Avowed‘s game director Carrie Patel has been on the blower to Eurogamer about why Avowed doesn’t have any romance in it, which is to say it does, actually, if you’re paying attention, and also, affairs of the heart aren’t supposed to feel like min-maxing your Wizard, Kevin. To put that another way, she has gently suggested that relationships are more relatable when they aren’t some kind of mechanic or system.
Pikmin Bloom and Monster Hunter Now are also going.
It’s official — Niantic, the developer of Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now, has sold its gaming division for a staggering $3.5 billion to Scopely, “a world leader in mobile games”.
This acquisition comes just a few weeks after reports emerged that Niantic was in talks to sell. The deal also includes the community-building apps Campfire and Wayfarer.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
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Two Zenless Zone Zero voice actors discovered they had been replaced when the game’s patch notes went live, they have claimed, in the latest casualty of the battle for generative AI protections.
The Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists’ (SAG-AFTRA) ongoing dispute with the video game industry revolves around the use of generative AI to replicate voice actor performances.
ZZZ, developed by Genshin Impact company HoYoverse, is not subject to the strike because it was in development before July 25, 2024, when the strike began. However, voice actors may choose not to sign new contracts in solidarity with striking union members, or in the absence of a SAG Interim Agreement.
Emeri Chase — who portrays Soldier 11 — said they were “replaced as Soldier 11 because I am unwilling to perform work not covered by a SAG Interim Agreement during a strike for AI protection, the outcome of which will determine the future of our industry.” Nicholas Thurkettle, who played Lycaon, has been similarly replaced, although Thurkettle is not a union member.
“I’d like to clarify that there’s a difference between being ‘struck’ and not being on an Interim Agreement,” Chase explained in a thread on Bluesky (thanks, Eurogamer). “Union projects that began work prior to the strike and non-union projects are not ‘struck.’ But they also do not offer the Union-enforced AI rights we are fighting for.
“Many actors are choosing to voluntarily withhold work on these categories of projects because we feel it is the best way to support the union’s fight for the protections that are critical to our continued ability to create the art we love.”
Chase added that they knew “that by withholding work it was possible” they’d be replaced, but had “hoped [developer YoHoVerse] would choose to leave her silent until I was able to return.”
“I found out the role was recast today alongside all of you,” Chase said, while Thurkettle stated: “I’m learning about this as you are, and I share your shock. Neither HoYoverse nor Sound Cadence has communicated with me since October. I’ve been fully available and recorded multiple voice jobs in that time.
“I’m not SAG but what game companies want to do with AI is an existential threat. I took a personal stand to ask for protection, and had to be willing to give up the best thing that’s ever happened in my professional life. I stand by my choice.”
IGN has asked YoHoVerse for comment.
In a similar case from December, Activision confirmed it had recast some members of the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 cast after fans noticed much-loved Zombies characters with new voices in-game.
The company issued a statement to Game Developer admitting characters in Black Ops 6’s Zombies mode were recast amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
Zombies characters William Peck (Zeke Alton) and Samantha Maxis (Julie Nathanson) are currently voiced by new, unknown actors. Alton told Game Developer that he took no issue with Activision’s actions with Peck, but expressed concern “for my brand as a performer.”
“Fans of the game have reached out to me because the lack of crediting [of the replacement actor] implies that it may still be me which unfairly represents my abilities as a performer,” Alton said at the time.
For more on how the strike has, and will continue to, affect the games you play, check out our feature from last year, What the SAG-AFTRA Video Game Actors Strike Means for Gamers.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Niantic Inc. has confirmed the sale of Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, Monster Hunter Now, and their development teams to the Saudi-owned maker of Monopoly Go! for $3.5 billion.
An additional $350 million of cash from Niantic is being distributed as part of the deal, yielding a total value of approximately $3.85 billion for Niantic equity holders.
In a note to press, Scopely, which is owned by Saudi investment company Savvy Games, said the Niantic games business has over 30 million monthly active players (MAUs), over 20 million weekly active players, and saw more than $1 billion in revenue in 2024. Pokémon Go is the jewel in the crown, ranking as a top 10 mobile game every year since its launch nearly a decade ago, with over 100 million unique players in 2024.
Niantic said its game team has “exciting long-term roadmaps that they will continue to build upon as part of Scopely.”
“This partnership ensures that our games have the long term support needed to be ‘forever games’ that will endure for future generations,” Niantic said in a blog post.
“Players can expect that the games, apps, services, and events they know and love will continue to receive Scopely’s ongoing investment, driven by the same teams that have always created these experiences.”
In a separate blog post, Pokémon Go chief Ed Wu moved to reassure players who had already expressed concern about the fate of the game if a sale were to go through.
