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The creators of the action game Aztech built their unusual virtual world with a simple premise: What would have happened if the Aztecs hadn’t been conquered?

Why it matters: Aztech is an ambitious game from a small team in Mexico, a part of the world that has little representation in the industry and its culture. 

Released in March for PC and console, Aztech: Forgotten Gods puts the players in control of Achtli, a young woman with a magical arm that enables her to fly over a futuristic Mesoamerican megacity and battle the gods.

In a medium filled with adventures inspired by Anglo-Saxon and east Asian cultures, it stands out.

What they’re saying: “We aspire to be the voice of our people,” Edgar Serrano, cofounder of Chihuahua-based studio Lienzo, told Axios earlier this spring, shortly after the game’s release.

The studio started a decade ago, mixing contract work with original projects.

Its 2018 release Mulaka was an action game set amid the mythology of the Tarahumara, an Indigenous culture in Mexico. The game was narrated in the Tarahumara language, and hewed close to historical traditions.

Aztech began as an attempt to make something more fantastical while indulging the fantasy of an Aztec empire that spread across the Americas.

Lienzo’s games can reach three key audiences, Serrano believes:

Local players, like the young Indigenous people he met while making Mulaka, who he said knew little about their own legends.

The Latin American diaspora in the U.S. and elsewhere, who he believes are yearning for work that helps them reconnect to their roots.

The wider — and often whiter — world of people he believes seek some level of “social currency” in understanding other cultures. “If you play our games throughout, you're going to end up knowing a lot more than you knew before about our culture. And the things that stay with you are going to be true and authentic and researched.” 

Between the lines: Serrano is quick to point out that Aztech isn’t perfect. He calls it “over-scoped,” perhaps biting off too much. 

He’s still proud of the game and hopeful what Lienzo’s team of about seven developers can build in the future.

What’s next: He’s dreaming of a movie. Serrano has partnered with a production company to shop Aztech to Hollywood.

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A video game from Mexico imagines a different kind of future

Says the developer: "We aspire to be the voice of our people.”

Video game screenshot of a woman flying toward the camera, with a futuristic Aztec pyramid in the background

Video games

Gaming

The creators of the action game Aztech built their unusual virtual world with a simple premise: What would have happened if the Aztecs hadn’t been conquered?Why it matters: Aztech is an ambitious game from a small team in Mexico, a part of the world that has little representation in the industry and its culture.

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Technology

Players in the booming mobile gaming market are warming to in-game video ads but are much more into interactive ads, according to a new report on the sector compiled by Data.ai.

Why it matters: Mobile gaming is setting the standard for how games operate, so what’s accepted or successful in it may shape gaming overall.

Spending on mobile games will reach $136 billion worldwide this year, Data.ai estimates. That’s compared to about $40 billion each on consoles and computer gaming.

The U.S. made up about a third of that mobile market in the first quarter of 2022.

State of play: The common model for mobile games is that you can download them for free and then buy in-game items to have a better time.

That model is spreading in console and PC games, though in-game ads on those platforms are rare.

In-game ads on mobile, however, are common. And they don't just happen between levels of a game, as if they were a TV commercial. Popular free-to-play games like Farmville 3 often include ads that pop up midgame or that players are invited to watch or interact with to unlock rewards in the game.

Details: Of nearly 4,000 global players surveyed by Data.ai, a majority are fine with in-game ads in some form.

A fifth say they’re fine with accepting ads in exchange for game content and services.

About a third were a little more reserved, saying it depends on the app.

Just 6% said they would broadly rather just pay for the game and not see ads.

Video ads are contentious, but attitudes are moving.

They’re still more loathed than liked (The survey option “I can’t stand them” beat “I like them” three to one). But Data.ai reports the divide narrowed between late 2020 and late 2021.

More popular are playable in-game ads, which serve as short demos of other games in the Russian nesting doll that is mobile game advertising. Those get an “I can’t stand them” from about a quarter of mobile gamers, but more than half of players think they’re “OK” or even like them.

The bottom line: Mobile gaming is gaming’s laboratory for economic experiments.

Report: Mobile game players don't mind playable ads

Mobile gaming is setting the standard for how games operate.

