Get Your Game On Wednesday: School Shootings, Microsoft Layoffs, & Pokémon for Switch

Hey all and welcome to GYGO! I’m Kael, your local Tim Allen enthusiast, and it seems like I’m doing news now? All I know is that I surprised someone taking pictures on the roof of my local GameStop, causing them to plummet to their death. A golden scroll appeared, declaring me a games journalist, and now I have this blazer/graphic tee combo that reappears every time I try to take it off. I’m going to go buy some scissors, but while that’s happening, the news!

Active Shooter a Bad Look for Steam? Quelle Surprise!

Developer Revived Games attempted to distribute Active Shooter on Steam, only to be pulled after significant backlash.

There’s something to be said about using games to process the constant slough of school shootings in America, but I’m not really for doing it from the perspective of the shooter. Especially after Alex Horton pointed out on Twitter that every one of the shootable students shown in the trailer are women. Grown women, as reported by Sputnik, which I suppose makes a negligible difference?

In an interview with Fortune.com, game creator Anton Makarevskiy suggests that sensationalized gun violence coverage doesn’t replace meaningful engagement with its root cause. I think that’s true within news media, but because of the coverage of this game being as widespread as it is, I was able to have a conversation with my co-worker about the possibility of gun violence in our workplace. That being said, we definitely could have had that conversation without re-traumatizing the survivors of any one of the 24 school shootings America’s had this year.

On a more industry-related slant, Steam only pulled Active Shooter after significant backlash and media attention. As reported in a previous GYGO, Steam recently targeted multiple visual novels for removal in response to “reports of pornographic content.” It’s been said before, but the readiness with which Steam was willing to remove perceived sexual content and the uproar it took them to remove a game about shooting up a school is straight-up nonsense. Say what you want about tity games, but it’s a little silly to think they’re more deserving of censorship than the gamification of school shootings.

Xbox Replaces Workers With Unpaid Volunteers

Reflecting a questionable attitude towards their support staff, Xbox has laid off approximately 12 employees responsible for interacting with customers contacting @XboxSupport on Twitter and via their online chat tool. The employees were replaced with volunteer “Community Ambassadors” that Xbox support staff reportedly trained for the job. The Ambassador program (in which Xbox fans can volunteer their time handling support tickets in exchange for prize drawings) has been around for awhile, but only as a supplement to more traditional—paid—labor. This is especially insidious as you consider the program requires a paid Xbox Live Gold Membership and enough investment in Xbox games to earn a gamer score greater than 1,500.

PUBG and Fortnite Duke it Out in Court

In the seemingly never-ending battle royale for genre supremacy, the Korean company PUBG (a subsidiary of Bluehole, publisher of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) is suing Epic Games (publisher of Fortnite) for copyright infringement. Fortnite famously added a free-to-play battle royale mode to their zombie killing game a mere months before PUBG came to console—in what could definitely be regarded as a dick move. Whether or not the lawsuit has ground, or if it’s just a warning to other companies who would try to join the BR craze, remains to be seen.

Bethesda Announces Fallout 76

We officially have news of the latest from good ‘ol Bethesda, who tweeted a reveal trailer for Fallout 76. On Twitter, Spike Trotman points out the trailer’s rendition of Country Roads as a distinct shift from the series’ 50s aesthetic, which started the ball rolling on a mass of speculation that Jameson Hampton is more than happy to regale you with.

Pokémon Finally Hits the Switch

Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! are set to be the franchise’s first entries on the Switch. The games, set for release November 16th, are supposedly loose remakes of Pokémon Yellow, with some added features like a capture system inspired by Niantic’s Pokémon Go!, an optional controller shaped like a Poké Ball, and couch co-op support. The Pokémon Company confirmed that this release isn’t going to replace of the next generation of Pokémon games, promised for release in 2019.

In other news…

• Battlefield V is definitely keeping their female characters.
• Limited edition PlayStation is going on sale after Sony announces PS4 is near the end of its life cycle.
• Xbox360 received its first update in practically forever.
• Former Microsoft VP, Shane Kim, is stepping up as GameStop’s temporary CEO during the search for a permanent candidate. The company is experiencing an “expected” drop in profits following the year of the Nintendo Switch’s release.
• Where the Water Tastes Like Wine has released a patch that adds an autowalk ability for those put off by the game’s pacing at launch.

Games Bleat

Well, the scissors didn’t work, but that’s fine. I’m just going to keep rolling with it as I bring you this week’s hottest news and deals from the magic messenger bag that came with my blazer.

Highlights

Starting off a little backwards, Moonlighter was released this week. It’s a little bit Legend of Zelda, a little bit Diner Dash, and a whole lot of gorgeous pixel art. I’m personally ecstatic to juggle my new life as an adventuring monster part salesfolk—though I might wait until it hits the Switch later this year.

I missed Cultist Simulator when it hit stores last week, and I am so about living the apocalyptic yearning of a cultist on the hunt for power, enlightenment, or sweet sensation. The card game aspects also look really rad, though the real draw for me is that velvety prose!

More New Games

• while True: learn()
• Awkward
• Roomba Quest
• Succulent Drive USA

PC Deals

• Distraint $0.54 
• The Talos Principle $7.99
• Heavy Bullets $1.99
• Titan Souls $3.74
• Stories Untold $2.49
• On Rusty Trails $3.24
• Hatoful Boyfriend $2.49
• Reigns $1.49
• Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen $9.89
• Into the Breach $11.99

And finally summer sales have kicked off over at GOG until June 18th, and others are sure to follow. Come back next week for more new releases and deals—hopefully by then I’ll be able to return to my normal form as your every day games warlock!