Roblox brought in 1,000 developers to participate in The Hatch, an event the Lego-like game platform says will go down as its biggest Easter Egg hunt ever. While the official experience is propped up as an important moment, thousands of players have already voiced their support for a boycott by using the #BoycottTheHatch across social media.

The Hatch went live earlier today, cracking open its doors for players across the platform to enjoy the work put in by an army of Roblox developers. It’s entirely free-to-play and will no doubt attract millions of players who have been looking forward to the company’s latest Easter Egg hunt experience for the last month. What should be an exciting moment for the community has turned into a controversial stain as players and developers alike band together to opt out of The Hatch in favor of a movement that aims to make the platform safer for all ages forever.

Disappointing #BoycottTheHatch pic.twitter.com/J6lhYkY4j1

— Kakiparks (@CKs_hidingplace) June 20, 2025

Communication from Roblox Corporation has done little to ward off concerns that the gaming giant is failing to protect users from inappropriate content. Though much of the firestorm that’s taken hold of the conversation has subsided, many fear issues surrounding The Hatch are only a symptom of larger issues yet. Community organization opposed to The Hatch could be the start of what players hope will be meaningful change, but they’ve got a long way to go.

What Is The Hatch?

Prominently featured atop the Roblox home page, The Hatch is an Easter Egg hunt-themed umbrella event that runs from July 2–12 and incorporates a variety of Roblox experiences. Joining the event teleports players to an island realm, which itself serves as an in-between area to hang out in before traveling to a more fleshed-out hub world. In this vacation paradise, users can take in the sights across different colorful biomes while completing quests, challenging others for higher leaderboard spots, and purchasing cosmetic items. It all revolves around one goal: collect as many eggs as possible.

Each painted collectible isn’t found in The Hatch itself, though. Instead, players use the official Roblox hub world to transport themselves to other user-created Roblox experiences via portals placed around the map. Each portal features around 40 games that range from Squid Game obstacle courses to anime-inspired fighting simulators. These are where the eggs can be found, and while they’re often not particularly well hidden, The Hatch and Easter Egg hunts in general have proven to be enticing events that get Roblox players engaged with experiences they know and some they don’t.

Hundreds of Roblox games are included in The Hatch, cementing the event as a crucial limited-time mode with official backing from Roblox Corporation. The Hatch’s page had more than 46 million visits at the time of this piece’s publication. It also describes an experience that is “suitable for everyone.”

Roblox Players Take Action Against a Controversial Creator

Roblox pulled back the curtain on The Hatch June 12, marking a return to beloved Easter Egg hunting festivities with more to do and more polish than ever. It was an exciting moment marred by controversy when players caught wind that infamous (and verified) Roblox developer TheOfficiaITeddy had been invited to include his creations.

Roblox is a free-to-play platform that is no doubt used by countless children every day, yet, nearly 20 years into its lifespan, Roblox Corporation still finds itself facing accusations that it’s cultivated a dangerous environment for younger players. TheOfficiaITeddy is one developer at the center of the conversation surrounding these topics thanks to his involvement in what many call “condo” games. These social experiences allow players to mingle with one another, but it’s the allegations that Teddy’s condo experiences have featured romantic, dating, and even sex-themed content that have the community ready to take action.

“This person has gained HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of visits on games that can only be described as s*x games,” one popular post from X/Twitter user @RoCatchers said. “These games feature inappropriate animations disguised as innocent stuff, and people within the games use it for lewd acts. These games also feature private ‘motel rooms’ that you can lock allowing people to be 1 on 1. These games are often a target for predators.”

