Reading List

The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.

How to get Honedge and how Aegislash works in Pokémon Go

Honedge and its evolutions, Doublade and Aegislash, have made their Pokémon Go debuts and the methods to get them are a little specific, as you won’t just find them floating around in the wild like you would with other Pokémon. Aegislash also has a pretty unique battle mechanic, making it an interesting pick for PvP. […]

Splitgate 2 Returning To Beta Following Poor Reception As Developer 1047 Games Lays Off Staff

Splitgate 2 1047 Games 1.0 Release Date PC PS5 Xbox Series X/S

Splitgate 2 launched on June 6 during Summer Game Fest, but the less-than-stellar reception from players since has prompted developer 1047 Games to go back to the drawing board. This means the studio is taking the free-to-play shooter back to beta, which has resulted in a number of layoffs at the studio.

A lengthy Steam post penned by 1047 founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian states that the negative player feedback has made them realize the game “launched too early” and may have been too ambitious. “We rushed certain features, made some boneheaded mistakes, and most importantly – we didn't give you the polished, portal-filled mayhem you fell in love with,” reads the statement.

Splitgate 2 will now return to a playable beta form, with 1047 going “heads down” until early 2026 to significantly rebuild the game. This includes, among other changes, reworking the progression systems from scratch, adding more portals to maps, simplifying monetization, and refocusing on classic game modes. During this time, 1047 plans to host more playtests and send more surveys to gather as much community feedback as possible. The studio also promises it will still ship Chapter 3 of the game.

Unfortunately, 1047 states that this long-term shift in direction requires reducing an unknown number of studio roles to move development resources towards this rework. The developer promises affected employees will receive severance and job placement support and hopes to “bring them back when we can.”

In an effort to retain as much staff as possible and save costs, 1047 is also shutting down the servers for the original Splitgate in one month. “While we'd love to keep servers online indefinitely, it's cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past couple of years, and we have to prioritize our team,” reads the statement. 1047 says it's exploring supporting offline or peer-to-peer matches for fans of the first game.

Splitgate 2 1047 Games 1.0 Release Date PC PS5 Xbox Series X/S

It’s been a rough launch for Splitgate 2. On top of players not enjoying the game nearly as much as the 2021 original, which at one point was so popular its servers routinely crashed due to full player capacities, the game suffered a PR blow stemming from co-founder Ian Proulx’s stage appearance during the Summer Game Fest Showcase.

While promoting Splitgate 2's launch on stage, Proulx wore a hat bearing the message “Make FPS Great Again”, a play on the slogan of the polarizing MAGA movement. Many viewed this reference as tone deaf and insensitive amid the ICE raids occurring in Los Angeles (where SGF takes place) during that time, which ignited several protests in the city. Proulx's appearance garnered significant backlash from some players and industry peers, with many vowing never to play Splitgate 2 as a result. After initially attempting to clarify his actions, Proulx would later issue a video apology

"We've faced a lot of dark days and have made many mistakes, but we've learned a lot and are as determined as ever to make Splitgate as great as possible," reads 1047's Steam update. "Splitgate has been our life for 10 years, and we wouldn't have it any other way. We've got work to do, but we aren't giving up."

Splitgate 2 Returning To Beta Following Poor Reception As Developer 1047 Games Reduces Staff

Splitgate 2 1047 Games 1.0 Release Date PC PS5 Xbox Series X/S

Splitgate 2 launched on June 6 during Summer Game Fest, but the less-than-stellar reception from players since has prompted developer 1047 Games to go back to the drawing board. This means the studio is taking the free-to-play portal-jumping shooter back to beta, which has resulted in a number of layoffs at the studio.

A lengthy Steam post penned by 1047 founders Ian Proulx and Nicholas Bagamian states that the negative player feedback has made them realize the game “launched too early” and may have been too ambitious. “We rushed certain features, made some boneheaded mistakes, and most importantly – we didn't give you the polished, portal-filled mayhem you fell in love with,” reads the statement.

Splitgate 2 will now return to a playable beta form, with 1047 going “heads down” until early 2026 to significantly rebuild the game. This includes, among other changes, reworking the progression systems from scratch, adding more portals to maps, simplifying monetization, and refocusing on classic game modes. During this time, 1047 plans to host more playtests and send more surveys to gather as much community feedback as possible. The studio also promises it will still ship Chapter 3 of the game.

Unfortunately, 1047 states that this long-term shift in direction requires reducing an unknown number of studio roles to move development resources towards this rework. The developer promises affected employees will receive severance and job placement support and hopes to “bring them back when we can.”

To retain as much staff as possible and save costs, 1047 is also shutting down the servers for the original Splitgate in one month; the exact date is unknown. “While we'd love to keep servers online indefinitely, it's cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past couple of years, and we have to prioritize our team,” reads the statement. 1047 says it's exploring supporting offline or peer-to-peer matches for fans of the first game.

Splitgate 2 1047 Games 1.0 Release Date PC PS5 Xbox Series X/S

It’s been a rough launch for Splitgate 2. On top of players not enjoying the game nearly as much as the 2019 original, which at one point was so popular on consoles that its servers routinely crashed due to full player capacities, the game suffered a PR blow stemming from co-founder Ian Proulx’s stage appearance during the Summer Game Fest Showcase.

While promoting Splitgate 2's launch on stage, Proulx wore a hat bearing the message “Make FPS Great Again”, a play on the slogan of the polarizing MAGA movement. Many viewed this reference as tone deaf and insensitive amid the ICE raids occurring in Los Angeles (where SGF takes place) during that time, which ignited several protests in the city. Proulx's appearance garnered significant backlash from some players and industry peers, with many vowing never to play Splitgate 2 as a result. After initially attempting to clarify his actions, Proulx would later issue a video apology

"We've faced a lot of dark days and have made many mistakes, but we've learned a lot and are as determined as ever to make Splitgate as great as possible," reads 1047's Steam update. "Splitgate has been our life for 10 years, and we wouldn't have it any other way. We've got work to do, but we aren't giving up."

Pokémon Friends is a cute education tool with a hidden cost

A brand-new game was announced during today’s Pokémon Presents stream, but it most certainly wasn’t one you were expecting. Rather than unveiling a new mainline entry or Black and White remakes, the franchise’s latest entry is Pokémon Friends. It’s a small-scale puzzle game built for mobile devices and Nintendo Switch that sees the series continue […]

Microsoft says Chinese hacking groups are behind SharePoint attacks

Some of the attacks that targeted organizations using an exploit in Microsoft’s SharePoint server platform over the last few days have been linked to hacking groups affiliated with the Chinese government, according to a new Microsoft security blog.  “As of this writing, Microsoft has observed two named Chinese nation-state actors, Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, […]