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News of the Week; October 25, 2017
GAMES Slot machine denies Horizon: Zero Dawn DLC trademark – US patent office suspends The Frozen Wilds DLC trademark for similarities to mobile game Frozen Wild ‘Hey dude, do this’: the last resort for female gamers escaping online abuse – In the toxic environment of online gaming, women play incognito, pretend to be male or […]
Violence & Criminal Acts – Liability and Defences
[x-post from Forum post last Friday which I put in the wrong place] Good afternoon all, This is the particular mission in the COD series which I referenced during our class today. https://youtu.be/gXBDkevx5lM?t=84 I can definitely see this influencing someone to commit such acts, but in terms of liability for any damage caused, I still […]
Owning Genres
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-10-16-does-anyone-own-the-battle-royale-genre I find the idea that a developer could own the rights to a video game genre to be ridiculous. It goes back to Boyden. There are so many ways in which a battle royale video game could be “expressed” that to allow the developers of PUBG to retain exclusive rights to all battle royale […]
News of the Week; October 18, 2017
GAMES Blizzard takes Chinese dev to court over alleged mobile Overwatch clone Overwatch hits 35 million players: The player base continues to grow, but it’s slowing Activision patents matchmaking tech that can push players to buy upgrades Activision Patents Matchmaking That Encourages Players To Buy Microtransactions Patent that pushes microtransactions through multiplayer granted to Activision: The “exploratory” […]
Class 5 – 10/13/17; “Connecting Ourselves: Gamer Vulnerability in Virtual Realities” + “Sex, violence & videogames”
In the website introduction to last weeks video (where my presentation had no audible sound) and slides, I said that “Usually there is one glitch a year”. I distinctly remember wondering whether fate was being tempted in that act. Well, whatever believe, this weeks video had some incomprehensible glitches that are still being investigated technically. The […]
Loot Boxes and Gambling
https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/307428/Loot_boxes_dont_count_as_gambling_in_the_ESRBs_books.php I saw this piece in the News of the Week and found it interesting. The ESRB, which establishes age and content ratings for video games, has reasoned that loot boxes do not constitute gambling because the player is always guaranteed to win something–i.e. there is no risk of loss. While the particular item or […]
News of the Week; October 11, 2017
GAMES Epic sues alleged Fortnite hackers Brandon Broom and Charles Vraspir How anime landed BattleTech and the MechWarrior games in legal trouble “It’s disturbing that Wolfenstein can be considered a controversial political statement”: Bethesda marketing boss Pete Hines discusses publisher’s marketing for upcoming anti-Nazi shooter Bethesda: Anti-Nazi game wasn’t meant to “incite political discussions” – […]
Slides From Talk To VGBA Summit North
Had a great time doing a talk and a panel at the VGBA Summit North last week. Slides from the talk are below. For students in Video Game Law they are mostly redundant (by design) with our Week 5 class, although there are some notable deviations. They are really intended for attendees of the Summit […]
Taking Legal Action Against Cheaters
TL;DR – video game company sues cheating gamers for copyright infringement. I find this one really annoying. Shouldn’t they invest the money in making their product better instead of spending money on legal fees, chasing gamers? is this the right approach against cheaters? are they so beaten up? I don’t completely understand the reciprocation between […]
Irresistible (FREE) Offer: Video Game Bar Association Summit North @ Allard Hall This Thursday & Friday October 12 & 13
Sponsored by McMillan LLP, Fasken Martineau and UBC’s Peter A. Allard School of Law, the Video Game Bar Association Summit North is coming to Allard Hall on October 12th and 13th. The Video Game Bar Association connects lawyers from across the globe who act in the interactive, gaming and social media space, holding annual events […]