Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick gets to keep his board seat

Bobby Kotick will get to keep his seat on Activision Blizzard’s board of directors despite catching flak over the alleged role he played in creating the company’s toxic workplace culture. At the video game developers’ annual meeting of stockholders, investors voted on several proposals, as well as who gets to be on the company’s board of directors over the next year. A total of 533,703,580 shareholders have voted to keep Kotick on the board, while on 62,597,199 have voted against it. As GameInformer notes, that means he gets to keep his seat until the next meeting in 2023. 

Activision Blizzard employees walked out of their jobs last year and called for Kotick’s resignation after The Wall Street Journal reported that the CEO knew about the worst instances of abuse in the company and even protected the employees accused of harassment. If you’ll recall, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued the publisher in July 2021 for allegedly fostering a “frat boy” culture. The California agency investigated the company over the course of two years and found that women working for Activision Blizzard were paid less than their male counterparts and were subjected to constant sexual harassment. 

More recently, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System sued Kotick, calling him unfit to negotiate the company’s pending sale to Microsoft due to his “personal responsibility and liability for Activision’s broken workplace.” NYC’s retirement system represents the city’s police, teachers and firefighters and owns Activision Blizzard stock. The company named a new chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer in April to help the company have a more inclusive workplace. In response, a group of employees aiming to protect workers from discrimination formed a committee to outline a list of demands for Kotick and the new chief diversity officer. 

While majority of the shareholders have chosen to keep Kotick on the board, they also approved a plan to release an annual public report detailing how Activision handles any sexual harassment and gender discrimination dispute. The report must also detail how the company is preventing these incidents from happening and what it’s doing to reduce the length of time it takes to resolve them. 

Twitter brings its closed caption toggle to Android and iOS

Twitter is giving you the power to switch closed captions on or off on your mobile device. The social network has started rolling out a closed caption toggle to everyone on Android and iOS, a couple of months after it started testing the feature. So long as a video posted on the platform has available subtitles, you’ll see a CC button at its top right portion — simply tap it to turn subtitles off or on. 

It’s a great addition for accessibility purposes, seeing as it allows you to show captions whenever you want. In the past, you’ll only see the CC button on the web and for subtitles on mobile if your sound is turned off. Further, captions automatically disappear when you expand a video, since doing so enables sound playback. A few years ago, you even had to go to accessibility settings to switch on closed captioning if you want to see subtitles for your videos at all. That said, the feature does have a limitation: The button will only show up for a video if a caption has been provided for it. 

Twitter introduced automatically generated captions for videos back in December, which is unrelated to this particular feature, according to a spokesperson who talked to The Verge. They will, however, only show up on muted videos unless you choose the option to see them at all times through the website’s accessibility settings page. There’s also no way to report inaccurate automated captions at the moment.

Bungie sues ‘Destiny 2’ YouTuber who issued almost 100 fake DMCA claims

In December of last year, a YouTuber by the name of Lord Nazo received copyright takedown notices from CSC Global — the brand protection vendor contracted by game creator Bungie — for uploading tracks from their game Destiny 2’s original soundtrack. While some content creators might remove the offending material or appeal the copyright notice, Nazo, whose real name is Nicholas Minor, allegedly made the ill-fated decision to impersonate CSC Global and issue dozens of fake DMCA notices to his fellow creators. As first spotted by The Game Post, Bungie is now suing him for a whopping $7.6 million.

“Ninety-six times, Minor sent DMCA takedown notices purportedly on behalf of Bungie, identifying himself as Bungie’s ‘Brand Protection’ vendor in order to have YouTube instruct innocent creators to delete their Destiny 2 videos or face copyright strikes,” the lawsuit claims, “disrupting Bungie’s community of players, streamers, and fans. And all the while, ‘Lord Nazo’ was taking part in the community discussion of ‘Bungie’s’ takedowns.” Bungie is seeking “damages and injunctive relief” that include $150,000 for each fraudulent copyright claim: a total penalty of $7,650,000, not including attorney’s fees.

