Content Warning: The story contains details regarding physical and psychological abuse, as well as the death of a child. A new report from People Make Games has unearthed deeply disturbing allegations of workplace abuse at Brandoville Studios, an Indonesian animation support studio that has worked on games such as Assassin's Creed Shadows, Age of Empires 4, and The Last of Us: Part I Remake. Allegations of mistreatment at Brandoville Games were first reported by People Make Games back in 2021 as part of a broader story on how Western AAA studios effectively outsource crunch on major games to overseas developers, effectively sweeping it under the rug. However, People Make Games was urged to revisit its reporting on Brandoville more recently, after accusations went viral on Indonesia social media of continued crunch, as well as physical, verbal, and mental abuse. TheGamer reported on the allegations in September of last year, pointing at CEO Ken Lai's wife, Cherry Lai, as the instigator of much of the studio's worst issues. Numerous screenshots and videos verified by TheGamer as well as shared publicly across social media told a story of Lai's abusive behavior, which included sending threatening and insulting messages to staff, verbally berating and insulting them, and in at least one case, repeatedly physically assaulting an employee and ordering them to physically hurt themselves as "punishment" for poor performance. That employee, Christa Sydney, has shared much of her story publicly, including claiming Lai once slapped her head so hard it caused tinnitus, and at other times choking her, pushing her down the stairs, and forcing her to bang her head on the wall until she had a concussion. People Make Games' follow-up investigation goes further to verify and detail these claims, including sharing a video Sydney was allegedly forced to send to Lai of her slapping herself 100 times. In addition to Sydney, People Make Games' report details other accounts, including allegations that Lai pit employees against one another by verbally berating employees in the office or gossiping about them, forced employees to participate in Christian worship on a daily basis, and would insist on approving employee outfits every day before work. One former employee in the video claims Lai manipulated him into giving him a significant part of his salary. Another former employee, Syifana Afiati, tells a story of being overworked while pregnant to the point of being asked to work while she was in the hospital. Afiati's child was born prematurely, and she was asked to return to work just one month after giving birth, despite her maternity leave being three months and her son still being treated in intensive care. Her son died four months later. Three days after he passed away, Lai sent a message to company HR, strategizing on how to avoid supporting Afiati and deprive her of benefits while she was on leave. Ken Lai did not comment to People Make Games when asked, but Cherry Lai provided a statement to People Make Games: "To me, my part of the story is not important, as long as my team are good and safe now," but ghosted the outlet without much further commentary. Brandoville Studios was shut down last year. While Ken and Cherry Lai attempted to spin up a new company with some of the former Brandoville employees, LaiLai Studios – it's unclear if the company is currently running or working on anything. As of September, Jakarta police were actively searching for Cherry Lai as part of an investigation into Brandoville. Lai suggested in an email to People Make Games that she may have fled to Hong Kong, but that has not yet been confirmed. IGN has reached out to Naughty Dog, Xbox, and Ubisoft for comment on their partnerships with Brandoville in light of this story and will update if a response is received. Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]. View the full article
Hopefully you're still holidaying and if you are, you'll need games. Cheap ones. Along with the headliner deals that describe themselves, I'd like to highlight a pretty great preorder price for FF7 Rebirth on PC. I for one can't wait to see how brilliant it can look (and run) on some beefy hardware. That being said, let's move along and save a bunch more Gil on today's bargains below! In retro news, I’m ensuring we all Don’t Starve by baking a 10th birthday cake for said indie great. When I was famished for things to play on my newly acquired launch PS4, I was surprised when this out-of-nowhere roguelike nourished me for dozens of hours. Being a masochist, there was so much to love about this—the complete lack of farming direction, the Burtonesque atmosphere of a storybook gone bad, and that increasingly *********-puckering stress of keeping shadow beasts and stomach grumbles at bay. Holds up quite well today, and you really ought to play this with