Microsoft didn't have to look too far to find the new president of Blizzard. Former Call of Duty general manager Johanna Faries is replacing Mike Ybarra, who stood down from the role amid last week's sweeping layoffs in Microsoft's gaming division. Blizzard was said to be particularly hard hit as Microsoft fired around 1,900 people.

Faries, a former National Football League executive, joined Activision as the head of Call of Duty esports in 2018. She started overseeing all things Call of Duty in 2021 and officially starts her new role on February 5. 

Blizzard has largely operated independently since it merged with Activision in 2008. As such, Blizzard workers may be forgiven for being concerned at someone from the Activision side taking control. Former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick often meddled in Blizzard's affairs, reportedly resulting in Overwatch 2 delays, among other things.

In an attempt to soothe any worries, Faries wrote in an email to staff that "Activision, Blizzard, and King are decidedly different companies with distinct games, cultures and communities. It is important to note that Call of Duty’s way of waking up in the morning to deliver for players can often differ from the stunning games in Blizzard’s realm: each with different gameplay experiences, communities that surround them, and requisite models of success. I’ve discussed this with the Blizzard leadership team and I’m walking into this role with sensitivity to those dynamics, and deep respect for Blizzard, as we begin to explore taking our universes to even higher heights."

Faries added that she is "committed to doing everything I can to help Blizzard thrive, with care and consideration for you and for our games, each unique and special in their own right.” Meanwhile, on X, Faries wrote that Blizzard's Diablo 4 was part of her current rotation of games, alongside Call of Duty and Baldur's Gate 3.

Sony’s PlayStation division has cooked up its first State of Play event for 2024, which will stream this Wednesday at 5PM ET. The company promises a runtime of 40 minutes and coverage of more than 15 upcoming titles.

To that end, Sony says two of the games profiled will be Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin. Stellar Blade, formerly called Project Eve, has been on our radar for a while, and it’s been around 18 months since we got an update. The PS5-exclusive was supposed to hit store shelves in 2023, so we’re due for a release date and another trailer that shows off more footage of the forthcoming action RPG. For those keeping score, the first teaser trailer for Stellar Blade appeared way back in 2019.

As for Rise of the Ronin, it’s a historical action RPG from Team Ninja, the developer behind Nioh. The game’s set in 1863, during Japan’s Bakumatsu era, and you play as a wandering Ronin. Expect plenty of third-person melee combat and gorgeous visuals. You'll be able to get your hands on it on March 22, so expect some sort of final trailer. 

Those are the only two confirmed games that’ll get the spotlight during this week’s stream, leaving more than 13 unknowns. There have been rumors swirling around the internet throughout the weekend regarding what else will be on the docket. These leaks suggest the stream will also feature Death Stranding 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, a remaster of Sonic Generations, a remake of Silent Hill 2 and a new Metro game, among others. Like all leaks, take this information with a grain of salt. However, the original leaker did nail the date of the event, so there’s that.

You can watch via the official PlayStation site. It’ll also be available on the company’s YouTube, TikTok and Twitch channels. Sony promises information on both PS5 exclusives and upcoming PS VR 2 games.

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is getting a controller worthy of its inspiration — for better or worse. The upcoming game, a spiritual successor to the infamous 1993 Zelda titles for the Philips CD-i, will launch with a limited edition controller that resembles one of the largely forgotten system’s original remotes.

Developer Seedy Eye Software (a homophone for “CD-i software”) says using the controller on “Classic Controls” mode will let you “play Arzette, as it might have played back in 1993.” That’s when the title’s inspirations — Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon — arrived for Philips’ (brief) stab at a game-changing home entertainment system. (A third title in the series, Zelda’s Adventure, launched in 1994 with a top-down view, and Philips discontinued the system four years later.)

One may wonder why a developer would want to pay homage to a pair of historical duds better known for their memed cutscenes and masochistic gameplay than, oh, fun. Earlier this month, creator Seth “Dopply” Fulkerson told Game Developer he saw “untapped potential” in the notorious titles.

