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[SPEAKER_01]: Hi, I'm Kyle Poletto.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And I'm Naomi Jackson.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Welcome to Walkthrough's Cifters Weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And welcome, none.
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[SPEAKER_03]: This week, performance union saga after our secure deal with game companies in the U.S.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Publish a crafting and subnautica to developers clash after the game is delayed next year.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And of course, a new Sims four expansion breaks the game, but our sickos will just say yes, please.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Here's the news for Sunday, the third of July.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Let's go.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Join the Sifter Community on Discord at sifter.com.au forward slash discord.
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[SPEAKER_02]: After eleven months, the video game Act Distract has ended as a new agreement has been reached between Union's SAG AFJAP and various gaming companies, including Activision Insomniac and EA.
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[SPEAKER_02]: The terms of the interactive media agreement include increased performer compensation, including over time rates, better health and safety measures and protections against AI, which was a big focus of the strike.
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[SPEAKER_02]: These protections will include consent and disclosure requirements for AI digital replica use, ensuring performance received payments for use of digital replicas made from their performances, higher compensation from the use of chat bots, and payments when their performances are used in future projects.
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[SPEAKER_03]: The contract was approved effective immediately with ninety-five percent of participating union members voting in favor.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Interestingly, they also specify what happens when performers pass away, so if a performer gave consent when they were alive, that consent will continue to be valid after death unless specified otherwise at the time of initial consent.
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[SPEAKER_03]: If the performer has passed at the time the employer seeks consent, they have to go to their estate or authorize representative, and if the authorize representative can't be found, then consent can be provided by the union.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's so convoluted work around when we could just not do this at all.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Just don't bring people's voices back after they died, that it shouldn't be that hard.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And it seems like a direct response to James Earl Jones in the virtual Darth Vader from Fortnite, which the union responded to during the strike.
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[SPEAKER_03]: It's exciting to see many people celebrate this agreement.
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[SPEAKER_03]: It's a massive win for the video game industry.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Are you certain?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Whatever you're doing is worth it.
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[SPEAKER_03]: OK, Kyle, get ready for this because it's about to get dramatic.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Crafton, the publisher who acquired sub-nautica two developers, unknown worlds, has pushed back the game until twenty twenty six, with some alleging that this was done just to avoid a massive U.S.
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[SPEAKER_03]: two hundred and fifty million bonus and it's all played out on Reddit.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Subnautica founders Charlie Cleveland and Max McGuire and CEO Ted McGill were fired by Crofton with Cleveland calling the events of the week quite a shock and saying that Subnautica too was ready to go into early access.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Crofton responded with a post in R-slash games, they lists some allegations, opening with the line inevitable leadership change driven by project abandonment
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[SPEAKER_03]: despite holding ninety percent of earnout for themselves.
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[SPEAKER_03]: This statement alleges that when they bought the unknown world's studio on top of the purchase price, they allocated approximately ninety percent of the up to two hundred and fifty million dollar earnout compensation to the three former executives with the expectation that they would demonstrate leadership and active involvement in the development of sub-Nortica II.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Crafton alleges this didn't happen as that leadership team abandoned their responsibilities such as working on other film projects and delays in the project from its originally planned launch of early twenty twenty four because all good stories need a kicker Cleveland jumped back onto the R slash subnautica took a firm that they will be suing craft and disputing the claims made by the company and that their plan was always to share the bonus with their staff as they did when the company was acquired in twenty twenty one
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[SPEAKER_02]: As it hits the court, all the details will become public, and I'm sure it's going to be a messy one.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Subnerotic offense are already up and arms about what has happened.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I wonder if this will settle before it gets to out of hand.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So it doesn't impact subnerotic at two before the lease, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Get it?
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[SPEAKER_02]: Because I'm underwater.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I'm subnortical.
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[SPEAKER_02]: There's a lot to take in, make sure you check out all the show notes.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Blah, blah, blah.
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[SPEAKER_02]: School of Duty World War II was quickly taken off the Microsoft Store last week after PC players were hacked, after playing the game.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Users have shared clips on social media of people taking control of their computer with one clip posted by a stream at Rio, showing the game freezing the command line and text box window appears and desktop wallpaper changes.
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[SPEAKER_02]: The text box warns that they had been our seed, which refers to remote code execution vulnerabilities.
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[SPEAKER_02]: where Hacker plants malware that allows them to run malicious code and take control of a device, which is very spooky.
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[SPEAKER_03]: That's so scary.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Call of Duty posted on social media that the game was taken offline, while the investigative reports of an issue, but they haven't confirmed why or what has happened.
