gaming

30 Jan 2024

Former ‘Call of Duty’ GM Johanna Faries Appointed President of Blizzard Entertainment

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Call Of Duty: Vanguard Launch Event With A First-Ever Verzuz Concert Featuring Migos And More

Source: Jon Kopaloff / Getty / Johanna Faries

Blizzard Entertainment has a new president, Johanna Faries.

Effective February 5, Johanna Faries will succeed Mike Ybarra, who left the company last week after news of Xbox and Activision laying off 1,900 employees.

Fairies has been a part of the Blizzard family since 2018, first as commissioner of Call of Duty esports before being promoted to general manager of Call of Duty.

Before bringing her talents to the video game space, Faries was the club business development vice president for 11 years at the NFL.

In her announcement, Faries spoke on becoming President while acknowledging the massive layoffs at the company.

“I want to let you know immediately that it is an honor to join you next week in this new capacity. I do so humbly and in awe of all that Blizzard has stood for and delivered to the world for over thirty years. Today also brings some mixed emotions,” Faries said.

“The loss of talented teammates in recent days is hard to hold side-by-side with the immense excitement I feel about joining Blizzard – and building on the momentum you’ve created for Blizzard’s next chapter.”

She continued, “I am committed to doing everything I can to help Blizzard thrive, with care and consideration for you and for our games, each unique and special in their own right.”

Power Moves For Women of Color In The Video Games Space

Fairies is the latest woman of color to land a high-ranking video game industry position. In a shift of its leadership structure, Xbox promoted Sarah Bond to President.

In an exclusive interview with HHW Gaming’s Bernard “Beanz” Smalls, Faries discussed the importance of seeing someone like her in prominent roles in the gaming industry.

It’s an honor in every way to be able to occupy this chair and this role. I know that it represents a lot for a lot of different people, beyond just being a business executive. People who have the ambition to be a part of great franchises and also be a part of tech and gaming, generally speaking, but also for women and minorities and underrepresented communities who are still coming up the ranks within our industry in particular.

Congrats to Johanna Faries. We’re looking forward to seeing what her leadership brings to Blizzard.

30 Jan 2024

Walmart Has a Spacious Gaming Desk on Sale for Nearly 35% Off

All products and services featured are independently chosen by editors. However, Billboard may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

If you’re a serious gamer, then you need a serious setup to completely immerse yourself in your favorite games.

Enter the Homall 44-inches Gaming Desk, a wide and roomy desk that’s ideal to a PC-gaming setup. It’s on sale for $79.99, or $40 off its list price, at Walmart — that’s an impressive 33% savings. Meanwhile, the desk is a great solution for a workspace if you work from home on a laptop or desktop computer.

And since it’s from Walmart, you’ll get it shipped to you for free if you’re a Walmart+ member. Otherwise, your cart has to be more than $35 to get free shipping.

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Not a member? You can sign up for a 30-day free trial to take advantage of everything the retailer’s rewards program has to offer, including free delivery; fuel savings at Exxon, Mobil, Walmart or Murphy gas stations; streaming access to Paramount+ to watch hit originals such as Halo, Fatal Attraction and Star Trek: Lower Decks; early deals access and much more. Learn more about Walmart+ here.

Homall

Homall 44-inches Gaming Desk

$79.99

$119.99

33% off

Made with a carbon fiber surface, the Homall 44-inches Gaming Desk is spacious with more than enough room to support a 40-inch monitor, a keyboard and mouse and various gaming devices and accessories, including a slip mat, a mouse pad, a smartphone with charger and more.

It even comes with a hook for gaming headsets or headphones, and cup holder for tasty beverages at its edges to free up even more space on the desk surface itself.

The desk is also designed with a Z-shaped frame and legs for sturdiness and support without taking up too much space in your home.

At $79.99 (regularly $119.99), the Homall 44-inches Gaming Desk is available in two color combinations, black and red, as well as white and blue.

Want more deals? For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.

29 Jan 2024

Next State of Play Presentation Confirmed, Here’s What To Expect

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Source: PlayStation / State of Play

Xbox hit us with the first Developer_Direct of the new year, and now it is PlayStation’s turn to show us what to expect in 2024 for the PS5.

