Hasta La Gadget!

The charges come after a fight broke out in the Michigan Stadium tunnel on Oct. 29 after the Michigan Wolverines beat the Spartans 29-7.

“It was a sign from the team, from us, that FIFA is muzzling us,” Germany coach Hansi Flick said after his team’s 2-1 loss to Japan.

Microsoft’s $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard is facing scrutiny from antitrust investigators in several countries. In the US, for instance, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) started looking into the acquisition shortly after it was announced. Now, the FTC is reportedly ready to take action and will likely file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft’s massive purchase, according to Politico. Microsoft failed to convince the FTC staff reviewing the deal with its arguments, Politico’s sources said, but the agency’s commissioners have yet to vote on filing a complaint or to meet with lawyers. 

While a lawsuit is not 100 percent guaranteed yet, the commission is reportedly done with the biggest parts of the investigation, including with the depositions of the Microsoft chief Satya Nadella and Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. If the FTC ultimately decides to file a lawsuit, it could do so as soon as next month. The publication says the commission will likely file the case in its own in-house administrative court, since it doesn’t have to bring it to federal court first to seek a temporary injunction. Seeing as other regulators are also looking into the acquisition, it wouldn’t be able to go through (if it’s ultimately allowed to do so) until sometime next year. 

In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an in-depth investigation of the deal in September. And more recently, the European Commission announced that it will carry out a full-scale probe into Microsoft’s purchase. Like these two European regulators, the FTC is concerned that the acquisition will give Microsoft an unfair advantage in the gaming sector and that it may significantly reduce competition in the market. 

Sony has been one of the loudest voices opposing the deal and has expressed concerns that Microsoft might make valuable IPs like Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive. Jim Ryan, Sony PlayStation’s CEO, previously revealed that Microsoft only offered to keep Call of Duty available on PlayStation for three years after the current agreement ends. But Xbox chief Phil Spencer said more recently that the company is “not taking Call of Duty from PlayStation.” In Microsoft’s latest filing with the CMA, it argued that the acquisition won’t give it an unfair advantage: Sony has more exclusive games than the Xbox, it said, and many of them are of “better quality.”

Netflix’s new in-house game teams may be particularly ambitious. Mobilegamer.bizspotted a job listing the company posted for a director in Los Angeles who would lead work on a “brand-new AAA PC game” — this is not just another mobile title. While many details remain unknown, the new hire will ideally have experience with first- and third-person shooters, constantly evolving “live service” games (think Destiny 2) and quickly prototyping in Unreal Engine. The perfect candidate would also be comfortable with both cooperative and competitive multiplayer, and create a game world “worthy” of a Netflix show.

The streaming service emphasizes that the game director won’t be held back by the “design constraints” of monetization. As with Netflix’s existing games, in-app purchases, ads and other rude surprises shouldn’t exist in this project. A listing for a lead engineer also alludes to a “3rd person action RPG.”

Expectations are already high. Netflix games VP Mike Verdu revealed last month that former Overwatch director Chacko Sonny is leading the LA studio after leaving Blizzard in 2021, and the new director may be similarly notable when they’re expected to have “at least” 10 years of design experience. Netflix has also set up shop in Helsinki and has bought multiple developers, including Oxenfree creator Night School Studio.

There’s a strong incentive to foster game development at Netflix. Less than one percent of the firm’s subscribers are taking advantage of the mobile games that come with membership. Blockbuster games for other platforms could not only reach new audiences, but help Netflix build its reputation in the industry.

Apple may well have found another button it can destroy with haptic touch as it introduces the iPhone 15.