Sony – Page 4 – The Gaming News Corner

Quantic Dream pursues Legal Actions against Harassment Accusers

Quantic Dream, the creators of Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls, are being sued by for creating unhealthy work conditions, sexual harassment by kissing employees on the lips from Studio head Guillaume de Fondaumière, and racist and homophobic remarks from Studio head, David Cage. Photoshop pictures of employees dressed in Nazi and sexual nurse outfits for women were sent to everyone within the Quantic Dream building since 2013. Cage and de Fondaumiere stated that they were not aware of the photos and they were swiftly deleted from the servers. Le Monde and Mediapart, French media companies, spoke to the 15 employees who claimed that the photos were just a sample of the environment and nature of Quantic Dream.

David Cage of Quantic Dream — David Cage

Quantic Dream’s Guillaume de Fondaumière — **Guillaume de Fondaumière**

Cage denies these accusations and defends himself stating “We work with Ellen Page, who fights for LGBT rights. You want to talk about racism? We work with Jesse Williams, who fights for civil rights in the United States. Judge my work.” De Fondaumière also defends himself stating that the accusations were “absolutely false.” Le Monde and Mediapart also received reports from the 15 that Quantic Dream forced them to work overtime, with unnamed staff complaining of routinely working 60-hour weeks, plus regular weekend hours. De Fondaumière stated that the accusations were false and that if they worked overtime, they would be compensated accordingly. In France, law state that a working week is 35 hours and working day may not exceed 10 hours.

French Court has dismissed two allegations after the articles was released while a third claim “is in a tie,” the studio wrote. Quantic Dream is currently pursuing “several other legal actions” to ensure that the studio is cleared from of false claims and internal misconduct.

Whether Quantic Dream, David Cage or Guillaume de Fondaumière are found guilty still remains to be seen of any accusations. Their upcoming game, Detroit: Become Human is expected to release this year and whether it affects game sales remain to be seen.

Sources:

Eurogamer

The Guardian

Polygon

TLDR: EA and Star Wars Battlefront II Controversy

Many people have heard the controversy surround Electronic Arts and their business practices about Star Wars Battlefront 2 which was released on 11/17/2017. The game itself initially left many people skeptical after the first game only contained a bare-bones Story and multiplayer. However, a great trailer, a bigger emphasis on a unique story and the ability to play more Star Wars characters gave everyone hype about the game. However, early access players noticed a huge issue with Star Wars Battlefront II that has snowballed into a horrible situation for EA.

Players discovered that it would 4,528 hours or $2100 to unlock all content for Star Wars Battlefront II. Many characters are locked including Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker who are playable in the previous game. They must be unlocked by earning enough credits or obtaining them via a loot box by chance. Even purchasing the premium edition of the game didn’t unlock the main Star Wars characters.
Microtransactions can actually affect the actual gameplay. Rather than purely cosmetic items in loot boxes, players can potentially buy boost that can increase damage or armor for players. This creates an imbalance in the game and people willing to spend actual money earn competitive advantages.
Fan outcry led to a controversial statement from EA’s Community team. It has become the most downvoted comment on Reddit history. Players felt they were being ridiculed and that EA believes the high cost was reasonable.

The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes.

As for cost, we selected initial values based upon data from the Open Beta and other adjustments made to milestone rewards before launch. Among other things, we’re looking at average per-player credit earn rates on a daily basis, and we’ll be making constant adjustments to ensure that players have challenges that are compelling, rewarding, and of course attainable via gameplay.

We appreciate the candid feedback, and the passion the community has put forth around the current topics here on Reddit, our forums and across numerous social media outlets.

Our team will continue to make changes and monitor community feedback and update everyone as soon and as often as we can.

EA then lowers the cost of the characters but also lowers the amount players can earn to compensate. After players discovered it, EA then shuts off all in-game purchases temporary until future changes are made.
Many people began to return their purchases of the game but EA temporary disabled the feature until returning it. This led to low reviews from many users and has dropped the Metacritic score to 69 but 0.9 for users.
Shares for EA have dropped 10 percent and continuous fan and gamers outcry continue to trend over social media and news outlets. Many news organizations such as CNN are reporting Star Wars Battlefront II microtransaction loot boxes as “gambling.” European countries are potentially banning the loot box system as it is considered gambling.
KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Evan Wingren stated that players anger are not justified. He compared the value of game time to monetary value and that games should be more expensive. Compared to how much time a game is played, Evan believes that microtransactions are ways for companies to earn money based on the “actual value.” It was revealed that he was an investor of EA and Comcast (EA’s parent company) which immediately discredit his statements as they are a potential bias.

Star Wars Battlefront II is an example of the game as a service model. You are making an initial investment in the game only to pay more to gain more features. Many players are angry at this model as it differs from the original “buy once and that’s it.” Games as a service have greatly increased the value of the industry but has distanced gamers and sowed in the Gaming companies. Star Wars Battlefront II is an extreme example and another example of EA‘s poor business practices to squeeze as much money from consumers as possible. Despite the backlash, EA is planning to bring back loot boxes to Star Wars and in their future games. EA is also aware of this backlash and actively strategized against it. By creating a Beta for players to learn about the initial flaws and show them to the world, EA can then market themselves as bringing changes into the game once it is released. When people learn that EA is changing the model, then people may actively begin purchasing Star Wars Battlefront II again. This creates a better view for consumers who don’t research too far into the changes which leave them to fall victim of similar business practices.