The game developer is also accusing Minor of using one of his fake email aliases to send harassing emails to the actual CSC Global with the subject lines such as “You’re in for it now” and “Better start running. The clock is ticking.” Minor also allegedly authored a “manifesto” that he sent to other members of the Destiny 2 community — again, under an email alias — in which he “took credit” for some of his activities. The recipients promptly forwarded the email to Bungie.

As detailed in the lawsuit, Minor appears to have done the bare minimum to cover his tracks: the first batch of fake DMCA notices used the same residential IP address he used to log-in to both his Destiny and Destiny 2 accounts, the latter of which shared the same Lord Nazo username as his YouTube, Twitter and Reddit accounts. He only switched to a VPN on March 27th — following media coverage of the fake DMCA notices. Meanwhile, Minor allegedly continued to log-in to his Destiny account under his original IP address until May.

Netflix Games snags ‘Into The Breach’ as a mobile exclusive

It’s safe to say that not everything is going swimmingly over at Netflix, given that it just laid off another 300 employees. However, the company’s games division is putting together a strong library of titles. Among those are exclusive mobile ports of several beloved indies like Spiritfarer, and Netflix just snagged another one with Into The Breach.

Netflix subscribers will have exclusive access to Into The Breach on iOS and Android starting on July 19th. It’s the exact same turn-based strategy title that’s available on PC, Switch and Stadia, albeit with a touch interface that has been revamped for smaller screens.

Into The Breach was one of Engadget’s favorite games of 2018. You control three mechs and the main aim is to protect structures from monsters known as the Vek. Each map has its own objective and you have a fixed number of turns to complete it. The key twist is that, when it’s your turn, you’ll see exactly what the monsters will do on their next move, which makes Into The Breach a puzzle game. Since it’s a roguelike and the scenarios are procedurally generated, no two runs are the same.

When Into The Breach lands on iOS and Android next month, Subset Games will release a major update for all platforms. The studio says the free Advanced Edition Update will expand almost all elements of the game. It will add more mechs, weapons, enemies, challenges, pilots and abilities. Support for seven more languages will be added — Arabic, Thai, Swedish, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Turkish and Spanish (Latin American) — taking the total to 17. A physical edition will be released for Nintendo Switch later this year too.

Netflix’s gaming push started small but has ramped up significantly over the last year. Among the well-regarded indies it counts as mobile exclusives are Exploding Kittens, Kentucky Route Zero and Before Your Eyes. Immortality, the latest FMV game from Her Story and Telling Lies creator Sam Barlow, is coming to Netflix Games, as is Desta: The Memories Between from Monument Valley studio Ustwo.

Netflix has a slate of original games as well. Those include some based on its own properties — such as Stranger Things, The Queen’s Gambit and Money Heist — as well as the likes of the fantastic Poinpy from Downwell creator Ojiro Fumoto. Netflix aims to have 50 games available for subscribers by the end of the year.

The long-delayed remaster of 1997’s ‘Blade Runner’ game is finally available

The much-delayed remaster of the classic Blade Runner adventure game is finally here. As Polygonreports, Nightdive Studios has released Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition for Windows PCs (via Steam) as well as PlayStation, Switch and Xbox consoles. The modernized version runs at 60 frames per second instead of the original’s 15FPS, complete with updated animations and models. Improved in-game tools help you work with clues as you track down hostile replicants, and gamepad support is available on all platforms.

Westwood’s 1997 game pushed the boundaries of both gameplay and graphics at the time. Instead of the usual fixed plot, Blade Runner changed the replicant with each playthrough while offering branching storylines, different outcomes and characters that operate on their own timetables. You couldn’t just cut to the chase and ‘retire’ the android at the start. And instead of relying on either 2D art or crude 3D, the title used voxels (pixels with 3D attributes) that allowed far more visual detail for the era, including volumetric lighting that mimicked the Ridley Scott movie’s gritty look.

You’ll still notice the limitations from 25 years ago. This won’t control as elegantly as present-day games, and Westwood’s budget limited it to only some voices from the movie cast (including Sean Young and James Hong) and recreated music from Vangelis’ score. Even so, this remains the closest you’ll get to filling Deckard’s shoes in a game while preserving the 1982 film’s atmosphere.

