REPORTING (exclusives, scoops, features)

The Washington Post
‘Scorched earth’ and big profits: How embattled gaming titan Bobby Kotick outlasts his opponents (The Washington Post)

‘Diablo IV’ developers work long hours, bracing for impending release (The Washington Post)

At Blizzard, groping, free-flowing booze and fear of retaliation tainted ‘magical’ workplace (The Washington Post)

An American life: How Asian migrants built unique communities (The Washington Post)

On Elon Musk’s Twitter, gaming offers a glimpse of a chaotic future (The Washington Post)

‘God of War Ragnarok’ director talks about managing team burnout (The Washington Post)

Top Twitch creator endorses platform connected to crypto gambling site (The Washington Post)

How ‘League of Legends’ was made into a Netflix TV show (The Washington Post)

Blizzard Albany, formerly Vicarious Visions, gets union vote greenlight (The Washington Post)

Activision Blizzard is using ‘Diablo IV’ to argue against unions (The Washington Post)

Jes Negrón’s first game after suing Riot is about heritage and a haunted house (The Washington Post)

Ex-‘World of Warcraft’ developers unveil game in deal with Twitch stars (The Washington Post)

Activision Blizzard sued for wrongful death by family of employee who killed herself (The Washington Post)

‘Turning Red’ director Domee Shi is a gamer (The Washington Post)

Activision Blizzard disinvited from speaking at SXSW due to misconduct allegations (The Washington Post)

Activision Blizzard employees and management clash over union process in Zoom hearing (The Washington Post)

Activision Blizzard CEO addresses employees on layoffs, potential departure in ‘fireside chat’ (The Washington Post)

Xbox has its own nail polish now, as gaming companies welcome beauty deals (The Washington Post)

Riot Games agrees to pay $100 million in settlement of class-action gender discrimination lawsuit (The Washington Post)

Activision Blizzard tells employees it can improve culture without a union (The Washington Post)

Group of Activision Blizzard shareholders joins call for CEO Bobby Kotick’s resignation (The Washington Post)

China restricts young people to playing video games three hours a week (The Washington Post)

The story behind Google’s biggest game yet: An Olympics-themed JRPG (The Washington Post)

A Taiwanese horror game that angered Chinese players returns. Can it move past its unintended politics? (The Washington Post)

Inside the ‘League of Legends’ studio’s plans to dominate your smartphone (The Washington Post)

The origin and evolution of E3 (The Washington Post)

The video game industry spoke up against anti-Asian violence. Some went further. (The Washington Post)

Kotaku’s next editor in chief will be Patricia Hernandez (The Washington Post)

Forget next-gen consoles. The biggest gaming platform is already in your pocket. (The Washington Post)

Understanding legal arguments in Epic v. Apple: Tinder, itch.io and a naked banana (The Washington Post)

Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier discusses his new book, ‘Press Reset,’ on video game studio layoffs, closures (The Washington Post)

A year into the pandemic, game developers reflect on burnout, mental health and avoiding crunch (The Washington Post)

Flash is dead. These games from the early 2000s hope to live on. (The Washington Post)

Korean esports players, staff speak out on ‘unspeakable’ racism, harassment in America (The Washington Post)

The people who spent the year in ‘Animal Crossing’ (The Washington Post)

As ‘Valheim’ grows, its developer reflects on bugs, updates and the prospect of acquisition (The Washington Post)

The Technology 202 Newsletter: Activision Blizzard's CEO addresses the Microsoft merger (The Washington Post)

CNN
NON-GAMING

Unemployment claims from Asian Americans have spiked 6,900% in New York. Here’s why (CNN)
The 2020 census: Tech issues, angry neighbors and bad data (CNN Politics)

GAMING

The Fortnite World Cup is a huge love letter to the game and kids are absolutely into it (CNN)

GameStop CEO says company is in ‘a tough place’ and needs to change (CNN)

Who is getting rich off of Fortnite (CNN)

Blizzard accepts ‘accountability’ over Hong Kong controversy, but gamers still aren’t happy (CNN)

Caffeine wants to livestream games and be bigger than Twitch (CNN)

This video game company made one game for a decade. Now it’s ready to make five more (CNN)

The surprising reason Nintendo made Super Mario a plumber 35 years ago (CNN)

Dr Disrespect says he will not return to Twitch after he was abruptly banned (CNN)

A Harvard-trained psychiatrist is on Twitch helping gamers with their mental health (CNN)

The Verge

What Fresh Off the Boat does with its Mandarin speaker that The Cloverfield Paradox couldn’t (The Verge)

Emily Chang’s Brotopia takes aim at sexism in Silicon Valley (The Verge)

This man has made more money trading cryptokitties than investing in his IRA (The Verge)

How WeChat came to rule China (The Verge)

China’s feminist movement braves a government crackdown on #MeToo (The Verge)

Inside Russia’s love-hate relationship with Bitcoin (The Verge)

Why your brand-new smartphone will scratch just as easily as your old one (The Verge)

REVIEWS
In ‘Pentiment,’ characters don’t shy away from history or heartbreak (The Washington Post)
‘Life Is Strange: True Colors’ sidesteps discussion of race, emotional manipulation and sexuality (The Washington Post)
‘Boyfriend Dungeon’ reminded me of dating during the pandemic, swords and all (The Washington Post)

‘Psychonauts 2’ is a Saturday morning cartoon with a side of mental health (The Washington Post)

‘Mario Golf: Super Rush’ brings the putting green to your living room (The Washington Post)

The twists and turns of ‘Scarlet Nexus’ make it a must-play for anime lovers (The Washington Post)

‘Chicory: A Colorful Tale’ is already one of the best releases of the year (The Washington Post)

PlayStation 5 review: The exciting upgrade we hoped for (CNN)

Xbox Series X review: Why you should wait before buying Microsoft’s new gaming console (CNN)

MapleStory gets an extra life with a mobile game and 3D sequel (The Verge)

TAKES

I watched ‘League of Legends’ esports live. I wasn’t sold. (The Washington Post)