Ninja Gaiden Master Collection Sells 240,000 Units Worldwide

Koei Tecmo's Q1 fiscal year 2022 financial results are available, showcasing sales for titles from April to June 2021. While Nioh 2 lifetime sales are still over two million, the publisher revealed that Ninja Gaiden Master Collection had sold 240,000 units worldwide. Samurai Warriors 5 (known as Sengoku Warriors 5 in Japan) sold 280,000 units in Asia, which is good news ahead of its worldwide release.

Other sales figures include Winning Post 9 2021 with 80,000 units sold in Japan; Uncharted Waters 5 HD Remaster with 70,000 units sold in Asia; and Angelique Kuruminalize with 30,000 units sold in Asia. Overall, revenue is up by 80.4 percent year on year with download sales being up by 80.7 percent, followed by a 55.8 percent increase for mobile downloads and 45 percent increase for packaged sales.

Ninja Gaiden Master Collection is currently available for Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch. Despite a troubled launch on PC, recent updates have helped to improve the experience. Nioh 2 released last year for PS4 with the Complete Edition coming to PC and PS5 in February 2021.

Halo – The Complete Graphical Evolution of the Mainline Series

The Halo series has been around for 20 years now, which is kind of crazy for some of us to think about. There are people out there, right now, who were born after Halo started and are now adults and look back on the first few games like relics from an ancient civilization. As with any series that's been consistently getting releases for that long, the Halo series has undergone a lot of sweeping changes to its gameplay, narrative, and visuals. While the visuals of even the oldest game can still hold up fairly well compared to most other games released around the same time, there is no denying that it's gotten a lot better over the years. The history of Halo's graphics is one that spans from the sixth generation of consoles and will eventually include the current generation assuming the upcoming Halo Infinite hits its current goal of releasing later this year, so with that there is quite a bit of history here. So in light of that and the upcoming newest release, now is as good a time as any to take a look at just how far the series has come from a visual standpoint.

In 2001, Halo: Combat Evolved graced our Xboxs as what would quickly be known as one of the best launch titles of all time. Seeing that the Xbox's chief competitor, the PlayStation 2, was somewhat underpowered compared to Microsoft's behemoth console, Halo was the perfect excuse for Bungie and Microsoft to really show off the power and capability of the Xbox – and that they did. Not only was the first game in the series a more than competent shooter that featured vehicles, a wide array of fun weapons, and a compelling multiplayer mode, but it was also a graphical showcase for the Xbox. With the PS2 being somewhat underpowered and the GameCube not really utilizing its potential with most of its games, this game really made the Xbox ecosystem stand out with its highly detailed character models and environments. Real-time reflections and shadows were rudimentary, and often mixed with fake ones, but they were convincing for the time among the lush, expansive environments and compelling aesthetic created by Bungie's lead artists. The different alien factions all differed greatly in their general look as well as the technology they used, so that was reflected in their visual presentation to a huge degree. The game ran well, played well, and looked great, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that it was remastered and re-released on the 360 and PC ten years later with some enhanced graphics and improved lighting and textures. This remastered "anniversary" version of Halo would allow players to switch back and forth between the old graphics and the new ones at any time, which was a nice touch, and also included support for the Kinect (remember that?). All in all, either version still looks good today by all reasonable standards, mostly thanks to the original artistic direction.

3 short years after the first game was released, we got Halo 2 on the same console. While the Xbox's limits had been on full display for a while by this point, Bungie still had more than enough know-how and experience with the platform by then to really make a game that looked noticeably better than its predecessor. Halo 2 would serve as the pinnacle Halo experience up to that point, as it had basically everything that made the first game great but now with the extra 3 years, Bungie was able to iron out many of the original's rough edges, as well as provide a robust multiplayer mode that looked indistinguishably as good as the campaign. Halo 2 would not merely be more of the same with some refinement though. The physics and graphics engine were both overhauled which allowed for several new techniques including "shadow volume" that would quickly become a mainstream way of casting real-time shadows from in-game environments. Doom 3 would also implement the same technique to an even greater effect, but that was after Halo 2 popularized it. Real-time reflections on armor and metal surfaces were also more pronounced as a result of the overhaul and it ultimately added up to one of the better looking games of its time as a result.