Toyota recalls nearly 3,000 bZ4X EVs over potentially deadly wheel defect

Toyota’s US launch of the unpronounceable bZ4X EV is off to a rough start with the automaker announcing on Thursday a broad recall of the vehicle barely two months after its debut, due to a potentially deadly situation that could lead to the vehicle’s wheels separating while driving at speed.   

Some 2,700 of the electric crossovers are subject to the recall — 2,000 destined for the European market, 260 to the US, 110 to Japan and 20 to Canada. The company implores owners to park their vehicles immediately and not resume driving them until a more “permanent” solution can be devised.

“No one should drive these vehicles until the remedy is performed,” Toyota said in the Thursday notice. “After low-mileage use, all of the hub bolts on the wheel can loosen to the point where the wheel can detach from the vehicle. If a wheel detaches from the vehicle while driving, it could result in a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash. The cause of the issue and the driving patterns under which this issue could occur are still under investigation.”

Subaru has issued a similar recall for about 2,600 Solterra EVs. These EVs are functionally identical to the bZ4X and are produced on the same lines at Toyota’s Motomachi facility. There’s no word yet on when Toyota engineers might have a solution for the issue.

Wearable arm muscles could help overcome upper body injuries

Many medical exosuits are built to improve walking, but researchers at ETH Zurich might have a solution to improve your arm strength. They’ve developed the Myoshirt, a wearable arm exomuscle that can compensate for conditions and injuries affecting the upper body. The combination of vest and cuff uses sensors to detect your intended movements and cue a motor that shortens a cable running alongside your muscles. Effectively, you’re getting a supplemental tendon that provides additional power and endurance for whatever you’re doing.

Early tests have been positive. A dozen volunteers could perform exercises for much longer than usual, with endurance increasing 60 percent for a person with muscular dystrophy and a whopping three times for someone with a spinal cord injury. Even uninjured people lasted 30 percent longer, scientists said.

You aren’t about to wear one. The Myoshirt’s actuator and bulky external control box weigh about 8.8lbs. The team plans to narrow the focus to shoulder support to make the design small and light enough to wear under clothing. This won’t give you exceptional strength or support like some full-fledged exoskeletons.

ETH is working with the spinoff company MyoSwiss to refine the exomuscle, though, and the practical applications are clear. Hospitals could supply Myoshirts to patients who need to perform exercises at home without ungainly (not to mention costly) therapy devices. The technology could also be useful for making day-to-day tasks noticeably easier.

‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge’ is a glorious beat-’em-up revival

If you visited arcades in the late ‘80s or early ‘90s, you surely remember the golden age of beat-em-up games. Cabinets like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, X-Men and more followed a fairly simple formula: take a popular franchise and have …

Netflix lays off 300 more employees

Netflix has laid off around 300 people in its latest round of job cuts. Most of the layoffs were in the US, according to Variety, and a number of departments were affected.

“Today we sadly let go of around 300 employees,” a Netflix spokesperson told the publication. “While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth. We are so grateful for everything they have done for Netflix and are working hard to support them through this difficult transition.”

This is Netflix’s second round of layoffs due to slowing revenue growth. It laid off 150 employees, along with many part-time workers and contractors, back in May. The company has around 11,000 employees around the globe. 

Netflix also let go 10 or so staffers from its marketing department and in-house news site, Tudum, in April. Those particular layoffs were due to a reorganization of Netflix’s marketing team. Those were said to be normal business decisions and were not directly connected to cost reductions.

The latest layoffs follow a steep drop in Netflix’s share price, which has fallen by around 70 percent since the beginning of the year. In the first quarter of 2022, the company’s subscriber count dropped for the first time. It fell by 200,000, in large part because Netflix pulled out of Russia and lost 700,000 subscribers there. In its latest earnings report, Netflix said it expects to lose as many as 2 million subscribers in the current quarter too.

Along with cost cutting, Netflix is looking at more ways of generating revenue. These include ad-supported plans and extra fees for those who share their accounts with people living in other households.

The company is hiring on other fronts and still plans to invest heavily in content, though. It has earmarked around $17 billion for that purpose this year. News of the layoffs comes the week after Netflix announced a reality competition series based on its all-conquering drama, Squid Game. The winner will take away $4.56 million.

Update 6/23 4:30PM ET: Clarifying some details about the layoffs in April.