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Daily Briefing: Monday 22nd November
🕑 Added 2021-11-22 14:00:08 +0000 UTCBobby Kotick would consider resigning if he can't sort out Activision Blizzard problems
That's according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal which, citing various internal sources, claims that embattled Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has told his senior management team that he would be willing to resign his post if he can't "quickly fix" the pervasive culture problems currently afflicting the studio. Kotick's alleged statement effectively skates over the two-pronged question of why hasn't he instilled a positive work culture in the 30 years he's been in charge of Activision? And if he thinks he can quickly fix all these issues why hasn't he done it yet?
- Calls for Kotick's resignation have been growing steadily louder since an earlier Wall Street Journal article claimed that he was aware of the multiple sexual harassment allegations at the company, miscommunicated them to the board, and mistreated several women himself. As of today some 1800 employees (around 18% of Activision Blizzard's workforce) have signed a petition calling for Kotick's removal, which includes senior developers across King, Blizzard, and Activision studios like Sledgehammer Games and Infinity Ward. A public online petition has also garnered nearly 23,000 signatures but, with Kotick showing no signs of stepping down and the board apparently still behind him, it'll be interesting to see what happens next.
Battlefield 2042 has over 17,000 "mostly negative" reviews on Steam
Battlefield 2042 hasn't had the greatest launch in the world, in fact it's had a really rather bad one. The game is now one of the worst-reviewed titles on Steam amassing over 17,000 mostly negative reviews just two days after release - though players who bought the special edition did get a decent bit of early access. In short, players are frustrated with the underpopulated maps, issues with vehicles, and missing features like leaderboards. It also doesn't have in-game voice chat, which is a baffling oversight.
- Developers DICE are trying to turn the game's fortunes around, though it's clear they have a long road ahead of them. They issued a new client-side update last week intended to stop some of the more pervasive launch issues like rubberbanding and stuttering, and outlined that “in the coming weeks, we’ll have more to share around further upcoming fixes, balance changes, and QoL enhancements." EA community manager Adam Freeman also stated that the studio are currently set to release two more updates "over the next 30 days." The first update will "deliver more fixes and improvements that we've identified during this first week of Early Access," with a larger update coming later.
Rockstar apologise for state of GTA Trilogy
The absolute state of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition has turned out to be one of the most significant gaming stories of the year, with Rockstar Games receiving some heavy criticism for the game falling miles short of being "definitive." Following a spate of backlash from fans and critics alike, Rockstar have issued an apology for the "unexpected technical issues" currently afflicting the Trilogy.
- In a new blog post, the publisher wrote that they want to "sincerely apologise to everyone who has encountered issues playing these games," and reiterated that the Grand Theft Auto games are "as special to us as we know they are to fans around the world." Rockstar acknowledged that the updated versions of the games did not launch in a state that meets our own standards of quality, or the standards our fans have come to expect." The blog post also outlines that Rockstar will continue to work on the Trilogy and, "with each planned update, the games will reach the level of quality that they deserve to be." We'll see about that one.