After initially leaking, PlayStation confirmed a State of Play broadcast is on the way, and we can expect “extended looks” at Stellar Blade and Rise of The Ronin.

Per the PlayStation Blog, the broadcast will be 40 minutes long and cover 15+ games during the presentation, including the ones mentioned above.

Before PlayStation officially announced the State of Play, a post on X, formerly Twitter, from gaming insider @Shpeshal_Nick cryptically revealed what games we could expect to see during the broadcast.

“On the 31st (roughly), Ronins will Rise, we’ll die stranded, have a rebirth and Kojima will fulfil his dream. Sonic will live in the shadow of his generation while the hills will remain silent until the dawn when you’ll need to catch the metro. Just don’t be a Judas about it,” the tweet read.

Thanks to X user Rand_al_Thor_19, we know what games we could expect, and they are:

Rise of the Ronin
Death Stranding 2
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
Sonic Generations Remaster
Silent Hill 2
New Metro game
Judas

According to another X user, @Kurakasis, the new Metro game will be a VR title.

“I can reveal that a new Metro game, which is going to be announced very soon, is a VR game titled METRO AWAKENING,” the post on X read.

Sounds good to us. Keep it locked on HHW Gaming as we will recap what was revealed during the State of Play going down on Wednesday, Jan 31, 5 pm ET, 2 pm PT.

25 Jan 2024

1,900 Activision Blizzard and Xbox Employees Laid Off By Microsoft, X Reacts

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Microsoft Lays Off 1,900 Activision Blizzard & Xbox Employees

Source: Microsoft / Xbox /Activision Blizzard

New year, more layoffs in the video game industry, sadly.

Can we hit the reset button?

The video game industry continues to be hit with layoffs despite companies seeing massive amounts of profit and games selling like hotcakes.

Microsoft is the latest company to take an axe to its workforce, laying off 1,900 employees from Activision Blizzard and Xbox. The Verge reports that most of the layoffs will affect roles at Activision Blizzard, and these cuts will also impact some employees at Xbox and ZeniMax.

The 1,900 layoffs will account for 8% of Microsoft’s gaming division’s 22,000 employees.

The website obtained an internal memo from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer confirming the horrible news.

Per The Verge:

It’s been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined Microsoft. As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business. Together, we’ve set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth.

As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team. The Gaming Leadership Team and I are committed to navigating this process as thoughtfully as possible.

The people who are directly impacted by these reductions have all played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished here. We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws. Those whose roles will be impacted will be notified, and we ask that you please treat your departing colleagues with the respect and compassion that is consistent with our values.

Looking ahead, we’ll continue to invest in areas that will grow our business and support our strategy of bringing more games to more players around the world. Although this is a difficult moment for our team, I’m as confident as ever in your ability to create and nurture the games, stories and worlds that bring players together.

Phil

Blizzard president Mike Ybarra Is Also Bouncing

Among the 1,900 will also be Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, who did his best impression of the Spongebob “might imma head out” meme.

“As many of you know, Mike previously spent more than 20 years at Microsoft. Now that he has seen the acquisition through as Blizzard’s president, he has decided to leave the company,” Microsoft’s game content and studios president, Matt Booty, said in an internal memo.

Also leaving is Allen Adham, Blizzard’s chief design officer.

Booty adds, “As one of Blizzard’s cofounders, Allen has had a broad impact on all of Blizzard’s games. His influence will be felt for years to come, both directly and indirectly, as Allen plans to continue mentoring young designers across the industry.”

The Verge has also reported that a game Blizzard has been working on for over six years has also been canceled. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier says the name of the game was Odyssey.

Schreier notes that Activision Blizzard employees are reaching out to him to learn their fate and waiting to see if they are among the 1,900.

Social Media Reactions To The Layoffs

As expected, the news of the layoffs is not landing well on X, formerly Twitter, with reactions pouring in from those involved in the gaming industry.

Kinda Funny’s Andy Cortez perfectly summed up in one post on X how these layoffs can affect the future of the video game industry.

“You’re a student in game dev school. You’re reading about Microsoft laying off 1,900 people after buying Activision Blizzard. You just read about more Embracer layoffs from yesterday. Nearly 6,000 games industry workers are jobless so far this year. It is still January,” Cortez said.