If you are against this system, don’t buy their games. Besides spreading the word about it, the biggest way you can affect them is not purchasing their games in the near future.

Sources:

Initial Reddit Post that created the current situation

EA’s Apology

Calculations to Unlock all Star Wars Content

EA Community Manager Response = most down voted comment in Reddit

Evan Wingren’s Analysis on Games Value

Evidence Against Evan Wingren’s Bias for EA

Marketing/PR Analysis of EA

Metacritic Score

Should Companies give Players more for Achievements/Trophies?

Since the Xbox, in-game rewards/achievements have become integrated parts of games. Players can earn them by beating portions of the video games, finding secrets, or completing the entire game. The main appeal is the ability to share your “score” on your game profile and compare it with others. Whether it be Xbox Live, PlayStation Network or Steam, achievements are generally well received and a standard feature in games. However, they provide no value to players besides a score number until recently.

Recently, Sony announced changes to Sony Rewards program that would reward players for earning trophies from PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 games. Silver trophies are worth 1 point, Gold is worth 25, and Platinum is 100. To earn points, you must create a Sony Rewards Profile that connects to your PlayStation Network account. Sony Rewards program offers members points for purchasing games, movies, or other entertainment to earn concerts, merchandise, video games, and gain access to unique sales and deals. Members can only start earning points for their trophies after connecting the Sony Rewards profile to their PlayStation account. All previous trophies earned will not give players anything.

Often, gamers have questioned the value of achievements. They have become so common in games that they become almost an afterthought in players minds rather than a goal. It can be argued that the score recognition is no longer as interesting to players. Whoever owns more games will usually have more points or trophies than others so the comparison to friends loses luster. While there are communities of gamers interested in achievement hunting and increasing their gamerscore, the number of people interested overall has decreased.

Business Opinion:

Providing a small monetary value to trophies is a good movie by Sony. It incentivises more players to earn more trophies which means they must buy more games. It adds a point value into purchases similar to restaurants for trophies. By connecting it to Sony Reward Program, users feel a stronger connection to Sony and creates a more rewarding feeling for buying certain products from them. It creates a brand community connected around purchasing Sony related products. I wouldn’t surprised if Microsoft uses a similar model in the feature.

Sources:

Polygon

IGN

Best of TGS 2017

Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2017 was a great show for PlayStation. This show is directed towards Japan’s audience and many Japanese RPG games were shown. Standout winner for TGS is Square-Enix. Here are the highlight games from the show:

Left Alive:

A new Role-Playing Game from Square-Enix is a Dystopia Mech Robot game. Fans of Japanese mecha series will be excited as the game is being produced by Front Mission series’ Shinji Hashimoto, directed by the Armored Core series’ Toshifumi Nabeshima, and featuring character designs by the Metal Gear series’ Yoji Shinkawa. Some Wanzer (mecha) designs will be done by Mobile Suit Gundam 00‘s Takayuki Yanase.

You’ll play and switch between three protagonists. Left Alive is a survival based shooters revolving around gunplay and traps. The world setting is actually between Front Mission 5 and Front Mission Evolved. Progression in the story is determined by the player and there are several different outcomes that can affect the one main ending. You won’t be able to customize your Wazer but you can customize weapons with materials. It is stated to be an offline experience with some online experience that hasn’t been explained yet. If you’re a fan of the Front Mission series, Producer Shinji Hashimoto: “We wanted to make a Front Mission with a new lineup. We started this new title to see Front Mission in a slightly different perspective. Square Enix wanted to convey the feeling that we cherish Front Mission.” Left Alive is planned for a 2018 release.

Monster Hunter: World

Fans of Monster Hunter will finally have their mainstream console hunting game. Set for January 26th, 2018 release. The game will obviously include new monsters and environments. Pukei-Pukei and Nergigante, as well as the Coral Highlands stage and Astera, the base of operations for the Research Commission, are new areas show in the trailer.

For $69.99, the Deluxe Digital edition will come with the game, Samurai Set skin, three gestures, two sticker sets, plus an extra face paint and hairstyle option for the hunter. The PS4 deluxe edition will also come with 14 Weapon Avatars. The Physical Edition is $149.99 and comes with everything above and 32 hard page art book, monster statue, and a digital soundtrack.

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain

You’ve probably heard of the Earth Defense Force series before and may have found a few copies at random game stores. There are currently 4 main releases and a 5th one coming this December in Japan. Iron Rain is set to release in 2018 which features a dark tone for the series although it still revolves around humans fighting giant ants, robots, and aliens with guns and mechas.

Final Fantasy IX:

Final Fantasy IX has been released for the PlayStation 4 today worldwide. It is a higher resolution version with improved cutscenes and character models, trophy support, and cheats that allow you to skip random battles, high-speed mode, and master all abilities for armors and weapons, and give you max levels, magic stones for summons, and gil. The cheat options are great for players who’ve finished FF9 (like myself). There is currently a deal for US PlayStation store for the game. The price is $16.79 and includes several avatars and a PlayStation Theme until September 26th.

Sources:

Gematsu 2
Polygon 2