“The limitations the games suffered thanks to the hardware, budget and time constraints became painfully obvious,” he said. “I found it very inspiring to see how much [director Dale DeSharone] and his team accomplished with so little. There is a handcrafted charm to the games. They are hand-animated, hand-drawn, with brilliant music, designed in a surprisingly non-linear way that encourages you to explore them.” He continued, “Though they have many, many flaws, I truly believe there is innate potential in the games. Making a new game in the same style, with improvements to the core gameplay, was an irresistible idea.”

The game brings back several artists from the Zelda CD-i games. These include artist Rob Dunlavey and voice actors Jeffrey Rath (Link) and Bonniejean Wilbur (Zelda).

Seedy Eye Software / Limited Run Games

The “retro-inspired” controller will only work with Switch and PC. (The game will also support PS5 / PS4 and Xbox.) The remote looks nearly identical to Philips’ paddle controller, except for a couple of extra buttons. A fair warning that, given how the original remote played, the new version won’t likely make Arzette (or any other games) more playable or enjoyable — just more nostalgic.

Seedy Eye has partnered with Limited Run Games to distribute the controllers (and physical game copies). The two companies say they "worked hand-in-hand to craft the perfect physical goodies that pay tribute to Arzette and this oft-overlooked era in gaming.”

The controller will be available to pre-order starting February 2 at 10AM ET. (Pre-orders close on March 17.) The remote costs $35, will ship in a gray color and currently has an estimated November ship date. A pink variant will be exclusive to Arzette’s Collector’s Edition bundle. Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore arrives on February 14. You can watch its trailer below.

Rocksteady’s new third-person action shooter Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been pulled offline just one hour after launch when players encountered a bizarre bug that immediately beats the game. We’ve all heard of game-breaking bugs, but this may be the first game-beating bug. Obviously, players want more than three minutes of playtime out of their $70 purchase.

The issue immediately locks players out of all story missions, including tutorials, in a race to reach the end credits. This also makes it impossible to receive trophies and achievements, though most purchasers will probably get hung up on the whole “the game is basically unplayable” aspect. Still, if you’re looking for the easy mode to beat all easy modes, this is it. We could have used this bug for Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice or Cuphead.

There’s one major caveat here that’s saving this from becoming a huge story comparable with the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2099, and many other recent AAA launches. The game doesn’t officially release in most of the world until February 2. Some territories get it tomorrow, January 30, and that’s where the bug comes in. Due to the magic of global time zones, it’s already January 30 in New Zealand, which is where players encountered the issue. However, it’s not too hard to change your Xbox system clock to New Zealand time to snag the game early. Don’t do that. Give Rocksteady some time to fix the problem.

To that end, the developer says they are working on a fix, which involves performing maintenance on the servers. Rocksteady urges patience, writing that it could take “several hours” before being handled. Throughout this time, the game will remain offline. In any event, the ship should right itself before February 2.

Looking for a silver lining? Being as how the bug skips the vast majority of the game, the risk of story spoilers is really low for the next few days. So go ahead. Hit up your favorite social media sites and message boards.

We were so close to finally drifting on the cobblestone streets of Yharnam, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer for Bloodborne Kart. And, it’ll be called something else when it does arrive. Lilith Walther, the developer behind the project, said the team has to “scrub the branding” off of the game and delay its release after Sony intervened. It was supposed to be released on January 31 for PC. The outcome isn’t exactly surprising, but it means the game will take shape a bit differently than planned — in a thread posted on X, Walther said, “This is a fan game no more!”

Bloodborne Kart, a retro-style racing game that started out as a meme, has generated a ton of support from fans who have been yearning for new Bloodborne content. In response to the latest development, many have joked that the whole saga has forced Sony, which owns the IP, to actually acknowledge the title for the first time in years. Walther previously released a free Bloodborne “demake” in the style of a PS1 game.

“So Sony contacted us,” Walther wrote in an update on Friday. “Long story short, we need to scrub the branding off of what was previously known as Bloodborne Kart. We will do this, but that requires a short delay. Don't worry, the game is still coming out! It'll just look slightly different.”

The developers planned to feature 12 racers styled after familiar Bloodborne characters, including The Hunter and The Doll from the Hunter’s Dream, with single-player and multiplayer modes. There were to be 16 maps and boss fights, so you could race against the likes of Father Gascoigne. It really sucks that they won’t be able to follow through with the original idea, because it looked awesome, but I have no doubt they’ll spin it into something equally great.