“As it’s always important to me, and our entire game team, that our community understands and is excited by the long-term vision for this game, I want to share why I believe a partnership with Scopely will be a positive step for all of you and the game’s future,” Wu, who was the original engineer on the Pokémon GO codebase and was there for its massive 2016 launch, said.
“Scopely expressed a deep admiration for this community and our team. I have every belief Pokémon GO will further flourish as part of Scopely, not only into its second decade, but for many more years to come, under the mission of discovering Pokémon in the real world and inspiring people to explore together,” Wu continued.
“Our new partnership, along with our decade long partnership with The Pokémon Company, means we can maintain this long-term focus. Scopely fully believes in our mission and ongoing goal to create the best Pokémon Go experience possible. Their focus will be to support our team, providing resources to continue delivering the gameplay you all know and love.
“The entire Pokémon Go team is staying together through this partnership. The same people who have been guiding and building the game for years will continue doing what we love. We’re always continually adding to the game – Raid Battles, friends, Go Battle League, Routes, Dynamax/Gigantamax, and, of course, Pokémon Go Fest and our live events – which I look forward to continuing to do for many years to come. Scopely empowers their game teams as autonomous groups to go after the roadmaps that they’re inspired to pursue, and what each team believes is best for the player experience. This approach is extremely appealing to us at Niantic games. I have spoken to a number of game leaders at Scopely who have given me great confidence in how the company enables each game to independently develop and creatively thrive.
“We will be joining a broader organization dedicated to games. I believe that Pokémon Go can continue to thrive with Scopely’s exclusive and long-term focus on game-making. Scopely’s status as a private company also means we can prioritize what’s best for you, our Trainers, for the long term. We believe that prioritizing short-term gains at the expense of our long-term mission would be counterproductive and self-defeating. Every interaction I’ve had with Scopely leaders has reinforced that we are in total agreement that the scale, longevity and most of all, real world community, of Pokémon Go make it truly special. We are united in protecting that.
“With Scopely’s full commitment, experience and resources, we’re going to make Pokémon Go the very best it can be – with incredible battles for thousands of Trainers at a time at our live events and new ways to connect to your friends and community, all while remaining focused on the excitement and experience of discovering Pokémon in the real world. We have invested to empower thousands of Community Leaders and Ambassadors who lead millions of Trainers to play together in the real world, and Scopely is in full agreement that this highly-admired program will be a priority to invest in together. The real-world community that loves Pokémon Go will remain our guiding light in all we do.
“Our partners at The Pokémon Company have always been central to how we build this game together, starting with the physics of the first Poké Ball throw that we hand-tuned together. I am incredibly grateful for their daily wisdom, guidance, and careful stewardship of our shared vision for discovering Pokémon in the real world, and I’m very excited that our partnership with The Pokémon Company will continue as it has for the last decade.
“I won’t say that Pokémon Go will remain the same, because it has always been a work in progress. But how we create and evolve it will remain unchanged, and I hope that we can make the experience even better for all of you.
“I have so much gratitude for the incredible joy of serving hundreds of millions of Trainers in our real-world community for the past nine years, and I truly believe the best is yet to come.”
Elsewhere, Niantic said it’s spinning off its controversial geospatial AI business into a new company, Niantic Spatial Inc., “enabling it to accelerate and scale even more rapidly.” Scopely is a $50 million investor in this new venture, which also has $200 million from Niantic itself.
Niantic Spatial will continue to own and operate its other real-world AR games, Ingress Prime and Peridot.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Full Moon.
Moon Studios, the developer behind the Ori series and the upcoming action RPG No Rest for the Wicked, has announced that it is now “fully independent” after purchasing the publishing rights to its next game from the recently sold Private Division.
In a new YouTube update on No Rest for the Wicked’s next patch, studio co-founders Thomas Mahler and Gennadiy Korol confessed that Take-Two’s sale of Private Division was “unexpected news”, but the team saw it as an “opportunity”. Having negotiated with the former publisher, Moon Studios was able to buy NRFTW’s publishing rights, granting the studio full independence.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
A minority shareholder in Ubisoft is attempting to organize a protest outside the company’s Paris headquarters, accusing it of failing to disclose alleged discussions with Microsoft, EA, and others publishers reportedly interested in acquiring its franchises.
In a statement seen by IGN, Juraj Krúpa, CEO of AJ Investments, claimed Ubisoft is “horribly mismanaged by current management,” and wants a “clear roadmap for recovery” from the senior team to address “declining shareholder value, lackluster operational execution, and failure to adapt effectively to market trends.”
Krúpa alleged that Ubisoft has not been transparent about its decision-making, accusing the firm of “hiding information,” including an Assassin Creed Mirage DLC partnership with the Saudi investment firm Savvy Group.
The shareholder also pointed to a restricted article published by business investment platform MergerMarket that alleged “discussions between Microsoft, EA, and others that are interested in acquiring IPs from Ubisoft.” “Management did not inform public about these steps either,” Krúpa claimed.
