INDUSTRY
Ubisoft says it's "on the right path" following sexual harassment allegations | Eurogamer.net
Ubisoft is now claiming that they've improved their workplace culture after allegations of sexual harassment against long-time employees and senior staff in 2020.
Their Chief People Officer, Annika Grant, has been in place since 2021 and remarked last month that they've been navigating the "misconduct crisis" and that "HR was part of the problem".
Ubisoft has now improved their internal reporting system, code of conduct AND yearly mandatory training for all employees. Though this wasn't all, as five former employees of Ubisoft were arrested shortly after Grant presented this information at the GamesIndustry HR Summit.
Hideki Kamiya left his CEO position at Platinum Games last month after founding the company 15 years ago, and now he has a YouTube Channel!
Responsible for the Bayonetta series and Wonderful 101, he says he's not planning to retire, but has moved on from Platinum to pursue his own game development ideals. At least, when his inferred non-compete agreement runs out.
Historically, he has been fairly outspoken and secretive. Of particular note is the Bayonetta 3 voice actor scandal not long ago where he responded quite savagely on Twitter with seemingly no remorse.
I'm sure he will do great things with his new career prospects, but joking about receiving unemployment while driving off in a Lamborghini might be a bit more than the gaming public can bear.
Disney is apparently considering turning the company from a licensing giant into a first-party development studio.
With Marvel, Star Wars and other massive Disney IP available to them, and with highly successful games out there already, Bob Iger is hearing from senior executives that internal development makes sense.
Unfortunately, Video Games Chronicle has reported this as Disney considering buying EA - though this is a tenuous link to a story months ago about EA actively pursuing a merger and taking calls with other companies in the wake of the Microsoft Activision Blizzard acquisition. Bit of a bait and switch there, team.
Sony unveils "smaller" PlayStation 5 and PS5 Digital with £100 disc drive add-on | Eurogamer.net
Sony has revealed new, smaller form-factor PS5 Disc and Digital-only consoles that will be available for purchase in November of this year.
Optional extras for the announcement include a disc drive for the Digital-only model and a vertical stand , but both will still have 1TB internal drives.
The disc version will start at €550 and digital at €450 (I'm in Ireland now, so you've got EU prices).
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