A prompt to watch an in-game video ad to receive a reward in FarmVille 3. Screenshot: Zynga

Players in the booming mobile gaming market are warming to in-game video ads but are much more into interactive ads, according to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="a new report" data-vars-click-url="https://link.axios.com/click/27839240.25052/aHR0cHM6Ly9nby5kYXRhLmFpLzIwMjIwNS1FTkctSURDLUdhbWluZy1SZXBvcnQtTFAuaHRtbD91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlvc2dhbWluZyZzdHJlYW09dG9w/5a52c920a227620e7a8b467dBd84392b2" data-vars-content-id="3b80af6c-80c1-468b-a423-87d6847072bc" data-vars-headline="Report: Mobile game players don&#x27;t mind playable ads" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://link.axios.com/click/27839240.25052/aHR0cHM6Ly9nby5kYXRhLmFpLzIwMjIwNS1FTkctSURDLUdhbWluZy1SZXBvcnQtTFAuaHRtbD91dG1fc291cmNlPW5ld3NsZXR0ZXImdXRtX21lZGl1bT1lbWFpbCZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249bmV3c2xldHRlcl9heGlvc2dhbWluZyZzdHJlYW09dG9w/5a52c920a227620e7a8b467dBd84392b2" target="_blank">a new report</a> on the sector compiled by Data.ai.Why it matters: Mobile gaming is setting the standard for how games operate, so what’s accepted or successful in it may shape gaming overall.

Former PlayStation employee Emma Majo is again suing PlayStation in a potential class action gender discrimination lawsuit, this time in California, after a federal judge dismissed her first lawsuit last month.

Why it matters: Sony, like other video game companies before it, faces allegations it had a sexist workplace.

But Majo, who said in her November suit that she was fired after complaining about gender bias, has encountered more judicial skepticism in the early going than others.

Driving the news: The new, narrower complaint is no longer national. Instead of seeking damages for all women who worked for PlayStation in the U.S., it’s trying to get them for women below the vice president level who worked at PlayStation’s California locations, including San Francisco and San Diego.

The new lawsuit largely collects allegations made in Majo’s original November complaint and those of several other women who work or worked at PlayStation and described their experiences in declarations made public in March. 

Incidents involve women allegedly being passed up for promotions as men in the same department advance, unequal pay, retaliation, dismissive comments about women’s abilities and a Deloitte study that is said to have found that Sony had a “very low” percentage of women in management positions compared to peers.

The suit states: "Because of Sony’s systemic pattern and practice of gender discrimination, the plaintiff and members of the proposed class have suffered harm including lost compensation, back pay, employment benefits, and emotional distress." It specifically alleges violations of California's Equal Pay Act

Between the lines: In April, a federal judge echoed arguments made by Sony’s own lawyers that Majo’s initial complaint was light on facts. 

She dismissed it but said Majo could bring it back with more specific details.

Majo’s new claim appears to act on that guidance, adding the other women’s details, while downscaling the issue from a federal matter.

Sony reps did not reply to a request for comment, but PlayStation lawyers argued in February that Majo’s federal complaint failed to cite any policies or practices that proved there were widespread issues worthy of a class action.

At the time, they said Majo's "widespread claims of harassment are based solely on unactionable allegations of run-of-the-mill personnel activity."

It's impossible to judge at this stage of the revisions to Majo's filing can prevail over such arguments.

What’s next: It’s Sony’s turn to reply. 

Judge says gender discrimination suit against PlayStation is light on facts

Judge to approve Activision Blizzard $18 million settlement

Gender discrimination lawsuit against PlayStation returns

The new lawsuit comes a month after a judge dismissed the first filing.

PlayStation logo and the silhouette of a woman holding a phone

Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Former PlayStation employee Emma Majo is again suing PlayStation in a potential class action gender discrimination lawsuit, this time in California, after a federal judge dismissed her first lawsuit last month.Why it matters: Sony, like other video game companies before it, faces allegations it had a sexist workplace.

Some top American game studios are taking stands on abortion, trans rights and the industry’s own responsibility regarding racism and extremism.

Why it matters: It’s a notable shift in a controversy-averse industry, and one that is shocking some players not used to the makers of the games they play taking a position on volatile political and social topics.

Details: Two studios went public this week, with a third reportedly taking a quieter route.

