Game Bites: Blizzard’s Harassment Suit, Olympics Homage To Video Games
Welcome back, all you Nerd Caliber fans, to another week of gaming news and events. This summer is getting hot with the Tokyo Olympics going on now and we have tons of news on that and more to share with you.
Blizzard was in the news this week due to many sexual harassment allegations. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed suit against Blizzard and owner Activision Blizzard on Tuesday. The complaint describes a “frat boy culture” in which male employees were observed “drinking and sexually harassing female employees without any repercussion,” according to the complaint. This is one of the many companies in the gaming community that has been facing legal ramifications as of late due to unsafe work environments. Blizzard stated to The Verge that the complaint contained many fallacies, was a description of previous workplace environments and did not reflect current Blizzard workplaces. Which begs the question, is the complaint wrong, or are the practices outdated? It can’t be both.
The long awaited EA Play 2021 was held this week and during the presentation EA announced a couple of games. One of the standouts from it was the long awaited Dead Space remake. As far as other games, EA showed off Grid Legends, Apex Legends: Emergence, Lost in Random, Knockout City Season 2, and Battlefield: Portal. The remake of Dead Space, which was the hit of the show, currently has no release date.
Playdate is a new retro handheld gaming system with black and white graphics that was announced in 2019, but this week we had another trailer with purchasing information and more gameplay. Playdate will be available for preorder starting Thursday, July 29 at 1 p.m. EDT / 10 a.m. PDT for $179.
The internet went viral with memes for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which kicked off this week, where tunes from classic video games played as all of the athletes from participating countries were welcomed into a crowd-free arena. There was plenty of representation on the RPG front, with well-known songs from franchises including Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Phantasy Star, and more.
This week was full of new releases starting with a few games on the 20th including, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed (PlayStation 4, Switch, PC); Cris Tales (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, Stadia, PC); Death’s Door (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC); Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4); and Monster Harvest (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC). On the 21 was Pokémon Unite (Switch), and on the 22 was Last Stop (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC). Orcs Must Die! 3 (Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) was released on the 23rd and Contra Returns (iOS, Android) on the 26th.
If you have been watching the Olympics or playing the Tokyo Olympics video game let us know what you think so far of the event. Don’t forget to like and follow us on YouTube as well, for more news on all types of fandoms, and stay safe in the summer heat.