“We were honestly expecting something like this to happen and the idea of having full creative control is kind of exciting!” Walther wrote. There's no new release date just yet, but in the meantime, you can rewatch the Bloodborne Kart trailer on a loop and dream of what we almost had. 

The Last of Us Part II Remastered arrived last week, and if the cutscene commentary from the game's director, writer and key actors wasn't enough for you, Naughty Dog has another behind the scenes piece coming. Grounded II: Making The Last Of Us Part II, a documentary on the game's creation, will arrive on February 2 at 12PM ET on YouTube as well as in the game itself. There's a trailer in the remastered game currently, and the full documentary will be added via a downloadable patch. That patch will also have some new skins for Ellie and Abby in the main game.

The development of The Last of Us Part II was challenging, to say the least —Naughty Dog infamously crunched its employees to get the game done, but it was still delayed multiple times. Plus, key scenes from the game that contained extensive spoilers were leaked just a few weeks before the game launched, and the team also had to content with the Covid-19 outbreak while finishing everything up. 

Judging from the Grounded II trailer that Naughty Dog released a few weeks ago, it looks like all those topics and more will be added in the documentary — though I wager Naughty Dog will only address the crunch situation in a way that doesn't reflect badly on the studio or Sony. That caveat aside, the previous Grounded documentary that covered the development of the original The Last of Us for the PS3 was a pretty in-depth look at how things work inside a game studio. So while we're certainly going to get a sanitized version of the truth, fans of the game will likely be interested to hear directly how the studio decided to make the controversial narrative choices it did, and how the fallout from the leaks affected the game's launch. 

We're not even one month into 2024 and it's already been anther brutal year for workers in the video game industry. Microsoft is the latest company to announce a major round of layoffs in its gaming division as it's cutting around 1,900 workers from its Xbox, Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax (aka Bethesda) teams. That brings the total number of video game layoffs this year to around 6,000 already. There were around 9,000 layoff in the industry in all of 2023, according to some estimates. 

"As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business. Together, we’ve set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told employees in a memo obtained by The Verge. "As part of this process, we have made the painful decision to reduce the size of our gaming workforce by approximately 1900 roles out of the 22,000 people on our team."

The majority of the cuts are said to be within Activision Blizzard, three months after Microsoft finally closed its $68.9 billion takeover over the publisher. Some positions on he Xbox and ZeniMax teams will be affected too. 

"The people who are directly impacted by these reductions have all played an important part in the success of Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and the Xbox teams, and they should be proud of everything they’ve accomplished here," Spencer reportedly wrote. "We are grateful for all of the creativity, passion and dedication they have brought to our games, our players and our colleagues. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted during the transition, including severance benefits informed by local employment laws."

Spencer added that Microsoft will "continue to invest in areas that will grow our business and support our strategy of bringing more games to more players around the world. Although this is a difficult moment for our team, I’m as confident as ever in your ability to create and nurture the games, stories and worlds that bring players together."

The cuts equate to around eight percent of Microsoft's gaming division. Engadget has contacted the company for comment.

Among those leaving the company is Blizzard president Mike Ybarra, who is reportedly leaving of his own accord. "I want to thank everyone who is impacted today for their meaningful contributions to their teams, to Blizzard, and to players’ lives. It’s an incredibly hard day and my energy and support will be focused on all those amazing individuals impacted — this is in no way a reflection on your amazing work," Ybarra wrote on X.

"To the Blizzard community: I also want to let you all know today is my last day at Blizzard. Leading Blizzard through an incredible time and being part of the team, shaping it for the future ahead, was an absolute honor," Ybarra continued. "Having already spent 20+ years at Microsoft and with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard behind us, it’s time for me to (once again) become Blizzard’s biggest fan from the outside."

Microsoft’s game content and studios president Matt Booty is said to have told staff that the company plans to appoint a new Blizzard president next week, while the publisher's Allen Adham is also moving one. 

One other major consequence of this reorganization, according to The Verge, is that Blizzard's survival game has been cancelled. The game would have marked Blizzard's entry into a new genre, but it did not reveal any other details about the project since announcing it two years ago.