The creator, whose seemingly harmless light-blue teddy bear avatar has filled social media feeds, is responsible for publishing popular titles like Boys and Girls Club Hangout Roleplay and CNP and Slender Hangout, both of which have since been removed from Roblox’s list of publicly available experiences. Suggestive content is believed to be the cause behind previous bans and content takedowns from Roblox Corporation, but despite numerous reports of action taken against TheOfficiaITeddy in the past, players found that the creator has managed to find his way back to the Roblox spotlight on more than one occasion.

but for whatever reason, he was UNBANNED, and he directly claimed that he received an invite to RDC. Then, Roblox bans him again, and very very recently Roblox UNBANNED him- pic.twitter.com/OLbxDae3Xx

— RoCatchers (@RoCatchers) June 17, 2025

While most Roblox developers invited to participate in The Hatch include names behind popular obstacle courses and action-focused experiences, TheOfficiaITeddy stood out to many as a concerning outlier who has been repeatedly accused of harming the safety of users on the platform. Roblox’s confirmation that Teddy was, along with many others, invited to be officially involved in The Hatch only added fuel to the fire, with his official backing now sitting at the forefront of the issues the #BoycottTheHatch movement seeks to resolve.

What Is #BoycottTheHatch?

The #BoycottTheHatch movement’s sails first caught wind with posts from X users like @RoCatchers and @greenlegocats in mid-June. The goal was clear: spread awareness. Posts covering the topic quickly gained thousands of likes on X alone as users called not only for Teddy’s invitation to be rescinded but for the controversial creator to be banned altogether.

What was a simmer quickly evolved into a full-on boil as Roblox developers involved in The Hatch began to pull out from the event. Popular creations like DOORS, Pressure, Piggy, untitled tag game, LOCOfficial, and many more stepped away not only due to the issues surrounding TheOfficiaITeddy but because of issues regarding how The Hatch has been handled thus far. These include general quality concerns as well as other points of contention such as fears some The Hatch promotional images were generated by artificial intelligence and a concern regarding how developers were selected for participation.

A few days removed from the boycott’s emergence (and weeks before The Hatch would kick off), Roblox addressed the Teddy situation.

“The safety and well-being of the Roblox community is our top priority,” Roblox said. “On top of our community standards, we have additional guidelines to qualify to participate in platform events. TheOfficiaITeddy should not have been invited; we have rescinded their invitation to The Hatch and have taken appropriate action in accordance with our policies. Our team is thoroughly re-examining the invitation list against our community standards and are re-evaluating these processes to ensure an additional level of vetting for our invitees going forward.”

We appreciate their removal from the event, but I please ask that the moderation team reviews their account accordingly. If their game doesn’t follow your guidelines, surely their account doesn’t either. I want this platform to be a safer place, I know you guys can do better

— MiniToon (@DaRealMiniToon) June 19, 2025

Piggy developer MiniToon was one of the first to respond to Roblox Corporation’s message, explaining that while the sentiment was appreciated, it remained worried that the moderation team would not thoroughly address the situation. It added in a post: “I don’t want to have to make these tweets, but it feels like we are just being seen and not heard, witnessed and not understood.”

As the #BoycottTheHatch hashtag continued to fill feeds in the weeks that followed, Roblox finally returned with a lengthy statement June 30, two days before The Hatch would begin. The company explained that, during its absence, it conducted an investigation into Teddy that involved an attempt to alter experiences that complied with its Community Standards. Although these standards were eventually met, Roblox said it was able to confirm “a separate outstanding policy violation that cannot be rectified.” Teddy and all of his creations have since been removed from the platform.

“At Roblox, safety is foundational to everything we do — that’s why we take reports of harmful content or behavior seriously, and we investigate them thoroughly,” Roblox said. “It can take time to investigate properly, and we’re always working to make this process more efficient while maintaining our high standards for fairness.”

Teddy may be banned but we still have a lot of work to do in the fight against online dating, degeneracy, and pedatory behavior on Roblox. This has been a big victory in an even bigger battle. Continue fighting the good fight to make Roblox a safer space for all.

— Lord CowCow (@greenlegocats) July 1, 2025

There’s been no word regarding how the #BoycottTheHatch movement may pivott to address other common complains, but Teddy’s removal stands as a major moment for the movement. For now, the event is scheduled to run for another nine days.

Roblox The Hatch launched July 2 and, at the time of this piece’s publication, sports more than 40K likes and more than 97K dislikes. As players continue to shape their experiences in the coming days, you can read up on Grow a Garden, which has catapulted itself past multiple concurrent player records in its journey to become one of the most popular games of all time.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Despite the non-disclosure agreements, Battlefield leaks are still coming fast and freely via its closed playtest. The most recent leak has revealed a peek at the upcoming shooter’s free-to-play battle royale mode.

