Game Bytes: Activision Improves QA Jobs, Kingdom Hearts IV Announced
Spring is finally starting to bloom, and this week has had some nice surprises for fans of all different kinds of games. The BAFTA awards gave lots of praise for Sony games, Kingdom Hearts had a very special anniversary and Activision Blizzard was in the news for something possibly positive this week.
Kingdom Hearts celebrated its 20th anniversary this Sunday with many announcements and new merchandise. Square Enix has announced that development is underway on Kingdom Hearts IV, which kicks off a new storyline for the franchise, the Lost Master Arc. Sora returns with another new look. The game is in production and no information on a date or what consoles were announced for it yet. Another game in the series announced was a new Kingdom Hearts mobile game called Kingdom Hearts: Missing-Link, which will have its first closed beta test later this year. The gameplay features 3D-rendered environments, plenty of Heartless to battle, and what appears to be customizable Keyblade Masters.
This week Activision Blizzard announced a possible step forward in the way they are handling their employees. Nearly 1,100 U.S.-based temporary QA workers converted to full time. On top of this, the publisher is raising its minimum hourly rates for QA positions to $20/hour. Prior to this, Activision announced that 500 temporary QA workers were converted to full time. The announcement of these changes comes after workers went on strike and raised various concerns and other labor issues in the past year. Unfortunately said workers who were on strike are not eligible for these improvements.
PlayStation won numerous prizes at this year’s BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Games Awards, with Returnal winning the award for Best Game. Some of the other winning games were Unpacking for Best Narrative, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart forTechnical Achievement and It Takes Two for best Multiplayer Game. The complete list of winners was as follows:
- Best Evolving Game: No Man’s Sky
- Best Original Property: It Takes Two
- Audio Achievement: Returnal
- Best British Game: Forza Horizon 5
- EE Game of the Year: Unpacking
- Technical Achievement: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Best Debut Game: Toem
- Best Multiplayer Game: It Takes Two
- Music: Returnal
- Game Beyond Entertainment: Before Your Eyes
- Best Performer in a Supporting Role: Kimberly Brooks (Hollis Forsythe, Psychonauts 2)
- Best Family Game: Chicory: A Colorful Tale
- Artistic Achievement: The Artful Escape
- Best Game Design: Inscryption
- Best Animation: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Best Performer in a Leading Role: Jane Perry (Selene Vassos, Returnal)
- Best Game: Returnal
This week is a little light on the video game releases but there are still some great games coming out. On the 12th we have 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (Switch) and Don’t Starve Together (Switch) releasing. On the 14th, Cat Cafe Manager (Switch, PC), Nobody Saves the World (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch) and Road 96 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One) will be released.
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