News of the Week; March 4, 2020

DIGITAL

1. Data shows who was reading “fake news” before 2016 US election
2. Spanish Government Moves Ahead With First ‘Fake News’ Prosecution
3. Reddit Cofounder Steve Huffman Calls TikTok “Spyware” That’s “Fundamentally Parasitic”
4. How Information on the Coronavirus is Managed on Chinese Social Media
5. How Hackers and Spies Could Sabotage the Coronavirus Fight: Intelligence services have a long history of manipulating information on health issues, and an epidemic is especially tempting for interference.
6. Turns Out Most People Still Don’t Hate ‘Big Internet’ As Much As Politicians And The Media Want Them To
7. Defeating Tech Giants With Open Protocols, Interoperability, And Shared Stewardship
8. Did Apple throttle your iPhone? Settlement will give you a whopping $25
9. Apple can’t break up with China, Wall Street Journal report argues
10. It’s not just ‘big tech’ that should be wary of regulatory changes
11. Everyone agrees: Facebook, Twitter should block disinfo—but probably won’t
12. 8chan Founder, Who Has Denounced The Site, Now Facing ‘Criminal Cyberlibel’ Charges From Current Owner
13. Facebook Gives Thumbs Up to Sponsored Content by Politicians
14. Facebook Announces Restrictions on Coronavirus-Related Ads
15. Facebook Messenger is getting a much simpler new design: Chatbots and games are gone as part of a broader streamlining of Messenger
16. Who’s Afraid of the IRS? Not Facebook.: Social media behemoth is about to face off with the tax agency in a rare trial. But onerous budget cuts have hamstrung the agency’s ability to bring the case.
17. Facebook Files Anti-SLAPP Motion Against Defunct App Developer Who Sued Over Revamp Of Facebook’s App Platform
18. Facebook cancels F8 conference over coronavirus fears
19. Facebook denies reports it is backing away from Libra cryptocurrency
20. Cisco: Avoid coronavirus, stay home, use Webex
21. Google cancels I/O developer conference amid coronavirus concerns
22. Fantasy Baseball Players Sue MLB, Houston Astros, and Boston Red Sox
23. Twitter’s New Investor Wants To Replace CEO Jack Dorsey
24. Twitter’s newest major investor wants to oust CEO Jack Dorsey
25. Twitter Introduces ‘Fleets,’ Its Years-Late Version Of The Stories Format
26. Twitter is testing ephemeral tweets in Brazil and calling them ‘fleets’: Snapchat Stories finally arrive on Twitter
27. Snapchat’s Speed Filter Protected by Section 230–Lemmon v. Snap (Eric Goldman)
28. Defendants Keep Getting Arbitration Despite the Anarchy in Online Contract Formation Doctrine (Eric Goldman)
29. YouTube Isn’t a State Actor (DUH)–PragerU v. Google (Eric Goldman)
30. Yelp Finally Defeats a False Advertising Lawsuit Over Its Review Functionality–Demetriades v. Yelp (Eric Goldman)
31. Pricing and the online channel
32. Microsoft expects to miss Q3 targets due to coronavirus: Supply chain returning to normal at a “slower pace than anticipated”
33. Amazon Removes More Than One Million Products for Inflated Prices or False Coronavirus Claims
34. Amazon’s New Grocery Store Is Watching Our Every Move. But We Asked For This.
35. Making History at Amazon: If they can disrupt the supply chain, Amazon workers could transform an industry that constitutes one of the commanding heights of the twenty-first-century economy.
36. Tech firms push telework as Amazon employee confirmed with coronavirus
37. Quibi Closes $750 Millon Round, Bringing Total Funds Raised To $1.75 Billion
