Alright, folks, this week has been huge for the gaming and tech scene. From CrowdStrike’s expensive and epic blunder, which grounded planes and put retail on pause for an entire day, to huge moves by game devs and unions to secure AI protections for workers.
Here are seven things you might have missed this week that you should know.
7. Crowdstirke offering partners affected a $10 Uber Eats Voucher
After a misconfigured software update crashed millions of computers running CrowdStrike security, the company has been quick on damage control to earn back the trust of its most lucrative customers.
It was reported by TechCrunch this week that CrowdStrike partners are being offered $10 Uber Eats gift cards to make up for its massively expensive blunder. It is speculated that members involved in CrowdStrike’s partnership program, Accelerate, which extends to a wide range of security firms, organisations, telecoms and cloud platforms are some of the partners being offered this good faith reparation.
It’s been reported that the issue has cost US Fortune 500 companies approximately $5.4 billion, however, this figure excludes Microsoft from the estimation.
After trying to redeem one of the Uber Eats vouchers, TechCrunch has confirmed they’ve been discontinued. A fantastic comedy of errors from the PR team over at CrowdStrike, for sure.
6. Brand new Fallout: London mod is finally releasing
The team behind Fallout: London, a brand new ambitious mod for Bethesda’s acclaimed Fallout 4 has just released, and it’s breathing life back into the game.
The mod takes you away from the wasteland of America and instead puts you in the decrepit ruins of a post-nuclear apocalypse London. There you see structures like the Big Ben Tower, Parliament House and some neat-looking castles to loot and shoot through.
Normally most mods wouldn’t get so much attention, however, Fallout: London is almost the size of an entirely new game, and has recruited top-tier voice talent like Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Neil Newborn to add some extra production quality to the experience.
If you wrapped up watching the recent Fallout show on Amazon Prime and wanted to dive into a new Fallout game, this could be your pick.
You can download the official mod for free via the GOG store. It looks like you’ll have to do some tech admin stuff to get the mod to run with your game, but early impressions have been positive, and it’s shaping up to be a historic moment for the modding community.
5. World of Warcraft Devs Unionise
A big week for games devs as World of Warcraft developers at Blizzard Entertainment have formed a wall-to-wall union comprising over 500 employers across a variety of disciplines including art, engineering, production, design, QA, and more.
The World of Warcraft Game Makers Guild (WoWGG) has been officially recognised by Microsoft, under its 2022 neutrality agreement, making it the second major union to form under the tech company. Just a week prior, Bethesda formed the OneBGS USA, a union also dedicated to protecting its worker’s rights.
This is a huge step in the right direction for the games industry, as the industry has been hit with mass layoffs this year. The hope of these unions is to improve the job security of devs and ensure future contract bargaining.
4. Michael Bay working to create ‘Skibidi Toilet’ Movie
Michael Bay has gained 100 aura points this week after announcing his involvement in a new ‘Skibidi Toilet’ franchise, moving him out of Director Ohio and into the sigma’s chair.
Skibidi Toilet has been the global phenomenon spreading online brainrot since debuting in February 2023, garnering over 65 Billion views via YouTube Shorts. Now, the Transformers director is looking to bring it to the big screen.
Executives told The Washington Post that Skibidi Toilet creator Alexy Gerasimov is working with the independent Hollywood entertainment studio Invisible Narrative to expand the series into a potential television and movie franchise. While nothing is set in stone right now, Hollywood is very keen to tap into the franchise, noting that the franchise has the largest Gen Alpha following.
Let’s hope the series is made soon and not ten years later when the fad is dead like the Angry Birds movie.
3. Ubisoft apologises for representation in Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
Video game company Ubisoft has taken to social media to address the controversy surrounding representation in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, which takes place in feudal Japan.
The game has found itself in the middle of an online culture war due to having Yasuke, the first black samurai, as a playable character. Many of these arguments have been in bad faith and often covertly racist, the main argument being that the game is foregoing “historical accuracy”. Japanese historians however have been quick to validate the existence of Yasuke as a real figure in Japanese history.
Developer Ubisoft released a lengthy statement via its social media as a direct communication with Japanese players, promising to improve historical accuracy in the game. Many have called the apology “vague” and “ambiguous”, however.
Truth be told, everyone already knows the Assassin’s Creed franchise plays fast and loose with history. From an alien race influencing the Pope, to a magical feather that could kill people, the games don’t hide that they’re fictitious recreations of historical settings.
The saddest part is that the game looks like a heap of fun, and I’m sure will do well on release. You can also bet that many of the loudest critics here will be playing the game on launch anyway, and everyone but sad content creators selling a grift will conveniently forget having any issues with it.
2. Helldivers 2 is getting a huge update
Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios has announced they’ll be dropping a massive update for the game on August 6th, which will include new enemies, a tougher difficulty mode and new tools to help spread democracy.
The game took a pause on releasing new content, as it was burning out players too quickly and rapidly shifting player builds. This new update is set to be the game’s biggest post-release update, and massively redefining the game.
The “Escalation of Freedom” will re-introduce the Impaler, a Terminid enemy type that burrows in the ground and cuts off your escape routes. There will also be a new variant of the Charger Terminid, now rocking some gross spores on the side to add to the chaos of taking one down.
Automatons will also be getting some upgrades, so expect to relive the horrors of Malevelon Creek and some more.
I’m personally keen to dive back into the game with some friends when this drops.
1. SAG-AFTRA Voice actors are going on strike
Video game performers part of the SAG-AFTRA union have announced they will be going on strike starting today after talks for a new contract with major game studios broke down over artificial intelligence protections.
The strike has been looming for a while, ever since the strikes last year with the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA paused production for 118 days, again, due to pay and lack of AI protections. It’s almost like no one but rich executives like this whole AI thing, huh?
A spokesperson for the video game producers, Audrey Cooling, clarified that while studios did offer some AI protections, they were too ambiguous. SAG-AFTRA further followed up saying that the studios’ definition of who constitutes a “performer” needs to be clearer to understand who would be protected.
The union further said that without stricter protections in place, game studios could train AI to replicate an actor’s voice or create a digital replica of their likeness without consent or fair compensation.
“We strike as a matter of last resort. We have given this process absolutely as much time as we responsibly can,” SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez told reporters. “We have exhausted the other possibilities, and that is why we’re doing it now.”
That’s it, folks! See you next Friday for more news.
The post CrowdStrike’s $10 Apology & Voice Actors Going On Strike: News From Tech & Gaming This Week appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
