Nearly Half of Game Industry Professionals Say Workers Should Unionize
A recent report suggests that nearly half of game industry professionals think workers should unionize, though less believe this will actually happen.
This data comes from GDC’s State of the Game Industry 2019 report, which polled nearly 4,000 developers, giving an indicative, but not perfectly accurate, look at how many developers around the world feel about this and many other issues. Specifically, when asked “Do you think that workers in the video game industry should unionize?” 47 percent answered Yes, 26 percent answered Maybe, 16 percent answered No, and 11 percent answered I Don’t Know.
Magic: The Gathering’s Ravnica Allegiance Mythic Set Is Available Today in Limited Supply
If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.
Here's an item Magic: The Gathering fans will want to check out. Wizards of the Coast has just release the Ravnica Allegiance Mythic Edition, a gorgeous box set of the collectible card game's new expansion that comes with a few special cards of its own. The set went on sale today exclusively on Hasbro's eBay Store. Quantities are limited, so you'll want to grab this quickly before stock runs out.
18% of Developers Are Reportedly Working on Next-Gen Games
According to a recent report, about 18 percent of developers are working on next-gen games in some form.
This data comes from GDC’s State of the Game Industry 2019 report, which polled nearly 4,000 developers, giving an indicative, but not perfectly accurate, look at what many developers around the world are up to. Specifically, about 16 percent of developers said they are working on games for both existing and unannounced platforms, while only 2 percent said they are working exclusively on unannounced platforms.
Naturally, this leaves the majority of developers working on currently announced platforms, as 46 percent of respondents said they are making games exclusively for existing platforms, and the rest said they didn’t know at this time. Naturally, with no next-gen consoles having been officially unveiled, it makes sense that most developers are focusing on the current generation.
Black Panther’s Original Look Revealed by Jack Kirby’s Grandson
Jeremy Kirby, the grandson of Black Panther’s co-creator Jack Kirby, has revealed the first sketch Jack made of Black Panther in the 1960s.
Revealed in a tweet to celebrate Black Panther's various Academy Award nominations, Jeremy wrote "When my grandfather first put pencil to paper on
he had no idea a simple sketch would change so many lives. He wanted to make a small contribution to equality and give readers a hero who looked like them. Congratulations team for an amazing movie! First BP sketch.”
Does Anthem Still Feel Like a BioWare Game?
BioWare has shown a whole heck of a lot of Anthem gameplay in the last few months. We’ve had massive IGN First features on it (all of which you can find here) and the developer has done its own weekly livestreams showing off combat, customization, and more. But through all of that, there have still been persistent questions about how putting a BioWare story into a living, shared-world shooter will play out. Most importantly, will Anthem feel like a BioWare game, or is it something entirely new?
Marvel Teases New Thanos – Who Could It Be?
Thanos may have died in the prelude to last year's Infinity Wars event, but that's not stopping Marvel from teasing the rise of a "new" Thanos in the pages of Guardians of the Galaxy #1 by writer Donny Cates and artist Geoff Shaw.
Warning: full spoilers ahead!
The brother of Thanos, Eros holds a meeting with Marvel’s most prominent and powerful cosmic characters to present the last will and testament of Thanos. But when the recording starts playing, a hologram of Thanos explains that he has no will and he uploaded his consciousness so that in the event he’s killed, his mind would awaken in a new body.
Cyberpunk 2077 Head Writer Joins Blizzard
Sebastian Stepien, who was the head writer for Cyberpunk 2077 and one of three creative directors for The Witcher 3 at CD Projekt Red, has joined Blizzard Entertainment.
As reported by PC Gamer, Stepien's LinkedIn profile confirms that he is now a creative director at Blizzard after working at CD Projekt RED since 2006.
How to Binge Every Binge ESPN 30 for 30 Documentary for Free
If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.
For most people, ESPN brings to mind two things: SportsCenter and actual live sporting events. Those are obvious. But a close third in mind share would have to be its great documentary series 30 for 30, now entering its tenth year. The company's new ESPN+ streaming service is mostly being positioned as an opportunity to cheaply stream live soccer, UFC, NHL and other sports, but we discovered another interesting side benefit: you can stream the entire catalog of ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries for free with a trial subscription to the ESPN+ service.
For Honor: Every Black Prior Execution and Emote
The first season For Honor's third year, Year of the Harbinger, is coming soon to season pass holders on January 31 and bringing with it a new hero – the Black Prior – while everyone else will get their hands on the new hero when it hits consoles and PC on on February 7.
In addition to the hero updates for the Shugoki, Warlord, and Peacekeeper, year 3 season 1 will bring with it a new Dominion map, Harbor, which will be accessible to all players on January 31 for free. Harbor is a port town on the shores of Lake Eitrivatnen, a strategic location that the new Black Priors once held alongside the Knights against all enemies.
You can check out more on the Black Prior and follow the official Ubisoft Warrior’s Den livestream starting right now.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Leak May Mean an End for Square Enix’s Worldwide Retail Releases
Kingdom Hearts series director, Tetsuya Nomura, says that he is "reconsidering" simultaneous worldwide releases for his games.
Last month, four copies of Kingdom Hearts 3 were sold ahead of the game's release, and despite the damage control and efforts from the community to shut down any leaks before they became widespread, the experience has given Tetsuya Nomura second thoughts about how to handle the launch of his games going forward.
"Because of what happened, the risks for a simultaneous worldwide release are high, for any games that I work on henceforth, currently I cannot help but reconsider a simultaneous worldwide release for at the very least the retail package version," he said in an interview with Famitsu, via Kotaku.