38. Quibi Closes Upsized $750 Million Second Round of Funding for Mobile-Video Launch
39. LinkedIn tests Stories feature to be like Snapchat too: Even LinkedIn is copying Snapchat now.
40. Supreme Court Decides Intel Corporation Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma
41. Food Delivery Drivers Open to Unionization – Expanding Labour Relations to E-commerce
42. How e-commerce platforms get drawn into global war on counterfeit goods
43. Mind the Wrapping: Ensuring the Validity of Online Agreements
44. Can YouTube Quiet Its Conspiracy Theorists?
45. YouTube’s Plan to Stop Recommending Conspiracy Theory Videos Is Actually Working
46. YouTube Is Considering Letting Creators Sell Their Own Ads
47. YouTube May Allow Content Creators to Sell Ad Space on their Own Videos
48. BTS Shatters Record For Biggest YouTube ‘Premiere’ With 1.54 Million Concurrent Viewers
49. Meghan Rienks Says Her Channel Has Been Hacked, Rebranded For 2 Months Amid Idle Response From YouTube
50. YouTube Rolls Out Kids App To 11 More Countries
51. YouTube TV Is Dropping YES Network, Fox Sports Networks
52. After 109,000 Video Removal Appeals Last Quarter, YouTube Says It Reinstated 22%
53. YouTube’s New Subscriber Notification Metrics Show Creators Exactly How Many Are (And Aren’t) Sent Per Upload
54. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 3/02/2020
55. FX launches on Hulu, offering over 40 shows and originals`
56. Netflix Takes The Stage With First-Ever Live Comedy Festival Featuring Wanda Sykes, Jane Fonda, David Letterman, More
57. Vine Successor ‘Byte’ To Launch Pooled Monetization Program On April 15
58. Abrams Artists Signs TikTok Stars Avani Gregg, Andre Swilley, And Tayler Holder
59. Chipotle Says Its #Boorito TikTok Campaign Got 3.9 Billion Views In 4 Months. But What Exactly Does TikTok Count As A “View”?
60. TikTok Owner ByteDance Launches Resso App in India, Taking on Spotify
61. MTV’s New Digital Series Sees Sneaker Influencers Compete In Customization Battles
62. FTC Guidelines: Possible Civil Penalties to Deter Deceptive Influencer Marketing
63. The Influencer Industry: Constructing and Commodifying Authenticity on Social Media (Emily Hund)
64. Actor Steven Seagal Settles With SEC Over Improper Endorsements
65. Emma Chamberlain Unveils Reimagined Podcast With Broader Focus: ‘Anything Goes’
66. Casey Neistat Joins Advisory Board For Social Stock Market Investment Startup ‘Public’
67. New Platform Taki Lets Digital Creators Share Their Skills With Fans Through Custom Commissioned Videos (Exclusive)
68. Spotify tries making its app easier to use in latest update
69. Kevin Hart’s LOL Forges Multi-Year Deal With ‘Advertising Week’ For Podcast, Branded Studio, Event Integrations
70. Yelp Names And Shames Business Buying Reviews
71. Endeavor Invests In Latest $13 Million Round For Creator Marketplace ‘Tongal’
72. PetNet ‘Smart’ Pet Feeders Go Offline For A Week, Customer Service Completely Breaks Down
73. Bernie Sanders Captures Commanding Social Video Lead Among Democratic Hopefuls
74. Bogus Automated Copyright Claims By CBS Blocked Super Tuesday Speeches By Bernie Sanders, Mike Bloomberg, And Joe Biden
75. European Commission’s communication on the European digital agenda: shaping Europe’s digital future
76. Maryland hearing on Digital Advertising Tax highlights problems, hints at amendments
77. The Evolution of E-Money: What Is In A Definition?
78. Regulators Unveil Guidance On Best Practices for Internet Vehicle Sales

