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At the height of Stonks Mania, there were two companies that seemingly benefitted from a mad rush of individual, retail investors — GameStop and AMC Entertainment.

A quick recap for those who may have forgotten: back in January, retail investors (non-professional) started buying up large percentages of GameStop and AMC stocks. The basic rundown is that a sea of retail investors decided to push back against the big guys (institutional investors), effectively calling out their plans to bet against companies like GameStop and AMC. This is called short stopping.

For a full breakdown of what exactly happened and why it matters, I highly recommend Elizabeth Lopatto’s excellent write-up over at The Verge. But all we really need to understand is that millions of people started buying AMC stock, and effectively helped AMC survive the most tumultuous time in company history.

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The effect of this dash, currently being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is still uncertain. What’s adamantly clear, however, is both GameStop and AMC have a new army of bosses (shareholders) they have to please. AMC is leaning into it full stop.

On the company’s recent earnings call, CEO Adam Aron acknowledged that AMC now has “an army of passionate, interested individual shareholders, some three million strong,” adding that at last count it was closer to 3.2 million. This will change how AMC interacts with new management, as Aron put it. No longer will Aron prioritize CNBC spots, which are difficult to attain in general. Instead, Aron is touting websites like Reddit and YouTube as the best way to reach their new shareholder base.

“Just go on Twitter, just go on Reddit, just go on YouTube,” Aron said. “Read what these people write. They love AMC.”

Or, to put it another way, a large percentage of AMC’s owners live on the internet, so that’s where he’ll be, too.

“You’re going to see a lot more outreach to literally millions of investors in our company, and it’s going to be quite public,” Aron said, adding that he’s “started tweeting again.”

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For analysts and non-retail investors, Aron’s love for a relatively new base of shareholders may be concerning. How does the shift in power affect business decisions that AMC makes, for example?

While AMC is starting to come out of its worst period, the company is also entering a new, completely unfamiliar world. Here’s how one analyst poised that exact question to AMC’s top executive team: “If management thinks that increasing the share authorization is the best move for the company but the new shareholders don’t, then what is the way forward from there?” Aron, as is standard for the chief executive, didn’t mince words.

“If management thinks something and the owners of our business think something else, in the free market system, guess who wins? Guess who always wins?” Aron said. “The owners of the business — because management works for the owners.”

There are ways that management can “try and persuade” the shareholders about a strategy, but Aron made it apparent that he believes they’ll work together to ensure AMC’s success continues. That includes ensuring their interests are heard and respected.

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For example: gorillas. AMC Cares, the company’s charity arm, is donating $50,000 to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, which goes to helping gorilla wildlife in Central Africa. Aron is also donating an additional $50,000 from his own pocket to the fund. Why? Because AMC’s new investors have embraced the cause, so AMC will, too.

“I work for them. So by definition, their interests and passions are important to AMC,” Aron said, adding that “many of our investors, too, have embraced Dian Fossey’s cause and have raised substantial monies for it.”

Sure, retail investors may believe in saving gorillas. Raising money for the foundation is a noble cause, to be clear. But retail investors, many of whom may hang out on subreddits like r/wallstreetbets and talk in memes, may just love the idea of finding a cause that relates to “apes strong together,” a saying that is used when individual retail investors are “bullish on heavily-shorted stocks like GameStop,” according to Investopedia.

Is it possible that the CEO of AMC picked a foundation because of a meme generated on r/wallstreetbets that more than three million of his new shareholders have embraced? Absolutely. Is leaning into a meme base generated on a subreddit a good business plan? I certainly don’t know.

But remember: the internet is real — and the effects of a “meme economy” are starting to play out in the real world.

Pokemon Go‘s June Community Day is set for Sunday, June 6, Niantic confirmed on Twitter. The studio also revealed next month’s featured Pokemon, and it’s one fans have long requested: the Dragon Pokemon Gible.

Niantic hasn’t shared any further details on June’s Community Day beyond that just yet, but we can expect Gible to appear more frequently in the wild throughout the event. You’ll also have more opportunities to catch Shiny Gible during the Community Day, and there will be other in-game bonuses. Additional information will be announced closer to the event.

