Lego adds 'Luigi's Mansion' sets to its Super Mario World collection

 

Lego

Now that Luigi is part of Lego Super Mario, the toymaker is ready to show the other heroic plumber a little more respect. Lego has introduced a trio of Luigi's Mansion expansion sets that give its namesake star more to do in a game designed with him in mind.

The $30 Lab and Poltergust set helps you get started with Luigi's ghost vacuum, while a $40 Entryway set introduces you to the mansion proper as well as Polterpup and the game series' Boo ghosts. Splurge on the $80 Haunt-and-Seek kit and you can create a full-fledged level, complete with hidden gems and rotating hallways. As you'd expect, you can combine the sets or mix them with other Lego Super Mario packs.

The timing is off. Lego may be announcing the Luigi's Mansion sets on Halloween, but they won't be available until January 1st, 2022. It's a missed opportunity, then, but you might not mind if you or or your kids enjoy the existing Super Mario collections and want more variety. If nothing else, this will provide fond memories for anyone who remembers collecting ghosts in Luigi's games.

'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' is shutting down on January 31st, 2022

 

Niantic, Warner Bros.

Niantic is ending support for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The studio announced today it will shutter the AR game on January 31st, 2022. Ahead of the sunset, it plans to delist the title from the App Store, Google Play and Galaxy Store on December 6th. That same day, it will also remove all in-app purchases from the experience.

Niantic first launched Wizards Unite back in 2019. And in many ways, it never replicated the runaway success of Pokémon Go. “Not all games are meant to last forever,” the company said of the decision to stop working on the title. “Our goal with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was to bring the magic of the wizarding world to life for millions of players as they stepped outside and explored their neighborhoods. We accomplished that together, delivering a two-year narrative story arc that will soon complete.”

For Niantic, this is the second game it has decided to shut down in less than two months. In September, it announced it was discontinuing development on Catan: World Explorers before the game was even widely available outside of a few select markets. Then, as now, Niantic says it will take what it learned from the experience and apply it to future projects.

Presumably that includes Pikmin Bloom, which recently launched in Singapore and Australia, as well as the upcoming Transformers: Heavy Metal. In total, the studio says it’s working on nine games and apps, some of which will soft-launch next year.

Blizzard's first female leader, Jen Oneal, steps down amid ongoing gender discrimination suit

 

Blizzard

Jen Oneal has stepped down from her role as co-leader of Blizzard, leaving Mike Ybarra as the head of the studio known for making Overwatch, World of Warcraft and Diablo. Oneal will temporarily transition to a new position, but will leave Activision Blizzard (fine, and King) at the end of the year.

Activision Blizzard is facing a handful of lawsuits and investigations into reports of sexual harassment, gropings, and systemic gender discrimination at the studio, stemming from the leadership down. Oneal and Ybarra took over as co-leaders of Blizzard in August after president J. Allen Brack was named in the original California lawsuit, leading to his dismissal. Oneal was the first woman in a president role since Activision's founding in 1979.

Oneal published an open letter to the Blizzard community, reading in part as follows:

I have made the decision to step away from co-leading Blizzard Entertainment and will transition to a new position before departing ABK at the end of the year. Effective immediately, Mike Ybarra will lead Blizzard. I am doing this not because I am without hope for Blizzard, quite the opposite — I’m inspired by the passion of everyone here, working towards meaningful, lasting change with their whole hearts. This energy has inspired me to step out and explore how I can do more to have games and diversity intersect, and hopefully make a broader industry impact that will benefit Blizzard (and other studios) as well. While I am not totally sure what form that will take, I am excited to embark on a new journey to find out.

After months of pressure from employees, shareholders and government agencies, Activision Blizzard ended its policy of forced arbitration in cases of sexual harassment and discrimination, and implemented a zero-tolerance approach to harassment at the studio. The original California lawsuit is ongoing.

Blizzard announced two big delays alongside news of Oneal's departure: Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV, neither of which was given a release window.

'Overwatch 2' and 'Diablo IV' have been delayed indefinitely

 

Blizzard Entertainment

Activision Blizzard is once again delaying Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV. Following months of upheaval at its Blizzard Entertainment subsidiary stemming from a sexual harassment lawsuit the State of California filed in July, the publisher announced during its recent third-quarter 2021 earnings call that it's pushing those games back to give the teams working on them more time. 

"While we are still planning to deliver a substantial amount of content from Blizzard next year, we are now planning for a later launch for Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV than originally envisaged," the company said. 

Diablo IV and Overwatch 2 delayed pic.twitter.com/4pr9c0OEdz

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) November 2, 2021

It did not share a revised release date for either title. "These decisions will push will push the financial uplift that we had expected to see next year," Activision said. "But we are confident that is the right course of action for our people, our players, and the long-term successes of our franchises." 

Blizzard unveiled Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV at Blizzcon 2019. At the time, the studio made it clear that both games were in early development, but the expectation was that it would release them sometime in 2021. Activision dashed those hopes at the start of the year when it said neither title would come out in 2021.