Old Archives

Privacy wins out... for now.

In 2023, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) announced that they were working on a tool that would use facial recognition to verify a person's age. The ESRB had partnered with a digital identity firm, Yoti, along with SuperAwesome to create this age verification technology. The ESRB already caught a lot of rightfully deserved shit for that announcement when it was made last year.

Thankfully, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)...

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says that they will more forward with an administrative case against Microsoft's $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. This plan was announced by the FTC (PDF) themselves on September 26, 2023. The good news here is that the FTC's tomfoolery cannot prevent Microsoft from closing the deal before the deadline of October 18, 2023.

The FTC's decision to continue wasting taxpayer money on a battle they've already lost, comes after FTC was...

The FTC invites players to get their money back.

Fortnite players are now able to submit for a refund due to unwanted in-game purchases that were made between January 2017 and September 2022. This is all due to the $245 million settlement between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Epic Games.

That settlement itself was part of a larger settlement from December 2022 between the FTC and Epic Games. It was that $520 million December 2022 settlement that found Epic Games...

Plus a Fallout 3 remaster, Ghostwire: Tokyo sequel, and new unnamed projects.

The mid-gen hardware refreshes for Xbox Series X and Series S weren't the only things leaked when Microsoft mistakenly put some of their own court documents online. The documents, published online accidentally as part of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) vs Microsoft over the planned purchase of Activision Blizzard, includes a timeline of planned Bethesda game releases.

This document seems to...

Microsoft is now (almost) free to close the Activision Blizzard deal after 11:59PM (PT) today.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just denied the Federal Trade Commission's request to issue an emergency stay to extend a temporary restraining order. The current restraining order ends July 14, 2023 at 11:59PM (PT). This failure to get that temporary extension means that Microsoft, if they wanted to, could close the deal with Activision Blizzard tonight.

The FTC made the...

FTC commissioner Lina Khan about to put rack up another loss.

Surprising many, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has actually decided to appeal a recent US federal court order that went in Microsoft's favor on July 11. That initial ruling, handed down by Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, opened the doors for Microsoft to go ahead with their acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

As part of Tuesday's ruling, Judge Corley said, "the Court finds the FTC has not shown a likelihood...

The FTC's request for an injunction has been denied by a California judge.

A judge in California is allowing Microsoft to proceed in closing its deal to acquire Activision Blizzard. After nearly a week of testimony from both sides, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley denied the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction.

Judge Corley issued the following statement as part of their ruling. ...

A quick hit of the latest gaming rumors.

Let's take a quick look at some of the week's biggest rumors, at least the biggest rumors for the week thus far. This new RumorBits includes word that Star Wars Eclipse won't be out until 2026, some new first-person Fortnite screenshots, and a little something about Red Dead Redemption getting a new rating in Korea. Star Wars Eclipse in 2026A new rumor from Tom Henderson suggests that the Quantic Dream developed Star Wars title may not be rea...

Xbox is well behind the competition from Sony and Nintendo.

Microsoft has flat-out admitted that they have long lost the console wars. This remarkable but unsurprising admission came in its proposed findings of fact that Microsoft submitted on the first day of its court battle with the FTC. Special thanks to IGN for sharing this information.

This week's court battle came after the FTC filed a preliminary injunction to halt Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision...

This approval "represents a significant improvement for cloud gaming."

Hot on the heels of the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocking the merger between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard comes the approval of the merger from the European Commission (EC). This approval brings Microsoft's $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard that much closer to being completed.

Interestingly, the European Commission had very similar conclusions and concerns...

The FTC now offers a form that can be filled out if you believe you're owed a refund.

Epic Games, the studio behind Fortnite, has been officially ordered to pay $245 million in refunds to players. This order comes from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after the government body ruled that Epic Games utilized confusing button configurations that "tricked" players into making unwanted purchases.

This $245 million refund is part of a settlement Epic Games made...

The total includes two separate settlements at $275M and $245M.

Fortnite developer and operator of the Epic Games Store, Epic Games, just agreed to pay record-breaking settlements amounting to $520 million (USD). The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) won two settlements against Epic Games, one for $275 million (USD) and another for $245 million.

Epic Games will pay $275 million to the FTC for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The FTC says...

The FTC just filed a complaint to stop the acquisition.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States of America (USA) just filed a new complaint today that aims to block Microsoft's $69 billion (USD) acquisition of Activision Blizzard. This complaint is essentially a lawsuit, or a legal block, that will place at least a temporary stop to the acquisition being approved until such a point that this complaint is settled. This news comes in an email that the FTC sent to me this...

Big tech mergers are of particular interest to the FTC.

The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be reviewing Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard before it's allowed to be finalized. Over the past several years, the FTC has been taking a hard stance against mergers between giant tech companies (see Nvidia's planned acquisition of ARM).

According to a report from Bloomberg, the FTC is taking a lead role in investigating the potential acquisition....

Once again, the hot topic of video game loot boxes finds itself in the spotlight. This past week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced their plans to investigate loot boxes. They cite concerns over the potential impact of children. In response, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) doubled down on their stance that loot boxes can "enhance the experience." They claim that the loot boxes are not anywhere close to traditional gambling, which you can practice using ...