Borderlands Studio Exec Leaves For “Dream Job”

Ahead of the release of Borderlands 3 in September, Gearbox Publishing boss John Vignocchi is heading out. The games industry veteran announced on Twitter that he’s left Gearbox for his “dream job” somewhere else.

“Leaving the company was one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make and I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for the love and support of everyone there,” Vignocchi said on Twitter. “They understood and encouraged me to take this role as it is truly a once-in-a-lifetime gig.”

Vignocchi said he had a great time working at Gearbox, where he served as executive producer for Gearbox Publishing for about a year. He specifically praised Gearbox founder Randy Pitchford and head of publishing Steve Gibson, saying they both know “how to bring out the passion and excellence of all the amazing [developers] that work there.”

Vignocchi didn’t say where he’s going after Gearbox, but he noted that he is going on a “bit of a road trip,” which suggests the new job is not close to Gearbox which is in Frisco, Texas.

Vignocchi joined Gearbox in October 2018 after a long run at Disney where he oversaw Disney Infinity and other products and projects. He spent less than a year at Gearbox before leaving. Pitchford said goodbye to Vignocchi in a post of his on on Twitter in which he wished Vignocchi well in his new job.

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Gearbox’s next game is Borderlands 3, which is due out in September for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The company has made headlines recently not always for Borderlands 3, but behind-the-scenes controversy involving Pitchford and former employees.

“Gaming Disorder” Is A Disease, World Health Organization Decides; Industry Responds

The World Health Organization, the public health division of the United Nations, has officially added “gaming disorder” to its registry of officially recognized diseases. This happened over the weekend when the WHO officially adopted the 11th revision of its International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11). All 194 members of the WHO voted unanimously to adopt the revision.

According to the WHO, “gaming disorder” is characterized by a “pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour” online or offline. The official description goes on to say that gaming disorders can include the following: “1) impaired control over gaming (e.g., onset, frequency, intensity, duration, termination, context); 2) increasing priority given to gaming to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other life interests and daily activities; and 3) continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”

People who are deemed to have the “gaming disorder” run the risk of “significant impairment” to their personal, family, social, education, and occupational lives, according to the WHO. The description goes on to say that “gaming disorder” can be a continuous condition or it can be episodic in nature. For it to be suggested that a person has “gaming disorder,” they would display these behaviour patterns for a year or longer.

The “gaming disorder” disease will become officially recognized by the WHO on January 1, 2022. According to GI.biz, the WHO came to its conclusion based on consultations with experts from a variety of backgrounds.

In January, when the WHO first announced it would consider recognizing “gaming disorder,” the US video game industry group, ESA, said the designation “recklessly trivializes real mental health issues.”

“Just like avid sports fans and consumers of all forms of engaging entertainment, gamers are passionate and dedicated with their time,” the ESA–which lobbies on behalf of the video game industry to protect its interests–said in a statement. “Having captivated gamers for more than four decades, more than 2 billion people around the world enjoy video games.”

“The World Health Organization knows that common sense and objective research prove video games are not addictive. And, putting that official label on them recklessly trivializes real mental health issues like depression and social anxiety disorder, which deserve treatment and the full attention of the medical community,” the statement continued.

At the time, the ESA said it strongly encouraged the WHO to reverse the action, but now that it has been officially adopted, it remains to be seen if there are any appeal possibilities.

It’s not just the ESA that’s hitting back at the WHO over this decision. A statement attributed to the global video game industry associations–including the ESA (USA), ESA Canada (Canada), IGEA (Australia and New Zealand), ISFE (Europe), K Games (South Korea), and UKIE (United Kingdom)–says the WHO reached its decision “without the consensus of the academic community.” The consequences could be far reaching and might achieve the opposite of what the WHO is setting out to do, according to the statement.

“There is significant debate among medical and professionals about today’s WHO action. We are concerned they reached their conclusion without the consensus of the academic community,” reads a line from the statement. “The consequences of today’s action could be far-reaching, unintended, and to the detriment of those in need of genuine help.”

It continues: “We encourage and support healthy game play by providing information and tools, such as parental controls, that empower billions of people around the world to manage their play to ensure it remains enjoyable and enriching. As with all good things in life, moderation is key and that finding the right balance is an essential part of safe and sensible play.”