a mate in the Don’t Starve Together co-op variant. This Day in Gaming Aussie birthdays for notable games. - Don't Starve (PS4) 2014. Get Table of ContentsNintendo SwitchPCXboxPlayStationLEGONice Savings for Nintendo Switch Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (-15%) - A$68Hogwarts Legacy (-37%) - A$57Endless Ocean (-23%) - A$54Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 (-31%) - A$55Disco Elysium TFC (-70%) - A$18 Expiring Recent Deals NFS Hot Pursuit (-35%) - A$39Axiom Verge (-85%) - A$4.05Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (-83%) - A$6.79Phoenix Wright Trilogy (-67%) - A$13.18Batman: Arkham Trilogy (-60%) - A$35.98 Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card. Switch Console Prices How much to Switch it up? [/url] Back to top Purchase Cheap for PC Borderlands Pandora’s Box Col. (-94%) - A$52.28Chess Ultra (-70%) - A$5.55Road Redemption (-88%) - A$4.34FFVII Rebirth (-30%) - A$73.46Star Wars Bounty Hunter (-50%) - A$14.75Far Cry 5 (-85%) - A$13.49Far Cry 5 Gold (-85%) - A$20.24Far Cry 5 + New Dawn (-85%) - A$22.49 Expiring Recent Deals Gungrave G.O.R.E (-95%) - A$3.49Prince of Persia: TLC (-50%) - A$29.97Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot Del. (-77%) - A$27.58Far Cry 6 (-75%) - A$22.48LEGO Bricktales (-75%) - A$10.73 Or just get a Steam Wallet Card PC Hardware Prices Slay your pile of shame. [/url] Back to top Exciting Bargains for Xbox Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (-19%) - A$89Sniper Elite Resistance (-11%) - A$89Starfield (-81%) - A$22.68****** Bandicoot 4 (-50%) - A$49 Expiring Recent Deals FC 25 (-65%) - A$39Powerwave Dual Charger (-27%) - A$29Tekken 8 (-61%) - A$47Hogwarts Legacy [XO](-64%) - A$36Batman Arkham Col. (-41%) - A$49.85Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star (-25%) - A$55.73Assassin’s Creed Shadows (-19%) - A$89 Or just invest in an Xbox Card. Xbox Console Prices How many bucks for a 'Box? [/url] Back to top Pure Scores for PlayStation Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (-19%) - A$89Burnout Paradise Rem. (-85%) - A$3.74CoD: Modern Warfare Remastered (-56%) - A$39.85Space Marine 2 (-37%) - A$69Horizon Forbidden West (-38%) - A$59Sniper Elite Resistance (-21%) - A$79Witcher 3: Complete (-36%) - A$49.95 Expiring Recent Deals PowerA Twin Charging Station (-27%) - A$29NBA 2K25 (-63%) - A$44Star Wars Outlaws (-46%) - A$59The Last of Us Part 2 Re. (-29%) - A$69CoD: MW3 (-37%) - A$69Assassin’s Creed Shadows (-19%) - A$89DualSense Midnight ****** (-18%) - A$98 PS+ Monthly Freebies Yours to keep from Jan 7 with this subscription Suicide Squad: KTJL [PS5]NFS Hot Pursuit Remastered [PS4]The Stanley Parable: Ultra [PS4/5] Or purchase a PS Store Card. What you'll pay to 'Station. [/url] Back to top Legit LEGO Deals Sonic: Knuckles Emerald Shrine (-42%) - A$35City: Fire Station (-34%) - A$99Botanicals Wreath (-29%) - A$119.95 Expiring Recent Deals Mario: Rambi The Rhino (-40%) - A$11.39Dune: Ornithopter (-32%) - A$10Star Wars R2-D2 (-30%) - A$139 Back to top Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube. View the full article
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Asus has just unveiled a new ROG mini gaming PC that contains one of the very latest Nvidia gaming GPUs, giving it a surprising amount of gaming power for its size. Inside the new Asus ROG NUC 2025 you'll not only find a new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 gaming GPU, but also an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU. We spotted the new Asus ROG mini gaming PC at CES, where we're currently roaming the show floor. It's not tiny like some of the latest machines you see from the likes of Geekom, but it's genuinely small for the spec on offer, measuring just 282.4 mm tall and 56.55mm wide. That's a small chassis for the spec on offer, making this machine a genuine contender for the best mini gaming PC title. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Run an RTX 5090 gaming GPU on nearly any laptop or handheld thanks to Asus This new Asus ROG Strix gaming laptop has enough RGB to make your desk glow Loads of Nvidia GeForce RTX 5000 laptop gaming GPU specs just leaked in blunder View the full article
Even if you've got some early financial backing, decades of industry experience at the top, and some super talented devs creating your new game, there's no guarantee in the current climate that you're going to succeed. It's tough right now. We've already seen plenty of studios that were spun up over the last four or five years close their doors or downsize after getting just a single game out the door - some aren't even able to achieve that before running out of cash. The latest studio to be impacted is Jar of Sparks, the studio formed in 2022 by former Microsoft veteran and Halo Infinite lead designer Jerry Hook, which is now "halting work" on its debut game and letting staff explore other opportunities. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The new Halo games could totally fix the broken triple-A industry Free Halo Infinite mode blends Helldivers 2 with ODST, and it's coming soon Halo battle royale reportedly canned because 343 couldn't compete with Fortnite View the full article
