Just a week after news broke that Nintendo was suing Tropic Haze, the developer of Switch emulator Yuzu, it appears the two have settled. As part of the settlement, Tropic Haze will pay Nintendo $2.4 million in damages and immediately cease operations of both Yuzu, the Switch emulator??, and Citra, the 3DS emulator.

The settlement details are quite cut and dry. Tropic Haze w?ill pay Nintendo $2.??4 million in damages and will halt all work on Yuzu and cease hosting Yuzu, distributing its code, or anything that promotes Yuzu and circumvents Nintendo's copyright protection.

3DS Emulator Citra ending as well

Tropic Haze developer Bunnei also made a post on the official Yuzu Discord server about the two emulators coming to an end.

"Hello yuz-ers and Citra fans:

We write today to in?form you that yuzu and yuzu’s suppor?t of Citra are being discontinued, effective immediately.

yuzu and its team have always been against piracy. We started the projects in good faith, out of passion for Nintendo and its consoles and games, and were not intending to cause harm. But we see now that because our projects can circumvent Nintendo’s technological protection measures and allow users to play games outside of authorized hardware, they have led to extensi??ve piracy. In particul??ar, we have been deeply disappointed when users have used our software to leak game content prior to its release and ruin the experience for legitimate purchasers and fans.

We have come to the decision that we cannot continue to allo?w this to occur. Piracy was never our intention, and we believe that piracy of video games and on video game consoles should end. Effe?ctive today, we will be pulling our code repositories offline, discontinuing our Patreon accounts and Discord servers, and, soon, shutting down our websites. We hope our actions will be a small step toward ending piracy of all creators�works.

Thank you for your years of support and for und??erstanding o??ur decision."

- Bunnei, Tropic Haze Developer on Yuzu and Citra

At the time of this post, the source code for both Yuzu and Citra has already been removed from GitHub.

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The publisher is paying up to close out the SEC probe

Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay $35 million to settle charges from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These charges included allegations that it ?failed to maintain proper workplace disclosure procedures, and violated an SEC whistleblower protection rule.

The SEC investigated into Activision Blizzard, charging that it did not have proper procedures for documenting workplace misconduct complaints. Because of this, it would not be able to adequat?ely disclose whether misconduct problems merited disclosure to shareholders. Additionally, the SEC charged that Activision Blizzard was found in violation of a whistleblower protection rule.

Activision Blizzard agreed to a cease-and-desi??st order and a $35 million penalty, without admitting or denying the SEC's findings.

“The SEC’s order finds that Activision Blizzard failed to implement necessary controls to collect and review employee complaints about workplace misconduct, which left it without the means to determine whether larger issues existed that needed to be disclosed to investors,�said the SEC's Denver regional office director Jason Burt in a statement. “Moreover, taking action to impede former employees from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation is not only bad corporate governance, it is illegal.�/p>

“We are pleased to have amicably resolved this matter,�Activision Blizzard spokesperson Joe Christinat told The Verge. “As the order recognizes, we have enhanced our disclosure processes with regard to workplace reporting and updated our separation contract language.�/p>

The still-lingering future

These issues stem back to July 2021, when the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed suit against Activision Blizzard, alleging harassment and discrimination at the company. It's taken a long road from there, winding into other inquiries a??nd the news that Microsoft is looking to acquire the publisher.

The acquisition of Activision Blizzard is still in limbo, as Microsoft tussles with the Federal Trade Commission over whether its $68.7 billion purchase?? will be approved.

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FTC complaint involved child privacy and unintended purchases

Fortnite developer Epic Games ??has announced today that it will pay a total of $520 million in a settlement with the Fe?deral Trade Commission. The total amount is accrued between two complaints, over privacy violations and tricking players into unintended purchases.

The FTC originally claimed that Epic violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, by collecting personal data from children without obtaining parental?? consent. Having voice and text chat on by default in the settings while matching these players with strangers also harmed children and teens, the FTC alleges.

The Commission also claims Epic deployed trickery to "dupe" players, causing them to make unintended purchases and ?blocking access to purchased content as an ??obstacle for disputing charges.

As part of a proposed federal court order, Epic will pay two penalties in the proposed settlement: $275 million for the privacy accusations, and $245 million to refund customers over the billing practices. Additionally, the FTC also calls for Epic to adopt strong default privacy settings for children and teens playing Fortnite. This includes an option? for text and voice communication to be turned off by default, something Epic has already implemented for under-18 players, alongside setting party invite defaults to "invite only" and personalized recommendations to off. The text chat's mature language filter also defaults to "on" for players below the age?? of 16.

Settling down

Epic has also already rolled out an option called Cabined Accounts. This is a setting specifically for Epic Games accounts that will require parental consent for certain options, like making in-game purchases or using voice chat. Users can still play games like Fortnite, Fall Guys, or Rocket League while cabined, but in "tailored" environment?? for younger users.

As for the shop, the FTC's allegations claim that Epic used "dark patterns" ??to trick players into making unwanted purchases. Confusing button configurations, charging account holders without authorization, and blocking access to purchased content are among the accusations. The $240 million portion of the Epic settlement will go towards player refunds over these issues. The order also bars Epic f??rom blocking consumers from accessing their purchased content for disputing unauthorized charges.

