Red Dead Online Players Stage Clown-Themed Rockstar Protests ( via Polygon )
This is a weird one. A number of Red Dead Online players are frustrated with Rockstar’s support of the Red Dead Redemption 2 online mode, or rather a lack thereof. Nearly a year has passed since any major updates to the game, and the fans are frustrated. So, an in-game protest was organized, but one that has a sort of self-deprecating bent to it. The fans see themselves as clowns for still playing the game despite their frustrations, so they decided to dress as clowns and gather in solidarity. At one point a group of clowns managed to take over a whole server, and they had a good time goofing around and drawing attention to the cause.
Infinity War Changes Controversial Call of Duty: Warzone Skin ( via Polygon )
Amid all of the current events and social turmoil in the United States, many companies in the games industry issued statements and donations in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. That includes Activision and many Call of Duty developers, including Infinity Ward. After issuing a statement, fans called to question Infinity Ward’s scruples by pointing out Call of Duty: Warzone’s “Border War” skin for reasons that should be obvious. In a recent update, Infinity Ward responded by changing the skin’s details, changing the name to “Home on the Range” and referencing the song in its flavor text. The skin itself was not changed, however.
US Army Using Twitch Gaming Streams for Recruitment Efforts, Including Underage Viewers ( via The Nation )
The Nation recently published a report on the United States Army’s digital recruitment tactics, which includes a Twitch channel that uses gaming content to court signups. These efforts include many younger and underage viewers, some of them as young as 13 years old. The report states that the US Army Twitch account features things like gaming tournaments run by in-house esports teams, with the on-screen personalities interacting with the viewers and attempting to get recruitment signups for military service. The report also notes that US Army Twitch streams include an automated chat message noting viewers can enter to win prizes such as Xbox One Elite controllers and cash prizes, which links to a recruitment information sign-up form that has no further mention of the contest. This recruitment effort is so strong now, the Navy opted to forego a Super Bowl ad in favor of putting htat budget towards Twitch partnerships.