IGN has asked Ubisoft for comment.
Back in October, Bloomberg reported that Ubisoft’s founding Guillemot family and shareholder Tencent were in discussions to take the company private following a number of high-profile flops, game cancellations, and the collapse of the company’s share price. At the time, the talks were merely exploratory, and Ubisoft told IGN it would “inform the market if and when appropriate.”
For several years now, Ubisoft has seemed to be in a strange, slow downward spiral, with a number of high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, game cancellations, and delay after delay after delay.
Meanwhile, rumors continue to spin about what exact proposals the board is considering, with some media outlets floating the idea that Tencent is increasingly reluctant to embrace Ubisoft due to the Guillemot family’s insistance on retaining a significant amount of control. Sans Tencent, there are few other companies big enough and rich enough to spend the cash needed to save the albatross Ubisoft has grown into.
“Management postponed its current game (which should save the company and its financials) Assassin’s Creed first time on 18th of July 2024,” Krúpa’s statement said. “On that date, Ubisoft confirmed full-year guidance for the year and release of AC Shadows on November 15. 2024. Just [a] couple months later, in September 2024, Ubisoft delayed the game again and revised its guidance, which in our view, was [a] move that could have [been] predicted by Ubisoft management.
“After [the] third delay, the game will finally be published on March 20, 2025. These delays and revised guidances caused severe stock declines, which harmed mostly retail investors that have limited resources to manage their positions accordingly. This action benefited mainly corporate and institutional investors who were on the buy side for distressed prices such as Credit Agricole, Goldman Sachs clients, Morgan Stanley, and others.”
Believing management did not communicate with shareholders “appropriately,” AJ Investments is calling on all investors “who are frustrated with the prolonged stagnation in Ubisoft’s stock performance and the lack of decisive action from the management team” to join its protest in May.
“We are aware that Ubisoft’s management and CEO have initiated a financial review of potential strategic options, advised by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. We expect this review to yield results in the coming months,” said Juraj Krúpa, founder of AJ Investments.
“That is why we are organizing this demonstration in May — to ensure they have time to reach a conclusion that genuinely increases shareholder value. If their conclusion effectively enhances shareholder value, we will call off the demonstration.
“All shareholders/investors of Ubisoft deserve a company that maximizes value and operates with transparency and accountability,” Krúpa added. “Ubisoft has continued to underperform compared to its industry peers, and it is time for the company to listen to its shareholders. This demonstration will be a powerful statement from investors who believe in the company’s potential but demand urgent change.”
AJ Investors said that it is prepared to “sue the company for misleading investors.”
This isn’t the first time this investor has called for the company to go private amid a shares slump following the disappointing release of Star Wars Outlaws.
Back in September, AJ Investments issued a strongly worded open letter to Ubisoft’s board of directors, including its CEO Yves Guillemot, as well as fellow investor Tencent, to express their dissatisfaction with the performance of the company and its current share price and urging the firm to change its leadership and consider a sale. It followed weeks of turmoil at Ubisoft, where the megacorp’s share price plunged following the launch of Massive Entertainment’s Star Wars Outlaws, which Ubisoft subsequently confirmed had performed below expectations.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
“While GTA lets players experience a fictional underworld of lawless enterprise, the entities behind PlayerAuctions own and operate a real one”. So claims a lawyer for GTA 6 and Borderlands publisher Take-Two Interactive in a complaint filed on Tuesday against third-party asset marketplace PlayerAuctions. They accuse PlayerAuctions – who have already faced similar accusations from Roblox – of selling modified player accounts obtained by hacking, via Polygon.
(I have no choice but to respect the hustle of trying to make GTA’s “fictional underworld of lawless enterprise” sound as cool as possible during a lawsuit. “While GTA lets players do cool and fun fake crimes…”)
“The website PlayerAuctions.com offers a vast online marketplace containing thousands of listings for unauthorized, infringing GTA V content – including heavily modified player accounts, in-game assets, and virtual currency – all gained by using hacking software, cheats, and technical exploits,” continues the complaint.
“The most complete final version of the trilogy”.
Inti Creates has kicked off 2025 with the announcement of a new Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced collection.
It will be releasing for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 on 24th July 2025 and contains the following games along with all of the DLC:
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Verity Amersham’s pockets are overflowing. Her school uniform hides a paperclip, a safety pin, two school badges, two books, a bottle of wine, a bottle of chloroform, a handwritten note, and more. None of it will do any good, as I have failed once again. Verity will be expelled from school.
I have saved Verity from her fate previously. Expelled! is Inkle working in their Overboard! mode, which Alice B so enjoyed upon its surprise release in 2021. Here, again, you play and replay a short 45-60 minute story, trying new ideas and learning more each time. It also returns to the interwar years for a different kind of pastiche of golden age mystery fiction: the school story.
