Daily Briefing: Tuesday 25th October

Activision Blizzard will not be able to pause California harassment lawsuit proceedings

Activision Blizzard recently attempted to pause legal proceedings following the emerging spat between the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The DFEH challenged the terms of the EEOC's recent $18m settlement with Activision Blizzard, which prompted the EEOC to fire back with allegations of ethics violations against the DFEH for hiring two lawyers who previously worked on the EEOC case. So yes, it's rather messy.

• Activision Blizzard's legal team, meanwhile, sought to take full advantage of this mess by requesting a stay in their proceedings with the DFEH while they fully investigate the claims made by the EEOC. The courts apparently weren't having any of it, though, as LA County Court judge Timothy Patrick Dillon has denied Activision Blizzard request less than a week after it was submitted. The judge didn't give any formal reasoning for why the request was denied, not that one was required, but his decision now means that the DFEH can continue.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits has recouped its development costs

Developers Ember Lab confirmed this week that they have made back the money they spent developing their debut title, Kena: Bridge of Spirits. This confirmation comes during a new interview with Bloomberg, in which Ember Lab founders Mike and Josh Grier outlined that they have been "pleasantly surprised" with how the game has sold up until this point. Though the pair didn't go into any specific detail on how many copies the game has sold, they did say that "Sony's happy" with the numbers so maybe that's all we need.

• Ken: Bridge of Spirits released a few weeks ago on PS4, PS5, and PC and went over pretty well with players and critics alike. The success of the game has allowed Ember Lab to become a full time game development studio. Before releasing Kena: Bridge of Sprits, the team were more down for animations and commercials. Josh Grier says there's no going back to commercials now, however, and the team are already hard at work on their next project - also a narrative-driven adventure game.

Online services for several Halo games ending in January 2022

We got a fresh look at Halo Infinite's campaign gameplay earlier this week and, while it was all very exciting, developers 343 Industries also took the opportunity to remind players that they will be shuttering online services for some of the earlier Xbox 360 Halo titles. Plans have been pushed back somewhat with 343 confirming the closure will now happen in January 2022 rather than December 2021 as previously outlined.

• As for exactly which games will be affected, those would be; Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo Wars, and Halo: Spartan Assault. Come January 13th 2021, online matchmaking for each of these titles will either be severely limited or deactivated entirely. Though they will still be playable offline "indefinitely" which is something at least. 343's reasoning for the closure is that “every cycle spent maintaining and supporting Xbox 360 legacy services is time and energy not spent on the future of Halo.” Essentially, they want to be able to dedicate all their resources to Infinite and The Master Chief Collection.