This story is developing; please refresh for updates.

Nintendo has revealed exactly when most remaining online services for the 3DS and Wii U will come to an end. After 7AM ET on April 8, it will no longer be possible to jump into a multiplayer match on the original Splatoon or check out other players' levels in Super Mario Maker. Online co-op play, leaderboards and data distribution are among the features that won't be available on either console (unless you find an adequate homebrew solution). The Badge Arcade feature, which allows players to customize their Nintendo 3DS home menu, is going away too.

Nintendo previously said that online services on the systems would end in early April, but hadn't shared a specific date until now. It also warned that it may "have to discontinue services earlier than planned" — some players had difficulty accessing them late last year.

Single-player games and modes will continue to work on both platforms. Nintendo said there will be some exceptions to the end of online services and suggests that players of third-party games contact publishers to check whether they'll keep servers running. The company also notes that Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter features will remain available for now, and you'll still be able to download updates and games you've previously purchased on either system for the foreseeable future. Nintendo shut down the eShop on both 3DS and Wii U last March.

One other feature that will remain is StreetPass on 3DS, since that connects to other 3DS units over local communication. SpotPass will be discontinued, however, as that requires an internet connection.

Meanwhile, the company says that 3DS and Wii U owners have until 1AM ET on March 12 to merge their Nintendo Network ID and Nintendo Account. If they do, they can spend any unused balance on either system's eShop on Nintendo Switch games, DLC and other digital content.

Earlier today, Riot Games announced that it is eliminating 530 roles globally, which make up about 11 percent of its workforce. The company publicly delivered this devastating news in two separate posts — one for players, and another for "Rioters," with the latter detailing severance package and some other benefits to treat the dismissed employees "with respect and grace."

Additionally, Riot Games shared that it is sunsetting its publishing label, Riot Forge, which has worked on six titles — including Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story due to be released on February 21. In their joint letter to gamers, CEO Dylan Jadeja and co-chairman Marc Merrill described Forge as "an experiment to see what would happen when Rioters partnered with their favorite indie devs," but now "it's time to refocus" on their internal projects. Forge will cease operation once it's done publishing Bandle Tale.

The execs also admitted that their digital collectible card game, Legends of Runeterra, hasn't been doing well enough financially since its launch in 2020. In the hopes of making this title more sustainable, its development team will be downsized, with its focus shifted to its more popular "The Path of Champions" single-player game mode.

Riot Games' cutback is the latest blow to the video game industry, after a total of around 9,000 people lost their jobs in 2023 alone. Embracer Group and Unity both laid off around 900 people each, whereas Epic Games fired about 830 people, and EA dismissed more than 1,000 employees. 2024 has only just began, and we fear that this is just the tip of the iceberg for the entire tech industry.

If you love old PC games, but wish they had access to modern graphical flourishes, NVIDIA has you covered. The company just released a beta version of its long-awaited RTX Remix tool. This software is designed especially for modders and can be used to add ray-tracing and AI-upscaled textures to older games.

Remix was built on NVIDIA’s Omniverse 3D graphics collaboration platform and allows for end-to-end remastering of just about any DirectX 8 or 9 game. It consists of two basic components. There’s an application for creating new lighting scenarios and one for remastering and adding assets into a scene. The company says that the tool can already be used to fully remaster a game from start to finish, despite it being “just” a beta.

To that end, the software is available for download right now and NVIDIA hopes modders will experiment with the tool and leave feedback, which will be incorporated into future updates. It’s also free, which is always nice.

NVIDIA has released a non-comprehensive list of compatible games, which includes classics like Call of Duty 2, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Garry's Mod, Freedom Fighters, Need for Speed Underground 2, and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, among others. For more information on compatibility, check out this FAQ.

The software suite has already been used by NVIDIA to create the Portal with RTX remaster, which is a free DLC, and the modder-made Portal: Prelude RTX. Orbifold Studios is also using RTX Remix to develop Half-Life 2 RTX: An RTX Remix Project, which is a community-driven remaster of the iconic title.

Again, this is a free tool, so it’ll be really fun to see what the modding community cooks up with it. I’m personally looking forward to more Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind ray-tracing goodness.