Daily Briefing: Thursday 27th January

Ubisoft Singapore investigation concludes

According to new findings shared by Ubisoft, an external watchdog investigation into reports of misconduct at Ubisoft’s Singapore studio has confirmed that all allegations were handled appropriately. Last summer the TAFEP, which is Singapore’s watchdog for fair employment practices, launched an investigation into the widespread and incredibly well-documented allegations of workplace harassment at the studio.

• The TAFEP has reportedly concluded that Ubisoft Singapore has a structural system in place which is able to appropriately and properly handle any and all allegations, including any disciplinary action that needs to be taken. Wages were another sticking point in the allegations, with many staff reporting unfair pay disparity between staff in different locations. The TAFEP investigation also agree with the findings of an external consultancy firm that the salary structure is performance-based and, as such, there are legitimate reasons for any discrepancies between pay scales.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp gets yet another paid subscription option

It isn’t so often that we dip into the mobile space in our coverage, and even less so when it comes to covering Nintendo’s bizarre adventures in that space, but this one is too ridiculous not to mention. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, the little mobile adaptation of Nintendo’s cutesy life management series, is getting yet another paid subscription offering. This is the third pay-monthly subscription option of its type that has been added to the game since it released a few years back.

• The game already contains the Happy Helped Plan ($2.99 a month) and the Furniture and Fashion Plan ($7.99 a month.) This newest offering, released alongside the game’s major version 5.0 update, adds another subscription option called the Merry Memories Plan which costs $0.99 a month. Given each subscription option offers different perks and features, Pocket Camp players wanting to avail of all the content the game has to offer will have to pay almost $12 a month. Wild.

Naughty Dog may not be done with the Uncharted series just yet

That’s according to Uncharted: The Lost Legacy creative director Shaun Escayg and game director Kurt Mergenau who, speaking in a new interview with GamesRadar ahead of the PS5 release of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Lost Legacy, suggested that this may not be the last we hear of the series.  When asked whether we could see a new Uncharted title at some stage, Margenau replied “I think we can say for certain that we can never say never.”

• Escayg added “Yeah. Uncharted is a franchise we love – that the studio loves, I love, and Kurt loves. It’s a world we want to see more of. So I can certainly say that.” It would certainly make sense for Sony not to shelf the Uncharted series just yet. The games still have a passionate fanbase and two of their strongest offerings are just about to debut on PS5 ahead of a film adaptation hitting the big screen. Also, when you think about how blockbuster-obsessed Sony are these days, Nathan Drake exploding things left and right is about as blockbuster as you can get without calling Mario.