Monday, July 20, 2026
Home Blog Page 1150

Activision Blizzard moves to state court asking to dismiss DFEH sexual harassment lawsuit

Prateek Jain
-
0
Activision Blizzard moves to state court asking to dismiss DFEH sexual harassment lawsuit

Activision Blizzard on Tuesday released a statement in which the company had asked the state court to dismiss the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against it by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

“We are moving to dismiss the DFEH’s Complaint because the agency violated its own rules, acted in bad faith, and undermined its authority to file this lawsuit,” said Activision Blizzard in a statement. 

Our motion comes just days after we joined the EEOC in opposing the sixth attempt by the DFEH to disrupt the federal settlement reached with the EEOC that already is helping Activision build a better and more inclusive workplace and providing relief and closure to current and former employees.

Activision Blizzard in a filing in the Los Angeles Superior Court said that the DFEH failed to properly investigate claims prior to the filing of the lawsuit. The company also argued that the DFEH failed to mediate and negotiate a resolution with the company before filing the sexual harassment lawsuit last year. Activision Blizzard also said that the DFEH unfairly damaged the reputation of the company and undermined the public trust due to its negligence and fast-tracked process. 

In July last year, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard alleging that the company had a “frat house culture” where sexual harassment complaints were brushed under the rug and no action was taken. The DFEH alleged that female employees of the company were regularly subjected to sexual harassment and were paid lower than their male counterparts. 

As a fallout from the lawsuit in July, dozens of employees were either fired or voluntarily left the company. Activision Blizzard also alleged that the DFEH fueled a media campaign to tarnish the reputations of both Activision Blizzard and the EEOC, an agency that recently settled its lawsuit for $18 million. The company argued that DFEH overstepped its authority of investigating the alleged gender discrimination in wages and promotion. The company said that DFEH launched a full-scale investigation involving sexual harassment which EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) was handling as per court order. 

Recommended | ACTIVISION BLIZZARD SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE MICROSOFT’S ACQUISITION PROPOSAL

EA Earning Report: Company misses analyst Forcast following Battlefield 2042 Flop

Prateek Jain
-
0
EA Earning Report: Company misses analyst Forcast following Battlefield 2042 Flop

Game developer and publisher, Electronic Arts reported their current fiscal earnings today that missed analysts’ predicted forecast due to bombed Battlefield 2042 launch and continued fall in player numbers.

EA is popularly known for its sports game FIFA and shooter Battlefield which are the biggest earners for the company every quarter. The company reported that more than 71% of its revenue was earned from live service games with FIFA leading the charts yet again. 

For this fiscal (fourth quarter), EA reported revenue of $1.75 billion, missing analysts’ expectations of $1.77 billion revenue. Earnings per share, excluding some costs, were $1.46, compared with the average estimate of $1.42.

The last major release from EA was Battlefield 2042 in 2022 which flopped hard and failed to capitalize on the popular IP. EA has yet to release a major game this year while the fallout from Battlefield 2042 is still being dealt with stealthy. Previously, EA had acknowledged that BF2042 failed to meet its expectation and promised to fix the game as well as add more content this year.

Right before the earnings call, EA also announced that its lucrative 3-decade-long licensing deal with FIFA is coming to an end. Starting in 2023, the FIFA branding will be dropped in favor of EA Sports FC branding. EA also said that more information about the new franchise will be shared as early as July 2023. This year’s football game will be last with FIFA branding and will be called FIFA 23. EA is also planning to release a new entry in its annual Madden NFL franchise this year. 

In the earnings call, EA also mentioned that information about the upcoming Star Wars titles, such as a sequel to 2019’s popular Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be shared soon and a release is expected later this year. On Monday, EA announced that it’s developing a mobile game based on the popular fantasy franchise The Lord of the Rings, in partnership with Middle-Earth Enterprises. The company is also looking to tap into the lucrative mobile market with its Battlefield Mobile game very soon. 

S8UL signs a new Pokemon Unite roster

Divyesh Moghe
-
0
S8UL signs a new Pokemon Unite roster

S8UL, one of the biggest esports organizations in India, has signed a new Pokemon Unite roster to compete in this new and quirky esports title. This acquisition will make S8UL the only big esports organization in India to take part in Pokemon Unite esports at such an early stage.

The roster comprises of six players and their names are as follows:

  • ALLMIGHT(IGL)
  • MELON
  • CURSENHK
  • FAKE
  • INOSUKE
  • VOX

Pokemon Unite is a new MOBA title developed by TiMi Studios and published by The Pokemon Company. This game is a new hit in the MOBA market with Pokemons available as in-game champions and players can evolve them as they level up to gain stronger abilities.