A.I.

1. The pope’s plan to fight back against evil AI: The Vatican’s interest in artificial intelligence isn’t new, but pay attention to the tech companies that are joining along.
2. AI has no personality: EPO rules that an AI machine cannot be an inventor in patent applications
3. How do you keep an AI’s behavior from becoming predictable?
4. Bringing Washington D.C. to life: The AI of The Division 2
5. Big Data promises better deals. But for whom?
6. AI Outlook: Europe initiates AI regulation introducing the principle of trustworthy AI
7. European Commission Unveils Bold European Approach to AI Regulation
8. SEC Issues Guidance on International Intellectual Property and Technology Risks
9. Ars Technicast special edition, part 3: Putting AI to work defending your stuff
10. Chinese Hospitals Deploy AI to Help Diagnose Covid-19
11. Machine Learning Patentability in 2019: 5 Cases Analyzed and Lessons Learned Part 3
12. Two New California Laws Tackle Deepfake Videos in Politics and Porn
13. Patenting Artificial Intelligence and quantum technologies
14. Social work thinking for UX and AI design
15. OPC Consults on Regulation of Artificial Intelligence
16. New entry in commercial quantum computing, using entirely different tech

COMMUNICATIONS

1. Ontario’s Record Breaking, Multi-Billion Dollar Film Production Year: “A Healthy Balance Between Domestic and Foreign Production” (Michael Geist)
2. The CUSMA Culture Poison Pill: Why the Broadcast Panel Report Could Lead to Millions in Tariff Retaliation (Michael Geist)
3. Clarence Thomas Regrets Brand X Decision That Paved Way For The Net Neutrality Wars
4. FCC issues wrist-slap fines to carriers that sold your phone-location data
5. FCC To Dole Out Some Dainty Wrist Slaps For Wireless Carrier Location Data Scandals
6. T-Mobile Cares So Much About Consumer Privacy, It’s Fighting The FCC’s Flimsy Fine For Location Data Sharing
7. Right On Cue, Post-Merger T-Mobile Layoffs Begin
8. T-Mobile conducts layoffs as it prepares to complete Sprint merger
9. DOJ Sues Telecommunications Operators Over Robocalls
10. New Charges Leveled Against Huawei, et al.
11. Congress gives small ISPs $1 billion to rip out Huawei, ZTE network gear
12. Many of Cable TV’s Dumbest Habits Will Make The Leap To Streaming
13. AT&T’s new online TV has contracts, hidden fees, big 2nd-year price hike
14. Struggling AT&T plans “tens of billions” in cost cuts, more layoffs
15. FCC Proposes Over $200 Million in Fines Against “Big 4” Carriers for Failing to Protect Consumer Location Data
16. FCC chair reportedly seeks fines for carrier sharing of location data
17. FCC Adopts Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Looking to Allow Higher Power and Greater Height for Unlicensed White Space Devices Operating in the TV Bands
18. Old Media Content – Not Dead Yet
19. Telemedicine and the Coronavirus Crisis: Key Legal Issues for Providers to Consider

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Can someone copyright every possible melody? (Andres Guadamuz)
2. Simple Solutions Simply Don’t Suffice to Solve the Slew of Song Infringement Substantial Similarity Suits
3. Castillo v. G&M Realty L.P.: 2nd Circuit affirms $6.75 million damages against property owner for painting over   graffiti art at 5Pointz exhibition, ruling that works were protected under Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990.
4. Second Circuit Affirms $6.7M VARA Judgment for Aerosol Artists
5. United Kingdom: Court of Appeal Clarifies When a Work is a Product of Joint Authorship
6. Netflix argues ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ has become a generic term
7. Netflix Seeks Cancellation Of “Choose Your Own Adventure” Trademark
8. Court Dismisses Author’s Claim that TV Series “Billions” Copied Her Work – No Substantial Similarity Under Any Applicable Test
9. The Vatican Apostolic Library enters the digital age – and promptly asserts copyright
10. Bobby Brown’s Claims for the Use of His Name and Likeness Not His Prerogative
11. Copyright Registration – A Prerequisite to a Copyright Infringement Suit
12. Landmark ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Digital Exhaustion in the Tom Kabinet Case
13. Clash of IP and competition to pharma’s detriment? The CJEU’s decision in the GSK case
14. Google v. Oracle – Copyright Battle of the Tech Titans
15. Breaking Down the Briefing in Google v. Oracle: Petitioner’s Brief
16. Four major factors at play in the Google-Oracle IP rights dispute
17. U.S. Copyright Office: Renewal of DMCA Designated Agent Required for DMCA Safe Harbor
18. Fifth Circuit Tosses Statutory Damages Award, Reinforcing the Importance of Early Copyright Registration
19. Geo-blocking of copyright protected content: The elephant in the room
20. Copyright: protection of designs as copyright works
21. Who Owns the Copyright? Work-Made-For-Hire Edition
22. Move to terminate Paramount Decrees may effect IP in the film industry
23. UK confirms withdrawal from the Unitary Patent
24. The UK will not be part of the UPC, Prime Minster’s Office confirms to IAM
25. The European unified patent court – a Brexit casualty?
26. Federal Court of Appeal remands REMICADE new use patent decision on anticipation and obviousness
27. A Practical Guide to the transition to Canada’s new Patent Act and Rules
28. Music – First Sale Doctrine, Fair Use and Protectability
29. Key Estate Planning Considerations for Individuals with IP (Part I: Introduction & Copyrights)
30. The Past and Future of Canada’s Criminalization of Trade Secret Theft – Part I
31. The Past and Future of Canada’s Criminalization of Trade Secret Theft – Part II
32. Intellectual Property Outlook: Cases and Trends to Follow in 2020 – PART 3
33. Banking on Intellectual Property | Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Banking
34. Millennium and Janssen seek leave from Supreme Court in Section 8 bortezomib case
35. Architects’ copyright
36. The Future of Patent Research
37. Senator Thom Tillis Pushed Awful Patent Reform Idea Last Year; Now Looks To Top It With Awful Copyright Reform This Year