Halo 3 was sure to follow, and follow it did. This game would have the enormous benefit of being a game on new hardware, but also not quite needing to be a launch title, so Bungie had a bit more time to really crank out as much goodness as they could from the Xbox 360. Here we see yet again, a complete overhaul of the graphics engine. Bungie went with their own in-house development toolset and it really paid off with better lighting, depth of field effects, and a subtle motion blur that added a heightened sense of realism. While some of the techniques under the hood did require the game to render at an odd 1152×640 resolution, that was technically upscaled to a stable 1080pby the 360, making it a very sharp-looking game.

Halo ODST was an interesting game. It started out as a rather beefy expansion to Halo 3, but ultimately ended up being its own standalone release given the sheer amount of content that it contained. Given that this was only a couple years since Halo 3 launched, graphically it had more in common with it'd predecessor than not, making it the first game in the series that didn't look like a massive improvement from the previous one. Which isn't to say it was underwhelming in that department, just nothing to write home about in 2009. Outside of some interesting visual flair thrown in for flashback sequences, it was largely just a slightly more refined version of the look of 3.

halo reach

The final Halo game to be developed by Bungie was Halo: Reach. The game had a lot of callback visual cues that more than successfully elicited plenty of nostalgia for long-time Halo fans despite Master Chief not even being the main character. The graphics were largely unchanged from 3. Much like ODST, Reach already had a solid foundation on which to build a great looking game, and it didn't disappoint. The large battles, lush backdrops, and nice variety of locations does feel a bit limited by the 360 at times in Reach, but the occasional framerate stutter was not much more than a minor flaw in an otherwise gorgeous game.

Halo 4 was a landmark game in the series for myriad reasons, but most notably was the fact that Bungie would have basically nothing to do with it. By this time, the former Halo developer had split from Microsoft and gone multiplatform and were working on their upcoming original shooter Destiny. The Halo series would finally change hands with 343 Industries at the helm. While the game was primarily designed for the aging Xbox 360, it was also 2012, which means Microsoft's next console was also kept in mind for a future enhanced release. While the slight tick up from Halo 3 was noticeable, the biggest changes seemed to come from a totally different artistic vision rather than technical improvements. Halo 4 was a game that still "felt" like Halo ultimately, but it also had a slightly darker tone to its visuals. Master Chief looks more weathered, his armor seems bulkier, and he's just more imposing overall. Other characters' facial expressions were brimming with subtle movements and emotive performances, which made them some of the best in the generation – across all platforms. 343 were handed such a finely-tuned playbook on how to make a Halo game, that they were able to really stretch beyond what most thought was doable on an Xbox 360 with global illumination, ambient occlusion, and image-based lighting that all basically added up to a very impressive illumination and shadow system that made some environments look positively next gen. As impressive as it was, it was really just a preamble to what the next game had in store. Halo 4 would also get that very logical Xbox One release a couple years later with some minor enhancements and a smoother frame-rate. This was in 2014, which was a perfect time to whet the appetites of Halo fans as they were eagerly awaiting the 5th mainline installment.

By this time Halo had done almost everything it could do. It had maxed out the capabilities of two console generations and seen enhanced PC and next gen versions get released. Even though many still considered the series the best its genre had to offer, it still had to share much more of the stage with Call of Duty, Battlefield, and Bungie's new game Destiny. Among the things Halo 5 tried to stand out was its aiming to be the best looking first-person shooter to date, and while it didn't slam dunk that goal as hard as it did with past entries, it certainly satisfied the eyeballs of those who played it. Gone were the vast majority of the baked in fake lighting effects of the past two generations, and gone were the majority of other tricks Bungie had to implement to make the previous games look better than they actually were. Halo 5 backed off a tad from the slightly drearier look of 4, and somewhat tiptoed back into the look of the older games with more green, lush, outdoor locations, and highly realistic water. Halo 5 did hang on to all the advancements in detail of character models that show wear and tear on various pieces of armor, though. 343 also wisely chose to continue valuing the frame-rate over resolution, and with the seamless dynamic resolution of Halo 5 in place, the game could go from 1080p while you're walking around and taking in the atmosphere, to 720p during an intense firefight, and right back up without you ever even noticing a thing. The PC version would need to do this less of course, depending on the rig, but both the Xbox One and PC version of the game looked great.

