A Global Battle for Gamers, Roblox Class-Action, Games Round-Up, + More! - GameLinked Apr 4, 2024

[JakobRush]

NEWS SOURCES:

 

GAMERS RISE UP

YouTuber Ross Scott aka Accursed Farms kicks off “Stop Killing Games” campaign to let people own their games again

https://kotaku.com/ubisoft-the-crew-accursed-farms-stop-killing-games-1851385068

Scott originally planned a lawsuit 2 months ago https://www.pcgamesn.com/the-crew/servers-shutdown-lawsuit

Scott’s video https://youtu.be/w70Xc9CStoE

He isn’t after Ubisoft specifically, he’s after everyone

““This isn’t really about The Crew or even Ubisoft,” Scott says in the video. “It’s about trying to find a weak link in the industry so governments can examine this practice to stop publishers from destroying our games.”” https://lmg.gg/GfO5r (Kotaku)

It’s about The Crew’s playerbase of 12 million and France’s strong consumer laws https://youtu.be/w70Xc9CStoE?t=380

Stop Killing Games website https://www.stopkillinggames.com/

Has guides on what to do for many countries https://www.stopkillinggames.com/countries

Not like all devs are against this either; Velan Studios director of marketing discussed Knockout City sunsetting at GDC https://www.pcgamer.com/knockout-city-sunset-gdc-talk/

 

NO BLOCKS FOR ROBLOX

Lawsuit against Roblox allowed to proceed by judge

https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/3/24120358/roblox-robux-illegal-gambling-online-casinos-lawsuit-section-230

Originally filed in August 2023 https://www.classaction.org/media/colvin-et-al-v-roblox-corporation-et-al.pdf

Did dismiss some of the claims, including RICO allegations—the law the US govt typically uses against organized crime outfits like the mafia https://lmg.gg/gsu3P (The Verge)

Judge’s decision https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/rachelle-colvin-et-al-v-roblox-corporation-et-al-ruling-mtd.pdf

Roblox tried to argue that “the economic loss occurs and is complete at the time when the Robux are purchased.” 

Argued they’re like cinema or amusement park tickets https://lmg.gg/o05qr (The Verge)

Judge agreed “Those tickets do have economic value, even if they cannot be exchanged for cash,” https://lmg.gg/SmQra (The Verge)

Which btw, Robux can; just much less

Judge said it’s more like “a casino setting up shop outside an amusement park and luring a child away to wager and lose the tickets to an illegal gambling operation—tickets that the casino can then exchange for cash.” https://lmg.gg/KYSCJ (The Verge)

Not the last time Roblox has made a bad point about a scandal

In 2021, People Make Games made a video about alleged exploitation of underage game developers, while Roblox takes a 75.5% cut of their earnings https://youtu.be/_gXlauRB1EQ?t=92

Eurogamer spoke to Roblox Studio head Stefano Corazza at GDC 2024 https://www.eurogamer.net/roblox-studio-boss-children-making-money-on-the-platform-isnt-exploitation-its-a-gift

Corazza says “Like, you can say, 'Okay, we are exploiting, you know, child labour,' right? Or, you can say: we are offering people anywhere in the world the capability to get a job, and even like an income. https://lmg.gg/3oi3Q (Eurogamer)

“So, I can be like 15 years old, in Indonesia, living in a slum, and then now, with just a laptop, I can create something, make money and then sustain my life.” https://lmg.gg/rfeLT (Eurogamer)

 

THE GAMINGEST NEWS

Upcoming games roundup

Silent Hill 2 Remake gets ESRB rating, suggesting an imminent release date announcement https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2024/04/silent-hill-2-remake-claims-esrb-age-rating-ahead-of-supposed-2024-launch

Speaking of suggestive: https://www.esrb.org/ratings/39762/silent-hill-2/

“suggestive/sexual material: characters pole-dancing in strip-club settings; posters of women in revealing outfits (e.g., bra and thong, deep cleavage)” https://lmg.gg/UXNBu (ESRB)

Gears 6 might be shown this year https://insider-gaming.com/gears-6-xbox-summer-showcase-reveal/

According to Jeff Grubb and corroborated by The Verge’s Tom Warren https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/1775874925850513581

Long-awaited Hollow Knight: Silksong got an Xbox store page on April 1st https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1774892537263583386