PRIVACY

1. State Actors Are Increasingly Targeting Journalists With Surveillance Malware
2. “We Don’t Have Any Specific Analysis”: CUSMA Negotiators Surprising Admission On Key Privacy Issues (Michael Geist)
3. HTTPS for all: Let’s Encrypt reaches one billion certificates issued
4. Hoping To Combat ISP Snooping, Mozilla Enables Encrypted DNS
5. State Court Says It Isn’t Theft To Remove An Unmarked Law Enforcement Tracking Device From Your Car
6. FBI And DOJ Personnel Confirm Agents Frequently Fudge Facts When Seeking FISA Warrants
7. From Wi-Fi to Spy-Fi—we test Plume’s new motion detection feature
8. Should Antitrust Laws Tackle Privacy Issues? DOJ and State AGs Continue Google Investigations in Response to Privacy Concerns
9. No, Google Isn’t Hiding Elizabeth Warren’s Emails To Promote Mayor Pete
10. Disruptionware II – The “Cyber Terminator” and What This New Threat Means to You and Your Data
11. How a hacker’s mom broke into prison—and the warden’s computer
12. Documents Show Clearview Is Selling Facial Recognition Tech To Retailers, Fitness Centers, And Human Rights Violators
13. More than 2,200 agencies and companies have tried Clearview, report finds
14. Clearview Is Handing Out Access To Dozens Of UK Entities, Setting Up Accounts For Congressional Reps
15. ‘Consumer Privacy Act’ Introduced in the Land of Lincoln
16. The Washington Privacy Act Is Back
17. Stealing advanced nations’ Mac malware isn’t hard. Here’s how one hacker did it
18. Year in Review: Federal Privacy Enforcement Summarized
19. The Year of Record Penalties: The Federal Trade Commission’s 2019 Privacy & Data Security Update
20. 2019 Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Year in Review
21. What’s scarier than hosts gone rogue? Westworld’s idea for privacy laws

CREATIVITY   

1. I Wish More Countries ‘Stole’ Our Movies
2. Sixth Circuit: Criticizing Refs Is Protected Speech, Even If Lots Of Sports Fans Are A-holes
3. Court Dismisses Defamation Claim Against Crain Communications
4. The Law Doesn’t Care About Your Feelings: 9th Circuit Slams Prager University For Its Silly Lawsuit Against YouTube
5. Trump Campaign Files Laughably Stupid SLAPP Suit Over A NY Times Opinion Piece
6. Another Day, Another Bogus SLAPP Suit From Devin Nunes And Steven Biss
7. Watchdog Group Asks Congressional Ethics Office To Investigate How Devin Nunes Is Paying For His Many SLAPP Suits
8. Shia LaBeouf Walks Into a Bar . . . And Ends Up Losing an Anti-Slapp Motion
9. NY Times Political Reporter Believes Telling Right From Wrong Is Beyond His Job Description; He’s Wrong
10. Mamadou Sakho allege that WADA is liable for negligence and defamation
11. Why the Success of The New York Times May Be Bad News for Journalism: Our new media columnist says The Times has become like Facebook or Google – a digital behemoth crowding out the competition.
12. NBCUniversal Fined €14.3 Million as European Commission Completes Trilogy of Sales Restriction Cases
13. Unpaid Interns and a Lunch Order Gone Bad: Jury Returns FLSA Retaliation Verdict Against Martina McBride’s Production Company
14. Hollywood Action Star Settles SEC Charges for Failing to Disclose ICO Promotion Payments
15. The Tail of the Phillie Phanatic – The Hidden Underbelly of the New-Look Mascot
16. U.S. Immigration Considerations for Media and Entertainment Industries