Now, all of these games are playable on PC, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series X in their ultimate forms. The most drastic improvements can be found in the Halo: Master Chief Collection which contains all of the games we've mentioned here before Halo 5. Depending on the game and the hardware you're using, the games vary in how much of an upgrade they are, but even the most conservative version of the Master Chief Collection on the Xbox One is a sight to behold with much higher resolutions and rock-solid frame rates. While the collection launched in a somewhat rocky state, and that rightly impacted its reputation for a while, playing it today with all of the current updates and patches is far and away the best way to experience these games.

With Halo Infinite on the way, and 343 surely understanding that we'll be paying close attention to its graphics, we are likely in for yet another visual stunner from the flashy, science fiction franchise that reinvented its genre all those years ago.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Free Update Coming July 29th

Even with 32.63 million units sold thus far, Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to receive free updates. Nintendo of America on Twitter revealed that the next update would arrive on July 29th. This adds weekly fireworks shows along with some new seasonal items. Not the most earth-shattering of updates but it's great for new players who are just getting into the game.

Of course, there will be other free content coming to the game later this year. A release date wasn't provided but the company promises that more information would be provided in the future. It's also likely that other seasonal events will be returning as well in the coming months.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is currently available for Nintendo Switch – you can check out our review here for more details. It's currently Nintendo's second best-selling Switch title, only slightly behind Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's 35.39 million units sold. Stay tuned for more details on the next update in the coming days.

Samurai Warriors 5 Review – Tidying up

Now that developers like Atlus and Marvelous are nipping at the heels of Koei Tecmo's Warriors games with the excellent Persona 5 Strikers and the Fate Extella games respectively, it makes a lot of sense that Koei and Omega Force would want to shake things up with their Warriors games. The Warriors games are not the only show in town anymore so it's a wise decision. Furthermore, the Samurai Warriors series in particular has always sort of lived in the shadow of the Dynasty Warriors games, with most on the outside not really seeing much of a difference between them despite those differences always being there. Those days appear to be over now though, with Samurai Warriors totally changing up its look, refocusing its emphasis, and reimagining its characters. Change is often good for a long-running franchise, but it can also be risky. For Samurai Warriors 5, that risk both pays off and costs the overall experience in different ways.

First things first, if you are a long-time Samurai Warriors fan who just wants more of that frenzied, ultra-satisfying combat that lets you slash, blast, and bludgeon your way through legions of enemies in mere seconds, then, no need to fear. Samurai Warriors 5 feels just as great to play as any other Warriors game when you're in the thick of battle. The square button for attack combos being punctuated with a press of the triangle button at any point – totally changing the combo – is still a system that works well as a foundation for a game like this. Unlocking longer combos, and thus more places to put that triangle button, and thus more possible combo results, is still a fun process that feels continuously rewarding no matter how repetitive it may be in reality. As per the previous Samurai Warriors games, triangle by itself still gives you a hyper attack that lets you zoom from one gaggle of life bars to the next, and collect an even bigger cloud of airborne enemies, flailing about as you push forward and build up that musou gauge.

"Change is often good for a long-running franchise, but it can also be risky. For Samurai Warriors 5, that risk both pays off and costs the overall experience in different ways."

It's a solid basic combat system and stays fun throughout the experience. No need to fix what isn't broken. But Koei did go an extra mile by adding in the "ultimate skills" which bear an unmistakable resemblance to Fate Extella's "active skills" by essentially letting you put various special attacks or stat boosts in four different slots that can be activated by holding R1 and pressing the corresponding face button you've mapped them to. These moves are a great way to break out of a sticky situation with a powerful officer or just go a long way to keeping things interesting. As you unlock more things to put in those slots, you'll likely find yourself experimenting with them a lot as they can drastically change how you play once you get used to using them and working around their cool down times. So, with combat that largely keeps what worked from the last few games intact but adds in some smart (albeit shamelessly borrowed) tweaks that freshen things up, the updates to the combat are overall a net gain for the total experience. On top of that, the new move sets, new character designs, and attractive manga-inspired visual style is more than enough reason to give Samurai Warriors 5 a serious look. Especially if you are a newcomer or a casual fan.

