Game Bytes: More Discrimination Lawsuits, and Sony Shows Hogwarts Legacy
Welcome back to Game Bytes and this week was full of a whole slew of news. We had EA making a surprise announcement this week along with a few presentations that excited fans from Sony and Xbox. As is becoming typical of gaming news, we also have some more lawsuits to cover this week.
EA announced through IGN that it will not be holding its usual EA Play Live event this year, which is an event the company uses to reveal new games and share more info about existing games. The event is usually held in the summer as its own E3-like presentation. While EA will not be having any summer event, the publisher will instead reveal more about its projects “when the time is right for each of them.” So, you can expect some trailers and news drops from EA sporadically in the year.
Sony had a State of Play presentation this week, specifically about the new game that will be releasing this year, Hogwarts Legacy. The presentation was 14 minutes of gameplay footage on the PlayStation 5 and showed us a glimpse into his new era of the Harry Potter universe. Legacy takes place in the late 1800s and has players start by creating their new Hogwarts student, who begins this wizarding adventure in their fifth year, and will need to catch up to the other students in the grade. Since it is going to take place more than 100 years before the Harry Potter books and movies, it lets players have the freedom to create their own adventure without ruining continuity of previous events.
Sony was in the news again this week as eight women, some current and some former employees, have added their accounts of sexism experienced at Sony PlayStation to a proposed class-action lawsuit. This news comes from Axios, which reports that Sony Interactive Entertainment says it is taking these allegations seriously. Sony is still conceding to none of the legal accusations made against it, as the company is still seeking that a court dismisses the case. The case in question is currently in the process of growing into a class-action lawsuit and is about Sony discriminating against female and female identifying employees in compensation and promotion.
Moon Studios, the team behind Ori and the Blind Forest, is also in the news this week for a similar reason to Sony. Moon Studios’ founders, Thomas Mahler and Gennadiy Korol, have been accused of sexism, racism, and bullying by developers within the studio. Employees told GamesBeat that they view the studio’s culture as “oppressive,” citing that the studio’s leaders used buzzwords about being an open and honest workplace as a cover for abuse that happens there. The examples that were reported were from a public chat at the company which include the use of offensive words by the founders, anti-Semitic jokes, and public discussion and jokes about the size of their genitals.
Xbox had their ID@xbox showcase this week as well, which is Xbox’s indie game showcase. There were a couple of new games coming to Gamepass and spring deals, but they did show off a couple of brand new indie titles and we have the full list for you. Immortality is the latest from Sam Barlow, the creator of Her Story. It’s up to you to find out what happened to Marissa Marcel. To do that, you’ll be exploring footage from her lost movies. Immortality will hit Xbox Series X/S this summer. Plus, it hits Xbox Game Pass on launch day. Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, coming from Kepler Interactive and Aurora A4, is a new open-world, action RPG. This game, which is developed by the same team behind Ashen, drops on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One sometime this year. Cursed to Golf is a game about golf except instead of beautiful courses you’ll be up against “insane hazards, otherworldly power-ups,” and more. Cursed to Golf is being developed by Chuhai Labs and published by Thunderful Games alongside Xbox. It will hit PC sometime in the future but a release window was not revealed. Escape Academy is iam8bit’s first published game and it comes from Coin Crew and Skybound Games. If you ever wanted to go to an escape room but haven’t, this game lets you do that alone or co-op with friends. Escape Academy launches for Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One sometime in 2022. Whitehorn Games’ Whalefall is a JRPG set in a high fantasy world inspired by The Lord of the Rings, the Suikoden series, and the Final Fantasy games. Whalefall comes to Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One sometime in the future, but a release window was not revealed. Developed by Mega Cat Studios and Skybound Games, Wrestle Quest mashes pro wrestling and fantasy RPG gameplay together. Featuring wrestling icons like “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, and more, you’ll need to fight against other legends in the ring and beyond. Wrestle Quest will be available on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One sometime in the future.
This week is jam packed with some big releases so get your wallet ready to spend some cash. On the 22nd we have Kraken Academy (Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch) and Rune Factory 5 (Switch) being released. The 24th brings us A Memoir Blue (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) and The Ascent (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4). Being the most jam-packed day, on the 25th we have Ghostwire: Tokyo (PlayStation 5, PC), Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch) and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) all releasing.
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