After Nvidia gave its keynote at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the tech giant revealed that 75 games will support DLSS 4 Multi-Frame Generation, which is exclusive to the RTX 50 series of graphics cards. The upcoming Nvidia technology will be featured in games such as Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Cyberpunk 2077, and Marvel Rivals once the RTX 50 GPUs hit the market. View the full article
Helldivers 2 is a multiplayer PvE shooter where players take up arms to protect Super Earth. While the game had a stellar launch, multiple nerfs and controversies with the PlayStation network have caused some fans to review bomb the game—giving rise to the Chaosdivers. The Chaosdivers are a group of players who have a different approach to voicing their complaints. If you’ve heard about the infamous group of players and want to learn more, here is everything you need to know about Chaosdivers in Helldivers 2. View the full article
Will Shen, a former Bethesda developer who worked on Starfield, has shared his thoughts on modern games that are "too long," stating that players are "fatigued" because of investing so much time. Being an industry veteran, Shen's experience spans multiple AAA titles besides Starfield, such as Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. View the full article
Asus has just unveiled a new ROG mini gaming PC that contains one of the very latest Nvidia gaming GPUs, giving it a surprising amount of gaming power for its size. Inside the new Asus ROG NUC 2025 you'll not only find a new Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 gaming GPU, but also an Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU. We spotted the new Asus ROG mini gaming PC at CES, where we're currently roaming the show floor. It's not tiny like some of the latest machines you see from the likes of Geekom, but it's genuinely small for the spec on offer, measuring just 282.4 mm tall and 56.55mm wide. That's a small chassis for the spec on offer, making this machine a genuine contender for the best mini gaming PC title. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Run an RTX 5090 gaming GPU on nearly any laptop or handheld thanks to Asus This new Asus ROG Strix gaming laptop has enough RGB to make your desk glow Loads of Nvidia GeForce RTX 5000 laptop gaming GPU specs just leaked in blunder View the full article
Stimulation Clicker is the latest entry at Neal.fun, and it’s a perfect blend of Gen Z screentime obsession and addictive clicker games. So, if you’ve got 40 minutes to spare, hop on and experience the madness. If you’re a completionist, we’ve got a list of all Stimulation Clicker achievements. All Achievements in Stimulation Clicker and how to get them Yes! There’s really that many things you can do! Screenshot by Dot Esports There are a total of 35 achievements in Stimulation Clicker. Here’s how to get all of them. View the full article
As you explore Act 3 of Path of Exile 2, you may struggle to use the Sacrificial Heart, one item you may pick up from enemies you encounter. This quest item is described as "a soul still clinging to fading shreds of life," offering you an eternal boon for your character. However, you can only sacrifice the heart "at the proper ritual site," which can be unclear at first. View the full article
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A recent court filing has revealed the development costs of three Call of Duty titles between 2015 and 2020. The creative lead and franchise director for Activision's FPS franchise phenomenon, Patrick Kelly, estimated that these three releases cost the company between $450-700 million each, with 2020's Call of Duty: ****** Ops Cold War having a budget of more than $700 million during its lifecycle. View the full article
Slayer’s Fang was the highlight of the seasonal weapons from Destiny 2‘s Episode Revenant—and it gets even better if you use a catalyst or four with it. Like other craftable Exotics, you can slot a few different catalysts and tailor this shotgun to your playstyle. Slayer’s Fang fires a hefty crystal that shatters into smaller crystals after hitting a target, ricocheting around enemies. It’s even better in enclosed spaces, with shrapnel bouncing off the walls and onto enemies to fill your screen with numbers, Warframe-style. View the full article
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter gets a new spellcasting system showcase trailer ahead of its release later this month for PC and consoles. View the full article
