440°

Microsoft - GDC and the Wellbeing of our teams & community

Microsoft Game Stack Blog - After a close review of guidance by global health authorities and out of an abundance of caution, we’ve made the difficult decision to withdraw from participating at Game Developers Conference 2020 in San Francisco. The health and safety of players, developers, employees, and our partners around the world is our top priority. Especially as the world is experiencing growing public health risks associated with coronavirus (COVID-19).

Read Full Story >>
developer.microsoft.com
Jin_Sakai1519d ago

Hate to see so many withdraw from GDC but it’s for the best. Will this effect game development in any way?

mrmikew20181519d ago

I have a terrible feelingthat this stupid corona-virus, is going to affect the launch of these systems.

UltraNova1519d ago

I guess Sony isn't so paranoid after all...

Rimeskeem1519d ago

Given that the Olympics are likely being cancelled cause of this I could only assume the distribution of the consoles globally will be delayed until the virus situation is fully contained. The worse thing you can do right now is have a mass distribution of a product where the parts likely being manufactured in China.

Eonjay1519d ago Show
UltraNova1519d ago

@Rimeskeem

If what I'm reading lately holds any water I can see Sony delaying ps5's launch until March 2021 or later. Shit has officially hit the fan my friends.

Jin_Sakai1519d ago

“If what I'm reading lately holds any water I can see Sony delaying ps5's launch until March 2021 or later. Shit has officially hit the fan my friends.“

I don’t think PS5 or Series X will be delayed. They will likely be short supply though.

ninsigma1519d ago

"The worse thing you can do right now is have a mass distribution of a product where the parts likely being manufactured in China."

currently evidence is the virus only lasts a couple hours on the surface of an object so it spreading through world wide distribution of products is unlikely and probably we'd be in a worse scenario than we are now if it could.
https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/res...

JesusBuiltmyHotrod1519d ago

Who gives a shit about "Consoles" when compared to this virus that is killing people. Consoles can wait another year. get Some perspective.

1519d ago
Smokehouse1519d ago

Lmao! That’s what gives you the terrible feeling? True gamer bro.

bouzebbal1518d ago

World panicking over influenza virus just blows my mind.. I'm more concerned about the 24000 deaths a day due to starvation, where 3/4 are kids under 5..
Stop the goddam paranoia, this is just a flu.. Yes more contageous but still a flu.. Stay clean, wash hands, eat food that boosts immune system.. This is what you hear every year in the winter period when flu virus is approaching.. Corona is no different..

sprinterboy1518d ago (Edited 1518d ago )

It's not gonna be a feeling dude, it's gonna happen.
March/April 2021 is my guess now to release the strain of catching up with production and waiting alittle while for costs of components to reduce (mini recession coming up folks)
Last week things seemed to be calming down somewhat but since the Italian cases it's spreading fast again.

BlueBlue1518d ago

If only that.... It seems it will break the economy of many countries (making it impossible to even buy the new systems until 3 or 4 years from now).

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 1518d ago
ThinkThink1519d ago

Ok, so Microsoft is still doing something for game developers, it's just being moved to a digital platform:

"In light of this, we plan to move our presence to a digital-only event March 16-18th held on www.microsoft.com/gamestack. This event will feature the majority of our planned game developer sessions and experiences, which will be streamed live and available on demand".

rainslacker1519d ago

Yeah. They're still distributing the info, just it wont be as interactive, or maybe not interactive at all.

I imagine any company cancelling will still want to get the info out there

ThinkThink1519d ago

Here’s what you can expect to see at Microsofts Game Developers Shindig on March 16th. Still pretty interesting.

Join us to learn about the latest in cloud and game development technologies through our technical talks and developer demos

Tune into panel discussions with industry leaders about the evolution of game development, intentionally inclusive game design, the increasing role of online services, next gen hardware, and the future of game streaming.

Get a behind-the-scenes look into design and development decisions made by the creators of Minecraft and Gears of War, and hear from Xbox Game Studios teams Double Fine, inXile, Compulsion, Rare, Obsidian, and Undead Labs

GDC has long been a moment for us to come together and celebrate Gaming for Everyone with our many vibrant communities. While we won’t be able to bring our G4E events online, we remain committed to celebrating and amplifying our diverse communities in gaming throughout the year.