Last week, before the WHO decision came down, Sony’s CEO talked about how the video game industry needs to do more to promote healthy gaming. “We need to take it seriously and adopt countermeasures,” he told reports (via Kyodo News).

Some games are already implementing features to promote healthy gaming behaviors. Recently, PUBG Mobile introduced a new feature that sends pop-ups to young players to remind them to put the game down and take a break.

Top New Games Releasing On Switch, PS4, Xbox One, And PC This Week — May 26 – June 1 2019

May has a few more video games to squeeze out before the month ends, and this week brings us two PSVR games, the action-packed Blood & Truth and the bizarre adventure Trover Saves the Universe. Sports fans can take a swing at Cricket 19, and horror fiends can get spooked by Layers of Fear 2. Finally, Outer Wilds makes its debut on Xbox Game Pass this week.

Blood & Truth — May 28

Available on: PS4

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Inspired by fellow PSVR shooter The London Heist and British crime films, Blood & Truth puts you in the shoes of Ryan Marks, a soldier whose family has been kidnapped by a London crime boss. Using Move controllers, you’ll shoot and drive your way through the underground to rescue them.

More Coverage:

Cricket 19 — May 28

Available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch

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While it might not be well known in the western world, cricket still gets the video game treatment every year. This year’s entry includes both men and women’s teams and stadiums from all over the world. You can even create your own stadium and team to call it home.

Layers of Fear 2 — May 28

Available on: Xbox One, PC

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While the original Layers of Fear featured a painter in a massive manor, the sequel stars an actor filming a project about a cruise ship. As you move through the hallways and cabins, creepy stuff is bound to happen. There’s a reason you were chosen for this film role, after all.

More Coverage:

Outer Wilds — May 30

Available on: Xbox One, PC

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Outer Wilds lets you explore an alien planet, unearthing ancient civilizations and discovering secrets. Problem is, the planet is destroyed by a supernova every 20 minutes. Fortunately, you respawn every time, giving you more chances to explore the planet and maybe even avoid death altogether. Xbox One Game Pass subscribers can grab this one for free.

More Coverage:

Trover Saves the Universe — May 31

Available on: PS4, PC

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This week’s other PSVR game comes from the mind of Justin Roiland, creator of Rick & Morty. Your dogs have been stolen by an evil alien trying to conquer the universe, and it’s up to you and the purple monster Trover to get them back and stop that evil plot. It’s gonna get weird.

More Coverage:

May is wrapping up, but this week is still loaded–Void Bastards also makes its way to Xbox One and PC on May 29. The next episode of New Releases will take a look at what the month of June brings us. Next week, we’ll take a look at some much-anticipated titles like Super Mario Maker 2 and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

Memorial Day Sale: The Best 4K TV Deals

If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.

Memorial Day sales are live right now, including major price drops on 4K TVs at Walmart and Dell. Memorial Day sales may be known for mattress deals, but the also offer discounts on things like appliances, grills, and patio furniture. But if you like staying in the air conditioning and catching up on TV shows and movies, you’re in luck: Memorial Day sales are the perfect time to buy a new 4K TV at a steeply discounted price.

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Harrison Ford On Next Indiana Jones Actor: “Nobody; When I’m Gone, He’s Gone”

Legendary actor Harrison Ford is set to play Indiana Jones yet again in fifth Indiana Jones movie scheduled for July 2021. But who will take over once Ford is ready to step away from the role?

No one, if Ford has his way. In an appearance on The Today Show, Ford was asked directly who he would like to see take over when he’s done playing the archaeologist-adventurter.

He gave a wonderful response: “Nobody is going to be Indiana Jones, don’t you get it? I’m Indiana Jones,” Ford told host Craig Melvin with a laugh. “When I’m gone, he’s gone. It’s easy.”

Actor Chris Pratt is reportedly one of the names in the mix to take over as Indiana Jones with a reboot of the franchise in the future. It appears Chris Pine might be in the running as well (or Ford mixed up his Chrises). He said in the interview, “This is a hell of a way to tell Chris Pine this. I’m sorry, man.”

Actor Shia LaBeouf starred alongside Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and some thought LaBeouf was being groomed to take over as the main character. Ford shot down that suggestion, telling Time, “Shia can get his own hat. I earned that hat.”

