scandals and controversies Latest news (14)

Paul Wozniak, 19 January 2020, 21:51

England's mental health director, Claire Murdoch, claims that lootboxes in video games put children at risk of becoming addicted to gambling. Thus, she calls for the companies behind such games to take appropriate action.

Paul Wozniak, 03 January 2020, 22:46

The developers from the now-closed studio responsible for the development of Rune II have given the publishers the files and source code of the game, so that the latter will be able to continue working on the title. The issue of compensation and reimbursement of development costs has still not been resolved.

Michael Kulakowski, 20 December 2019, 23:52

CD Projekt and Andrzej Sapkowski signed an agreement ending a dispute that had been going on for a year, which started after the writer made demands for a payment of compensation of $16 million. Thanks to the settlement, the company can still adapt the Witcher franchise, not only in the form of games, but also comics and all kinds of gadgets.

Jacob Blazewicz, 18 December 2019, 23:37

Mesut Özil, a footballer of Arsenal F.C., will be removed from the Chinese edition of eFootball PES 2020. The reason for this are his entries on social media, in which he criticized the Chinese government for persecuting Muslims.

Bart Swiatek, 12 December 2019, 14:31

Valve Software has removed dozens of profiles and images containing Nazi words and symbols. The measures were taken after notification by the German Media Authority of Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, as using Nazi-related symbols and terminology in punishable by law in Germany.

Julia Dragovic, 08 December 2019, 22:43

Valve is delaying the release of games related to protests in Hong Kong. All of the titles are on the pro-democratic side of the conflict. And if you don't what something is about... it's about China, in other words, money. Blitzchung, Hearthstone player recently suspended by Blizzard, also appears in the affair.

Bart Swiatek, 26 November 2019, 13:56

One Chinese player spent 8-10 million yuan on developing his character in MMO game Justice Online. When he shared his account with a friend, the latter put the hero in the auction house, but.... mistakenly entered a price that was a few zeros short. As a result, the hero was purchased for about 1/2560 of the original amount.

Milosz Szubert, 26 November 2019, 12:00

A lot of games and exansions disappeared from Steam last night. According to Valve, it was dictated by the fact that some publishers, including Russia-based Dagestan Technology, abused Steamworks tools.

Jacob Blazewicz, 25 November 2019, 23:28

Google has responded to allegations about Google Stadia's problems with 4K resolution in many games. According to the company, everything depends on the game's optimization made by the developers.

Milosz Szubert, 21 November 2019, 13:51

Geoff Keighley has been accused of being biased in awarding nominations for The Game Awards 2019. This is because Death Stranding, in which the creator and host of the event appears as a guest, has the chance to win nine statuettes.

Konrad Serafinski, 19 November 2019, 12:27

Blizzard has been struggling with PR problems for a long time. Former employees and creators of the Diablo series, who attended the Path of Exile fan party, added their own five cents, not denying themselves the opportunity to comment on the company's recent activities.

Jacob Blazewicz, 13 November 2019, 21:52

Two days before the release of Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield first reviews of both games appeared on the internet. In the meantime, the players got to the game files, and their findings reignited the controversy around the so-called Dexit.

Paul Wozniak, 13 November 2019, 21:22

A player who helped find the bugs in Fallout 76 and created an interactive game map was banned by Bethesda. The reason for blocking the account is not entirely clear, and the contact with the support department did not bring a solution to the problem.

Bart Swiatek, 12 November 2019, 20:55

Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear Solid series and the recently released Death Stranding, said that the latter title may be difficult to understand for some types of audience. In his opinion, Americans belong to this category.

Laty, 12 November 2019, 20:22

The new terms of use of YouTube raise concerns of a large group of creators, as channels that are not „commercially viable” for advertisers may be closed.

Laty, 09 November 2019, 23:26

Bill Gates believes that everyone would now be using Windows Mobile on their smartphones, not Android, if nt for US Department of Justice, which distracted him when it opened an antitrust investigation against Microsoft.

Laty, 07 November 2019, 22:58

Doc is coming back in style - this time not only has he uninstalled Fortnite again, but he has also offended anyone who plays Fortnite and is over 13 years old. Will this be the end of his adventure with this game?

