Author: Trafficblast

Big companies in the UK are required to provide the government with data regarding the pay gap that exists between male and female employees. This also applies to gaming companies. Kotaku did some digging and found that women earned significantly less than men at companies like GTA series developer Rockstar North and others.

The public report for Scotland-based Rockstar North shows that the average woman’s hourly rate is 64 percent lower than their male colleagues, which means women there earn £0.36 for every £1 that a man does. In terms of bonus payments, 83.9 percent of women received them, compared to 89 percent of men at Rockstar North. However, the average woman’s bonus pay was 84 percent lower than men’s.

Rockstar North studio director Andrew Semple said in a supporting document that the significant gender pay gap at the studio mostly comes down to the structure of the outfit. Specifically, the studio’s longest tenured employees who make up most of the senior staff and are compensated related to that are men. Semple maintains that Rockstar North employees are “fairly compensated based on merit and without reference to gender.”

That being said, Semple added that Rockstar North is committed to closing the gap. The studio pledges to “continue to find new ways to support and encourage women to both take up and advance in career opportunities in game development.”

Following up on the report, a Rockstar representative told Kotaku that the company is “proactively working to decrease this disparity.”

“We look forward to seeing representation of our female colleagues continue to grow in all roles and at all levels as we actively recruit, train, and encourage women to pursue career opportunities at Rockstar North and within our industry,” the spokesperson said.

According to Kotaku, it is against the law in the UK for employees in the same position to be paid different amounts. As you can see in the document, only 8 percent of Rockstar North’s highest paid employees are women

The pay gap between men and women at video game companies is not limited to Rockstar North, though the percent difference is among the highest among UK video game studios. For example, the pay gap at EA is 13.7 percent; 12.8 percent at Sony; and 6.6 percent at Microsoft. You can use this public database to find the results for any company, though only those with 250 employees are more are required to share this salary information.

In all, more than 10,000 employers in the UK reported pay gap details this week. Looking at all the companies across all industries, more than 78 percent of them paid men more than women, according to a report from the BBC.

Stardew Valley gained a cult following and commercial success by providing players with a relaxing, structured, zen-like experience: making it as a farmer in a small village. In a world dominated by high-octane, action-packed games, Stardew Valley’s chores and routines are calming, entrancing, and enjoyable for many players. And among those players who love the game is an actual farmer.

That’s right, Tim from northern California is a farmer, and he uses a game about farming to relax and distract himself while farming. He posted a picture recently on the Stardew Valley subreddit showing him planting a field in the game while driving a tractor that’s planting a field in real life. It’s all very meta. Don’t worry about him being distracted driving while playing games–the tractors are GPS-guided and only have to drive in long, straight lines.

Tim isn’t a necessarily fan of farming games in general; rather, Stardew Valley provides a particular sort of relaxation for him. “Stardew Valley is more like relaxing and tinkering in my backyard garden than actual work, so it still has that escapism factor to me that something like Farming Simulator doesn’t have,” he told Kotaku. He previously played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but more-or-less endless games like Stardew Valley and Minecraft have lately occupied most of his time.

Stardew Valley may not fully capture the difficulties or nuances of farming, but Tim did say that it conveys the feeling of rural life pretty well. “My town has a lot of crumbling buildings like the community center,” he said, “and unfortunately we don’t have any junimos [forest spirits] capable of magically making everyone happier and fixing everything.”

Be sure to check out Kotaku’s story for more about Tim’s life. In other news, Nintendo recently revealed that Stardew Valley is among the top ten best-selling indie games on Switch. In addition, there’s still a multiplayer mode for the game in the works–and a beta should be coming soon to PC.

The next Avengers movie, Infinity War, opens later this month–and it’s expected to have one of the best openings in the history of movies. Variety reports that Infinity War is expected to make between $175 million and $200 million during its opening weekend.

If it can top $175 million, it will become just the eighth movie in history to do that. Only five have opened to $200 million or more. You can see a rundown of the biggest opening weekends ever below.

