2018 wasn’t the best year for Riot Games, with an exposé revealing discriminatory behaviour that ultimately led to the suspension of chief operating officer (COO) Scott Gelb. In an effort to move forward, the League of Legends developer has now updated its 2012 manifesto by outlining its five core values. …
Read More »YouTube’s latest policy bans videos inciting dangerous behaviour, following the “Bird Box Challenge”
YouTube has updated its official policies this week, with its support page detailing a stronger stance against harmful content such as dangerous challenges and pranks. Of course, the Google-owned platform has never endorsed such behaviour, but feels the need to embed its opposition in legal terms following the inconceivably popular …
Read More »Bethesda is suspending the accounts of players that entered Fallout 76’s developer room
Last week, players discovered Fallout 76’s developer room, a restricted area in the game containing every single item for testing. Confirming the email that had circulated shortly after the discovery was made public, Bethesda’s Polish Facebook account has announced that those who enter the room will receive a temporary suspension …
Read More »China accuses US of suppressing tech firms, as criminal indictment is prepared against Huawei
Huawei has long been at odds with the United States at this point, with the Chinese smartphone manufacturer consistently accused of being a security danger. The US government seems to be escalating these claims as it reportedly prepares to take the company to court over the alleged theft of trade …
Read More »IO Interactive is opening a second studio in Sweden for new IPs
IO Interactive has opened a second studio in Malmö, Sweden to complement its Denmark headquarters. Alongside providing assistance to its successful Hitman franchise, the new team will be looking towards developing new IPs. It’s been quite some time since IO Interactive worked on anything other than Hitman, returning to the …
Read More »Nintendo Switch’s January update adds Western languages to SNES data
Earlier this week, dataminers found evidence that SNES games could be on their way to the Nintendo Switch by uncovering 22 titles within the code. Not only do these remain following yesterday’s update to the platform, apparently new information has been added that could suggest a release sooner rather than …
Read More »Netflix increases its US pricing once again
Although Netflix has had to drop the majority of its Marvel shows, the streaming giant has more original programming now than ever. It is because of this that users are yet again seeing a price rise, with every tier increasing by $1-2 per month. Netflix has managed to build a …
Read More »Forza Horizon 4 withdraws dance emotes following the trend of lawsuits
At the end of last year, Epic Games was bombarded with legal action surrounding its use of iconic dance moves in Fortnite. In an attempt to avoid getting caught up in the whirlwind of litigation, Microsoft and Playground Games have decided to remove its “Carlton” and “Floss” emotes from Forza …
Read More »Lack of demand sees Intel discontinue Core+ processors bundled with Optane memory
Last year, Intel unveiled its Core+ line of processors, bundling i7+8700, i5+8400 and i5+8500 models with 16GB of Optane memory. It seems as though a lack of demand has since led to their discontinuation, as Intel has filed a ‘product change notification’ earlier this week. Intel spent a good portion …
Read More »Activision announces free trial for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode
While Fortnite might have successfully jumped on the battle royale bandwagon popularised by PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds back in 2017, the subsequent barrage of copycats has made it difficult to know which ones are worth it and which ones aren’t. It seems as though Activision realises this, and will now be offering …
Read More »Apple had to replace 10 times the amount of batteries in 2018
After it was revealed that Apple was intentionally slowing the performance of aging iPhones, the company eventually put its battery replacement program on offer as an apology for its lack of communication with customers on the matter. This effort has seen ten times the users opt-in to replace their iPhone’s …
Read More »EA sends Vancouver Studio’s Star Wars game back to the drawing board
After Visceral Games was shut down by EA in October, 2017, assets for its Star Wars game were moved over to its Vancouver Studio, transforming the project from a linear action-adventure game into an open-world space epic. It turns out this approach was just a little too big for the …
Read More »AOC reveals pricing and availability of its AGON 3 Series of HDR displays
AOC unveiled its AGON 3 Series of curved gaming displays at Gamescom last year, catering to both G-Sync and FreeSync users. Tentative release windows ran a little over schedule, but the wait is almost over as AOC reveals pricing and availability for the AG273QCX and AG273QCG. While both the AGON …
Read More »Qualcomm’s second lawsuit against Apple has been dismissed in Germany
Qualcomm scored a number of victories in its patent battle with Apple last year, winning preliminary injunctions to prevent the sale of older iPhones in both China and Germany. It seems as though lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same country, as a German court has completely dismissed Qualcomm’s second …
Read More »Nintendo issues Russian general manager with formal warning for misconduct
Following his loss of temper live on stream last year, Nintendo of Russia general manager Yasha Haddaji had a number of employees come forward with their own stories of misconduct in the workplace, including violence and sexual harassment. After a “thorough investigation,” Nintendo of Europe confirms that Haddaji has written …
Read More »Renders show off potential Huawei P30 and P30 Pro smartphones
