Employees of Activision Blizzard, the video game company that produces World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, staged a walkout Wednesday morning to call for better working conditions as the company faces allegations of a "frat boy" culture and severe harassment and discrimination against female workers. The California department of fair employment and housing (DFEH) filed a lawsuit against the company last week after a two-year investigation found widespread sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination and that the video game maker "fostered a sexist culture" in which female employees earn less than males doing similar work. Just 20% of Activision Blizzard's 9,500 employees are women, and leadership at the company, one of the largest video game makers in the world, is largely white and male. Hundreds of workers gathered outside the company's headquarters in Irvine, California, Wednesday morning while others, unable to attend in person, took part in a virtual protest. A few hundred employees have gathered at the #ActiBlizzWalkout, exceeding the 100 or so organizers expected.

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. LOUISVILLE – The culture surrounding video games is often shrouded in stereotypes and negative connotations. How often have we heard the narrative, especially following mass shootings in America, that video games are linked to violent behavior. Or that people who play video games are "basement dwellers" with no life. Or even the idea that all video game developers are Silicon Valley tech bros and it's a "man's world."

"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star Alfonso Ribeiro has dropped a lawsuit against the makers of the video game "Fortnite" over its use of the "Carlton" dance he did on the show.

In the wake of the Florida school shooting, President Donald Trump is reviving an old debate over whether violent video games can trigger violent behavior. But Dr. Louis Kraus, a child psychiatrist, calls that approach a "red herring." The publishers of video games such games as Doom and Grand Theft Auto are scheduled to join President Trump Thursday in a White House meeting to discuss video games and violence. The game makers will likely face off during the meeting with some other long-time industry critics also in attendance including retired Lt. Col. Army Dave Grossman who called violent video games "murder simulators" after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and Brent Bozell, founder of the Media Research Center, who criticized President Obama after that incident, which resulted in the death of 20 students and six educators, for targeting gun makers but going soft on violent video games, TV and movies. After last month's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in which 17 were killed, President Trump voiced concern about violence in video games, as well as in movies and online.

The person or company that posted the challenged material can counter with a statement that the material isn't illegal. But challenging the takedown notice can give U.S. courts jurisdiction over foreign residents in the dispute.

Sega's popular video game character Sonic the Hedgehog is famous for running fast, but now he's slowing down to grab a bite to eat with some extra friendly company. To help promote the upcoming "Sonic Forces" video game, which will be released in Japan on Nov. 9, Sega is turning Hooters outlets across Tokyo from the restaurant's trademark orange to blue. Hooters outlets in Shinjuku, Ginza and Akasaka are planning to decorate their stores with Sonic dolls, hand out "Sonic Forces" coasters and offer a fast-food set that includes French fries, a Sonic-blue colored drink and a chili dog -- Sonic's favorite food. For those who aren't up to speed, video-game-and-food collaborations have been around since the days of Atari, with video game characters showing up in children's cereal or Pac-Man seen drinking 7-Up soda. Now, however, they're becoming more interactive than simply slapping a sticker on a product, and several popular mashups have caught gamers' attention this year.

Electronic Arts is one of the video game makers facing a strike from voice actors. Electronic Arts is one of the video game makers facing a strike from voice actors. If you're a video game aficionado of sorts, or even if you simply missed the memo entirely, it's no secret that actress Jennifer Hale has an extensive resume within the gaming industry. She's played the roles of Sarah Palmer in Halo 5: Guardians, Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 3, and a quantum physicist in BioShock Infinite: Burial At Sea. But more imperatively, Hale is a member of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA. And currently, video game actors under SAG-AFTRA, including Hale, have chosen to stop working with a number of prominent game companies.

OSAKA – Nintendo Co. said Wednesday its group net profit fell 60.6 percent in the 2015 business year ended last month to 16.51 billion ( 139.5 million), bruised by the yen's appreciation against major currencies and languid portable game sales. With nearly three-quarters of the video game maker's sales coming from overseas markets, the strong yen saw the company take an 18.36 billion hit in foreign exchange losses, denting its net profit figure. The video game maker's operating profit grew 32.7 percent to 32.88 billion on sales of 504.46 billion, down 8.2 percent. In addition to the currency woes, sales of software for the Nintendo 3DS portable console shrank as the company failed to follow up on fiscal 2014's major hit games. In the year ended March 31, hardware sales of the 3DS totaled 6.79 million units, down from 8.73 million units the previous year, while sales of the Wii U console came to 3.26 million units, down from 3.38 million units.