The frightening trend, which saw an estimated 10,500 game industry workers in 2023, is currently on pace to match or smash that number. Video Games Chronicle reports over 5,000 workers will lose their jobs in 2024.

Damn.

You can see more reactions to Microsoft layoffs in the gallery below.

1. Unbelievable

2. Great point

7. Well damn

25 Jan 2024

The Pokémon Company Is Putting On Its Detective Pikachu Hat & Investigating ‘Palword’

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Pokémon Company Investigating 'Palworld' Plagirism Accusations

Source: CHRIS DELMAS / Getty / Palworld

The Pokémon Company has seen enough and is looking into the viral game Palworld.

2023 ended with a huge gaming scam with The Day Before. Could we be on the verge of seeing a popular video game being exposed for stealing early in 2024?

Since the arrival of Palworld and its meteoric rise, many have been keeping their eyes peeled and ears opened, wondering if The Pokémon Company would have anything to say about the obvious Pokémon-“inspired” survival game.

Thursday night, The Pokémon Company broke their silence on the matter. In a statement, the game studio says it will investigate Palworld and “take appropriate measures” if it finds anything that looks like the game infringes on its intellectual property.

Since launching in early access on Friday, Jan. 19, numerous claims of plagiarism have been lobbied at the game, specifically regarding the design of the Pals, the creatures players can capture, collect, and battle.

While the game is clearly a riff or parody on Pokémon, other gameplay designs like crafting, arming your characters, and Pals with guns, as well as base-building, put the game in the same breath as other survival titles like Valheim and Ark.

Still, that didn’t stop loyal fans of Pokémon from contacting The Pokémon Company. Like loss prevention at your favorite clothing store that allows thieves to steal so they can build a case, they are watching and seemingly letting Palworld do the same.

The statement reads in full:

We have received many inquiries regarding another company’s game released in January 2024. We have not granted any permission for the use of Pokémon intellectual property or assets in that game. We intend to investigate and take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the Pokémon. We will continue to cherish and nurture each and every Pokémon and its world, and work to bring the world together through Pokémon in the future.

Nintendo has already shut down a Pokémon mod introduced into the PC version of the game, and the creator of the mod announced that the company notorious for coming after people for “abusing” its intellectual property did hit him up.

Speaking with Stephen Totilo of Game File, former head of The Pokémon Company’s legal team from 2008 to 2020, Don McGowan, shared his thoughts on Palworld, saying, “This looks like the usual ripoff nonsense that I would see a thousand times a year when I was Chief Legal Officer of Pokémon,” he said. “I’m just surprised it got this far.”

Palworld Is DOING NUMBERS

Despite all that, Palworld is doing insane numbers that titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 have done, but just in a matter of days.

On its official account, the game celebrated the milestone of selling over 8 million copies in less than six days, and that could be even more thanks to all the hoopla surrounding the game.

The game is also available on Xbox Game Pass, and we have no clue how many subscribers are playing it there, and that could also be in the millions.

We want to see how this plays out and if The Pokémon Company’s investigation exposes some bad faith acting on Palworld’s developer Pocketpair’s part.

Until then, the video game streets are talking. You can see those reactions below.

3. Howling

5. So unserious, lol

23 Jan 2024

Skullcandy’s SLYR Pro Gaming Headset That Delivers ‘Clear & Crisp’ Audio Is 50% Off: Shop the Deal Here

The ideal gaming setup is one that can completely immerse yourself into the universe you’re playing within. Gaming chairs are just the first step to creating a comfortable oasis as you take on the latest level, but incorporating a solid gaming headset can take your experience from good to otherworldly.

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Rather than use your Bluetooth earbuds to listen to background music and audio, a pair of over-ear headphones will help drown out distracting noises as well as communicate better with other online users. High-end wired headphones for gaming can cost hundreds of dollars that you don’t always have, but right now you can snag a major tech deal on Skullcandy’s SLYR Pro Gaming Headset for 50% off, which drops it down to a wallet-friendly $40.

The brand has cultivated a reputation for quality and durable audio devices, which has even landed praise from one Billboard editor who’s still wearing the same Skullcandy earbuds she’s had for 16 years. And, thanks to their durable cord and consistent sound, they still look and sound as great as the day she unboxed them.