MOBA genre of gaming has a huge potential of esports market with games like League of Legends and DOTA 2 dominating the marketspace. The mobile market is captured by the likes of Arena of Valor, Wild Rift and other titles like MLBB and Pokemon Unite is a new contender to challenge the older titles.

The esports scenario aligned with Pokemon Unite is still at a very preliminary stage and S8UL has made a massive move to sign a team to compete in tournaments this early. There are smaller events in play but the developers have not announced or worked on any plans of building a sustainable esports environment for this new title.

It will be interesting to see how this acquisition pans out for S8UL esports and puts India on the roadmap of Pokemon Unite esports from the very start.

Also Read |

COD: Mobile India Championship announced with ₹60 Lakhs Prize Pool

Divyesh Moghe
-
0
COD: Mobile India Championship announced with ₹60 Lakhs Prize Pool

Activision is taking some active steps to involve India in the global circuit of COD Mobile esports and after some interim tournaments, a new event called as COD: Mobile India Championship is announced. The game developers are partnering with Nodwin Gaming, one of the oldest esports event organizers in India, to host this tournament.

The COD Mobile India Championship will be split into two main categories for Battle Royale and Multiplayer mode. These two events will have two open qualifiers and a grand final as well. Top sixteen teams will qualify for BR finals and top eight will make it to the multiplayer mode finals.

The entire tournament is set to start very soon and its registrations have already begun. The interested players can visit the official registration site to enroll their team and compete in the open qualifier of their choice.

The dates for open qualifiers as well as the final event are as follows:

  1. BR Mode:
    • Qualifier one: May 17 to 22
    • Qualifier two: May 24 to 29
    • Grand Finals: June 4 and 5
  2. Multiplayer Mode
    • Qualifier one: June 7 to 1
    • Qualifier two: June 14 to 19
    • Grand Finals: June 25 and 26

This tournament will be a separate event, apart from the World Championship 2022 qualifiers. Interested rosters can participate to play in this event and have a chance at winning the massive prize pool of ₹60,00,000.

Also Read | Free Fire OB34 release date, Advance Server Opening and Closing Dates, and more

2022 Wild Rift Icons Global Championship shifted to Singapore

The Crew
-
0
2022 Wild Rift Icons Global Championship shifted to Singapore

The 2022 Wild Rift Icons Global Championship will now take place at the Suntec Convention and Exhibition Center in Singapore. Previously, Suntec was the host of the Wild Rift Horizon Cup in 2021. The event was first scheduled to take place in Europe. However, due to the global pandemic complicating visa application timelines and re-entry dates for many regional teams, Riot Games made the decision to move the competition to Singapore.

The Wild Rift Icons Global Championship is Riot’s global tournament concluding the Wild Rift Esports season. Set to commence on June 14th, the tournament will feature 24 teams, 8 qualifying straight from regional competitions, and 16 battling through the play-in stage. It also features a $2m (~£1.62m) shared prize pool.

Leo Faria, Global Head of Wild Rift Esports, commented: “We are incredibly excited to announce that our very first Wild Rift Icons Global Championship will be coming to Singapore this summer. “Icons will be the climax of our Wild Rift Esports season, showcasing the best in mobile esports from around the world!”

EVENT SCHEDULE

  • Play-Ins: June 14-18
  • Groups: June 21-25
  • Quarterfinals: July 1-2
  • Semifinals: July 5-6
  • Finals: July 9

More details are yet to be revealed about the qualified teams, format, and schedule in the coming weeks and months.

EA and FIFA officially part ways; EA Sports FC to rename the AAA title

Aritra Patra
-
0
EA and FIFA officially part ways; EA Sports FC to rename the AAA title

EA Sports FIFA video game series was the most favorite game among the football gaming community. After two decades, however, EA and FIFA are officially parting their ways as the long partnership came to an end.

Even though negotiations were ongoing between Electronic Arts and FIFA for the last few months, both parties couldn’t agree to extend the partnership anymore. Therefore, EA Sports will have to remove FIFA from the name along with FIFA World Cup and all other FIFA-controlled events.

As one of the most affluent commercial partnerships is officially coming to an end, EA Sports has announced that their next football game will be renamed to EA Sports FC. EA promised to release more information regarding this new series in July 2023.

I can assure you that the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football fans. The interactive gaming and e-sports sector is on a path of unrivaled growth and diversification. FIFA’s strategy is to ensure we can make the most of all future options and ensure a wide range of products and opportunities for gamers, fans, member associations and partners.

Gianni Infantino, FIFA president

EA has been developing FIFA games since 1993 and finally, they announced to part ways with FIFA after almost 30 years. Apart from the FIFA name and FIFA events, all the other tournaments such as English Premier League, and UEFA Leagues will be there along with all the licensed clubs, brands, and tournaments.