World of Warcraft is seemingly adding Lord Ibelin Redmoore, the player character of The Remarkable Life of Ibelin subject Mats Steen, as an NPC in Patch 11.1. Though the details are currently unclear, fans will likely be able to find this heartfelt tribute to the moving documentary in the next World of Warcraft update. View the full article
Jar of Sparks, the studio founded in 2022 by Xbox veteran Jerry Hook in partnership with publisher NetEase, says it is halting development on its debut game in the hope of securing new funding. The Seattle-based company was working on “a new generation of narrative-driven action games,” according to its original announcement. However, an update posted on LinkedIn this week it said it’s now allowing staff to find new work as it seeks a new publishing partner. “Earlier today, we notified our team that Jar of Sparks will be halting work on our current title as we search for a new publishing partner who can help bring our creative vision to life,” the update reads. Read More... View the full article
Recent Zenless Zone Zero leaks hint at a new Bangboo dress-up event that may become a permanent game mode starting with Version 1.5. While Zenless Zone Zero's next update is scheduled for release on January 22, several rumors about its content have already surfaced within the community. View the full article
Virtuos is working on an unannounced remake built with Unreal Engine 5 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. That’s according to the LinkedIn profile of Oleksii Moskovchenko, a technical art director at Virtuos in Shanghai, China. While the identity of the project remains a mystery, it’s reignited speculation that a remake of 2006’s The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion could be in development at Virtuos. Read More... View the full article
It’s been a long time coming, but the SMITE 2 open beta has been officially announced by the Hi-Rez development team. Now, all players who want to try out the game before it officially releases can have a chance to see every new change from the first SMITE. SMITE 2 has been out in a closed alpha since May, and open closed alpha since Aug. 27, giving players who purchased to play the game in its unfinished state several months to get used to everything. There have been multiple changes to how items work, gods and goddesses, physicals, and gameplay mechanics, alongside monthly updates to reapply player feedback. It’s been a long road, but now everyone has the chance to give it a try for free. Here’s what you need to know about when the open beta for SMITE 2 begins, and how you can join. View the full article
Marvel Rivals‘ first season has arrived and with it, the first two heroes from the Fantastic Four have joined the roster. One of them is Susan Storm, also known as Invisible Woman, a Strategist who can obviously become invisible, but also heal, deal damage, and use a force bust to push enemies. As a Strategist, she plays the support role, meaning her primary objective is to heal and protect her allies but she can use her abilities to get out of dangerous situations such as being cornered or chased. Her character’s powers in the comics are all based on invisibility and creating force fields and in Marvel Rivals it isn’t much different. View the full article
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As a lifelong fan of Final Fantasy, I give every game in the franchise a chance if I can get my hands on it. That included games that didn't receive as much praise as others and even ended up being criticized for the style or gameplay direction it took. However, I think it's time to give Final Fantasy 13 another chance and see that it's an underrated gem that didn't deserve the criticism it received. View the full article
Gaze at the mountain of multiplayer shooters and tremble. I've long maintained that we're in a multiplayer golden age—there have never been more and better shooters to choose from than we have right now, and most of them can be enjoyed entirely for free. If only anyone had the time... Read more.View the full article
The 2025 Call of Duty League skins are live now in ****** Ops 6 and Warzone, teasing what’s to come over the next few months of competition when it comes to in-game swag. All 12 teams have their own bundles in the store, priced at $11.99, featuring multiple customization items like emblems and camos that can be used in BO6 or Warzone. But the main draw for many will be the operator skins, soon to be flooding your lobbies and slide-canceling all over your corpse, that are the same skins that CDL pros will use in matches this year. View the full article
