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Nonprofit Global Game Jam (GGJ) announced Maria Burns Ortiz has been confirmed as the organization's new executive director. Director of partnerships Charly Harboard is leaving the group, after serving as the interim leader since former executive director Tim Cullings stepped down in February.Burns Ortiz comes to the group with plenty of accolades: she was a co-founder and CEO at 7 Generation Games, has extensive experience in the educational game space, and has taught at universities such as Tufts and Emerson College in Boston, and the Loft Literary Center.“I deeply believe in the transformative power of video games and that game development should be accessible to anyone anywhere,” Burns Ortiz said. “It is an honor to lead Global Game Jam, an organization that embodies that mi…

Call of Duty is coming to Game Pass after all, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal (spotted via Kotaku). That's brand new for the series, which was part of Microsoft's major acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year.Microsoft was reportedly planning to reveal the news at its June showcase, but the cat is now out of the bag. There are no details available yet whether the games will only be available on certain tiers of Game Pass, or whether the price of the service could increase again, after a hike in July of last year.It's also unclear what, exactly, caused the decision at this time, as the question has been high on the minds of Microsoft leadership for quite some time. Reporting at the Verge claimed there was uncertainty at Microsoft about putting the s…

The Nintendo Switch emulator Yuzu may be no more, but that hasn't stopped Nintendo from going after those holding onto its code.As spotted by GamesIndustry, the console maker filed DMCA takedowns against 8,535 repositories on Github that held the emulator's code. In its takedown notice, Github said it contacted owners to "give them an opportunity to make changes."In March, Yuzu was forced to shut down following a $2.4 million settlement with Nintendo after a lawsuit was filed. As part of the agreement with developer Tropic Haze, everyhing Yuzu was shut down: repositories, Patreon, Discord, and websites.Github's notice also provided a list of URLs being taken down, one of which was explicitly titled "Yuzu will live." Others had names like "Yuzu mirror…

Remedy has cancelled its upcoming multiplayer project codenamed 'Kestrel' to rally around existing franchises.The Alan Wake and Control developer said Kestrel "showed early promise" at the early concept stage after being rebooted from an earlier project codenamed 'Vanguard' in 2023.Despite those positive signs, the studio added that "other projects have advanced well" and would perhaps be a safer bet in the long-term.Kestrel was billed as a "premium cooperative multiplayer game" that leaned into Remedy's "core strengths." Tencent had agreed to co-finance and co-publish the project, which was initially announced as a freemium title but eventually ditched that model over perceived market risks."Codename Kestrel showed earl…

The Nintendo Switch might be entering its golden years, but Nintendo believes the console will make history in the current fiscal year.The Japanese company expects the Switch to sell another 13.5 million units before April 2025. With the device having just topped 141.3 million lifetime sales, that would take the Switch to 154.8 million units sold—allowing it to squeeze past the Nintendo DS to become the company's best-selling console of all time.Nintendo shared the forecast in its fiscal report for the full-year ended March 31, 2024, and revealed that net sales increased by 4.4 percent year-over-year to 1.67 trillion yen ($10.8 billion). Net profit increased by 13.4 percent to 490.6 billion yen ($3.17 billion) during that time.That consolidated upswing came despite Switch hardware a…

A new bill in Brazil has redefined video games in the country in an effort to grow its slice of the game industry. As spotted by GamesIndustry, the Legal Framework for Game bill was first lobbied in part by games trade body Abragames in 2022.The bill was signed last week by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and will chiefly "foster sector growth [and] create jobs," wrote senator Leila Barros. She and fellow senator Flávio Arns helped lobby the bill alongside Abragames, Brazilian studios, and regional associations.Barros went on to say the new bill will give the Brazilian game industry "more visibility and legal certainty." Outside of games, she hopes the bill will "combat illicit activities and reduce tax burdens."A recent study conducted by Abragames and …

Days ago, Steam was banned entirely in Vietnam, and it's unclear as to why.Vietnamese players took to Steam forums, saying all of the country's internet providers blocked access to both Valve's app and browser. One commenter said they spoke to someone who claimed the order came "from above."At time of writing, neither Valve or anyone from Vietnam's government have spoken on the matter.Per a translated story from VietnamNet, the ban may be connected to domestic publishers. A representative for one domestic publisher claimed Steam can put out games in the country without having to seek permission from the local government like Vietnamese developers have to.According to them, Valve's alleged ability to break the rules is "an injustice to domestic publis…

Nintendo finally called it: come June 10, the Switch will no longer have integration with X, the app formerly known as Twitter.After that date, players will no longer be able to post screenshots and videos from the console. Likewise, players won't be able to send friend requests to people they follow who appear in their Suggested list on the Switch.Last year, Microsoft and Sony did away with X integration for their respective consoles. Access to X's API is fairly pricey at $42,000 per month, prompting the three console makers (and Blizzard) to pull back.Nintendo added that this'll affect how posting works for Splatoon 2 and 3, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For Splatoon 3, players will be able to transfer pictures via their phones, or to their PC via USB cable.

Water is wet, the pope is Catholic, and Reality Labs continues to lose billions

Isabella Green September 14, 2024 0

Meta's virtual, augmented, and mixed reality business, Reality Labs, lost $3.84 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. But that's just business as usual for the division, which reported losses of $16.1 billion and $13.7 billion across 2023 and 2022, respectively.Facebook parent Meta shared the news in its fiscal report for the first-quarter ended March 31, 2024, and noted that Reality Labs revenue totalled $440 million. That represents a year-on-year increase of 30 percent and was driven by Meta Quest headset sales.Although the unit lost over $3.84 billion dollars during Q1, that's actually a slight improvement on the near $4 billion loss it recorded this time last year.Meta CFO Susan Li expects Reality Labs' losses to "increase meaningfully&q…