We’re thankful for our many years of great partnership with FIFA. The future of global football is very bright, and fandom around the world has never been stronger. It was really about how can we do more for the players, more for the fans, how can we offer them more modalities to play, how can we bring more partners into the game, and how can we expand beyond the bounds of the traditional game.

Andrew Wilson, EA CEO

EA Sports is a long-term and valued partner of the Premier League, and we look forward to continuing to work together in the new era.

Richard Masters, English Premier League CEO

Moreover, FIFA added that a few non-simulation football games are already under development and they might even get launched ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The FIFA World Cup Qatar is going to begin in November 2022. With the recent launch of the FIFA+ streaming service, is the Zurich-based organization planning to introduce a new football gaming model? Only time has all the answers.

Recommended | FIFA 22 Fastest Strikers, Wingers, Midfielders & Defenders

BMOC Round 4: Qualified Teams and Schedule

Divyesh Moghe
-
0
BMOC Round 4: Qualified Teams and Schedule

Battlegrounds Mobile India Open Challenge 2022 is moving towards its final stages as the fourth round is set to begin today. This round will have a total of 64 teams, out of which 32 are invited and 32 have qualified from the third round. Here is the complete list of teams alongside the schedule of fourth round of BMOC 2022.

BMOC 2022 is the gateway for local teams that are yet to make a name for themselves to get into the pro circuit by playing in various rounds of online qualifiers. After a total of 3 rounds and number of teams being skimmed from 512 to 32, the underdogs have made their way into the ultimate round of BMOC.

Here are the 32 teams that have qualified for BMOC 2022 via open qualifiers:

  1. Team Solitude
  2. The Unstoppables
  3. WSF Esports
  4. ACBC Esports
  5. AUTOBOTZ ESPORTS
  6. Wakouts
  7. RETRIBUTION RTR
  8. BurnX Official
  9. TEAM P6
  10. BHULE BHATKE
  11. GOG ESPORTS
  12. Myst official
  13. MYSTERIOUS X
  14. The Last Legends
  15. INITIATIVE ACADEMY
  16. Team currency
  17. UP50 ESPORTS
  18. Redemption Crew
  19. Team Kinetic
  20. IMPRNT ESPORTS
  21. DeathMate Esports
  22. Team Glacier
  23. OPTXRISING FALCON
  24. Team Bravery
  25. CRATIC ESPORTS
  26. Faith
  27. TEAM INR OFFICIAL
  28. TF5 ESPORTS
  29. ASLAAA ESPORTS
  30. Elite Squad
  31. Team oneknockpush
  32. EndLesss

The list of 32 invited rosters is as follows:

  1. 7Sea Esports
  2. Global Esports
  3. Team Soul
  4. Chemin Esports
  5. Reckoning Esports
  6. Marcos Gaming
  7. Chicken Rushers
  8. TSM
  9. Team 8Bit
  10. FS Esports
  11. Nigma Galaxy
  12. Orangutan
  13. Team Celtz
  14. Big Brother
  15. Hydra Official
  16. Team XO
  17. OR Esports
  18. Team XSpark
  19. True Rippers
  20. Blind Esports
  21. Inside Out
  22. Team Mayhem
  23. Team Forever
  24. GodLike Esports
  25. Revenant Esports
  26. Enigma Gaming
  27. R Esports
  28. Team Insane
  29. Hyderabad Hydras
  30. Revenge Esports
  31. Entity Gaming
  32. Skylightz Gaming

These teams will be mixed to form four groups in total, which are not yet revealed by the officials. The tournament is set to resume to its fourth round on 11th May. Top six teams from each group will move on to the BMPS to further fight for a massive prize pool of ₹2 Crore.

ALso Read | Valorant Version Mismatch Error Fix 2022

Chamber Nerfed In Valorant Patch 4.09

Sonu Banerjee
-
0
Chamber Nerfed In Valorant Patch 4.09

It’s not a good day to be a Chamber main, as the dreaded nerfs to the French Sentinel will finally arrive to the live servers with the 4.09 update.

Alongside this, Valorant patch 4.09 will also bring with it a bunch of additional changes to the shooter. These changes include a quality-of-life ‘Party Lead Transfer’ feature, bug fixes, and much more.

Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming Valorant patch 4.09.

Valorant 4.09 Patch: Chamber Nerfs

It goes without saying that the Chamber nerfs will be the prime focus of this update as they will certainly reduce his overall viability as a Sentinel.

“When we think about the Sentinel role, we think about its overall ability to keep map control and defend space,” the developers said in a statement.

“We believe that Sentinels and Sentinel players should have many options and methods to control and defend, whether it’s through the use of Sage’s reactive slow abilities, Cypher’s flank-watching gadgets, or defensively-oriented combat and guns like Chamber.”

