Month: February 2020

Blizzard has changed its standard refund policy for Warcraft III: Reforged, allowing those disappointed by the game the opportunity to receive a refund upon request. This follows a week in which fans have remarked that the remaster of the iconic RTS was lacking in several areas.

The Support section on Battle.net has a refund page for the game that outlines its specific refund policy. “Blizzard stands by the quality of our products and our services,” the page reads. “Normally we set limits for refund availability on a game, based on time since purchase and whether it has been used. However we want to give players the option of a refund if they feel that Warcraft III: Reforged does not provide the experience they wanted. So, we’ve decided to allow refunds upon request for the time being. You may request a refund here on our Support Site.”

Blizzard’s RTS remaster launched last week to a mostly negative reception. Many fans have noted that certain cutscenes failed to live up to the expectations set by what was shown previously at BlizzCon 2018, and many are disappointed with the absence of reworked story elements and an overhauled UI. The remaster has also courted controversy surrounding the fact that anything you create in Warcraft III’s Custom Games is immediately owned by Blizzard, rather than by their creators, which hasn’t gone down well in the game’s modding scene.

Blizzard has responded to the negative reception in the week since its release, and patches are on the way. For now, though, if you want a refund you’ll get one.

For more on Warcraft III: Reforged, check out GameSpot’s hands-on impressions piece, “Warcraft 3 Remains Fun But Reforged Is A Disappointment On Many Fronts.”

The following contains spoilers for Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn).

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Marvel may have popularized the post-credits scene trend over the past decade, but that hasn’t stopped DC’s movies from getting in on the action in recent years. While Suicide Squad, Justice League, Aquaman, and Shazam have all featured after-credits stingers, other DC movies like Wonder Woman and the standalone Joker did not. But what about Birds of Prey?

Does Birds of Prey Have a Post-Credits Scene?

No, Birds of Prey does not technically have a mid-credits or post-credits scene, although there is an amusing tease from Harley Quinn herself if you stick around after the credits have rolled.

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As the credits end, Harley’s voiceover returns, pulling a Ferris Bueller and making fun of anyone who stuck around for so long. Still, she offers a reward to those patient enough to wait, offering to reveal a juicy secret about Batman. She begins, “Did you know that Batman f-” before the audio cuts out, leaving us hanging. So cruel! (Any guesses what she was going to say?)

Is Batman in Birds of Prey?

As for the Dark Knight himself, Batman doesn’t cameo in Birds of Prey – which makes sense, considering how muddled DC’s Batman continuity is right now. Matt Reeves’ upcoming film The Batman is rumored to be set in the ’90s (although that has yet to be officially confirmed) and will star Robert Pattinson as a younger Bruce Wayne, seemingly closer to the beginning of his career as Batman. Meanwhile, Birds of Prey is technically set in the same continuity as Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman, and Justice League, with Suicide Squad featuring a cameo from Affleck to explain how Harley got captured and enlisted into Task Force X in the first place.

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While Batman’s absence is never explained in the movie (you’d think he’d take notice of Harley blowing up Ace Chemicals and Black Mask going on a murder spree around Gotham), Harley does namedrop him at one point before the post-credits scene: She tells Cassandra Cain that she named her pet hyena Bruce, “after that hunky Wayne guy.” It’s a fittingly tongue-in-cheek nod to the character without getting tangled up in the details.

Is the Joker in Birds of Prey?

No, Jared Leto’s Joker doesn’t appear in Birds of Prey, although the villain’s involvement is a little more complicated. Birds of Prey reuses some footage of Leto and Margot Robbie from Suicide Squad for flashback purposes, and otherwise utilizes a body double, shot from behind or in silhouette as Harley recalls their breakup and other moments from their past, but we never see his face. Whenever we do see Joker head-on, it’s in animated form or drawings, none of which resemble the tattooed, metal-mouthed version of Leto. We’re guessing, considering the movie is all about Harley’s “emancipation” from her ex, director Cathy Yan and writer Christina Hodson probably didn’t want to commit too much screen time to the Joker, which would’ve made it hard to justify calling Leto back in for a glorified background role.

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But, as we point out in our Birds of Prey review, the Joker’s “presence isn’t missed,” since Birds of Prey gives us plenty of deranged lunacy with Ewan McGregor’s sadistic Black Mask and Chris Messina’s Victor Zsasz as the movie’s villains.

What did you think of Birds of Prey, and did you want a better end credits scene? Weigh in below.

Activision Blizzard is known for console and PC games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Diablo, but the company now makes more money from its mobile game business.

As part of Activision Blizzard’s latest earnings report, the company revealed that net revenue from mobile has exceeded console, PC, and all other elements of its business.

For the quarter ended December 31, Activision Blizzard made $633 million from mobile and ancillary revenue, which works out to 32 percent of the company’s total net revenue. By comparison, mobile revenue was $596 million, or 25 percent of total revenue during the final three months of 2018.

