law
Labor board moves forward on union’s labor law charges against Activision-Blizzard
We admit that it's hard to keep track of all of the malfeasance that the Communications Workers of America has been calling out against...
Australian parliament proposes ratings changes to games with lootboxes and ‘simulated gambling’
It appears that the Australian parliament is looking to make some moves against games with lockboxes, or at the very least a half-measure: The...
Canadian court rules lockboxes aren’t illegal gambling, ‘deceptive acts’ suit continues
Back in October 2020, we reported on a class action lawsuit filed in Canada against EA that covered over 70 different titles that used...
Sony legal docs suggest hypothetical ways Microsoft could hurt Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles
There are plenty of tinfoil-y ways that people can paint Microsoft as a mustache-twirling villain, but those can be mostly associated with Redditor ramblings...
Austrian court finds FIFA lockboxes violate the country’s gambling laws, orders Sony to issue refunds
The question of whether the lockboxes in the recent run of FIFA soccer titles constitute gambling has been one that many nations around the...
Lawful Neutral: What MMO gamers need to know about Section 230
You might have seen something in the news last week about a thing called Section 230 and lots of panic over the "end of...
CWA files charges against Activision-Blizzard over latest unionbusting efforts
Activision-Blizzard's unionbusting reputation precedes it, I'm afraid, as the company has been playing a very public whackamole game with its burgeoning workers' movements over...
Subreddit founder who started the 2021 Gamestonk craze sues Reddit over his ouster
One of the many, many weird stories to come out of 2021 was the one about Gamestonk, a memelord-led stock market charge that ballooned...
EU Parliament adopts resolution to regulate games industry harms from lockboxes to manipulative design
Call them lockboxes, lootboxes, gambleboxes, or gachapon: The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution "ensuring a safe online environment for online...
Lawful Neutral: Recapping 2022’s MMO and gaming law dramas
Fam, it's been a year. I know we've been saying that pretty much every year since 2016, but we'll stop saying it when it...
Microsoft claims the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit violates its fifth amendment rights
The beginning of this month saw Microsoft's big money buyout of Activision-Blizzard hit a US federal government-level snag when the FTC filed an antitrust...
US Senator calls out Steam’s lax moderation of neo-Nazis and hate
The fact that Steam is extremely hands-off in regard to moderation isn't really news. Readers will recall it was referenced in a video report...
Australian lawmaker proposes bill that would classify games with lockboxes for adults only
There is at least one lawmaker in Australia who feels very strongly about the matter of gaming lockboxes, apparently. Andrew Wilkie, an independent member...
Raven workers accuse Activision-Blizzard of ‘continued intransigence’ during union negotiations
Yesterday, we went in-depth on some of the ways Activision-Blizzard is attempting to obstruct the union forming within Diablo IV substudio Blizzard Albany, but...
Activision-Blizzard continues obstructing QA worker unionization with latest appeal
A few weeks ago, the QA division of Blizzard Albany - that is, the studio formerly known as Vicarious Visions that is working on...
Lawful Neutral: How extremism and terrorism slither into online gaming
Back in 2014, something happened in the gaming space, something whose impact was so damaging that even almost 10 years later, I realize that...
Stalkers harassed Destiny 2 devs with racist voice mails and doxxing, new court filings show
Earlier this week, we wrote about Destiny 2 studio Bungie's plan to reduce comms between developers and players temporarily over some extreme harassment and...
UK government will ‘consider legislation’ unless game companies add parental controls to lootboxes
The UK's Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has seen enough evidence related to the harm that lootboxes have on children and...
MMO Business Roundup: Preservation, charity, modding, memes, and Microsoft’s merger
Welcome back to another quick roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news. Business business business.
Microsoft ABK: It's not just the US digging into Microsoft's...
Axie Infinity’s massive crypto theft by hackers was possible thanks to a job search phishing scam
Most of our regular readers know Axie Infinity as the game that saw a North Korean hacker gang get away with a huge stash...