Paul Wozniak, 05 November 2019, 20:47

At Reboot Develop conference, Devolver Digital co-founder Mike Wilson compared developers to drug dealers and their productions to addictive drugs. He also asked for thoughtful serving of content that would broaden the horizons of players, and not only take their time and money.

Jacob Blazewicz, 02 November 2019, 21:44

BlizzCon 2019 is in full swing, but not everyone is celebrating together with Blizzard. A group of people demonstrating their support for the protests in Hong Kong and their dissatisfaction with the recent actions of the American publisher gathered at the entrance to the building where the event is taking place.

Bart Swiatek, 31 October 2019, 20:26

Twitter will soon block the possibility of publishing paid political ads. According to the company, they enable manipulation of public opinion. Facebook has recently taken a diametrically different stance on the issue.

Frozen, 30 October 2019, 21:39

Punishing a player for supporting protests in Hong Kong turned out to be a blow not only to the image but also to the financial position of Blizzard. Two days after the event, Mitsubishi Motors resigned from sponsoring the Hearthstone tournament.

Bart Swiatek, 30 October 2019, 14:13

Dayton Young, the organizer of the protest organized in connection with the ban placed on player Hearthstone Chung „blitzchung” Ng Wai, announced that the demonstration will take place as planned, despite the fact that Blizzard Entertainment has relaxed its position.

Darius Matusiak, 29 October 2019, 21:24

Despite the good reception from the critics, Modern Warfare has failed to win the gaming crowd, as shown by the low average rating on Metacritic. Mainly due to the creators falsifiying the true history of the so-called „highway of death”.

Milosz Szubert, 29 October 2019, 13:47

Valve has decided to ban the resale of keys used to open the boxes acquired while playing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. All because of the fact that there were used in scams.

Agnes Adamus, 28 October 2019, 23:09

Fallout 1st subscription divided Fallout 76 community. According to reports published on Reddit, there are clashes on servers, fought between subscription holders and people who have not decided to invest additional money in the title.

Adrian Werner, 28 October 2019, 13:58

Fans of The Outer Worlds have discovered that the game has a collection of almost 500 forbidden words that you can't use when naming your character. Among them were both vulgarisms and words such as „gay” and „transexual”.

Darius Matusiak, 27 October 2019, 21:17

There is no longer any doubt as to why the Russian branch of Sony has banned the sale of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in Russia. The story campaign shows the local army in the role of brutal torturers.

Paul Wozniak, 27 October 2019, 20:23

Epic Games is suing a player who used Twitter to inform fans about what new season of Fortnite will bring. It turned out that he took part in the testing of the new content in September and, by revealing what he learned, broke the confidentiality agreement.

Christian Pieniazek, 24 October 2019, 23:54

Ubisoft has brough out the big guns against the owners of MizuSoft, a company that sells Rainbow Six Siege cheats. The publisher demands that they cease their activities and pay a large compensation.

Christian Pieniazek, 24 October 2019, 23:25

Scrapbox is one of the elements of the paid subscription to Fallout 76, called Fallout 1st. Its first buyers report that it causes problems with disappearing objects; some of the players lost all their pieces of equipment.

Adrian Werner, 24 October 2019, 13:22

The Fallout 1st subscription announced yesterday was met with a very negative reception by the players of Fallout 76. Most fans are angry and one of them even bought the Falloutfirst.com domain just to mock Bethesda's offer in very indiscriminate words.

Christian Pieniazek, 22 October 2019, 20:50

Research by the Oxford Internet Institute has shown that there is currently no evidence that excessive gambling is a illness. Instead, they argue that it is merely a symptom of wider problems unrelated to video games.

Julia Dragovic, 22 October 2019, 12:27

The popular youtuber PewDiePie was banned in China for showing in his film the (in)famous meme comparing secretary Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh.

Jacob Blazewicz, 21 October 2019, 21:59

Nathalie Verweij from Coffee Stain spoke on Epic Games Store's policy. The designer, currently part of the team responsible for Satisfactory, said that the platform helps the devs, and the voices of criticism on the Internet are only a „loud minority”.