Dead By Daylight continues to be the number one destination if you want some multiplayer horror game scares. It's also got some of the best crossovers in gaming, if you ask me - always either tonally on point or pleasantly surprising. DBD's latest collaboration is a skin line inspired by the works of horror manga legend Junji Ito, and they're some of the most disturbing the game has seen yet. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: DBD codes January 2025 27 of the best horror games to play right now DBD Mobile is shutting down soon, so players get free rewards in the full game View the full article
Fortnite Festival appears to have confirmed a collaboration with Crypton Future Media to bring Hatsune Miku to the game. Although the Fortnite social media accounts are known for being somewhat chatty with internet users, when it comes to confirming what content is making it into the game, they're usually quiet until something is certain. This is why it's exciting to see apparent confirmation that there's a collaboration with Miku. View the full article
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Content Warning: The story contains details regarding physical and psychological abuse, as well as the death of a child. A new report from People Make Games has unearthed deeply disturbing allegations of workplace abuse at Brandoville Studios, an Indonesian animation support studio that has worked on games such as Assassin's Creed Shadows, Age of Empires 4, and The Last of Us: Part I Remake. Allegations of mistreatment at Brandoville Games were first reported by People Make Games back in 2021 as part of a broader story on how Western AAA studios effectively outsource crunch on major games to overseas developers, effectively sweeping it under the rug. However, People Make Games was urged to revisit its reporting on Brandoville more recently, after accusations went viral on Indonesia social media of continued crunch, as well as physical, verbal, and mental abuse. TheGamer reported on the allegations in September of last year, pointing at CEO Ken Lai's wife, Cherry Lai, as the instigator of much of the studio's worst issues. Numerous screenshots and videos verified by TheGamer as well as shared publicly across social media told a story of Lai's abusive behavior, which included sending threatening and insulting messages to staff, verbally berating and insulting them, and in at least one case, repeatedly physically assaulting an employee and ordering them to physically hurt themselves as "punishment" for poor performance. That employee, Christa Sydney, has shared much of her story publicly, including claiming Lai once slapped her head so hard it caused tinnitus, and at other times choking her, pushing her down the stairs, and forcing her to bang her head on the wall until she had a concussion. People Make Games' follow-up investigation goes further to verify and detail these claims, including sharing a video Sydney was allegedly forced to send to Lai of her slapping herself 100 times. In addition to Sydney, People Make Games' report details other accounts, including allegations that Lai pit employees against one another by verbally berating employees in the office or gossiping about them, forced employees to participate in Christian worship on a daily basis, and would insist on approving employee outfits every day before work. One former employee in the video claims Lai manipulated him into giving him a significant part of his salary. Another former employee, Syifana Afiati, tells a story of being overworked while pregnant to the point of being asked to work while she was in the hospital. Afiati's child was born prematurely, and she was asked to return to work just one month after giving birth, despite her maternity leave being three months and her son still being treated in intensive care. Her son died four months later. Three days after he passed away, Lai sent a message to company HR, strategizing on how to avoid supporting Afiati and deprive her of benefits while she was on leave. Ken Lai did not comment to People Make Games when asked, but Cherry Lai provided a statement to People Make Games: "To me, my part of the story is not important, as long as my team are good and safe now," but ghosted the outlet without much further commentary. Brandoville Studios was shut down last year. While Ken and Cherry Lai attempted to spin up a new company with some of the former Brandoville employees, LaiLai Studios – it's unclear if the company is currently running or working on anything. As of September, Jakarta police were actively searching for Cherry Lai as part of an investigation into Brandoville. Lai suggested in an email to People Make Games that she may have fled to Hong Kong, but that has not yet been confirmed. IGN has reached out to Naughty Dog, Xbox, and Ubisoft for comment on their partnerships with Brandoville in light of this story and will update if a response is received. Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]. View the full article