In the meantime, Niantic has many May events lined up for Pokemon Go this month. The Luminous Legends X event is currently underway until May 17. As part of that event, Dragon and Fairy Pokemon like the recently introduced Spritzee and Goomy are appearing in the wild, while the Fairy-type Legendary Xerneas is featured in Raids.

Later this weekend, Niantic is also holding a new Limited Research event starring Marill on May 9. That event will offer exclusive Timed and Field Research tasks that will lead to more chances to catch the Water/Fairy Pokemon, including its Shiny form. May’s Community Day will take place the following week on May 15.

There are still more events on the horizon. Niantic is kicking off a Luminous Legends Y event on May 18, and that will introduce Xerneas’s counterpart, the Destruction Pokemon Yveltal, to the game for the first time. New Field Research tasks and rewards are also available all month long.

Sega has officially announced Lost Judgment, a full sequel to Judgment, which was itself a spin-off of the long-running Yakuza series. It was revealed through a livestream hosted by Sega’s creative director and series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi in which he and producer Kazuki Hosokawa gave many details on the new game. Lost Judgment is also launching worldwide simultaneously on September 24, 2021, which is a first for the developer RGG Studios.

Judgment’s main character Takayuki Yagami (again played by famous Japanese actor Takuya Kimura) is returning as the protagonist alongside his companions from the first game–this includes Kaito, Sugiura, and Higashi. New information in a sinister murder case leads the group to Yokohama, where Yakuza: Like A Dragon takes place. While there aren’t clear story crossovers, one of the factions from Like A Dragon, the Chinese Luimang, are mentioned as a part of the story. Other supporting characters are returning like Saori and Hoshino, who are involved in the case, too. You can watch the reveal trailer below.

The new game continues the street brawler-style of action and the investigative exploration phases in some of the main story quests, although both sides of gameplay have been revamped with new features and improvements. Nagoshi-san also mentioned that while Judgment is sticking with action combat, the mainline Yakuza series will continue with its turn-based RPG combat system. There are a ton of new features as well like a dancing rhythm minigame, new acrobatic traversal methods, stealth sequences, skateboarding across the open world, a set of ridiculous side quests called School Stories, and more.

Lost Judgment is coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5, and will play at 4K resolution and up to 60fps on the new generation of systems. For more on the series, be sure to check out our Yakuza: Like A Dragon review and our Judgment review, which includes the updated console version.

Biomutant might feel like it’s been coming out forever after encountering numerous delays, but the fast-paced action game is finally launching at the end of this month. If you’ve been itching for its colorful world and character-action combat, you can save $10 today at Newegg on a digital preorder for Xbox One with promo code EMCEWEY25.

The deal is on a digital code for Biomutant, which would otherwise retail for $60 at launch. The deal is exclusive to Xbox One, which puts another spotlight on a lawsuit Sony might be involved with after it removed digital codes from retailers.

Newegg also has deals on a handful of other digital Xbox games, including Grand Theft Auto V, Borderlands 3, and NBA 2K21. You can check out all of Newegg’s daily deals, including PC hardware and peripherals, here.

Even if you’re the type of Fortnite player who only plays Battle Royale, it may be worth your effort to make some time for Creative mode between now and May 11 at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET. Players who take part in the Creative Mayhem event will unlock a pair of cosmetics in just 30 minutes of playing time.

The first in-game item, the Golden Flopper Spray, features a trophy of a golden Flopper fish that players can plaster on any surface around the island. To unlock this, you simply need to sign up for Creative Mayhem by following this link. If you want more freebies, you can also unlock the Piranhas Pickaxe by playing at least 30 minutes in the Creative Mayhem playlist.

This user-created map is currently featured in the Creative Hub, so you should spot it next time you head into the game mode. As a shortcut, you can also enter this Creative Code in-game, or simply follow the link: 1994-6642-9073.