Michael Kulakowski, 19 October 2019, 18:47

Several US congressmen and senators have drawn up an official letter warning Blizzard of the consequences of its recent actions, favouring China's political line and punishing those who support democratic protests in Hong Kong.

Paul Wozniak, 19 October 2019, 11:57

It turned out that yesterday's update to Control was flawed and had already been withdrawn. Thus the game works again without an internet connection and Steam Controller pad is compatible again.

Adrian Werner, 18 October 2019, 11:22

Patch 1.04 brought a lot of unpleasant surprises to the PC version of Control. It added a DRM system that forces online mode through the Epic Games Store client. It also broke compatibility with Steam Controller.

Julia Dragovic, 17 October 2019, 12:54

After the AU Hearthstone team supported Hong Kong protests in an official stream stream, Blizzard decided to impose a six-month suspension penalty on the players.

Michael Kulakowski, 16 October 2019, 20:46

Paradox Interactive withdrew the beta version of the mobile Stellaris: Galaxy Command from distribution after it was revealed that it contained a stolen illustration created for Halo 4. The title was produced by a subcontractor, the Chinese studio GameBear.

Jakub Mirowski, 14 October 2019, 11:23

Blizzard removed Mei figure from its store. Players suspect that the reason for getting rid of this Overwatch character is the fact that she has become one of the symbols of the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

Konrad Serafinski, 13 October 2019, 19:58

The end of the tension between Blizzard and Blitzchung. The player posted a personal statement on Twitter in which he admitted that he understands his error and thanked the company for the reduction of his suspension and returning of his prize.

Konrad Serafinski, 12 October 2019, 21:56

It's been a nightmare week for Blizzard. The company banned a tournament winner, prevented user account deletion, to mention just a few mishaps. J. Allen Brack, company's CEO decided to speak. In a long press release, he announced that he would reduce the penalty for Blitzchung and pay him his tournament prize.

Adrian Werner, 12 October 2019, 21:42

Riot Games has issued a statement to fans in which it recommends avoiding political topics when playing League of Legends. The team wants to avoid a repetition of the Hong Kong protest scandal that Blizzard Entertainment is currently facing.

Krzysztof Kaluzinski, 11 October 2019, 20:06

Riot Games decided to sue an eSports team with a quite similar name - Riot Squad. The devs of the popular MOBA League of Legends believe that CS:GO team is illegally taking advantage of the popularity of the well-known brand.

Bart Swiatek, 11 October 2019, 13:04

Protesters on the streets of Hong Kong had the opportunity to watch one of the last episodes of South Park - Band in China - on the big screen, where the creators ridicule the Chinese authorities and their influence on the Western entertainment industry. The show was very popular.

Bart Swiatek, 11 October 2019, 12:23

Mark Kern, former Team Lead at Blizzard Entertainment, responded on Twitter to the high-profile Hong Kong protest scandal. In his opinion, the company is acting against its own values. The developer also quotes several stories that illustrate the extent of influence and methods of Chinese companies in the gaming industry.

Adrian Werner, 10 October 2019, 14:07

Apple succumbed to pressure from the Communist Party of China and removed the HKmap.live app from the App Store. The app is used by Hong Kong protesters to track police activity.

arRacoon, 10 October 2019, 11:57

Blizzard scores another PR blow right after the Chung „Blitzchung” Ng Wai affair at the Hearthstone Tournament in Hong Kong. According to reports, Blizzard accounts have become much more difficult and often impossible to remove. The studio is suspected of intervening and actively blocking the possibility of saying goodbye to the account.

Jacob Blazewicz, 09 October 2019, 22:47

Tim Sweeney from Epic Games referred to the controversy surrounding the suspension of Chung „blitzchung” Ng Wai by Blizzard for a political statement during a Hearthstone tournament. The CEO assured that he would not allow Fortnite players to be punished for their political statements.

Julia Dragovic, 09 October 2019, 14:14

After the penalty imposed by Blizzard on Blitzchung for publicly supporting protests in Hong Kong, savage flak of comments and criticisms hits the company from numerous sides. The community is calling for a boycott. The publisher's employees also reacted, and the player himself briefly referred to the penalty.