That said, as so often comes with drastic change, some Warriors fans might feel a bit left out. Namely, the fans who are used to the number of modes and characters that were found in the previous few games. Given how early in the timeline that Samurai Warriors 5 takes place, it makes sense that some of the characters from 2, 3 and 4 wouldn't be there. But it also scales back the experience even more by only really focusing on Nobunaga Oda and Mitsuhide Akechi with the vast majority of the Musou mode's scenarios revolving around their perspectives. Other characters come and go, and as you unlock "free mode" versions of previous levels, you can ultimately play them with whatever character you want, but there's no mistaking how much of a slimmer feel this decision gives the game. Especially when you also realize that the main Musou mode and citadel mode are the only two modes. And despite Citadel's timed, objective-oriented missions, they don't really spice things up that much. It's nice to have I suppose, as it does give you another way to play and your stats do carry over between both modes, but it just never quite felt like enough to me given that this game has no "historical mode", no "conquest mode" and no character creation mode. It even scaled back the ability to switch between two characters on the fly, by only letting you do that in certain missions. The game clearly wants you to replay levels and experiment though, as you will want to upgrade your dojo and blacksmith buildings as fast as possible to open up your arsenal, but that's not the same as having multiple modes to play with custom characters. For the Warriors fans who enjoy the vast array of ways to play that the older games have, Samurai Warriors 5's leaner take will likely leave you wanting in that department.

Since the story of Samurai Warriors 5 takes place so far back in the chronology, newcomers should feel as welcome to hop in as any other time. The story, while limited in scope, does a good job of staying engaging as Nobunaga, his wife No, and their allies and enemies, cross paths in these fun, exaggerated versions of real historical events. The new art style comes together with the series' trademark outlandish outfits and exaggerated dialogue quite well in the cutscenes. Almost as if it should have always been this way. I'll admit I wasn't sold on the new look when the game was announced, but after you see it combined with everything else, it does click into place rather well. The story itself also does benefit in a way from the more focused approach. Despite it only being centered around a few characters, we do get a much closer look at those characters with more time devoted to their relationships and personal struggles. The script doesn't fly off the page and these characters are only so deep, but it's obvious that they didn't choose to narrow this game's focus for no reason. They're clearly going for quality over quantity here, and it's a respectable trade in terms of the story.

"The script doesn't fly off the page and these characters are only so deep, but it's obvious that they didn't choose to narrow this game's focus for no reason. They're clearly going for quality over quantity here, and it's a respectable trade in terms of the story."

Samurai Warriors 5 might very well go down in history as a very divisive game in the series. It's got a different look, and contracted story, and decidedly less content than its predecessors. Getting one of the better-told stories in the entire series as well as a fun, liberally updated combat system makes that trade feel fair most of the time, but it never feels like a bargain. It's hard to not appreciate how well Koei Tecmo has done with taking this series in a new interesting direction, and it's a direction I hope they continue with, but it shouldn't have come at the cost of so much of what Samurai Warriors fans rightly come to expect from the series.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

NEO: The World Ends with You is Now Available

The long-awaited sequel to 2007's The World Ends with You is now available. Taking place several years later, the Reapers' Game is once again in effect and it's Kanade Rindo that's caught in the middle. Check out the launch trailer to see the game in action.

Teaming up with his best friend Fret, otaku Usui Nagi and Minamimoto Sho, Rindo forms the Wicked Twisters to take on other gangs in the Shibuya UG to avoid erasure. Unlike its predecessor, exploration and combat is fully 3D with familiar locations like Hachiko and Tower Records recreated in excellent detail. Composer Takeharu Ishimoto also returns to deliver a bunch of new tracks and new mixes of old tracks.

NEO: The World Ends with You is out now for PS4 and Nintendo Switch. It will be coming to PC via the Epic Games Store later this Summer. Stay tuned for more details and impressions in the coming days.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD – All Upgrades for Shields, Bows, Potions, Items and More

Much previous games in the series, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD provides the option to upgrade your current gear. The main difference is that almost everything can be upgraded through various merchants in the Skyloft Bazaar. Let's take a look at all of the different equipment upgrades along with Treasures and costs involved, starting with shields:

