Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news. Business business business!
Activision-Blizzard: Another group of QA testers within Activision-Blizzard have announced they’re unionizing. Blizzard Albany says it’s organizing under the Communication Workers of America banner and asked Activision to voluntarily recognize the union.
Today, we announce a new union at Activision Blizzard.
QA is currently an undervalued discipline in the games and software industries. We strive to
foster work environments where we are respected and compensated for our essential role in the
development process. 1/5— GWA Albany (@WeAreGWAAlbany) July 19, 2022
BioWare: Post-Pride, BioWare has published a blog post featuring four LGBTQIA+ devs who discuss their career paths and how BioWare’s games have affected them and other LGBTQIA+ players and devs. “[G]ames that try to be more open and attentive towards queer identities definitely help us find ourselves in them,” Programmer Rachel Hammond says. “But they help other people see us too; the benefit doesn’t stop simply with our firsthand experience. It also helps normalize queer identities for other players, letting others know we’re real, we’re normal, we’re part of the industry.”
Sony: The Northern District of California has dismissed an antitrust case brought by consumers against Sony Interactive Entertainment. Plaintiffs had accused the company of unlawful market monopolization by ending sales of digital games on third-party platforms. As GIbiz notes, the judge found that the plaintiffs had not met their burden to prove Sony’s motivation was anti-competitive.
Crypto: Second Life’s Philip Rosedale hasn’t been shy about his opinion on crypto and blockchain, so you won’t be shocked to see his new interview on CBS. He’s not disdainful about the metaverse, which of course is basically just a conceptual virtual world, and that idea’s been around forever and will probably never vanish. And as he pioneered Second Life, he’s not against virtual real estate either. However, he says current crypto tech is a net negative and play-to-earn games aren’t actually creating new value. “It’s a bit of a hustle,” he says.
The metaverse is a powerful idea, says Second Life creator @PhilipRosedale, but cryptocurrency and NFTs can be dangerous. pic.twitter.com/hFCIAzWA27
— Dan Patterson (@DanPatterson) July 19, 2022