GAMES

1. Plague Inc. pulled from Chinese App Store over ‘illegal’ content
2. Pandemic simulation game Plague Inc. pulled from iOS App Store in China
3. Statement on The Removal of Plague Inc. From the China App Store
4. Plague Inc. pulled from Chinese App Store: Developer Ndemic Creations says outbreak simulation game removed because it “includes content that is illegal in China”
5. China Bans ‘Plague Inc.’ Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
6. Zynga faces class action lawsuit over 2019 data breach
7. Zynga faces class action lawsuit over data breach: Plaintiffs warn that millions of users, including minors, will be at risk of fraud and identity theft “for years to come”
8. Grand Theft Auto cheat software; an infringement story
9. FaZe Clan Indefinitely Suspends Fortnite Star ‘Dubs’ For On-Stream Racial Slur
10. Smaller devs say they won’t back Stadia due to a lack of incentives
11. Google Stadia Lacks Games In Its Library, Isn’t Shelling Out For New Games
12. Modus Games’ narrative puzzler Lost Words becomes ‘First on Stadia’ exclusive
13. Google picks California as the home for its second Stadia studio
14. Stadia opens new studio in Playa Vista: Ex-Sony Santa Monica head Shannon Studstill will oversee a team creating exclusive games for Google’s streaming service
15. The Division 2 is headed to Stadia this month with PC cross-play
16. Real Property Dispute in a Virtual World
17. Hinterland Studio pulls The Long Dark from Nvidia GeForce Now
18. Nvidia didn’t ask permission to host The Long Dark on GeForce Now, says dev: Hinterland Studio becomes third game company to pull its content from fledgling streaming service
19. New publisher Ziggurat Interactive to revive dormant IP for PC and console: Company has access to over 140 titles from as far back the ’80s, first three games revealed
20. Why Destiny 2 is leaving cosmetic loot boxes behind and working to balance ‘FOMO’
21. China and Asia show their influence over the top grossing mobile games: Sensor Tower’s data for January 2020 underlines the commanding role Asian markets play in the global games industry
22. NetEase revenue and profits ride high on the back of diverse portfolio: World of Warcraft Classic drives WoW subscribers to record heights in China
23. Improbable’s losses rose 65% last year to £63.7 million: But SpatialOS developer says accounts do not reflect “major changes” that have taken place in the last nine months
24. Echo Fox admits to defamation charge in settlement: Esports organization agrees former general partner Rick Fox made false statements that harmed a co-founder and investor
25. FIFA pro is “done” after server issues force Rock, Paper, Scissors decision
26. FIFA 20 esports qualifiers decided by Rock, Paper, Scissors when players can’t connect: Another pro defaulted after he was unable to connect for three hours
27. EA is working with FIFA 20 players to test and fix connectivity issues
28. Torque Esports to operate Overwatch Collegiate League: Participating schools to compete for $40,000 in esports scholarships
29. Twitch To Surpass 40 Million Monthly U.S. Viewers Next Year, Report Finds
30. My.Games annual revenue spikes by 23% to $474m: Top-performing franchise Warface surpasses 85 million registered users
31. Roblox closes $150m funding round: Investment lead Andreessen Horowitz also tenders $350 million minority stake offer
32. Kwalee and the power of profit sharing: Pocketing the extra cash would have a “detrimental effect on the success of the company” says CEO David Darling
33. Games firms “have to be ready” to support employees with mental health issues: Safe In Our World’s Kim Parker-Adcock offers advice on how to cultivate a more understanding work environment
34. Six ways video game composers are missing out on money: Video game music is more accessible than ever before, but a lack of business knowledge among composers means money is being left on the table
35. UK Charts: Two Point Hospital debuts at No.2 – Call of Duty Modern Warfare returns to No.1
36. Free-to-play PS4 and PC game Let it Die surpasses 6 million downloads
37. Pokerist maker KamaGames grows revenue 18% to $90.4 million in 2019
38. Mobile studio FunCraft nets $1.8 million to push into casual market
39. What does $1M in Steam sales look like? Academia: School Simulator case study
40. GOG will now refund games within 30 days, even if they’ve been played
41. Labworks secures £500,000 investment for voice game subscription service: “The new service will be designed to cater for both gamers and the needs of wider sectors such as education and the visually impaired community”
42. TinyBuild and Guts & Glory dev HakJak open new studio in Idaho
43. TinyBuild opening new Boise studio with Guts and Glory developer: Former solo dev Jed “HakJak” Steen will build a team to make “a world-class emergent gameplay IP”
