Activision Blizzard is facing criticism for discouraging labor organizing after the video game giant wrote an email to employees imploring them to "take time to consider the consequences" of pushing ahead with an effort to unionize. Brian Bulatao, a former Trump administration official who is now the chief administrative officer at Activision Blizzard, sent an email to the company's 9,500 employees on Friday addressing a campaign led by the Communications Workers of America to organize the workplace. The company behind video games like "World of Warcraft," "Call of Duty" and "Candy Crush" has been engulfed in crisis since July, when California's civil rights agency sued over an alleged "frat boy" workplace culture where sexual harassment allegedly runs rampant. The suit also claimed women are paid less than their male counterparts. In his companywide note, Bulatao said employees' forming a union is not the most productive way to reshape workplace culture.

Lydia Winters shows off Microsoft's "Minecraft" ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, in 2015. Cybersecurity experts say Minecraft players were quick to exploit a critical flaw in widely used software that intelligence firms raced to patch Friday. Lydia Winters shows off Microsoft's "Minecraft" ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, in 2015. Cybersecurity experts say Minecraft players were quick to exploit a critical flaw in widely used software that intelligence firms raced to patch Friday. BOSTON -- A critical vulnerability in a widely used software tool -- one quickly exploited in the online game Minecraft -- is rapidly emerging as a major threat to organizations around the world.

Blizzard Entertainment, the game developer behind hugely popular titles such as World of Warcraft and Overwatch, has banned a professional esports player from competing and taken away his prize money after he expressed support for Hong Kong's protest movement. Ng Wai Chung, who lives in Hong Kong and plays under the name Blitzchung, is one of the top players in the Asia-Pacific region for the online card deck game Hearthstone. Blitzchung made the comment on an official Hearthstone broadcast on Twitch, the video streaming platform, after his last game in the 2019 Hearthstone Asia-Pacific Grandmasters Tournament. Blitzchung wore a gas mask and dark goggles during that interview last Sunday, evoking the gear activists have worn during months of street protests. Toward the end of the segment, he shouted the popular protest chant, "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times!"

Reggie Fils-Aime, president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, addresses the media at the Nintendo Wii U software showcase during the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2013. Reggie Fils-Aime, president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America and one of the video game company's most outspoken executives, will retire this year. In a statement released Thursday by Nintendo, Fils-Aime will leave the company on April 15. Doug Bowser, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo's American division, will take over as president. "Nintendo owns a part of my heart forever," Fils-Aime said in a statement.

A man walk past an Xbox sign during the Xbox 2018 E3 briefing in Los Angeles, California on June 10, 2018, ahead of the 24th Electronic Entertainment Expo which opens on June 12. The massive E3 gaming convention kicked off on Saturday June, 9th, 2018. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) started in 1995, when Donkey Kong Country and Full Throttle were popular, and has been getting bigger every year. This week, CressCap wants to identify some rising stocks with strong fundamentals that are likely to prosper on the back of the world's most popular gaming convention. As many eyes will be on new video game releases its a good time to look at gaming-related companies' stocks for possible investment opportunities.

Voice actor Keythe Farley addresses picketers at a SAG-AFTRA rally against 11 video game publishers. The gaming world put its best and brightest new offerings on display at the 2017 Electronic Entertainment Expo (or E3) last week. But some of the industry's most anticipated games are coming to market with one noticeable change: the voice actors. Voice actors who have a small but essential role in big-budget games have been on strike since October. Eleven video game publishers, including major players Activision ("Call of Duty" and "Skylanders"), Electronic Arts ("Battlefield" and "Madden NFL"), Take 2 Interactive ("Grand Theft Auto") and WB Games ("Batman: Arkham" and "Mortal Kombat"), remain under pressure from the Screen Actors Guild for their treatment of union members.

Microsoft pulled out all the stops this week -- flashing lights, pounding music, fake smoke -- to debut its new $500 game console, aimed at the kind of hard-core gamer who appreciates a good glamour shot of a microprocessor. But how many will actually buy it? That's the question looming around Microsoft's launch, as the technology giant touts its most powerful console ever to an audience that increasingly is becoming more casual. Mobile games now make up 42 percent of the game industry's revenue worldwide, according to a report from game industry analysis firm Newzoo. It is expected to pass the 50 percent mark by 2020.

Xbox chief Phil Spencer speaks on stage at the Microsoft Xbox E3 2017 Briefing at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), which focuses on new products and technologies in electronic gaming systems and interactive entertainment, takes places June 13-15 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. LOS ANGELES -- The show floor doesn't open until Tuesday, but E3 has already kicked off. On Sunday, Microsoft was the first of the three video game console makers to hold their annual media event ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo. The highlight was their hardware, but there were some other interesting details unveiled by Microsoft. Prepare to hear this a lot between now and November 7: "the world's most powerful console."

Lydia Ainouz draws a small crowd to watch her playing the Yakuza video game during the opening day of the Electronic Entertainment Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center in June 2016. This year's E3 will be open to the public for the first time. Video games are evolving into never-ending epics that can deliver their makers years of sales after the initial purchase -- and players multiple ways to keep spending. At this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo, the annual video game industry event in Los Angeles, publishers are expected to introduce a slew of blockbuster PC and console games that will include upgrades and expansions designed to extend their life well after a player normally would have moved on to another title. "If you rewind 10 years ago, when you shipped a game -- if it doesn't make it into the base game, you've got to wait for the sequel," said Pete Hines, vice president of marketing at Bethesda.

FILE - In this June 13, 2016 file photo, members of the media attend a briefing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles where Microsoft unveiled a new, slimmer version of the video game console coming later this year and a more powerful one that's due in 2017. At last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo, the video game industry teased a future where Xboxes and PlayStations are updated almost as frequently as smartphones. The move to release more consoles with varying features may mark the end of the traditional console cycle era, the decades-old tradition of brand-new systems coming out every seven or so years.(AP