May not be a joke, was rated in South Korea https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/hollow-knight-silksong-has-been-rated-in-south-korea/

Windblown, newest game from Dead Cells devs https://youtu.be/i7-XkJcL9s4

It’s a 3-player co-op roguelite https://www.gameinformer.com/preview/2024/04/03/a-twister-on-a-classic-formula

No Rest for the Wicked, Soulsborne-inspired Diablo-like isometric ARPG from Ori devs https://youtu.be/TjU0YTLvzD8

Newly revealed concept art ahead of April 18th early access Steam release https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/no-rest-for-the-wicked-looks-grim-and-challenging-in-this-exclusive-concept-art-gallery/2900-5231/

Eternal Strands https://youtu.be/YLliDntAitQ

Pitched as a blend of Shadow the Colossus and Monster Hunter with TotK physics abilities https://www.purexbox.com/news/2024/04/former-ubisoft-and-bioware-devs-announce-eternal-strands-coming-to-xbox-in-2025

The Crush House https://youtu.be/hHdOX9XpWJc

“Thirst-person shooter” with a mysterious dark twist https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-crush-house-is-a-saucy-90s-reality-tv-show-simulator-from-the-developers-of-reigns

 

 

QUICK BITS

 

PERFORMANCE HOBBLED FOR ART

Hellblade 2 looks great, though 30FPS only on Xbox S/X, co-founder of Ninja theory left

https://www.polygon.com/24120021/hellblade-2-senuas-saga-preview-ninja-theory-unreal-engine-5

https://wccftech.com/senuas-saga-hellblade-ii-30-fps-xbox-series-x/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/04/04/glowing-xbox-hellblade-2-previews-hit-ninja-theory-co-founder-leaves/?sh=2e439e2179f3

 

YOUR PALS MISS YOU

Palworld gets massive update

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1623730/view/4165340162543998798

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/palworlds-new-update-adds-two-tiers-of-goth-girl-boss-more-loot-quality-of-life-bumps-and-the-ability-to-slam-dunk-your-pals-out-of-their-lunch-break/

https://www.gamesradar.com/alongside-a-widely-praised-new-palworld-patch-the-survival-game-devs-are-already-promising-a-summer-update-with-a-new-island-and-many-new-pals/

 

BAD GIFTS ARE NOW GOOD

Dragon’s Dogma 2 players try and warn other players of Dragonsplague boogeyman

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/dragons-dogma-2-players-are-warning-each-other-about-the-plague-with-a-rotten-gimmick/1100-6522359/

https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/dragons-dogma-2-dd2-feature-dragonsplague/

Someone made a mod https://www.vg247.com/dragons-dogma-2-dragonsplague-pawn-infection-numbers-mod

 

SAD: PS PORTAL WORKS AS INTENDED

PS Portal hackers ‘responsibly report’ exploit to Sony that let them run emulators

https://www.ign.com/articles/sony-fixed-exploit-that-let-playstation-portal-run-emulated-psp-games-after-hackers-responsibly-reported-issues-to-playstation

https://www.techradar.com/gaming/programmers-got-psp-games-running-on-the-playstation-portal-then-responsibly-reported-the-exploit-so-it-could-be-patched

“traitor” https://twitter.com/tapoka5699/status/1775527937493639672

 

CALL OF DOOBIE

A datamine for a 4/20-themed Call of Duty parkour map gets personal

Insider Gaming article by Tom Henderson https://insider-gaming.com/modern-warfare-3-get-high/

Bob’s footage https://youtu.be/V5cUBylibWI

“Unfortunately, Bob isn’t the best Call of Duty player and wasn’t able to complete the obstacle course in time to show us what happens at the end.” https://lmg.gg/GybRt (Insider Gaming)

Bob’s response, and Henderson’s response to his response https://twitter.com/BobNetworkUK/status/1775608074729832580

Bob posts footage of the end of the map https://twitter.com/BobNetworkUK/status/1775617839107391545

Asks for rewrite https://twitter.com/BobNetworkUK/status/1775620237020344434

Henderson sends a screenshot of his update https://twitter.com/_Tom_Henderson_/status/1775625269706895833/photo/1

Bob doesn’t appreciate it https://twitter.com/BobNetworkUK/status/1775635486091923672