This is a big change from the final three months of 2018, when console (34 percent) was Activision Blizzard’s biggest sales category, followed by PC (31 percent) and then mobile (25 percent).

You can check out the sales charts below to see how much money Activision Blizzard makes from console, PC, mobile, and other. Note that the ancillary revenue includes things like physical merchandise and accessories.

Part of what’s boosting Activision Blizzard’s mobile revenue are the offerings from mobile game giant King, which Activision Blizzard bought in 2016 for $5.9 billion. With the acquisition, Activision Blizzard said it became the “largest game network in the world.”

Outside of Candy Crush and other games from King, Activision has Call of Duty Mobile, which recently surpassed a whopping 150 million installs worldwide. The success of Call of Duty Mobile “highlights the opportunity for our other large franchises to reach hundreds of millions of new players as they expand onto mobile,” Activision said.

In fact, the company said previously that every single one of its franchises is under consideration for a mobile adaptation.

One of Activision Blizzard’s next big franchises to go mobile is Diablo. The first alpha test for Diablo Immortal will begin during 2020, Activision Blizzard has confirmed.

It also bears mentioning that just because mobile game revenue is booming for Activision Blizzard, that doesn’t mean the company will stop making console and PC games. As the charts show, console and PC remain massive categories for the company.

Just today, Activision Blizzard confirmed the next Call of Duty game, and it will no doubt launch across console and PC.

Activision Blizzard Category Revenue Breakdown

It appears Activision intends to release even more remasters and reimaginings of classic games from its catalog. As part of the company’s earnings report today, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick confirmed we could expect more to be announced later this year.

Which games the company is looking to give the remaster treatment remains unclear. However, Activision has expressed interest around remasters for a while now, which should come as no surprise given the critical and financial success around previous releases, like Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and the most recently released Crash Team Racing: Nitro-fueled. While we may get a remaster of another well-known Activision property, the company has made it clear that it’s also not shy about investing in new games within its most recently remastered franchises.

“When you look at our IP library, we think there’s a lot of IP in there the fans are going to want to experience again,” said Kotick during an August 2019 investor call. “I’d say stay tuned for some future announcements, but just beyond pure remasters, there are also a lot of opportunities now to innovate and think about totally new content within these IPs.”

New remasters only encapsulated a sliver of the discussion during Activision’s most recent investor call. Among the more notable details was the confirmation of this year’s new Call of Duty, and how Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is selling more than Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

Rockstar Games co-founder and writer of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2, Dan Houser, is leaving the company in March. He leaves the company following an extended break that began in Spring 2019, and his departure was announced unceremoniously to say the least. Take-Two confirmed his departure in a four-sentence statement that was filed with a US regulatory body.

Take-Two has now shared a little more insight around Houser’s departure and what it means for Rockstar going forward. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick commented on the matter on an earnings call, but he only very briefly mentioned Dan Houser, and instead focused his comments on his brother Sam and the successes of Rockstar Games as a company.

“Dan Houser had been on an extended leave since early spring 2019,” Zelnick said, adding that he is grateful to Dan for his contributions and that he wishes him well going forward.

Houser, who is known to be a private person, has not made any public comment on his forthcoming departure from Rockstar.

Zelnick also pointed out that Rockstar has been led since the very beginning by Sam Houser, who remains president of the company. “It’s an extraordinary team effort and Sam is a great player-coach,” Zelnick said.

Zelnick went on to say that Rockstar Games has “never been stronger” following the huge successes of GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2, which have combined to sell 150 million copies. Their online modes are still going strong as well, with microtransaction spending in GTA Online recently posted huge revenue gains.

Later in the call, Zelnick spoke more about his working relationship with Sam Houser and how Rockstar’s culture has been improving of late. This follows reports of extended crunch at the company in the lead-up to the release of Red Dead Redemption 2.

“I don’t typically speak for other people but I confidently can speak and say that Sam is highly committed to the organization. Sam and I work very closely together; it’s an enormous pleasure to be able to be in business with Sam and the entire team at Rockstar,” he said. “Culturally, I’ve only seen ongoing improvement at Rockstar, frankly. I’ve only seen growth and engagement and innovation.”

“Rockstar Games sets a standard for always trying to improve its operations and how it works and the culture,” he added. “I frankly couldn’t be more proud of how that label is operating.”

Zelnick went on to say that he does not anticipate more staff departures following Dan Houser’s exit. People stay at Rockstar–and Take-Two’s other labels–because they are taken care of and rewarded for their work, he said. Take-Two pays its employees bonuses as part of what it labels “internal royalties.” For the three-month period ended December 31, Take-Two paid out $166.4 million in such bonuses.

“Things couldn’t be better [at Rockstar],” Zelnick said. “And to be very specific, no, we certainly don’t expect other departures. As an organization as a whole, we have an extraordinarily low rate of attrition, vastly lower than the industry average. I think that’s because we offer a great place to work at all of our labels and at Take-Two corporate as well. To the extent that we fall short, we always aim to do better.”