44. Tilting Point acquires Star Trek Timelines from Disruptor Beam
45. Tilting Point buys Star Trek Timelines from Disruptor Beam; Key team members will join Tilting Point to operate Timelines as Wicked Realms Games
46. Phoenix Games acquires Romanian live-ops company Studio Firefly
47. Zordix acquires mobile dev Invictus Games
48. Zordix acquires Invictus Games: Swedish publisher doubles in size with addition of Hungarian mobile developer
49. Blastlands: Team Combat dev Strange Quest is closing down
50. Next-gen will be “tectonic plates” shifting underneath marketers: Behaviour’s new chief marketer officer David Reid talks about how much the strategy of selling games has changed and the future of streaming
51. Designing the end of all Longing: Studio Seufz’s Anselm Pyta talks about his 400-day exploration/idle game, and the importance of time, empathy, and endings
52. Spellbreak beta stands out from the copycat battle royale crowd
53. GDC 2020 postponed: Organizers now intend to host a show in the summer after health concerns prompt numerous participants to drop out
54. GDC postponed to later in 2020 amid coronavirus cancellations [Updated]
55. Unity pulls out of GDC as coronavirus “presents too much risk”: Engine provider will no longer exhibit, plans to showcase its GDC content online
56. Amazon, Blizzard withdraw from GDC: Novel coronavirus concerns keeps more big names away from next month’s conference
57. The ESA is ‘actively assessing’ new COVID-19 info, but says E3 is still on
58. ESA moves ahead with E3 2020 despite coronavirus concerns – Update: Los Angeles declares state of emergency, E3 team “actively assessing” the situation
59. CCP calls off EVE Fanfest event over coronavirus concerns
60. Baldur’s Gate 3 gameplay reveal: A huge leap past THAC0, early access in 2020
61. Nvidia switches GTC 2020 to online conference amid coronavirus concerns: Chip maker scraps in-person event due to take place in San Jose this month
62. Epic cancels Unreal Fest Europe 2020 due to coronavirus concerns 
63. Epic cancels Unreal Fest Europe: Following its withdrawal from GDC 2020, engine provider scraps its own event due to “uncertainty around health concerns and travel”
64. GamesFirst London 2020 and Google I/O cancelled: Organizers pull plug on events citing novel coronavirus concerns
65. Industry rallies to offer relief after GDC cancellation: Publishers, developers and trade bodies collaborate to raise funds for financially-stricken attendees
66. Final Fantasy VII Remake demo finally gets official, free release [Updated]
67. PlatinumGames: The Wonderful 101 Kickstarter wasn’t about the money – “We thought it would be a good opportunity to bring the fans together — to unite them — and gauge interest,” says executive director Atsushi Inaba
68. Autistica Play launches inclusive game jam: Charity hopes to show how games can be used to raise awareness and funds for research into the challenges autistic people face
69. The Great Divide: A look at Africa’s very different dev scenes – Creators discuss what separates the continent’s South and North from its East and West, and what unifies them
70. Iran video games timeline: from 1970 to 2019
71. War Stories: How Crash Bandicoot hacked the original PlayStation
72. Blog: Programming visual effects for Lightmatter
73. Blog: Designing the perfect video game tutorial
74. Blog: The secret AI testers inside The Division 22
75. Don’t Miss: How Game Freak designs the iconic monsters of Pokemon
76. Don’t Miss: Using the language of film & theater to entice new players in FMV game Erica
77. Don’t Miss: Reflections on the afterimage of Final Fantasy VII
78. Don’t Miss: Why multiplayer almost didn’t make it into Halo: Combat Evolved
79. Don’t Miss: Defining direction, writing, art and music on Yakuza 4
80. Video: Procedural level design in XCOM 2
81. Video: Understanding the illusion of choice in game design
82. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima to receive BAFTA Fellowship award
83. Control and Death Stranding lead BAFTA Games Awards 2020 nominations
84. Control and Death Stranding nominated for 11 BAFTAs each: Hideo Kojima to receive Fellowship as Death Stranding ties for most nominations in BAFTA Game Award history
85. Hideo Kojima to receive BAFTA Fellowship: BAFTA’s highest honour will be given to Metal Gear Solid’s creator at the Games Awards on April 2, 2020
86. Konami Code creator Kazuhisa Hashimoto has died: Publisher pays tribute to former programmer and producer
87. Erica dev Flavourworks nets $650,000 to further develop tactile FMV tech
88. Valve: Half-Life: Alyx is “not the end” of the franchise
89. Ten minutes of Half-Life: Alyx: The biggest VR goosebumps we’ve ever had
90. Half-Life’s mechanics are a ‘surprisingly natural fit for VR’ says Valve
91. VR 2020 — can Sony’s PlayStation catch PC in the virtual reality game?

Jon