The SLYR Pro headset is no exception either as one reviewer claims, “Even in games I’ve played 50 times, I can hear things I never knew were there.” Another shopper also attests to how “clear and crisp” the audio is, saying, “You can’t go wrong with a set of these.”

Keep reading to shop the deal below.

Skullcandy

Skullcandy SLYR Pro Over-Ear Wired Gaming Headset

$39.99

$79.99

50% off

$59.99

$84.99

29% off

$71.65

$81.68

12% off

For less than $40, you can snag Skullcandy’s SLYR Pro wired gaming headset, which is not only available in three colors, but comes with a removable boom microphone and Enhanced Sound Perception technology for a more immersive experience. The design also has multi-platform connectivity, including PC, Playstation, Switch and Xbox. For even more customization, you can control sound settings within the accompanying app.

For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.

19 Jan 2024

‘The Last of Us, Part II: Remastered’ Is Here: How to Buy the Game Online

Nearly four years after its original release, Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment remastered The Last of Us, Part II for the PlayStation 5.

Out now with a retail price of $49.94 at Walmart, The Last of Us, Part II: Remastered has enhanced 4K graphics and audio for PS5, while keeping the same gameplay, story and combat from the sequel game, which was first released in June 2020 for PS4.

However, there are some new goodies that come with this 4K remastered edition, including new character and weapon skins, a speed run mode and a new “No Return, A Roguelike Survival Mode,” which deepens combat and the adventure with new options and routes for a different experience.

And since it’s from Walmart, you’ll get it shipped to you for free if you’re a Walmart+ member. Otherwise, your cart has to be more than $35 to get free shipping.

Not a member? You can sign up for a 30-day free trial to take advantage of everything the retailer’s rewards program has to offer, including free delivery; fuel savings at Exxon, Mobil, Walmart or Murphy gas stations; streaming access to Paramount+ to watch hit originals such as Halo, Fatal Attraction, Star Trek: Lower Decks; early deals access and much more. Learn more about Walmart+ here.

The Last of Us, Part II: Remastered for PS5 is also available at Amazon, Best Buy and Target.

Sony

‘The Last of Us, Part II: Remastered’

Meanwhile, if you’d like to experience a new remaster of the first game for PS5, Walmart also has The Last of Us, Part I available. It’s on sale for $39.97, or nearly 45% off its list price, from the retailer.

Priced at $49.94 at Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy and Target, The Last of Us, Part II: Remastered is out now for PS5. In the meantime, you can watch the launch trailer from Sony, below.

Want more? For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best gaming chairs, best over-ear headphones, wifi extenders, laptop deals and more.

16 Jan 2024

Latest Trailer For ‘Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth’ Teases Epic Showdown With Sephiroth & Other Major Story Changes

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'Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth' Gets A New Trailer

Source: Square Enix / Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

We already knew Final Fantasy VII Remake was not just a rehash of the original game with a fresh coat of next-gen paint but a complete reimagining of what many consider the greatest RPG ever made. When Rebirth arrives, you can expect the same and then some.

A new trailer for Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth is here to excite us for a game we already can’t wait to play. The two-disc JRPG is upon us, and it will remix the beats from the original game that were engrained in our brains and, at the same, add some new twists to the story.

The usual suspects like Cloud Strife, Aerith, Cid, Red XIII, Barrett, Tifa, Cait Sith, plus Yuffie and Vincent are all back and are teaming up to save the world from Sephiroth.

In the original game, Yuffie and Vincent were optional characters, but in Rebirth, they will be a part of the primary team. The new trailer teases the big showdown with the legendary soldier turned wannabe destroyer of humanity.

It also teases possible changes to the original, like possibly confirming that Zack survived the epic battle and his being essential to Rebirth’s story.

Will There Be A Major Death In Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth?

Also, Aerith could be alive this time (spoiler alert); she died in the US version of the original game, much to players’ chagrin.

But, we still could be getting a significant death, and many believe it will be fan favorite Tifa who bites the dust this time around because of particular clips possibly showing her dying.

Again, we don’t know if this is the case, but we know producer Yoshinori Kitase is not afraid to have us clutch our pearls and be in our feels while playing his games.

By heading here, you can peep our interview with Kitase ahead of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Hit the gallery below for more screenshots from Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, which arrives exclusively on PlayStation 5 on Feb. 26.