  • Wooden Shield – Received from Instructor Owlan or purchased from the Gear Shop for 50 Rupees.
  • Banded Shield – Upgrade for Wooden Shield. Costs 30 Rupees and requires two Amber Relic, one Monster Claw and one Jelly Blob.
  • Braced Shield – Upgrade for Banded Shield. Costs 50 Rupees and requires two Monster Claws, three Amber Relics, two Tumbleweeds and one Ornamental Skull.
  • Iron Shield – Purchased at the Gear Shop for 100 Rupees.
  • Reinforced Shield – Upgrade for Iron Shield. Costs 50 Rupees and requires two Eldin Ores, two Ornamental Skulls and two Monster Claws.
  • Fortified Shield – Upgrade for Reinforced Shield. Costs 100 Rupees and requires three Eldin Ores, three Monster Claws, three Tumbleweeds and one Blue Bird Feather.
  • Sacred Shield – Purchased from Gear Shop for 500 Rupees.
  • Divine Shield – Upgrade for Sacred Shield. Costs100 Rupees and requires three Ornamental Skulls, one Dusk Relic and two Bird Feathers.
  • Goddess Shield – Upgrade to Divine Shield. Costs 150 Rupees and requires three Monster Horns, four Dusk Relics, three Bird Feathers and one Blue Bird Feather.

Next up is the Wallet, which holds all of your Rupees. You'll start out with the basic Wallet and can purchase three Extra Wallets from Beedle for 100 Rupees each (thus allowing for 300 additional Rupees to be stored). Subsequent upgrades are possible with Gratitude Crystals – take these Bandeaux for the upgrades.

  • Medium Wallet – Requires five Gratitude Crystals
  • Big Wallet – Requires 30 Gratitude Crystals
  • Giant Wallet – Requires 50 Gratitude Crystals
  • Tycoon Wallet – Requires 80 Gratitude Crystals

Next, we have the different upgrades to items. Some upgrades don't cost anything but others requires Rupees and materials (along with a trip to the Scrap Shop)

  • Beetle – Obtained from Skyview Temple.
  • Quick Beetle – Upgrade to Beetle. Costs 50 Rupees and requires two Ancient Flowers, two Hornet Larvae and one Golden Skull.
  • Tough Beetle – Upgrade to Quick Beetle. Costs 50 Rupees and requires three Ancient Flowers, four Amber Relics, one Blue Bird Feather and one Goddess Plume.
  • Bug Net – Acquired from Beedle's Air Shop for 50 Rupees.
  • Big Bug Net – Upgrade to Bug Net. Costs 100 Rupees and requires three Tumbleweeds, two Ancient Flowers and one Evil Crystal.
  • Bow – Obtained in the Sandship.
  • Iron Bow – Upgrade to the Bow. Costs 50 Rupees and requires three Tumbleweeds, three Monster Claws, two Eldin Ores and one Evil Crystal.
  • Sacred Bow – Upgrade to the Iron Bow. Costs100 Rupees and requires five Tumbleweeds, three Lizard Tails, two Evil Crystals and one Goddess Plume.
  • Slingshot – Locate the Kikwi elder's friends.
  • Scattershot – Upgrade to the Slingshot. Costs 50 Rupees and requires three Jelly Blob, two Dusk Relic and two Amber Relic.
  • Digging Mitts – Obtained from Mogma at the Eldin Volcano.
  • Mogma Mitts – Defeat Magmanos in the Fire Sanctuary and speak to Silva.

Upgrades can also be done to the Satchel and Arrow Quiver which hold ammo for your ranged weapons.

  • Small Seed Satchel – Purchased for 50 Rupees from the Gear Shop.
  • Medium Seed Satchel – Upgrade to Seed Satchel. Costs 50 Rupees and requires four Amber Relics, three Monster Claws and three Ornamental Skulls.
  • Large Seed Satchel – Upgrade to Medium Seed Satchel. Costs 100 Rupees and requires five Amber Relics, three Monster Claws, one Golden Skull and one Blue Bird Feather
  • Bomb Bag – Located in the Earth Temple after defeating two Lizalfos.
  • Small Bomb Bag – Purchased from the Gear Shop for 150 Rupees or found in a Goddess Chest. Allows for carrying five more bombs.
  • Medium Bomb Bag – Upgrade to Small Bomb Bag. Costs 50 Rupees and requires one Lizard Tail, three Ornamental Skulls and one Blue Bird Feather.
  • Large Bomb Bag – Upgrade to Medium Bomb Bag. Costs 100 Rupees and requires three Lizard Tails, four Jelly Blobs, two Hornet Larvae and one Golden Skull
  • Small Quiver – Purchased from the Gear Shop after receiving the Bow. Costs 50 Rupees.
  • Medium Quiver – Upgrade to the Small Quiver. Costs 50 Rupees and requires three Monster Horns, three Dusk Relics and five Amber Relics.
  • Large Quiver – Upgrade to Medium Quiver. Costs 100 Rupees and requires two Monster Horns, three Dusk Relics, one Golden Skull and one Goddess Plume.

