon 2021 with sales of 60-85% off on select titles.

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The post QuakeCon 2021: Bethesda Releases Schedule For Online Event first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Belong is moving across the pond this week to open up the first gaming arena in the US

If you aren’t aware, Belong is a company that has built gaming arenas all across the UK. The 25 gaming arenas are social spaces competitive gamers, social players, as well as anyone that is just starting out, and they have now expanded to the US, with the first gaming arena to open at the end of this week.

First Gaming Arena

The first gaming arena will be opening on August 6 and is located in Pearland Town Center, Pearland– a suburb located in Houston, Texas.

The gaming arena is 4,800 square feet, designed by the architecture firm M+A Architects, and will feature 48 gaming stations. Visitors will have access to the latest new generation consoles, with the PS5 being available in every gaming station, and the Xbox Series X also being available in most. A PC will also be available in each one.

There is also a dedicated private room that visitors will be able to hire out that holds 12 of the gaming stations for any special event.

The new gaming arena is partnering with Houston Outlaws, the Overwatch League team representing Houston, to hold a series of fan-focused activities, starting on August 8.

Martyn Gibbs, CEO of Belong Gaming, stated it’s thanks to the rich history of esports and gaming in Texas and teams like the Houston Outlaws that allows them to build upon the growing gaming culture and establish the first-ever Belong gaming arena in the US.

https://twitter.com/BelongPearland/status/1422185922196557828?s=20

Belong has ambitions to open at least 500 gaming arenas in the US over the next 5 years. Gaming arenas that are already in motion to open later this year will be in Dallas (Texas), Columbus (Ohio), Chicago (Illinois), and Nashville (Tennessee).

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The post Belong: The First Gaming Arena to Open in the US this Week first appeared on Get2Gaming.

The popular AR game has recently had its settings reversed back to what it was pre-covid times and players are disappointed.

Niantic Labs, the developers behind Pokemon GO, have now decreased their interaction distances for their Pokestops and gyms, causing a lot of distress for players online after pushing for the interaction distance to become permanent.

Pokemon GO’s Interactive Distance

We all had to adapt when COVID-19 struck around the globe and affected so many of us, and this included things such as the games we would play. Pokemon GO, the AR game that revolves around travelling outside to be able to catch Pokemon, collect items at Pokestops and battle other players at Gyms, relied on constant interaction and the developers Niantic Labs had to change the way the game was operated.

Niantic introduced new interaction distances to allow players to still be able to use Pokemon GO at a safe distance and received praise for how much it improved the gameplay. However, since some countries are lessening in the number of cases, Niantic decided to decrease the interaction distance and even repealed the changes from countries such as the United States and New Zealand completely.

Players took to Twitter and Reddit to show their outrage at this decision, summarising why the interaction distances were the best changes to the game in years and how even though cases have dropped in some countries, COVID-19 is still very present and dangerous. They also said how the increased distances made it easier to interact with Gyms and eliminated issues like finicky positioning for GPS drift and allow players with health or accessibility issues to gain access to Gyms they couldn’t reach before.

https://twitter.com/KratosPogo/status/1421776514698383360?s=20

Okay, y'all know how much I LOVE @PokemonGoApp, but it's over 100°F outside and COVID is still a thing and something @NianticLabs could've easily left in the game has been removed. I used to spin 4 stops from my bed… now I'm lucky to hit 1. Time for change. @NianticHelp https://t.co/anPFHDiFxI

— Wild Dorkachu (@WildDorkachu) August 1, 2021

Players even started a petition on Change.org to keep the increased interaction distances for Pokemon GO and it has reached over 130,000 signatures.

Hopefully, Niantic will listen to players that have started to boycott the game due to the reversal of the interaction distances, as some have been pushing for the interaction distances to stay permanent before they were changed back, so this reversal makes some feel like the developers are not listening to the players’ pleas.

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The post Pokemon GO: Interactivity Distance Decreases Causing Upset Amongst Players first appeared on Get2Gaming.