Battlefield dataminer Temporyal (via Insider Gaming), took to social media to share more unannounced details, including evidence that the map is set in California, insertion is via a CH-47 Chinook, and the “destructive ring [is] made of a compound called NXC.” We’re not yet clear on the lore behind why it’s there yet, though.

The info comes attached to a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it seven-second introductory cutscene that seems to show a squadron of helicopters heading towards a battle zone in a way that’ll look familiar to anyone who’s spent time with Call of Duty battle royale Warzone.

Here’s a short video clip showing the start of a Battlefield 6 Battle Royale match:

☀️ Map set in California
🚁 Insertion via CH-47 Chinook
🔥 Destructive ring made of a compound called “NXC”

This work-in-progress material is based on the BF Labs “Alpha” client. pic.twitter.com/uzsIR8lRuJ

— temporyal (@temporyal) July 3, 2025

The Battlefield playtest has proven to be leaky indeed, and developer DICE has “loads of feedback from the very active testers selected.” Unlike Battlefield 2042’s lukewarm reception, fans seem pretty pleased with what they’ve seen so far, and for some time EA wasn’t even trying to take them down. That’s changed somewhat since, however, although there’s still plenty of information around if you’re quick enough to catch it before the takedown notices go out.

So far, we’ve seen evidence of a new drag mechanic and the ability to cling on to vehicles, as well as improved in-game movement, 3D maps, and improved destruction.

EA has been playing its cards pretty close to its chest about the new Battlefield, and we still don’t know when, exactly, it will launch. But EA’s last financial report suggested it’ll come out by the end of March 2026.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Build A Rocket Boy, the Edinburgh, Scotland-based developer of MindsEye, has issued at-risk emails to its around 300-strong UK workforce following the disastrous launch of the game.

Sources familiar with the goings on inside the embattled studio told IGN at-risk emails were also sent to staff at PlayFusion, which BARB acquired late 2024. PlayFusion, whose CEO Mark Gerhard became co-CEO of BARB as part of the buyout, is working on a different game — a fast-paced FPS called Ascendant which was meant to come out this year.

Last month, IGN reported that BARB had begun a redundancy process following the release of MindsEye. The standard 45-day consultation process kicked off on June 23, which according to UK law is triggered when an employer proposes 100 or more redundancies within a 90-day period. IGN understands Build A Rocket Boy currently has around 300 UK employees, with 200 abroad.

At the time, BARB issued a statement confirming the redundancy process, insisting the cuts will let the studio “focus on delivering ongoing updates and performance optimization for MindsEye, while also ensuring the long-term success of Build A Rocket Boy’s future ambitions.”

Soon after MindsEye launched, BARB said it was “heartbroken” over the issues players had faced with the game, and promised to release a series of patches to fix the significant performance problems, glitches, and AI behavior bugs. Rollout of these patches has begun.

All the while, MindsEye’s troubled launch saw the developer cancel sponsored streams, with reports of players securing refunds, even from the normally stubborn Sony, surfacing online.

On Steam, which does not paint the whole picture of MindsEye’s current popularity, the game hit a peak concurrent player count of 3,302 on launch, but had a 24-hour peak of just 46 players. At the time of this article’s publication, 26 people were playing on Steam, where MindsEye has a ‘mostly negative’ user review rating.

Story-driven action adventure game MindsEye was initially designed to be a part of Everywhere, the ‘Roblox for adults’ creation platform led by former Grand Theft Auto design chief Leslie Benzies. BARB eventually switched to focus on MindsEye, but it has so-far failed to do the business for the company.

Meanwhile, BARB sources told IGN that Benzies finally addressed staff following the release of MindsEye in a brief video call yesterday, July 2. According to two people present who asked not to be named in order to protect their careers, Benzies insisted BARB would bounce back and relaunch MindsEye, blaming the studio and the game’s struggles on internal and external saboteurs, among other things.

