NY State sues Valve, Stop Killing Games EU update, FF7 update breaks game + more!

Duration: 10:27

Timestamps:

0:00 hooked on a feeling

0:13 New York sues Valve over loot boxes

2:10 Stop Killing Games EU update

4:18 'Update' to original FF7 breaks game

5:56 QUICK BITS INTRO

6:06 Phil Spencer exit 'was not planned'

7:11 Ubisoft has a plan

7:59 Overwatch Rush

8:39 Marathon will insta-perma-ban cheaters

9:28 Hideki Kamiya on RE: Requiem spoilers

NEWS SOURCES:

Mains

SKIN IN THE GAME

https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-sues-game-developer-promoting-illegal-gambling-through

-Valve is once again getting sued, this time by The state of New York and Attorney General Letitia

-The lawsuit targets third-party skin gambling sites that use valve’s steam API to facilitate real-money wagers on games like counter-strike.

https://lmg.gg/vm0Zb QUOTE

The AG's own press release actually references the widespread legalization and mainstream presence of these markets, noting: "Earlier this month, Attorney General James warned New Yorkers of the risks posed by sports betting and prediction markets ahead of the Super Bowl."

Skin gambling isn’t new, the ecosystem has been operating in plain sight for years

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/new-york-sues-valve-for-letting-children-and-adults-illegally-gamble-with-loot-boxes/

Why is this taking so long for governments to decide what they think about this

It's not a new thing

Prediction markets exist

4 billion CS skins market https://swap.gg/blog/cs-reclaimed-4-billion

Back in 2016 The Washington State Gambling Commission (WSGC) ordered Valve to take action on third party unlicensed betting websites using skins

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-37573818

Valve also successfully beat or rather the US federal court dismissed most of the claims against valve as it relied on the claim that the plaintiffs were deceived by valve despite never having used steam.

https://www.pcgamer.com/final-claim-in-csgo-skin-gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-because-plaintiffs-never-actually-used-steam/#:~:text=Valve%20responds%20as%20indie%20horror,wagering%20skins%20on%20gambling%20sites.

COME TOGETHER, OVER GAMES

Stop Killing Games press conference

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1re2mjg/stop_killing_games_press_conference/

-eu one is called stop destroying video games

Stop Killing Games campaign offer update on latest EU meeting in livestream from parliament, while emphasising bipartisan MEP support

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/stop-killing-games-campaign-offer-update-on-latest-eu-meeting-in-livestream-from-parliament-while-emphasising-bipartisan-mep-support

Editor Note (On Screen Text):

General Summary Quote: "We will be able in the parliament to give out amendments... that would also ensure that in terms of gaming... what you bought is not being stolen away from you by the companies." - Markéta Gregorová (Member of the European Parliament)

https://youtu.be/WaACIq0ar44?t=651

On EULAs: "You can't sign a contract on anything you want and expect it to be legal. If the terms are against the law, you can't override law with a contract." - Alberto Hidalgo Cerezo, PHD Universidad CEU San Pablo (00:31:59) https://youtu.be/WaACIq0ar44?t=1923

On Liability: "If the service provider stops providing the service, then he's no longer responsible for the service." - Martin Bartrick Attorney at Law specializing in IP and Digital Child Services(safety privacy etc) (00:35:39) https://youtu.be/WaACIq0ar44?t=2157

State of the EU Commission and Global Strategy: " We have support from TMO, from the SND (the social democrats), from the right of parliament... from the pirate parties. So the support is huge. We have support on national governments and just to understand what is deciding in the end is so-called Trilogue it's when parliament commission and council meet to discuss laws and make a decision and the commission can't win against both of them so we are making sure that happens " 00:59:38 https://youtu.be/WaACIq0ar44?t=3576

Global Backup: "We're working on law in the United States at this moment... We already know in specific states that that will happen." (01:00:11) https://youtu.be/WaACIq0ar44?t=361

THEY FORGOT THE MATERIA

Feb 25th - Fans Call New Steam Version Of Final Fantasy VII A Disaster: ‘Avoid It At All Costs’ (it's a nightmare, just play the OG OG with mods if you want 16x9 and higher resolution textures. They DELISTED THE ORIGINAL)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3837340/FINAL_FANTASY_VII/

https://kotaku.com/final-fantasy-7-steam-pc-new-version-release-bugs-problems-blurry-2000673604

https://www.eurogamer.net/final-fantasy-7-new-steam-version-met-with-mostly-negative-reviews

The game launched without any files, it was 0kb https://x.com/Zizoplays1/status/2026409178873336235?s=20

This person got the game files, but no EXE

https://x.com/TheReunionVII/status/2026371974113427503

It’s not like the game already had an active modding community who already fixed the game once before. They are even offering to help fix the game

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/final-fantasy/square-enix-hire-us-im-not-joking-says-team-of-final-fantasy-modders-who-gave-final-fantasy-7-new-voice-acting-and-audio-because-we-must-fix-the-jrpgs-busted-new-pc-version/

Twitter post from Tsunamods: https://x.com/tsunamods/status/2026393480755286329

They somehow made it look worse then the unmodded original

https://x.com/tsunamods/status/2026383578502689144

The patch notes: “Fixed the speed of certain scenes, including battles”

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3837340/view/498347586726395914?l=english