Christopher1518d ago

Yeah. Glad they're doing that. Will be a bit disjointed in general this year. MS does digital seminars every day as it is, so they've got it set up. Hope the other people find a way to get their stuff out there. Been watching some of the stuff from last year and was hoping to catch a few of the Indie Summits.

rainslacker1519d ago

I wouldnt be surprised if its rescheduled or completely cancelled for the year.

akaFullMetal1519d ago

Well at least there will be a premade video for them, but don't blame them for worrying about their employees. Good call

mrmikew20181519d ago

@Rimeskeem

It's extremely unfortunate if it turns out that way, but the silver lining to all of this that it would give the fans more time to save up for these systems.

Kabaneri1519d ago

Thats only a silver lining if you're 10 years old or unemployed.

IMissJimRyan1519d ago ShowReplies(1)
1519d ago
Show all comments (112)
80°

An Update on This Year’s BlizzCon and Blizzard’s 2024 Live Events

Blizzard writes: "After careful consideration over the last year, we at Blizzard have made the decision not to hold BlizzCon in 2024. This decision was not made lightly as BlizzCon remains a very special event for all of us, and we know many of you look forward to it. While we’re approaching this year differently and as we have explored different event formats in the past, rest assured that we are just as excited as ever to bring BlizzCon back in future years."

Read Full Story >>
blizzcon.com
PRIMORDUS5h ago

How about you not hold Blizzcon anymore period. You fucking POS company. I really hope Blizzard would just die.

140°

Sony Patents To Prevent You From In-Game Harassment By Reading Your Emotions

A new patent recently published by Sony wants to gather biometric data of gamers to track whether one is being harassed using AI tools.

Profchaos21h ago(Edited 21h ago)

I hope this is one of those patents that never comes to fruition.

I already dislike the fact you can pay a significant amount for a online service buy associated games and content on said service and get banned from that service over potentially a misunderstanding the bans are already handed out for flimsy reasons

I'd rather see money invested in a ban that simply removes the offensive players ability to communicate with unknown players allow them to continue party chats with friends but not with Joe blow on cod.

exputers17h ago

Agreed. Blizzard recently banned a college Overwatch 2 player who's dependent for saying "shit." Pretty harsh.

Profchaos2h ago(Edited 2h ago)

How rediculas really. You can't say a word that's allowed in most PG films and prime time TV but the game is based around killing the enemy team using guns, explosives etc.

It's just backwards.

just_looken4h ago

What your talking about is called block list

In 2006 a spaceship dropped of the playstation 3/xbox 360 i say that that generation was the last great gen with game functions/tech that has yet to comeback

Anyhow the playstation 3 if you block listed a id they could not talk to you in chatroom with either text or voice. But that was pre mind fucked 2018 when people were more human than sheep.

But hey gta 6 is coming out billion dollar budget without a single player custom character creator and without singeplayer coop off/online something saints row 1-3 had on the xbox 360.

z2g13h ago

Take my social security and bank account numbers too! Here’s a picture of my wife and our address.

phoenixwing13h ago

Cmon where's the pictures of your children. Don't hold out on them.

H913h ago

At this rate I feel Sony will eventually sell a room to play games in it where they can monitor your every breath

jambola9h ago

I genuinely get a bit worried sometimes when a friend says something that could be offensive In a party
Because I have no trouble believing some bans would happen when in a private party for saying something wrong

SegaSaturn66912h ago

I want them to censor erotic content by measuring my groin temperature so i dont get too distracted while playing black ops 2.

Popsicle12h ago

Terrible idea. Not only do I not consent to providing my biometric data, the potential for mishandling biometric data is almost a certainty. Positive stress and negative stress can produce similar changes in biometrics. Interpreting the precise emotion a person is feeling is not only invasive but could be easily misconstrued. I hope this never comes to fruition.

Show all comments (14)
70°

Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors: "I deserve a lot of criticism."

Embracer CEO demonstrates a masterclass in mental gymnastics in latest interview.
"I'm sure I deserve a lot of criticism, but I don't think my team or companies deserve all the criticism. I could take a lot of that blame myself. But ultimately I need to believe in the mission," he said.

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
on_line_forever15h ago

OK give us Kingdoms of Amalur 2 with AAA budget and we will accept your excuse

kaos8913h ago(Edited 13h ago)

The king of the studio asset flip scheme that failed.