Epic is even including a competitive angle to Creative Mayhem. You can earn the opportunity to play Fortnite with their favorite content creators by submitting your best finish time from the Creative Mayhem map. Here’s how to enter your best time, according to Epic:

• Play through the Creative Mayhem map available here
• Record your run through the Creative Map available on the Creative Mayhem Official Website
• Sign up on the website with your Epic Games account
• Choose your favorite Creator
• Upload your video on YouTube
• Share the link to your video and your best time on the website

Between May 12 and May 14, Epic will review all submissions and declare the qualifiers for the Creative Mayhem Main Event. In this tournament, eight content creators and their communities will compete to make the Global Finals. The finale will take place live on June 5 with a prize pot of $264,000 on the line.

Whether you’re in it to win it or just want the pair of freebies, Fortnite Creative Mayhem is ongoing now. If Creative or competitive Fortnite aren’t your thing, you can always keep to the Week 8 challenges instead, or check out the brand new skin, Toon Meowscles.

Square Enix has pulled back the curtain on Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, revealing tons of new information on Final Fantasy’s first foray into battle royale in a livestream presentation.

The stream highlighted many of The First Soldier’s unique takes on the format, mainly its hybrid focus on ranged and melee combat. 75 players will drop into each match, with the standard looting of weapons and supplies fully intact. The standard battle royale item rarity scale–grey as common all the way to orange being legendary–is here as well, but firearms, handheld weapons, and even magic Materia can be found scattered across the map.

Speaking of the map, The First Soldier’s full arena was revealed highlighting many of the different Final Fantasy VII Remake locales that will feature during battle. Familiar locations include Wall Market, complete with Corneo’s mansion, the Verdant House (aka Aerith’s house), the Sector 5 and Sector 7 Slums, and the Church…but don’t step on the flowers.

Vehicles can be found throughout the arena for easy traversal, with the speed bike being shown off in the live matches. Chocobo stops can summon chocobo mounts as well, with the giant birds able to hover and glide short distances when jumping. No other vehicles were shown during the stream but more are said to be included in the game.

One unique feature of The First Soldier are the monsters roaming around the different areas, adding a PvE element to each match. Standard enemies like Bombs can be defeated for experience, while a few areas have FFVII’s bosses like the Guard Scorpion. Defeating monsters and farming their EXP will eventually level up the character, increasing HP/MP and enhancing their abilities.

Each player can choose one of four different “styles,” each with its own focus and unique abilities. The warrior specializes in melee combat–with one of its abilities being a charging slash protected by a shield–while the sorcerer can boost their magic casting power. The most notable ability revealed in the livestream belongs to the ranger, who can temporarily show the location of all enemies within a certain distance.

The First Soldier’s most impactful addition, however, is its materia. Materia can be found scattered all through the map, giving players magical abilities to use throughout the match. Duplicate Materia can power up the spells being used, for example a Fire Materia can become Fira and Firaga with multiple Fire Materia.

Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier is the first of two FFVII-themed mobile games coming soon, the other being the story-based RPG Ever Crisis. Both were announced in February alongside Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, which launches exclusively on PlayStation 5 June 10. A beta test for The First Soldier was announced to begin in June.

Ninja Theory is the latest gaming company to join TikTok, and the Hellblade studio began its career on the social media platform with a video of a new Senua costume.

Set to the Bruno Mars song “Talking to the Moon,” the video shows Senua actress and video editor Melina Juergens singing along as she models the costume. You can watch the video below and follow Ninja Theory on TikTok at @ninjatheoryofficial.

Senua returns in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, which uses Fortnite developer Epic’s Unreal Engine 5, the latest version of the game-making toolsuite that promises incredible graphics and more. Microsoft said the use of this new engine will “bring the Hellblade franchise to levels never before seen.”

Hellblade II is set in Iceland, which represents a shift from the first game, and the game is making some story changes, too.

“While Hellblade gave us a very personal insight into psychosis, this sequel builds on that to show how madness and suffering shapes myths, gods, and religion,” Ninja Theory co-founder Tameem Antoniades said. “Our goal is to make an experience comparable to the epic myths and sagas of old.”

The original Hellblade was developed by a team of around 20 people, and Ninja Theory has said it’s doubling the team size for the sequel after Microsoft acquired the studio.

There is no word yet on a release date for Hellblade II, but the game is coming to Xbox Series X|S, and presumably PC. It will be available to Game Pass subscribers at no extra cost.