EB Games has paid AU$8500 to at least one of its former staff members following complaints about a manager, Kotaku reports.
In 2015, five EB Games workers lodged a complaint with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and made statutory declarations to the Australian Human Rights Commission regarding their treatment at the hands of EB Games regional manager Mark DiStefano, among other things.
Some of the alleged treatment is outlined in this Kotaku feature that ran in July 2015, but the short version is that the complainants claim DiStefano was short-tempered; frequently verbally abusive, racist, and homophobic; and behaved inappropriately – even around customers. There were also claims that EB Games' casual staff either worked unpaid overtime or didn't get shifts.
At the time, DiStefano and EB Games denied any and all liability, and now the matter has apparently been settled with no admission of guilt on the company's part.
"I got pressured into taking the deal and I regret it," one former staff member told Kotaku.
The second season of the Overwatch Pacific Championship starts tonight, Blizzard has announced.
Eight top teams from across the Pacific will fight for glory, including 16 players who played key roles representing five different countries in the recent group stages of Overwatch World Cup 2017.
The total prize pool on offer is NT 8,300,000 (approximately AU$346,000).
The third and final split of Season 4 in the Smite Oceanic Pro League kicks off this weekend, following a major upset in the Mid Year Finals.
The split features six teams – Legacy Esports, Mingyu’s Minions, Dark Sided, Kanga Esports, SIN Gaming, and Red Rocket – vying for a piece of its AU$35,000 prize pool over a five week competition.
The season will culminate in a major LAN event.
Aussie first-person rogue-lite City of Brass will hit Steam Early Access on September 18, developer Uppercut Games has announced.
In City of Brass, you are a daring thief infiltrating the titular trap-laden city, armed only with a blade and an extremely versatile whip that can grab, trip, disarm, and stun, as well as swing you about the place.
Levels are Arabian Nights-themed and procedurally generated, and the game features multiple interacting systems that sound like they are designed with player freedom in mind.
The latest VR title from Dunedin's RocketWerkz is available now on Steam.
Out of Ammo standalone sequel Out of Ammo: Death Drive is an apocalyptic road trip title developed exclusively for VR, in which players build defences, scavenge scrap, and kill undead hordes using an arsenal of firearms, melee weapons and mounted defences.
According to the game's release announcement, it started as an ironic joke by RocketWerkz founder and DayZ creator Dean Hall to add zombies to Out of Ammo. Doesn't he know irony is dead in this postmodern age?
Two-thirds of Kiwis play video games, half of all players are female, and the average player age is 34, says the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association.
This week the association released its annual Digital New Zealand report, which it produces in conjunction with Bond University in Queensland.
Digital New Zealand 2018 is the fifth study in a series of national research that began in 2009. It looks at the demographics of Kiwis who play games, as well as their play habits, behaviours and attitudes.
Girls in Games programme will celebrate its fifth year with a pair of events, organiser Media Design School has announced.
The tertiary institution will host Girls in Games Senior Dev Day (for Years 11-13) on September 12, and Girls in Games Junior Dev Day (for Years 9-10) on November 28.
Each is a one-day workshop that covers the basics of game art, game programming, and game design.
Crackdown 3 won't arrive until autumn next year, Microsoft has announced.
The open world action title was announced at E3 2014, and was originally supposed to release last year. Its release was then pushed back to coincide with that of the Xbox One X.
Microsoft Studios publishing general manager Shannon Loftis told Polygon that the delay will allow Reagent Games, Sumo Digital, and Cloudgine to ensure the game is a quality experience.
Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg has pledged to stop making jokes about being a nazi.
In an video titled "I guess this needed to be said", the world's most-subscribed YouTuber admitted that the neo-nazi events in Charlottesville over the weekend had altered his outlook.
"It sort of gave me a little bit of perspective, because technically I got grouped in with these people somehow," Kjellberg said.
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