Finally, we have Potions which can be used to restore health, replenish shield durability and restore stamina. Let's take a look at all of the different upgrades below.

  • Heart Potion – Purchased from the Potion Shop for 20 Rupees.
  • Heart Potion+ – Upgrade to Heart Potion. Costs 20 Rupees and requires three Blessed Butterflies, one Volcanic Ladybug and one Woodland Rhino Beetle.
  • Heart Potion++ – Upgrade to Heart Potion+. Costs 30 Rupees and requires three Blessed Butterflies, three Deku Hornets, one Eldin Roller and one Sand Cicada.
  • Revitalizing Potion – Purchased from the Potion Shop for 50 Rupees but also found in a chest in the Sealed Temple.
  • Revitalizing Potion+ – Upgrade to Revitalizing Potion. Costs 20 Rupees and requires three Deku Hornets, two Skyloft Mantises and two Woodland Rhino Beetles.
  • Revitalizing Potion++ – Upgrade to Revitalizing Potion+. Costs 30 Rupees and requires three Lanayru Ants, two Woodland Rhino Beetles, one Gerudo Dragonfly and one Sand Cicada.
  • Stamina Potion – Purchased at the Potion Shop for 50 Rupees.
  • Stamina Potion+ – Upgrade to Stamina Potion. Costs 20 Rupees and requires three Volcanic Ladybugs, two Sky Stag Beetles, two Gerudo Dragonflies and one Faron Grasshopper.
  • Air Potion – Purchased at the Potion Shop for 20 Rupees.
  • Air Potion+ – Upgrade to Air Potion. Costs 20 Rupees and requires two Sky Stag Beetles, two Skyloft Mantises and two Lanayru Ants.
  • Guardian Potion – Purchased at the Potion Shop for 200 Rupees.
  • Guardian Potion+ – Upgrade to Guardian Potion. Costs 40 Rupees and requires one Faron Grasshopper, two Eldin Rollers, three Blessed Butterflies and three Starry Fireflies.

Over 1000 Activision Blizzard Employees Sign an Open Letter Criticizing the Company for its "Abhorrent and Insulting" Lawsuit Response

A lawsuit against Activision Blizzard was filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DEFH) last week, accusing the company of sexual harassment, discrimination, and abuse, among other things. Since then, the company's responses to the suit have been far from ideal, saying at first that the DEFH's report was "distorted and false", while company executive Fran Townsend has doubled down on those statements in an email that was sent out to all company employees but eventually became public.

In response to the aforementioned responses to the lawsuit, a large number of Activision Blizzard employees have penned and signed an open letter to the company's management. The letter, which was shared by Kotaku, had over 800 signatories at first, but more have joined in since its publishing, with the number currently standing at 1000.

The letter calls out Activision Blizzard and Fran Townsend's responses to the ongoing lawsuit, calling them "abhorrent and insulting" and stating that the values of the signatories are "not accurately reflected in the words and actions" by the company's leadership. The letter calls for "official statements that recognize the seriousness of these allegations", for Fran Townsend to step down as Executive Sponsor of the ABK Employee Women's Network, and for active and significant steps to be taken to "have a safe place to speak out and come forward."

You can find a full copy of the open letter below:

To the Leaders of Activision Blizzard,

We, the undersigned, agree that the statements from Activision Blizzard, Inc. and their legal counsel regarding the DFEH lawsuit, as well as the subsequent internal statement from Frances Townsend, are abhorrent and insulting to all that we believe our company should stand for. To put it clearly and unequivocally, our values as employees are not accurately reflected in the words and actions of our leadership.

We believe these statements have damaged our ongoing quest for equality inside and outside of our industry. Categorizing the claims that have been made as "distorted, and in many cases false" creates a company atmosphere that disbelieves victims. It also casts doubt on our organizations' ability to hold abusers accountable for their actions and foster a safe environment for victims to come forward in the future. These statements make it clear that our leadership is not putting our values first. Immediate corrections are needed from the highest level of our organization.

Our company executives have claimed that actions will be taken to protect us, but in the face of legal action — and the troubling official responses that followed — we no longer trust that our leaders will place employee safety above their own interests. To claim this is a "truly meritless and irresponsible lawsuit," while seeing so many current and former employees speak out about their own experiences regarding harassment and abuse, is simply unacceptable.