Leaks and comments from industry insiders have already laid the groundwork on what to expect for Huawei’s upcoming flagship P Series, including a quad-camera P30 Pro. Ahead of a predicted unveiling next month, renders give a closer look at what we should perhaps expect from the Chinese smartphone manufacturer. Huawei …
Read More »Nintendo Switch datamine finds SNES games and references to other emulators
While it seems as though the Virtual Console is a thing of the past, NES games are available on the Nintendo Switch via its accompanying Online subscription. Nintendo could have plans to expand this roster of retro games if a datamine is to be believed, as code for a range …
Read More »A chart tracking error means that New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe did even better at launch
Yesterday, data unveiled that New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe was topping the UK charts, selling significantly better than its predecessor’s lifetime sales. Unfortunately, a chart tracking error incorrectly revealed a 24.8% improvement over the original, but the good news is that the Switch port has in fact doubled that …
Read More »PlayStation 4 finally joins Rocket League’s cross-platform play efforts
Rocket League was meant to shortly follow in the footsteps of Fortnite: Battle Royale last October, adopting full cross-platform play. Although developer Psyonix found itself delayed until this year, Rocket League is now a part of the PlayStation Cross-Play Beta program, allowing players across PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and …
Read More »Amazon shows off New World footage in Twitter choose your own adventure
Although Netflix’s Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is far from the first ‘choose your own adventure’ experience, it’s fair to say that the feature-length episode has launched the genre back into prominence. Using an inventive marketing twist on the system, Amazon has chosen to showcase its upcoming MMO ‘New World’ by letting …
Read More »Epic’s digital storefront has updated its refund policy to match Steam
After a decade with no refund policy in place, a barrage of criticism and legal complaints led to Valve finally implementing a returns system in 2015. As Epic Games teethes its new digital marketplace, it looks to be implementing a similar refund scheme. Like its competitor, the Epic Games Store …
Read More »New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe & Smash Bros. Ultimate have sold better than predecessors
Update (15/01/19): A chart tracking error incorrectly revealed a 24.8% improvement over the original, which has since been redacted to account for “missing” sales from a number of retailers. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe instead sold 56% higher than the original Wii U version. Original Story (14/01/19): New Super …
Read More »AMD files lawsuit against MediaTek for patent infringement
AMD is taking legal action against MediaTek for allegedly infringing on patents related to its GPU and APU technologies.
Read More »Activision investors call for third-party investigation into Bungie split
Although Activision’s split with Bungie was largely welcomed by the Destiny community, company investors are suspicious that there has been fraudulent activity from behind the scenes. Third-party lawyers from Pomerantz LLP are currently investigating the sudden announcement, which has been linked to sizeable dips in the company’s stock. Activision Blizzard …
Read More »Chooseco sues Netflix over Bandersnatch infringing on “Choose Your Own Adventure” trademark
Netflix has wanted to push into interactive media for quite some time, with Black Mirror: Bandersnatch proving to be a successful start. Unfortunately, this has put the streaming giant at odds with ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ book publisher Chooseco, which alleges that the feature-length episode infringes on its trademark. Filing …
Read More »CES 2019: Royole releases the world’s first commercially available bendable smartphone
While Samsung’s much-talked Infinity Flex smartphone is still in the prototype stage, Royole has managed to give tech enthusiasts a hands-on with the final version of its FlexPai device at CES 2019. The world’s first commercially available bendable smartphone is available to pre-order, but the price isn’t for the faint …
Read More »CES 2019: Cooler Master unveil a range of new RGB coolers and fans
Alongside brand new cases, peripherals and its part in ASRock’s Phantom Gaming Alliance, Cooler Master has, of course, unveiled a range of new thermal options at CES 2019. Ensuring there’s something for everyone, Cooler Master has introduced three new tower coolers and a brand new series of fans, all clad …
Read More »Fallout 76 players have found a lonesome NPC in the game’s hidden developer room
Fallout 76’s latest patch managed to implement over 150 different bug fixes, but it hasn’t managed to prevent players from discovering its secret developer room. As a testing area, the room houses every single item in the game, both released and unreleased, and surprisingly houses a human NPC named Wooby. …
Read More »Germany bans Amazon’s Dash Button for conflicting with local consumer laws
Back in 2015, Amazon introduced Dash Buttons to its speedy replenishment services, allowing customers to place an order on consumables at the click of a single button. The technology has now been banned in Germany, after a Munich regional court found the technology to be in violation of consumer laws …
Read More »Facebook is repeatedly rejecting video game ads for “sexually suggestive” imagery
It’s no secret that Facebook is a little picky with its content guidelines, often flagging and blocking advertisements from being posted in order to protect its user base. Sometimes this can go a little too far, as developers Team Meat and Devolver Digital have discovered recently. At the end of …
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