The game launched without any files, it was 0kb https://x.com/Zizoplays1/status/2026409178873336235?s=20

The launcher registers inputs AFTER THE GAME IS LAUNCHED

Somehow, they made the resolution settings work worse then the 2013 port

It increased the port from 15 to 30FPS, but that broke all the animations and cutscenes to just run faster… HOW DO YOU FUCK UP EVERY CUT SCENE (atleast this is patched)

I didn’t think things through when I tried to romance Barret, but damn, at least I got some brotherly bonding time(1:33) https://youtu.be/D30JDkDHWZk?t=93

Quick Bits

EXCLUSIVE CONFUSION

Feb 22 - Reliable Insider Says Last Week's Big Xbox CEO Shakeup Wasn't Phil Spencer's Idea

https://www.thegamer.com/xbox-phil-spencer-kinda-funny-games-claim/

https://shorturl.at/orwFC

https://www.youtube.com/live/BUWkigmw3ns?t=2632s

43:58 - [no audio, but turn on captions] Quote from the video spoken by Greg Miller on Phil Spencer’s firing “I’ve been passed something that again reiterates to me, i’m not going to read it, this was not planned”

Xbox fans hope for a comeback of exclusive games after cryptic comment from the new boss

https://www.gamereactor.eu/xbox-fans-hope-for-a-comeback-of-exclusive-games-after-cryptic-comment-from-the-new-boss-1679133/

The tweet: https://x.com/asha_shar/status/2025253764136141169

But I dono, maybe she confused ‘exclusive’ games with ‘first party games? Because in an interview with Windows Central’s Jez Corden… https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/exclusive-talking-to-new-xbox-ceo-asha-sharma-and-cco-matt-booty

Matt Booty talks about how important ‘first-party’ games are to them - comment seems to be about negating the idea that Xbox is ‘just’ a publisher. They’re saying their structure is more cohesive than that

Quote https://lmg.gg/9W4eu

Tom Warren thought this was important, and he’s wicked smaht https://x.com/tomwarren/status/2026457764499775578

BACK TO THE ANIMUS

Feb 20 - Ubisoft CEO admits the company spun up "too many projects" which are now widely canceled in the fallout from bad bets during Covid

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/ubisoft-ceo-admits-the-company-spun-up-too-many-projects-which-are-now-widely-canceled-in-the-fallout-from-bad-bets-during-covid/

Original source:

https://variety.com/2026/gaming/news/ubisoft-ceo-interview-yves-guillemot-layoffs-creative-house-1236667500/

Ubisoft confirms a lot of new Far Cry and Assassin's Creed games are in development along with a new Splinter Cell game, because that'll help

https://www.eurogamer.net/ubisoft-confirms-a-lot-of-new-far-cry-and-assassins-creed-games-are-in-development

https://www.ign.com/articles/ubisoft-insists-mia-splinter-cell-remake-still-in-development-despite-fresh-layoffs

Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and Origins director says it's "wonderful to be back after all these years" as he returns to "lead the creative direction of the franchise" , this comes after Clint Hocking left

https://news.ubisoft.com/en-ca/article/3cKfpuehIapKJglmjn3EdM/new-leadership-team-set-to-shape-the-next-era-of-assassins-creed

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/assassins-creed-hexe-director-clint-hocking-has-left-ubisoft-as-part-of-franchise-upheaval/

OVERWATCH 2 - 2

Feb 24 - Blizzard finally revealed its long-rumored Overwatch mobile game

https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article/24244645/development-update-overwatch-rush

https://www.engadget.com/gaming/blizzard-finally-revealed-its-long-rumored-overwatch-mobile-game-162938590.html

Top down hero shooter: https://www.shanethegamer.com/esports-news/overwatch-rush-mobile-spin-off/

Gameplay (1:18, 3:03 for best action): https://youtu.be/2p0oqXD3voI?t=78

BUNGIE HAS THE WEAPON

Feb 23 - Marathon cheaters will be permabanned immediately, claims Bungie

https://www.polygon.com/marathon-cheaters-permaban-bungie/

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/bungie-pledges-to-permanently-ban-marathon-cheaters/1100-6538363/

Bungie's official article: https://lmg.gg/VJ9I9

“You want to know it's a level playing field” https://youtu.be/7ScRKFm56Vk?t=10

KILL EM’ ALL

Feb 23 - Hideki Kamiya says players who spoil Resident Evil Requiem deserve to ‘die a thousand deaths’

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/hideki-kamiya-says-resident-evil-requiem-leakers-deserve-to-die-a-thousand-deaths/

https://www.psu.com/news/resident-evil-requiem-leakers-blasted-by-hideki-kamiya-you-deserve-to-die-a-thousand-deaths/

Twitter post where he says it (Please translate to english): https://x.com/HidekiKamiya_X/status/2025040184614728119

This comes just after the Official Resident Evil twitter post said that leaked gameplay was obtained over illegal means. So yeah, kill them all! (Post needs translated, i have put the translated image below)

https://x.com/BIO_OFFICIAL/status/2024787173917249896

Translated graphic: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HBmAbzTWEAA1x8C?format=jpg&name=large

Akuma “Die 1000 Deaths” from Street Fighter (2:03): https://youtu.be/7VhOmMDSkB0?t=123