It has already been a huge year for Disney, which owns Marvel. Black Panther made an incredible $1.3 billion at the global box office. After Infinity War, Disney has more huge releases lined up, including Mary Poppins Returns, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and The Incredibles 2.

Infinity War opens on April 27. It is directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, who recently asked fans not to spoil any of the movie’s big surprises. The movie features basically all of the Marvel superheroes you can, while Josh Brolin joins the cast as the bad guy Thanos. Hawkeye hasn’t been seen in the posters or trailers so far–and there is a reason for that.

Best Movie Opening Weekends Ever:

Via Box Office Mojo

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $247 million
2. Star Wars: The Last Jedi — $220 million
3. Jurassic World — $208 million
4. The Avengers — $207 million
5. Black Panther — $202 million
6. Avengers: Age of Ultron — $191 million
7. Captain America: Civil War — $179 million

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The spring anime season has just begun, and that means lots of new shows, new seasons of your favorite series, spinoffs, and more. This weekend is especially packed; among the premieres is the anime adaptation of Persona 5, but there are a few big shows to keep an eye on as the season kicks off. Here are all the notable shows premiering this weekend.

First up is Persona 5: The Animation, which has the same premise as last year’s acclaimed RPG. A-1 Pictures, which worked on Persona 4: The Golden Animation, is producing this series as well. You’ll be able to watch the first episode on April 7 on Crunchyroll in the Americas, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. You can also watch it on Hulu in the US.

Smash-hit superhero series My Hero Academia is returning with Season 3 on April 7. It’ll be available on Crunchyroll and Hulu in Japanese with English subtitles, while Funimation will be streaming the English dubbed version. Funimation recently tweeted that the first episode’s dub is delayed; the site will be streaming the subbed version in the meantime and resume simuldub streaming with episode 2.

Next is a spinoff of popular series Sword Art Online. Called Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, the series follows a female gamer whose avatar dresses in all pink, and the in-show game features a battle royale mode. SAO Alternative: Gun Gale Online also premieres on April 7 and will be available on Crunchyroll and Hulu.

Lewd food anime Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma starts back up again this weekend as well. The first episode of the second half of season 3 (which sounds complicated but is common in anime) premieres this weekend on Crunchyroll. Be warned; it’s NSFW.

Finally, the reboot of classic ’70s series Cutie Honey, Cutie Honey Universe, premieres this weekend. It’s being produced as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of creator Go Nagai’s work in anime and manga. While no streaming service has been announced, Cutie Honey Universe has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks in a ton of regions outside Japan (via Crunchyroll), so be on the lookout for it soon.

As the season continues, look out for series like Steins;Gate 0, Golden Kamuy, and more. For more anime, see our list of the biggest anime to watch in 2018. And if you’re looking for new shows to watch in the meantime, check out our gallery of the best anime available on Netflix and our top 10 anime of 2017.

Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the most celebrated and accomplished actors out there. He’s known for his role preparation and method acting, staying in character for extended periods of time to try to give the best performance. He also uses a flip phone, we’ve now learned.

Journalist Karen Han spotted him on the New York City subway today, sharing a photo of Lewis clutching a rail with one hand and checking his phone with the other. Han told THR that she is absolutely sure that it was Lewis. Maybe Lewis is preparing for a role in a movie set in the early 2000s. Take a look at the photo for yourself below.

Lewis has won three Oscars, for his leading roles in My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood, and Lincoln. He is the only actor in history to win three best actor Oscars. He was nominated for Best Actor at this year’s Academy Awards for Phantom Thread, but Gary Oldman ended up winning for Darkest Hour.

Lewis is apparently done making movies. Last year, his spokesperson told Variety, “Daniel Day-Lewis will no longer be working as an actor. He is immensely grateful to all of his collaborators and audiences over the many years. This is a private decision and neither he nor his representatives will make any further comment on this subject.”