As we had reported earlier, patch 4.09 will see Chamber’s ‘Trademark’ count being reduced from 2 to 1, while its price will be increased from 150 to 200. The audio range of his traps will also be increased in the upcoming update.

Valorant Patch 4.09: Detailed Patch Notes

Here are the detailed patch notes of Valorant 4.09 update, as officially revealed by Riot Games:

Lucky Ali to play at Nodwin Gaming’s Bacardi NH7 Weekender’s City Takeover in Mumbai

Divyesh Moghe
-
0
Lucky Ali to play at Nodwin Gaming’s Bacardi NH7 Weekender’s City Takeover in Mumbai

Nodwin Gaming and Bacardi are bringing one of the biggest music festivals in India to the financial capital of the country, the city of Mumbai. This will be the last City Takeover of Bacardi NH7 Weekender and it will be taking place at Dublin Square Phoenix Marketcity.

Music fans and especially the ones that were humming “O Sanam” during the lockdown are in for a treat as singer and songwriter, Lucky Ali, will be singing amazing songs at this live event.

The NH7 Weekender – City Takeover is special in Mumbai as the music will be combined with various other quirky elements. A locally sourced flea market is also organized at this event with a specially curated drinking experience.

The organizers will be taking all precautions in mind as all necessary safety and hygiene protocols would be followed and social distancing rules, vaccination certification, on-ground rapid tests (antigen), mandatory use of masks and sanitizers, temperature checks, etc. are implemented as well.

Talking about this collaborative effort, Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder & Managing Director of NODWIN Gaming said the following:

We are excited to culminate our City Takeover shows in the glamorous city of Mumbai! We are extremely humbled and delighted to be able to successfully organize a mega festival on such a grand scale. We would like to once again thank our organizing team, artist, patrons, and the wonderful audience who made this experience even more special due to their implicit trust in us.

– Akshat Rathee, Co-Founder & Managing Director, NODWIN Gaming

Ashish Jha, the Brand Manager of BACARDÍ India also had following to say on this upcoming music festival:

“At BACARDÍ we always keep consumers at the heart of everything we do and this season we decided to bring India’s happiest festival to their hometown with our city take-overs. After an overwhelming response from other cities, this weekend, we look forward to introducing newer avenues for consumers to do what makes them happy again at BACARDÍ NH7 Weekender’s Mumbai takeover. Bringing our audiences together, we are excited to provide a platform for them to express themselves, once again on-ground in the city that never sleeps.”

– Ashish Jha, Brand Manager, BACARDÍ India
CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR TICKETS

Ceb to stand-in for Misha, N0tail to coach OG at ESL One Stockholm 2022

Bharat Kotwani
-
0
Ceb to stand-in for Misha, N0tail to coach OG at ESL One Stockholm 2022

OG Esports have announced that Sébastien “Ceb” Debs will replace team’s captain Mikhail “Misha” Agatov on the main roster while Johan “N0tail” Sundstein will be on the mic behind the team as both Misha and head coach Evgenii “Chuvash” Makarov will miss out the Major due to Visa issues.

The announcement comes after just a day to the DOTA 2 Major which commences on May 12 in Stockholm, Sweden.

After completing their DPC Western Europe Tour on a high, Misha and Chuvash will be sitting out of the ESL One Stockholm Major with veterans in the faces of Ceb and N0tail making a return to the competitive circuit to fill in for the former although the former OG captain will be seen fielding the head coach role, previously of Chuvash on the active roster. 

The duo of Ceb and N0tail were last seen together on the main stage at The International 2021 where OG Esports were unable to convert their TI streak into a hattrick, halted by Team Spirit in their lower bracket run who then went on to win the marquee event. 

OG have been drawn in the Group A of the ESL One Stockholm Major alongside teams including Evil Geniuses, T1, and Tundra Esports. They will open their campaign against Team Beastcoast on May 12 at 15:30 PM IST and will play BOOM again on the same day at 18:00 PM IST.

OG Dota 2 will field the following roster at the ESL One Stockholm 2022.

  • Artem “Yuragi” Golubiev
  • Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov
  • Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf
  • Tommy “Taiga” Le
  • Sébastien “Ceb” Debs (Stand-in)
  • Johan “N0tail” Sundstein (Stand-in Coach)

1...1,1491,1501,151...2,100Page 1,150 of 2,100

EDITOR PICKS

Opinions

POPULAR CATEGORY

ABOUT US

TalkEsport is world's premier stop for esports scores, news and coverage! In the industry since 2009, TalkEsport has garnered immense authenticity and credibility, making it the top destination for Esports!

Contact us: [email protected]

FOLLOW US

© TalkEsport Media & Broadcasting (P) Ltd. All Rights Reserved 2009-2026.