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TouchArcade is closing

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This is a post I’ve known about for some time, but that doesn’t make it any easier to write down. After over 16 years, TouchArcade will likely be closing its doors and going out of business. There could also be an extra post here and there in the approaching weeks as we attempt to honor any previously agreed-upon commitments and likewise prepare a correct farewell post, but for now, our normal day-to-day operations have ceased. The reason we’re closing is probably not surprising: Money.

Many of you who’ve been following TouchArcade for some time are well aware that we now have struggled financially for a few years, and truthfully, I believe it is a miracle that we now have managed to survive this long. The truth is that a web site like ours simply doesn’t generate profits anymore. To our own detriment, we now have resisted things like obnoxious, intrusive ads, blatant clickbait headlines, or ethically questionable sponsorships, that are unfortunately the sorts of things that also generate profits on the web today.

There are many other reasons which have contributed to us getting so far, but I’d reasonably not go into details now. TouchArcade has been an establishment for tens of millions of individuals for the past 16 years, and I’ve been working full time for the past 14+ years. A solid third of my life. In some ways, it’s like one in all my children, and it is very hard to say goodbye to it. I’d really reasonably deal with all the good times we have had, than dwell on the things we will not change.

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Also, as a person with a wife and two young children, a mortgage and all that adult fun, this is the tip of my life, and despite the fact that they’re technically “freelancers”, so are the opposite two individuals who were at the center of TouchArcade, Shaun Musgrave and Mikhail Madnani. Which brings me to my next point…

HIRE US!

The job market isn’t great anywhere, and finding a brand new job is tough, especially within the gaming industry. If you’re reading this and wish some very capable gaming industry veterans like us, please reach out to us.

Jared Nelson – That’s me! Of course, I actually have over 14 years of experience working in the course of the mobile gaming boom at TouchArcade. Writing, editing, managing staff, traveling to conventions. I’ve done all of it. I even have a reasonably diverse work history prior to TouchArcade, including management positions, which I believe gives me a extremely well-rounded skill set. You can reach me at LinkedIn or via email at jared (at) toucharcade (dot) com.

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Shaun Musgrave – Shaun has been with TouchArcade for somewhat over 11 years, but has been in skilled gaming media for over 25 years. He is by far one of the crucial talented writers I actually have ever met, and if we wanted a review of an enormous, necessary game and needed it on very tight deadlines, Shaun was at all times reliable. He also uses his vast, almost uncanny knowledge of video game history to seek out interesting angles to write down about games that only he could find. Shaun lives in Japan and is fluent in each Japanese and English, which also makes him an important candidate for localization work. Contact him at muzkind (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Mikhail Madnani – As a member of TouchArcade for over 7 years, Mikhail is the workhorse of our team. Publishing most of what you see every day, our website wouldn’t have been capable of run for so long as it has without Mikhail’s contributions. An expert at sniffing out interesting news and publishing it in a timely manner, but additionally capable of create huge features like in-depth interviews and multiplatform reviews. His header images stuffed with coffee are also legendary. If you wish someone who can reliably and consistently publish video game related content, I can’t recommend Mikhail enough. Contact him at hello (at) failgunner (dot) com.

What will occur now?

If there’s a silver lining to all of this, it’s that for the foreseeable future, all the content ever published on TouchArcade will remain online and accessible to everyone. Over 33,000 articles published, including over 4,000 game reviews, not to say all of our annual Best Of content and Game of the Year picks. Hopefully, all of this content will continue to exist in the long run for reference and to easily look back on and see how drastically the mobile gaming landscape has modified over the past decade and a half.

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We hope to proceed our podcast, The TouchArcade Show, which recently celebrated its 600th (!) episode. A number of co-hosts have come and gone over the course of the podcast (shout out to Brand and Mike!), but Eli Hodapp and I actually have been a relentless presence on the show because the starting, and it’s truthfully crazy that we’ve spent over 13 years of our lives putting out an hour-long podcast (almost) every week.

So it’s possible you’ll be wondering, our Patreon. Our Patreon support has been by far the most important contributor to TouchArcade’s existence since we launched in June 2015, almost a decade ago. Our thoughts are to redirect Patreon donations to support the podcast, and possibly the occasional post or special feature written by the team here. Maybe a random “SwitchArcade” or a review of a very high-profile mobile game launch. Maybe we could even squeeze in a Game of the Year this yr? It’s only a germ of an idea for now, but it surely can be pretty cool to see TouchArcade continue to exist, even on this small way.

Regardless of how this ends, I will likely be clearly changing the wording of our Patreon to state that it is not about supporting the web site, and if people determine to stop donating, that is completely comprehensible. If persons are giving us money every month, I need to be completely transparent about where it is going. Either way, search for more news on this in the approaching weeks, and on the very least be certain you follow us as a free member on our Patreon to not sleep thus far. If you’ve gotten any questions or concerns, you possibly can contact me at suggestions (at) toucharcade (dot) com or leave a comment below.

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Well, I believe that is it. Speaking on behalf of all of us who’ve helped run TouchArcade over the past 16 years—from co-founders Arnold Kim and Blake Patterson to our first full-time worker and future editor-in-chief Eli Hodappa, and the handfuls of other writers and freelancers who’ve helped make TouchArcade what it is—we just wish to sincerely thanks for reading our site, listening to our podcast, or attending one in all our events. It was an absolute pleasure to have such a beautiful audience that appreciated what we did, and we’ll all be ceaselessly grateful for the time we got to spend together.