The comments rekindle memories of those issued by Mark Gerhard ahead of the release of MindsEye. The co-CEO hit the headlines for claiming there was a “concerted effort” by some to “trash the game and the studio,” suggesting people were being paid or using spam bots to post negative comments. The boss of publisher IO Interactive, which makes the Hitman games, subsequently issued a denial.

BARB sources told IGN that internally, there is a desire for a MindsEye redemption arc that would eventually see it become successful for the studio. But as staff face an anxious wait to discover their fate, there are serious questions over whether BARB will be able to fulfill its post-launch roadmap for content, including the promised multiplayer mode, on time.

Earlier this week, BARB released MindsEye’s third post-release update on console, with a PC release to follow. “We’ve watched hundreds of hours of gameplay footage and reviewed player feedback across multiple channels to prioritize the most pressing issues and improve the experience for all our console players,” the studio said.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox Series X and S next month in a shock announcement that sees Sony publish a game on PlayStation’s rival consoles.

Arrowhead’s explosive co-op third-person shooter launches on Xbox on August 26, 2025, a livestream confirmed.

Developing…

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

As the full effect of Microsoft’s devastating round of layoffs becomes clearer, Blizzard has announced that mobile game Warcraft Rumble won’t get any new content, with its developers reporting they have been laid off.

Warcraft Rumble was a high-profile attempt by Blizzard to bring the Warcraft universe into the lucrative mobile space. Development began in 2016, with the game itself releasing in 2023 as a free-to-play tower defense RTS inspired by the likes of Clash of Clans. The PC version launched late last year.

In a blog post, Blizzard admitted Warcraft Rumble “struggled to find its footing relative to our ambition for its long-term success,” and that recent attempts to improve the popularity of the game weren’t enough to sustain development.

The news comes as part of a bloodbath at Microsoft that saw 4%, or just over 9,000 staff, cut from the company. While the majority of those layoffs were outside the gaming business, Xbox studios were hit hard. Rare’s Everwild, for example, was canceled, as was the Perfect Dark reboot. The Initiative was closed.

Elsewhere, Candy Crush maker King suffered significant layoffs, as did Bethesda’s European operations. An unannounced MMO from The Elder Scrolls Online developer, ZeniMax Online Studios, was canceled and its development team cut. Reports indicate Forza developer Turn 10 and various Call of Duty development studios suffered layoffs, too. Microsoft was forced to deny rumors that under fire Xbox boss Phil Spencer is set to retire after the release of the next-gen Xbox.

Alex Apple, client engineer at Blizzard, took to LinkedIn to say they had been laid off “along with the entire Warcraft Rumble team.” Other developers on the game reported similar.

In its blog post, Blizzard said Warcraft Rumble will remain playable but will only receive updates focused on regular, systemic in-game events and bug fixes.

Dear Warcraft Rumble Community,  

We have an important update on the future of Warcraft Rumble. After much deliberation, we’ve arrived at an extremely hard decision. Moving forward, we’ll continue supporting Rumble with updates focused on regular, systemic in-game events and bug fixes, but no new content.  

Warcraft Rumble began development nine years ago as a love letter to Azeroth and launched back in 2023, reflecting input from enthusiastic players around the globe and the effort of a passionate team — some of whom continue to support Rumble or other Blizzard games, and some we’ve had to sadly part ways with. Since launch, Rumble has struggled to find its footing relative to our ambition for its long-term success, and for some time now the team has been listening to player feedback, refocusing in certain areas, and exploring different options. Some of that work showed signs of progress, but ultimately wasn’t enough to put the game on a path to sustainability.  

During this transition, we are focused on supporting our teammates. We’re deeply grateful to everyone at Blizzard and in the community for helping bring Warcraft Rumble to life and embracing the joy that makes this game so special. Your enthusiasm and feedback mean the world to us.

Fans of the game reacted with disappointment to the news, but there is little surprise given how the game has gone over the last two years. Most players are now waving goodbye to Warcraft Rumble and its community, while sending messages of support to the affected developers.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.