Indiana Jones 5, or whatever it’s called, is being directed by Steven Spielberg, who helmed all the previous films, with Ford reprising his role as the iconic archaeologist. Jonathan Kasdan, the son of Raiders of the Lost Ark writer Lawrence Kasdan, wrote the newest draft of the story. He replaced the previously announced writer, Jurassic Park’s David Koepp.

Spielberg has said that Indiana Jones 5 will probably be Ford’s final Indiana Jones film, though he expects the franchise to continue after that. Spielberg also said it is time for Indiana Jones the character to take “a different form,” and this could be with a woman in the lead role. “We’d have to change the name from Jones to Joan. And there would be nothing wrong with that,” Spielberg said.

The Indiana Jones series premiered with 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, which was followed up by Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). Together, the movies have made more than $2 billion at the box office.

Aladdin Makes $200 Million After First Weekend; Endgame Still Trailing Avatar

The latest North American weekend box office numbers are in, and Disney’s newest live-action remake, Aladdin, won the weekend with $86.1 million. The figure is expected to grow to around $105 million when Monday’s Memorial Day numbers come in.

Aladdin also opened in overseas markets this weekend, it made $121 million for the three-day period from international screens to push the movie’s total global box office haul to $207.1 million after just one weekend.

Aladdin didn’t get the strongest reviews from professional critics, but actual audiences loved it. The movie picked up a near-perfect A CinemaScore rating. CinemaScore is a poll of audiences who saw a movie, and it is not unusual for the average critic score to vary from what audiences thought of a film, and this also appears to be the case for Aladdin. A strong CinemaScore rating also suggests that Aladdin will continue to perform well in Week 2 and beyond because of positive word-of-mouth.

Aladdin stars Mena Massoud as Aladdin and Naomi Scott as Jasmine, with Will Smith playing the Genie.

With more than $200 million worldwide for its opening weekend, Aladdin is director Guy Ritchie’s biggest start ever. His next closest was 2009’s Sherlock Holmes ($62.3 million opening). Aladdin also represents Smith’s second-biggest opening-weekend box office ever, only behind Suicide Squad.

As for the rest of the weekend box office, John Wick 3 made $24.4 million in the US and Canada over the first three days of the weekend; it’s expected to climb to $30.5 million when Monday’s numbers come in to finish No. 2 behind Aladdin. It’s also notable that John Wick 3 has now made $181.5 million worldwide after just two weeks, which is ahead of the $171.5 million that John Wick 2 made across its entire theatrical run.

Avengers: Endgame made $16.8 million for the Friday-Sunday period to finish No. 3; that number expected to climb to $21.9 million for the holiday weekend in the US and Canada. Endgame has now made $2.67 billion worldwide, meaning it still trails Avatar ($2.78 billion) as the biggest movie in history.

Rounding out the top five movies at the US and Canadian box office this weekend were Pokemon: Detective Pikachu ($13.3 million) and the new James Gunn-produced superhero horror movie Brightburn ($7.5 million).

May 24-26 North American Box Office

Via Entertainment Weekly

  1. Aladdin — $86.1 million
  2. John Wick: Chapter Three Parabellum — $24.4 million
  3. Avengers: Endgame — $16.8 million
  4. Pokemon Detective Pikachu — $13.3 million
  5. Brightburn — $7.5 million
  6. Booksmart — $6.5 million
  7. A Dog’s Journey — $4.1 million
  8. The Hustle — $3.8 million
  9. The Intruder — $2.3 million
  10. Long Shot — $1.7 million

Kojima Releases Myserious New Death Stranding Teaser

Hideo Kojima has posted a new teaser video for his mysterious upcoming project, Death Stranding. Released on Twitter, the video shows the outline of a hand and the words “Create the rope.” Some eerie music plays in the background, while flashes of mysterious objects appear as well.

It’s hard to make sense of, which is par for the course with Death Stranding. Check out the video for yourself in the embed below and let us know in the comments what you’ve spotted.

Death Stranding is Kojima’s first new game since his split with Konami. Very little is known about the game, and that appears to be intentional, with Kojima weaving secrets into its new trailers and teasers like the one he released today.

The game features a number of celebrities, including The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus in the lead role, as well as Mads Mikkelsen, Lea Seydoux, Lindsay Wagner, Guillermo del Toro, and Troy Baker.

Speaking to Metro, Reedus said he’s never seen anything like what Kojima is doing with the game.