This article was originally published on : toucharcade.com
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Fortnite in legal problems after adding AI Darth Vader

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Photo to the article entitled Fortnite in legal problems after adding AI Darth Vader

Screenshot: Epic / Lucasfilm / Kotaku

SAG-aftra, massive actors and media with over 160,000 members, lified an unfair charge of labor practice on the National Council for Epic Games regarding the inclusion Darth Vader with AI drive In the most recent update.

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Perhaps you heard about Darth Vader with AI drive This was added to the favored Epic Battle Royale game last week as a part of the continued season. Players could consult with this vader powered by AI and ask him questions. The voice of AI was designed to mimic the voice of the deceased James Earl Jones I He finished along with his and his assets. Pretty quickly after he was added to the sport, the players told him to say Slrars, curses and other dubious things. Epicaled him and it appears that evidently he has mastered Mr. Sith. But now the developer is in hot water with one in all the biggest media compounds in the country, because he included this vader powered by AI without prior communication or negotiations with SAG-aftra.

May 19, as reported Sag-aftra announced that he had submitted unfair allegation of labor practice against Epic Games and its subsidiary, Llama Productions.

“We are celebrating the right of our members and their possessions to control the use of their digital replicas and with satisfaction to accept new technologies to enable a new generation to share these heritage and renowned roles” He said in the SAG-AFTRA statement.

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“However, we must protect our right to bargain the conditions related to the use of the voice that replace the work of our members, including those who have previously performed work on the iconic rhythm and tone of Darth Vader in video games.”

Sag-aftra says that Epic and Llama Productions “decided to replace the work of human performers AI” and did it without “notifying their intention to this” and without allowing unification on honest conditions.

SAG-aftra voice entities are currently in a strike against large video games, including EA and Activision on various issues. The strike began in 2024. One of the massive ones is greater protection against copies of AILike Darth Vader W.

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(Tagstranslate) Darth Vader (T) SAG-aftra Strike (T) Star Wars Comics (T) SAG (T) SAG-aftra (T) Sith (T) 2024-Presidential Sag-aftra Strik game

This article was originally published on : kotaku.com
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How to start strong in the destruction: dark ages, how to master the whore in clair obsurn and more best tips of the week

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NPC is hiding behind the mask.

Screenshot: Ubisoft / Kotaku

The standard rattling story each time. Old sympathy appears, saying that a while has passed, we must always get lunch, catch up. By the way, I do know that we weren’t close for a very very long time, however it has been hard for just a few months, will you murder dozens of people in honor of my deceased brother, chief? I’m normally not like that. I just do not have anyone he could turn to. A story as old as time. – Justin Clark Read more

(Tagstranslate) Doom: The Dark Ages (T) Windows Games (T) Justin Clark (T) Morgan (T) Dark Ages (T) George Yang

This article was originally published on : kotaku.com
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The former head of Activision Bobby Kotick wants to buy Tiktok: Report

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Tiktok is currently in an especially difficult place. Despite the proven fact that everyone knows that they use it for a lot of hours, the video sharing application is currently within the face of regulations that may force its ban within the US in anticipation of potential sales, and potential buyers are queuing up. One of these potential buyers is supposedly Bobby Kotick, the former head of Activision Blizzard, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Tiktok has been examined for years by American legislators, who argued that its Chinese dominant company Bytedance may provide data that collects the Chinese government or that the applying can function a propaganda delivery tool. Despite a while of tension, leading many to the conviction that the applying will likely be banned within the USA, matters seemingly cooled until the bill is pushed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week, raising his pressure on Bytedance. It is predicted that the bill will likely be reviewed and approved by the House of Representatives this week before sending to the Senate, and President Joe Biden has already claimed that he would have signed a ban if the Act had made the regulations.

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The bill requires Bytedance to “deprive himself of” Tiktoku or see an application prohibited within the USA, which led to re -interest of potential buyers, including Kotick. Kotick, according to the sources of WSJ, raised the concept of ​​buying a co -founder of Bytedance and apparently in search of partners, including Altman himself from OpenAi. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Openai could use a thicket to help train his AI models if a partner like Kotick can raise capital for such a takeover.” Tiktok sales are estimated at “hundreds of billions of dollars”.

Kotick left Activision Blizzard at the top of last 12 months after the sale of the publisher $ 68 billion to Microsoft. Kotick’s term of office in Activision Blizzard lasted a long time and was under fire in 2021, when California filed a lawsuit on investigation regarding allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination. Ultimately, California Department of Citizenship withdrew all allegations and claims regarding harassment and settled with Activision Blizzard in December 2023 for $ 54 million to resolve unjustified claims regarding remuneration and promotion.

The settlement approved by the Court contained an announcement, provided that:

“(N) for a court or any independent investigation justified all allegations that in Activision Blizzard there is a system or universal sexual harassment; that the management of Activision Blizzard ignored, accepted or tolerated the culture of system harassment, retaliation or discrimination; instances of improper behavior in the workplace.”

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In addition, the settlement noticed that the former chairman of EEOC conducted a review of company policies, practices and a few data regarding complaints and stated that the corporate was not universal harassment. The company itself publicly published its transparency report, which moreover stated that in Activision Blizzard there was never a typical or systemic harassment or sexual salary.

Kotick left with a golden parachute estimated at about $ 15 million.

Updated: 04/01/2024, 14:00 ET: This article has been updated to contain the main points of the CRD settlement that Activision Blizzard refused all offenses, and the settlement confirms that CRD cannot justify these claims.

Updated: 05/17/2025, 12:10 pm et: This article has been updated with a further language from the CRD settlement and to include this as part of the CRD settlement withdrew claims related to harassment from the criticism.

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(Tagstranslate) bobby kotick

This article was originally published on : kotaku.com
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