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[SPEAKER_03]: However, TechCrunch has reported that apparently different versions of the game were added to Microsoft's store
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[SPEAKER_03]: and Game Pass, which has an old flaw that has been patched on other versions of the game.
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[SPEAKER_03]: The game is still playable on Steam, Xbox and other platforms right now, only those who access the game through Microsoft's storefront or Game Pass have been impacted.
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[SPEAKER_03]: The long-awaited enchanted by nature expansion pack for the Sims IV, which returns Ferry to the franchise, has caused some problems with the associated surprise update.
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[SPEAKER_03]: players who loaded up the game hoping for the promised glass walls and plant roofs were thrust down the rabbit hole of broken gameplay.
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[SPEAKER_03]: The worst of which, the ability to drag trash and dirty dishes into a sink or bin was completely broken, now anyone who plays the Sims knows.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Those absolute monsters are not going to clean up after themselves, leading to some real stinky lots.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Other bugs included items from the most recent expansion pack, becoming unplaceable, norms moving around in their own, creepy, and removal of the take-up pregnancy test option for potentially knocked-up sim, so they'll just get a nice surprise at some point, I guess.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, in three days.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Three days, that's the suggestion period for a sim, is it?
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[SPEAKER_02]: No.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
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[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't mess about.
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[SPEAKER_02]: The Sims team put a message out on Discord to let players know the bugs were being investigated and had the bugs fixed by July tenth for the release of the new pack.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Honestly, I'm really unsurprised by this.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Sims four is well known for major bug problems.
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[SPEAKER_03]: I have like, eight hundred hours or so logged in the game and I reckon at least three hundred of those have been loading screens and error messages.
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[SPEAKER_02]: So what, ten out of ten, a hundred percent would recommend that?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Absolutely every time.
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[SPEAKER_03]: That's it for the headlines.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Here are the games coming out this week.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Our Monday is a Rashi Gaden, a turn-based action stealth game with a great throwback pixel art star.
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[SPEAKER_02]: If you like old school beat them up arcade games, this could be the one for you.
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[SPEAKER_02]: That's out on PC on the Fourteenth.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Don't apart is releasing an early access on the fifteenth.
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[SPEAKER_03]: It's an isometric space colony, seeing where you build massive factories across fossil landscapes with some corporate rebellion in the mix.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Grab it on PC on Tuesday.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Also, our Tuesday is the cozy train automation sim super local world.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's got a great cartoony art style and looks super chill.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Grab that on PC on the fifteenth.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Next up is Eric's home.
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[SPEAKER_03]: The stolen dream.
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[SPEAKER_03]: It's a beautifully animated isometric narrative stealth game.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Seriously, this game looks stunning.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Check it out when it releases on PC.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Xbox and PlayStation also on Tuesday.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Out on the seventeenth is one executive producer Gianni, it got early access to and has been absolutely loving.
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[SPEAKER_02]: The Drifter by Aussie Indies Studio PowerHurf.
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[SPEAKER_02]: It's a modern point and click adventure with a fantastic retro star, keep an eye out for a light map, our interview show.
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[SPEAKER_02]: We've got a new interview this week with the Dave Lloyd from PowerHurf, which we've dropped before you grab the Drifter on PC on the seventeenth.
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[SPEAKER_03]: And finally, it's the main attraction, the big release of the week or even the month.
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[SPEAKER_03]: It's Donkey Kong Vanessa.
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[SPEAKER_03]: This ape needs no introduction and is basically the reason Kyle might finally go in on the switch too.
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[SPEAKER_03]: That's out this Thursday.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Articles to read, videos to watch, and podcasts to listen to sifter.com.au
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[SPEAKER_03]: This has been walked through by Sifter, my name is Naomi Jackson.
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[SPEAKER_02]: And my name is Kyle Palero, thank you so much for listening.
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[SPEAKER_03]: We know you love our podcast, so why not become a monthly background coffee?
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[SPEAKER_03]: Your support lets us keep making our shows and it's easy to do.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Head to sifter.com.au slash support where support starts from just one dollar a month.
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[SPEAKER_03]: That link again is sifter.com.au slash support or check the show notes.
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[SPEAKER_02]: Sifter is produced by myself, Katjani, Fiona Bartholome's Adam Kristur, Naomi Jackson, Courtney Smith and Chris Button, which saw it as senior producer and video editor, and Jan DiGia Barney is Sifter's executive producer and script editor.
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[SPEAKER_03]: Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Solty Dog Sounds for composing the walk through a theme tune and audio technical Australia and Apple for their support of Sifter's podcasts.
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[SPEAKER_02]: We'll be back with more news next Sunday.
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[SPEAKER_02]: See you then!