“The concept is so far out into the future. Instead of eliminating everyone around you, it’s bringing everyone together,” he explained. “It’s a very positive video game, but scary and depressing at the same time. It’s kind of a new movie. I’ve never seen anything like what we’re doing.”

At the Tribeca Film Festival in April, Kojima talked about how Death Stranding will make you cry.

No release date has been set as of yet for Death Stranding. The game was announced for PlayStation 4 and PC, and it’ll be released on console through a partnership between Kojima’s new studio, Kojima Productions, and Sony. A recent report said Death Stranding might also release on PS5.

Overwatch League Boss Leaves Blizzard To Join Epic Where He’ll Work On Fortnite eSports

The Overwatch League has lost its commissioner. Nate Nanzer, the OWL’s first-ever commissioner who led the eSports organisation from the ground up, has left Blizzard.

He left Blizzard to join Epic Games where he will head up the developer’s eSports and competitive gaming efforts for the massively popular battle royale game Fortnite. Needless to say, he is a huge get for Epic, as Nanzer was instrumental in the creation of the OWL.

In a Twitter thread, Nanzer said leaving Blizzard was the “toughest decision” of his entire life “because it means I won’t get to work with the best staff, players, teams, owners, partners, and fans in eSports anymore.” Nanzer said he is proud of what the OWL has achieved in its early days.

While he was the public face of the OWL, Nanzer stressed that the league’s success wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of so many other people, and fans. “It isn’t about me; it’s never been. It’s about all of you,” Nanzer said.

He said he leaves Blizzard with the OWL “in great hands.”

“I can’t wait to see where the team takes the Overwatch League in 2020 — and beyond. And I’ll be cheering right there alongside you, every step of the way,” he said.

Activision Blizzard hired former Fox Sports boss Pete Vlastelica to take over for Nanzer as the OWL’s commissioner, according to ESPN.

As for Nanzer’s new job at Epic, the company said it’s “excited to welcome Nate to the Epic Games team, where he’ll be working with us on competitive Fortnite.”

In addition to Fortnite, Epic’s other big eSports game is Rocket League. Epic acquired Rocket League and developer Psyonix earlier this year.

Devil May Cry 5’s Director On Making An Unforgettable Action Game

Capcom has a long and storied history of creating some of gaming’s most beloved franchises, from Mega Man and Monster Hunter to Street Fighter and Strider. Undoubtedly one of its most iconic is Devil May Cry, a Resident Evil offshoot that gave rise to its own genre of stylish action game. Capcom’s developers are masters of their craft, whether that’s in designing finely-tuned fighting games or thrilling action games.

Devil May Cry gave rise to games such as God of War, Bayonetta, Darksiders, and many more. And while these games certainly have unique, interesting qualities of their own, there’s something distinctly unique to Devil May Cry that makes it quintessentially Capcom. It’s a kind of gameplay and design magic that you can feel when playing Devil May Cry–whether it’s the first one released in 2001 or 2019’s Devil May Cry 5.

Hideaki Itsuno has served as director of multiple Devil May Cry titles, including the latest in the series. He is intimately familiar with what makes a Devil May Cry game a Devil May Cry game, and it’s not as simple as outlandish characters, bombastic set-pieces, and over-the-top storytelling. Itsuno and his team draw from a long lineage of Capcom titles; they pull design from fighting games, platformers, and more.

In this episode of Audio Logs, Itsuno and producer Matt Walker discuss the design and development of Devil May Cry 5, providing some insight into what it takes to create a memorable action game. The pair specifically talk about how they approached making the game fun for people playing the game a second time, while also delving into some of the inspirations behind the world, and ideas that they pulled from previous games in the series.

Audio Logs is a weekly show where the people behind the games we love tell us the stories of how they’re made. You can watch more episodes of Audio Logs on YouTube. We’ve got God of War director Cory Barlog breaking down one of the game’s most impactful scenes; Cuphead’s lead game designer, Jared Moldenhauer, talking about the inspirations for King Dice’s Dice Palace; Dead Cells’ game designer Sebastian Benard revealing the amazing design tricks they used to make the game super satisfying to play; and Overwatch designer Geoff Goodman exploring how Baptiste was created. Legendary Japanese developer Goichi “Suda51” Suda also joined us to recount pivotal moments from his illustrious career.

Be sure to subscribe to GameSpot on YouTube to see more episodes as they’re released. You won’t want to miss it!