Dead Space, Saints Row 4 now playable on Xbox One

Microsoft announced today that two Xbox 360 games were joining its Xbox One backwards compatibility family. The latest games made playable on Xbox One are Dead Space and Saints Row 4. Dead Space is also a free Games with Gold game for April, meaning that both Xbox 360 and Xbox One users with an active Xbox Live Gold membership can nab it for free and play it.

Read more

Nintendo denies Alison Rapp was fired because of ‘online harassment’

Earlier this week Nintendo Treehouse spokesperson Alison Rapp was fired by Nintendo. Rapp found herself on the receiving end of some harassment via social media for the removal of a boob slider in Xenoblade Chronicles X and a petting mini-game in Fire Emblem Fates, among other things.

Read more

The Escapist hit by massive layoffs

Earlier this week Defy Media, the owner of the The Escapist, laid off a majority of employees working out of the Durham, North Carolina offices. The offices have also been shuttered, with plans to move the main offices of The Escapist to Seattle or Los Angeles. Current The Escapist Editor-in-Chief Joshua Vanderwall be running the operation out of Seattle, though according to what a Defy Media spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz, the operation would be rolled into its LA office.

Read more

SPJ names final winners in first annual Bill Kunkel Awards

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) have announced the final winners in its first annual Bill Kunkel Awards. The awards are named after legendary games journalist Bill Kunkel, who helped found the very first magazine dedicated to home consoles in 1981 (Electronic Games) alongside Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley. Mr. Kunkel died of a heart attack in Sept. of 2011.

Read more

Valve found guilty of violating Australian consumer law

Back in the summer of 2014, almost a year before Valve adopted its current refund policy, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) filed a lawsuit against Valve claiming that it misled Australian customers into believing that they were not entitled to refunds for items purchased on Steam under any circumstances.

Earlier this week, Kotaku Australia reported that the Australian Federal Court has ruled that Valve had indeed run afoul of Australian consumer law.

Read more