The share price of Take-Two dropped after the company announced Dan Houser’s departure, so it’s expected that Zelnick would try to assuage fears that the company may be rudderless without their former head writer and creative executive.

For more on Take-Two’s earnings report today, check out the stories below:

Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian’s new RPG, The Outer Worlds, has sold more than 2 million copies, parent publisher Take-Two announced during an earnings call this week.

The Outer Worlds also launched as a free game for Xbox Game Pass subscribers, but the 2 million sales figures is presumably referring to full-game sales.

On the subject of subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said it’s an ongoing conversation at the company regarding how much the company will support programs like Xbox Game Pass and others. He said that, as a general rule, Take-Two simply wants to release games where the consumer is, and that could include subscription libraries.

At the same time, Zelnick said subscription services might be better suited for older titles as a way to give them a second lease on life. “We think subscription offerings are probably better suited to catalog but we’re willing to take experimental chances when it makes sense. It’s early days for all these platforms,” he said.

Take-Two’s biggest game, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V, launched on Xbox Game Pass in January. The game recently crossed 120 million in sales, and it’s reaching even more players now that it’s free with Game Pass.

The Outer Worlds is a unique game from a development and publishing perspective. The title was announced in 2017 as one of the first titles to be published by Take-Two’s indie label, Private Division. In November 2018, Microsoft acquired Obsidian, but due to the previous arrangement, Private Division remained attached as publisher of The Outer Worlds.

Going forward, however, Microsoft will seemingly publish the Outer Worlds franchise if there are indeed any sequels or franchise extensions. Microsoft’s Matt Booty said he sees The Outer Worlds as an “enduring franchise” for Microsoft, so you can expect more instalments.

In other news about The Outer Worlds, Private Division has delayed the Nintendo Switch version due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The port is being developed by Virtuos, which is headquartered in Singapore and has offices across different cities in China. Private Division has also confirmed that it will release the game on a physical cartridge as well as digitally.

Warning: Spoilers for the Briarpatch premiere follow…

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Sometimes too stylized for its own good, as if Wes Anderson adapted a John Ridley novel, Briarpatch is a slice of naughty noir that might satiate your mystery cravings this winter (though it’s set in scorching temperatures) if shows like The Sinner or The Outsider are too grim and gruesome for your tastes.

Adapted from a 1984 Ross Thomas novel by podcaster/critic Andy Greenwald, and executive produced by Mr. Robot’s Sam Esmail, Briarpatch is awesomely anchored by Rosario Dawson, who plays a D.C. investigator called back to her quirky, quicksand hometown of San Bonifacio, Texas (nicknamed “Saint Disgrace”) after the sudden, and explosive, murder of her sister.

As Allegra “Pick” Dill, Dawson makes for a cool and confident audience surrogate as she’s called back home for the first time in nine years to find out who put a bomb in her cop sister Felicity’s car. The labeling of “anthology series” means that Briarpatch all but promises to wrap things up by the tenth and final episode, but it’s less clear about what the show will be heading into succeeding seasons. Does it keep Dawson’s Dill around for another mystery or is the small town odd-itorium vibe the true star of the series?

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All the hallmarks of a fun and fundamental murder mystery on on hand – from a past tragedy very few people talk about to an estranged sibling who kept a ton of secrets to an assortment of colorful-yet-shifty characters at our disposal. There’s Edi Gathegi’s chatty lawyer A.D. Singe, Jay R. Ferguson’s “big man in the mansion” Jake Spivey, and Brian Geraghty as Felicity’s married love interest, to name a few silly members of the citizenry.

Ostensible allies might be enemies, and vice versa. There are even two seemingly separate cases going on here, what with Allegra also being tapped by a senator to investigate a bunch of missing war money. If things click the way they usually do in this BBQ-slathered noir, both threads will connect somehow.

The marquee star of the show however, aside from Dawson, is the ambiance. Briarpatch notably touts Sam Esmail’s involvement because Briarpatch, like Mr. Robot, presents us with off-kilter visuals and audibles. Often times feeling like a graphic novel come to life, it does run the risk of drowning in its own delirium. As this premiere episode moves forward, the tone smoothes out some, but right out of the gate you’re hit with a lot.

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Nothing feels quite real and because of that you’re less invested overall. As Allegra enters her town, it’s ferociously hot, random animals are on the loose, and her hotel is somehow incapable of clearing up a room service tray left out in the hall (to get symbolically blanketed in ants over days). It’s like she walked onto the set of a Coen Bros. film and not a grounded, true place.

Fortunately, Dawson’s Dill isn’t phased easily and her tendency to cut through small talk and pleasantries helps us navigate the dreamscape. Her non-reactivity is what makes the craziness around her work because if it’s somehow all normal to her it can be more readily accepted by us.