"No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here," said Epic in a statement. "The video game industry is a place of fast-moving innovation, where player expectations are high and new ideas are paramount. Statutes written decades ago don’t specify how gaming ecosystems should operate. The laws have not changed, but their application has evolved and?? long-standing industry practices are no longer enough. We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players."

The FTC also recently filed to?? block Microsoft's?? acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

This article has been updated to clarify Epic's privacy setting options within Fortnite.

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The parties have reached a nearly $26,000 settlement

A former Nintendo game tester has agreed ??to a settlement with Nintendo and contracting agency Aston Carter.

Via Polygon, Aston Carter will take liability and pay $25,910 in back pay, damages, and interest, according to the documents.

T??he bilateral settlement agreement also entails an additional action. Nintendo must post notice, in email and on-site at its office, informing workers of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

//t??wi??tter.com/stephentotilo/status/1580547430726406144

??It specifically highlights that workers will not be stopped from discussing a union, exercising the right to raise issues or complaints, and that?? they will not be fired for union support.

Putting up notice

The ??worker, Mackenzie Clifton, was employed through Aston Carter to test Nintendo games.

Clifton filed a complaint in April with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that they were fired for supporting a labor union. In August, a Kotaku report detailed that an employee (confirmed to be Cli??fton) had asked a question about industry unionization in a company meeting. They were later fired, allegedly over a violation of a non-disclosure agreement.

Nintendo told Polygon Clifton was let go due to divulging confidential information. Clifton disputed this and called it a misdirection. Speaking to Axios, they said the tweet they were shown by supervisors as proof of a violation was vague and did not clearly ident??ify what they were working on.

A Nintendo spokesperson told Polygon the company is "thankful" a settle??ment was reached. Here's the ?full statement:

"Nintendo is thankful that a resolution was reached in the NLRB matter so that we can continue to focus on ensuring that our working environment remains welcoming and supportive for all our employees and associates. That approach is fundamental to our company values. As part of the public settlement all parties remain o?bligated not to disclose Nintendo’s confide?ntial business information and trade secrets, which are paramount to our development process and product offerings."

Clifton also gave Axios' Stephen Totilo a statement:

//twitter.com/stephentot?ilo/status/158059136650959?6674

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The publisher's settlement with the US EEOC is moving forward

A judge has approved Activision Blizzard's settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for $18 million. The previously announced settlement was disclosed last September, as one of several suits again?st the video game publisher.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), which is also suing Activision Blizzard, had previously tried to intervene in the deal. The judge denied, however, and the settlement is now mo?ving for??ward.

Anyone who worked at Activision Blizzard between Sept. 1, 2016 and the present can submit a claim, related to sexual harassment, retaliation, and discrimination. Via Washington Post, EEOC spokeswoman Nicole St. Germain said the committ??ee is pleased with the o?utcome.

Activision Blizzard released a statement on the settlement, outlining the EEOC agreement a?nd other steps taken towards its workplace culture. Alongside the $18 million fund, the publisher will continue working on policies and practices to pre??vent harassment and discrimination. Activision Blizzard will also engage a third-party consultant to provide ongoing oversight, and hire an internal EEO coordinator.

The publisher of Overwatch, Call of Duty, and more was brought under scrutiny last year, when the California DFEH sued the company following a two-year investigation of the? compan?y's workplace culture. Allegations of issues within the company, ranging from sexual harassment and discrimination to a generally toxic workplace culture, surfaced in further reports. Several other suits have been filed in the time since, and several high-profile developers have left the company.

Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in January, for a $68.7 billion price tag.

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The League of Legends publisher agrees to settle the 2018 class-action suit

Riot Games announced on Monday that it will agree to settle ?a 2018 class-action suit with Califor?nia state agencies and female employees for $100 million.

The League of Legends publisher agrees to pay $80 million to members of the class-action suit, made up of current and former women who worked at the company full-time or as a contractor since November 2014. An additional $20 million will be paid toward legal fees and expenses, per Reuters.

As part of the settlement Riot Games will also commit to having its internal reporting and pay equity processes monitored by a third party. This party will be jointly approved by Riot Games and the Califor??nia Department of Fair Employment and Housing??, and will review complaint investigations and outcomes over three years.

The internal culture issues at Riot came to light in the mainstream thanks to a 2018 exposé published by Kotaku. The report detailed issues of discrimination and harassment at the publisher, leading to employee demonstrations and eventually the class-action suit. Though originally set to settle for $10 million, the California DFEH an??d the ?state Division of Labor Standards Enforcement intervened.

Riot executives addressed the settlement in an email to Riot employees, obtained by The Washington Post. In the email, they say the number of eligible claimants has more than doubled as the company has ????hired more women in recent years.

Both sides have agreed, but final approval is still pending, with a hearing to be set by the judge.

The settlement arrives at the end of 2021, and follows several other publishers facing their own reckonings over reports of internal culture issues. Companies like Ubisoft have been brought under scrutiny, and Activision Blizzard has been the subject of another investigation from the California DFEH over reports of discrimination, harassment, and a ??toxic workplace.

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