Edge November 2021

Perhaps it was different for you, but for some of us, having videogames as a hobby during our school years wasn’t a sure-fire method for becoming the most popular kid. When even the members of the Dungeons & Dragons lunchtime club look down their noses at you, it’s difficult not to ask yourself some questions. What was it about computer games, we wondered, that these people just didn’t get? Looking back now at the state of some of the things we played in the early ‘80s, it’s not difficult to appreciate why the entire planet wasn’t quite ready to be hooked just yet, but for a while there it felt like a mystery. The world of comics (not graphic novels – that rephrasing would come later) was similar: who couldn’t…

Perhaps it was different for you, but for some of us, having videogames as a hobby during our school years wasn’t a sure-fire method for becoming the most popular kid. When even the members of the Dungeons & Dragons lunchtime club look down their noses at you, it’s difficult not to ask yourself some questions. What was it about computer games, we wondered, that these people just didn’t get? Looking back now at the state of some of the things we played in the early ‘80s, it’s not difficult to appreciate why the entire planet wasn’t quite ready to be hooked just yet, but for a while there it felt like a mystery. The world of comics (not graphic novels – that rephrasing would come later) was similar: who couldn’t…

By now, you’re probably familiar with at least the broad strokes of the lawsuit brought against Activision Blizzard by the California Department Of Fair Employment And Housing. Since it was filed in July, its allegations have inspired a lot of discussion around “frat boy” workplace culture”, with “cube crawls” seeing male employees drinking “copious amounts of alcohol” and wandering between office cubicles, leading to “inappropriate behaviour toward female employees.” The full complaint makes for grim reading. The result of a two-year investigation by the DFEH, it describes “a breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women”, spanning everything from unequal pay and opportunities for promotion to rape jokes and unsolicited comments about the bodies of female employees. Former World Of Warcraft creative director Alex Afrasiabi is named specifically, alleged to…

By now, you’re probably familiar with at least the broad strokes of the lawsuit brought against Activision Blizzard by the California Department Of Fair Employment And Housing. Since it was filed in July, its allegations have inspired a lot of discussion around “frat boy” workplace culture”, with “cube crawls” seeing male employees drinking “copious amounts of alcohol” and wandering between office cubicles, leading to “inappropriate behaviour toward female employees.” The full complaint makes for grim reading. The result of a two-year investigation by the DFEH, it describes “a breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women”, spanning everything from unequal pay and opportunities for promotion to rape jokes and unsolicited comments about the bodies of female employees. Former World Of Warcraft creative director Alex Afrasiabi is named specifically, alleged to have preyed…

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s E3 pitch for HitRecord was easy to get swept up by. His company would help community creators funnel music, animation and art assets into Beyond Good & Evil 2. Through the Space Monkey Program, as it was known, fans would get the chance to be part of the sequel to a cult classic, and Ubisoft would gain the extra material it sorely needed to fill the multiple planets promised for the game. The negative response from professionals, however, hit like a series of Inception bwarps. Since only those whose work influenced the final game would be compensated, creators would be working on spec. Some called the system exploitative, a sentiment echoed when Ubisoft worked with HitRecord again for Watch Dogs: Legion. While the publisher’s PR fought the flames, however,…

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s E3 pitch for HitRecord was easy to get swept up by. His company would help community creators funnel music, animation and art assets into Beyond Good & Evil 2. Through the Space Monkey Program, as it was known, fans would get the chance to be part of the sequel to a cult classic, and Ubisoft would gain the extra material it sorely needed to fill the multiple planets promised for the game. The negative response from professionals, however, hit like a series of Inception bwarps. Since only those whose work influenced the final game would be compensated, creators would be working on spec. Some called the system exploitative, a sentiment echoed when Ubisoft worked with HitRecord again for Watch Dogs: Legion. While the publisher’s PR fought the flames,…