Monthly Archives: January 2019
The Game Industry Reacts to the Bungie-Activision Breakup
Today's industry-shaking news that prominent game developer Bungie and titanic publisher Activision were ending their planned 10-year agreement roughly halfway in – with Bungie retaining the Destiny IP and planning to continue supporting and self-publishing the popular game – sent shockwaves throughout the gaming community.
Reactions were swift and fairly universal in their enthusiasm and support for the one-time Halo developer. We've rounded up a handful of them below:
Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox
Arrow Switches Time Slots, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Gets CW Premiere Date
The CW’s spring premiere dates have been released, and we have updates on when Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will be airing.
Per E News, Legends of Tomorrow will be swapping time slots with Arrow and will have its midseason premiere on Monday, April 1 at 8pm. Meanwhile, Arrow will begin airing on Mondays at at 9pm following this.
Other CW show dates were announced, including Jane the Virgin’s final season premiering on Wednesday, March 27 at 9pm, iZombie’s final season premiering on Thursday, May 2 at 8pm, the In the Dark series is premiering on Thursday, April 4 at 9pm and The 100 returns on Tuesday, April 30 at 9pm.
How Captain Marvel’s Spoilery New Power Impacts Avengers: Endgame
Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame are almost upon us, but that didn't stop actor Samuel L. Jackson from dropping a huge spoiler that changes everything.
Warning: potential spoilers for Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame ahead!
In a print interview with Entertainment Tonight, Jackson was talking about Captain Marvel’s abilities and he let slip that “She's one of the few people in the Marvel universe that can time travel.” Hold on -- she can do WHAT now? This piece of information not only potentially spoils Captain Marvel, but Avengers: Endgame, as well. Nick Fury may be a master of secrets, but Jackson? Not so much.
Activision Appoints New President
Activision has promoted Rob Kostich to the role of President after working with the company for nearly 15 years, and the former head of Blizzard Mike Morhaime will exit the company he helped create in April.
Announced through Activision Blizzard’s official investor’s page, Kostich has been with Activision since 2004, primarily acting as the executive vice president and general manager of the Call of Duty franchise.
Congratulations to Rob Kostich on being named the new President of Activision.
Bungie Splits with Activision, Maintains Destiny Rights
Bungie and Activision are parting ways after entering a publishing agreement in 2010, with Bungie maintaining publishing rights to the Destiny franchise.
Bungie made the announcement through Bungie.net today. In the official statement, Bungie says, "With Activision, we created something special. To date, Destiny has delivered a combination of over 50 million games and expansions to players all around the world."
Following this eight-year run, Activision has transferred publishing rights for Destiny to Bungie, allowing the developer to fully control and publish its own property. Bungie further stated, "With our remarkable Destiny community, we are ready to publish on our own, while Activision will increase their focus on owned IP projects."
Zack Snyder’s Batman Batarangs Now Official DC Canon
The design for Batman’s Batarangs seen in Zack Snyder’s DC movies Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League is now official DC Comics canon. The updated Batarang design can be seen in this week’s Batman #62 by writer Tom King and artist Mitch Gerads.
Check it out:
Also it’s always awesome to see Zack Snyder’s designs being used the comics, first the Knightmare costume and now the Batarangs. Really cool! pic.twitter.com/2My9xyYxsQ
— Zayyan Farooqi (@ZayyanFarooqi) January 10, 2019
Get Aftercharge Free With IGN Prime
IGN Prime has partnered with Chainsawesome Games to bring you Aftercharge!
IGN Prime members, grab your copy of the electrifying 3 Vs 3 first person shooter, Aftercharge for Steam/PC and get ready for some high-octane battles.
Game Features:
- Unique blend of fresh mechanics: An invisible team fighting an invincible team, reviving allies instantly with no limit and zero cooldown on abilities are only a few mechanics that make Aftercharge a shooter you’ve never played before.
- Bite-size competitive matches: The teams are small, the maps are small, the rounds are short, the action is always within sight and it never stops.
Video Games Have a Dead Football Player Problem
I don’t quite remember when I realized I was playing football with dead people. Tecmo Super Bowl has been a part of my life about as long as I could remember. It exists at the perfect junction of accessibility, depth, realism, and fun. Its legacy is so well regarded that decades after launch, unlicensed cartridge versions with updated NFL player and team rosters are still released annually. But it wasn’t until last year that I first connected the death of NFL linebacker Junior Seau with the classic video football game.
Seau’s remarkable career made his death by suicide at age 43 national news. He’s one of a number of players from the Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Super Bowl rosters who have died since the games’ NES-era releases. Others include Terry Long, Mike Webster, and Andre Waters.
Catherine Is Now Available on PC
Catherine, the unique action-adventure/puzzle game from Atlus, is available now on PC for the first time ever, potentially signaling for more Atlus titles to follow.
SEGA made the announcement today. Officially dubbed Catherine Classic, the game comes with enhancements like the option for 4K resolution, an unlocked framerate, customizable keyboard and mouse controls and optional Japanese Voice Over.
The game is now available to purchase through Steam for $20 USD. It appears the game will come with digital deluxe extras for a limited time, including a digital original soundtrack sampler, desktop and mobile wallpapers, and avatars.
Fortnite Developer Gets an ‘F’ From Better Business Bureau
Epic Games, known for developing the highly popular Fortnite, has received an “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau, though the rating might not be an accurate reflection of Epic’s customer service.
The BBB allegedly granted the rating due to unanswered customer complaints, stating that 279 complaints have been filed against the business, but 247 have gone without a response - 271 complaints have been filed within the last year alone. Most complaints have to do with customer service and issuing refunds.