We call for official statements that recognize the seriousness of these allegations and demonstrate compassion for victims of harassment and assault. We call on Frances Townsend to stand by her word to step down as Executive Sponsor of the ABK Employee Women's Network as a result of the damaging nature of her statement. We call on the executive leadership team to work with us on new and meaningful efforts that ensure employees — as well as our community — have a safe place to speak out and come forward.

We stand with all our friends, teammates, and colleagues, as well as the members of our dedicated community, who have experienced mistreatment or harassment of any kind. We will not be silenced, we will not stand aside, and we will not give up until the company we love is a workplace we can all feel proud to be a part of again. We will be the change.

EA Sports is Looking to Expand with "New Business Models, New Geographies" in the Next 5 Years

With perennially successful and revenue-generating franchises such as FIFA and Madden NFL under its belt, the EA Sports publishing label is by far EA's biggest source of revenue. As things stand right now, EA Sports reaches an audience of about 230 million players worldwide, but the company has ambitions for significant growth in the coming few years.

Speaking in an interview with Axios, EA Sports general manager Daryl Holt said that in the next five years, EA Sports is looking to expand its audience to 500 million players, more than double the current figure, and that it plans to do that by expanding into "new business models, new geographies." The company is looking to deliver "a sustained offering of sports gaming content to players around the clock," according to Axios' report.

"We're creating very much a social aspect and social networks within our games," says Holt.

As for NBA, EA brought the NBA Live line of games to a halt in 2019, stating back then that it was working on a rework of the franchise, and Holt says that work is continuing. "We've got some next-generation HD basketball projects that we have been talking about and designing and working on," he said.

Meanwhile, with Konami recently having rebranded its long-running Pro Evolution Soccer series as eFootball, an ongoing free-to-play live service platform, could EA adopt that approach with its own annual franchises anytime soon? Holt says that though the annual release cycles for these games isn't going to be dropped anytime soon, EA is still going to keep an eye on that business model to see if it can be adopted in the future.

"I think it is an evolution that is happening around the gaming industry in different ways," he said. "How we unlock the big beat of sports into that type of a service, I think we'll see over the course of the future."

While FIFA, Madden NFL, NHL, and UFC games continue to be successful for EA Sports, the company is looking to expand and improve in other areas as well. With the recent acquisition of Codemasters, F1 has, of course, been brought under the EA Sports label, while EA's recent acquisition of mobile games developer Playdemic also signifies the company's intent to drive growth in the mobile space.

Monster Hunter Stories 2 is Adding Kulve Taroth Co-op Quest Next Week

Capcom has released a roadmap for updates and new content coming to Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin over the coming few months, and there's some interesting stuff to look forward to for players. Title Update 2 is going to launch for free on August 5, and it will bring Kulve Taroth to the game as a co-op exclusive quest. In addition, a couple new Monsties are also going to be added in the form of Hellblade Glavenus and Boltreaver Astalos.

September will bring two more free title updates, with several new Monsties coming to the game, including Soulseer Mitsuzune, Elderfrost Gammoth, and Molten Tigrex. The second September update will also add a harder version of the Kulve Taroth co-op quest. Finally, the October update will add a new high difficulty co-op quest monster, and a couple more new Monsties with Silver Rathalos and Gold Rathian.

Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is available on Nintendo Switch and PC. Capcom recently also confirmed an upcoming Okami collaboration for Monster Hunter Rise. Read more on that through here.

Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny Trailer Highlights Accolades

Nippon Ichi's Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny is available in North America and Europe for the Switch, providing a brand new story and visual style to go with the series' famed tactical strategy combat. To celebrate the positive reviews it's received, a new trailer has been released. Check it out below.

The story focuses on Zed, a zombie that's looking to take down the dreaded God of Destruction. Zed isn't completely helpless though – he can use Super Reincarnation to become stronger. The series' absurd level cap has also been increased to 99,999,999 with players capable of dealing over one quadrillion worth of damage. Features like Auto (which plays battles automatically), Retry and Replay have also been introduced.

Though Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny has had some positive reviews, it's not without its downsides. As our official review points out, the new graphical style doesn't look great and performance issues are common on the Switch. Don't go in expecting as much content or mechanics as Disgaea 5 Complete either.