Overwatch 2 launch marred by multiple DDoS attacks
Enlarge / Artist's conception of Blizzard fighting off DDoS attackers. When a highly anticipated online game launches, unforeseen server capacity issues and long entry queues are nothing out of the ordinary. In the case of this week's Overwatch 2 early access launch, though, the usual crowding problems are apparently being exacerbated by coordinated distributed denial…
Nintendo Change will lastly get SNES video games–20 of them– beginning...
Enlarge / Blizzard is back on Nintendo Switch with its colorful, popular team-based shooter Overwatch. The latest Nintendo Direct video presentation saw the game maker deliver on a huge slew of holiday-timed announcements for first- and third-party fare. Arguably its biggest news came in the form of Overwatch, the mega-popular team-shooter game from Blizzard Entertainment.…
Investors pressure Activision to take more action on harassment allegations
Enlarge / Activision's Los Angeles offices.Getty Images A major activist investor group is putting public pressure on Activision Blizzard, saying that recent statements from the company regarding allegations of widespread harassment and discrimination "do not go nearly far enough to address the deep and widespread issues with equity, inclusion, and human capital management at the…
Judge sides with Microsoft in FTC injunction, unlocking final Activision battles
Enlarge / Attorneys carrying boxes arrive to court in San Francisco, California, US, on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. A judge has ruled that the FTC's reliance on the PlayStation chief's testimony was unpersuasive, while Microsoft and Activision's efforts will help avoid market concentration.Getty Images A federal judge in San Francisco today denied the Federal Trade…
Blizzard studio halts union plans amid alleged management meddling
Enlarge / A scene from Proletariat's Spellbreak illustrating union members dodging alleged management interference. Last month, workers at Spellbreak studio Proletariat became the third group within Activision Blizzard to form a union. Today, though, the Communication Workers of America is pulling back on its push for a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election that could…
Activision Blizzard studio says CEO pressure stymied their union efforts
Enlarge / A scene from Proletariat's Spellbreak illustrating union members dodging alleged management interference. Last month, workers at Spellbreak studio Proletariat became the third group within Activision Blizzard to form a union. Today, though, the Communication Workers of America is pulling back on its push for a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election that could…
Blizzard prohibits professional Hearthstone player for declaration supporting Hong Kong
Enlarge / Ng "Blitzchung" Wai Chung declares his support for Hong Kong while two announcers duck behind their desks. Blizzard Blizzard has stripped a Hong Kong professional Hearthstone player of his tournament prize money and banned him from tournament play for a year after he expressed support for Hong Kong during the livestream of a Hearthstone…
Legislators reveal “deep issue” over Blizzard’s Hong Kong demonstration reaction
Enlarge / Mei from Overwatch has become a grass roots symbol of the Hong Kong protests in the wake of Blizzard's decision. A bipartisan group of Senate and House lawmakers has signed a letter expressing "deep concern" over Activision Blizzard's recent decision to punish Ng "Blitzchung" Wai Chung after the pro Hearthstone player expressed support for…
The Overwatch League ruled esports. Then everything went wrong
Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty Images Since its formation in 2017, the Overwatch League—the professional esports program for Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch hero shooter—has drawn frequent comparisons to traditional sporting institutions. Its stated aim, as WIRED put it in a 2017 feature, was to become the new US National Football League. The two institutions certainly overlapped: The…
Get a Dairy Queen Blizzard for Less Than a Buck
Photo: Tada Images (Shutterstock)The first time I ordered a Blizzard and the employee asked me to flip it upside down, I reacted with a combination of fear, anger, and even disgust. That this person would tell me to risk my ice cream treat for a marketing gimmick! This month, Dairy Queen will celebrate their 39th…