On Tuesday, Washington-based Destiny 2 maker Bungie Studios and its Black at Bungie worker group posted a reaction to the weekend’s racist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York. The studio had recently weighed in on the Supreme Court’s draft decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

Bungie acknowledged that people “far too often” are radicalized via online platforms and called for game-makers, themselves included, to do more to “examine their own platforms and invest in practices to combat bigotry in all its manifestations.”

On Wednesday, Texas-headquartered studio Certain Affinity posted a letter to employees from CEO Max Hoberman condemning “intrusions on the rights and dignity of transgender youth” and the “attack” on abortion rights from the potential ruling on Roe v. Wade.

This all followed a Monday report in the Washington Post that California-based Insomniac, makers of hit Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank games, had quietly and successfully pressed its owners at Sony to match a $50,000 donation to a group that helps economically disadvantaged women get abortions.

What they’re saying: “The overall response has been incredibly positive,” Hoberman tells Axios, citing hundreds of supportive replies after he posted his letter publicly.

A half-dozen people told him that businesses should stay out of politics, he says.

“The fact of the matter is that some politicians aren't staying out of our business,” Hoberman says. “They are creating a hostile environment in states that we know and love and live in. This in turn is affecting the mental health and well-being of large swathes of our staff, and is outright hurting our business in tangible ways, such as employees leaving the states and difficulties recruiting to these states.”

Certain Affinity has about 175 employees in Texas. It says it will pay for "reasonable" relocation expenses for employees who want to move out of state due to abortion regulations. But the studio is not joining other companies that now promise financial assistance to workers who need to travel to get an abortion. Hoberman says doing so could run afoul of local law.

Yes, but: Most game companies are still keeping quiet these days.

In 2020 even the biggest ones like Nintendo and PlayStation expressed support for Black Lives Matter.

But taking a stand against racism is less controversial than taking one about abortion.

The Post says Insomniac and Sony won’t make their pledges public. That follows a Bloomberg report from last week that cited PlayStation boss Jim Ryan urging his workers to “respect differences of opinion” on abortion. 

The bottom line: A common thread through all of this is the will of the workers, which in these studios seems to largely be liberal.

Many employees expect companies they work for to express their values and to put policies and money behind them.

Video game studios are speaking out on abortion

Texas studio will cover some costs for workers who want to move out of state due to abortion regulations.

Illustration of Halo hero Master Chief standing in front of a field

Halo Infinite, one of several games worked on by Certain Affinity. Image: Microsoft

Some top American game studios are taking stands on abortion, trans rights and the industry’s own responsibility regarding racism and extremism.Why it matters: It’s a notable shift in a controversy-averse industry, and one that is shocking some players not used to the makers of the games they play taking a position on volatile political and social topics.

Quality assurance workers at Activision-owned development studio Raven Software voted to unionize today, setting up what would be the first union at a big American game publisher.

Driving the news: The vote, administered by the National Labor Relations Board in Minnesota passed 19-3.

Why this matters: A labor movement has been brewing in the games industry, as workers raise concerns about long hours and alleged misconduct at numerous publishers and studios, big and small.

Unionization isn’t a panacea, but some have seen it as a step to getting better treatment.

Between the lines: This latest step for the self-described Game Workers Alliance, came after the QA workers went on strike last fall to protest the dismissal of contractors and then announced in January a plan to form a union. 

Activision contested whether the small group of QA workers constituted a viable bargaining unit. 

The NLRB had ruled in the workers’ favor, setting up today’s vote.

What they’re saying: “Our biggest hope is that our union serves as inspiration for the growing movement of workers organizing at video game studios to create better games and build workplaces that reflect our values and empower all of us,” the GWA said in a statement.

“We look forward to working with management to positively shape our working conditions and the future of Activision Blizzard through a strong union contract.” 

Activision has avoided saying whether it will challenge the election or proceed to bargaining with the unit.

“We respect and believe in the right of all employees to decide whether or not to support or vote for a union,” a company rep said. “We believe that an important decision that will impact the entire Raven Software studio of roughly 350 people should not be made by 19 Raven employees.”

Regarding what they’d do next, the rep said: “We’re committed to doing what's best for the studio and our employees.”

Activision recently converted more than 1,000 temporary workers to full-time roles. It also gave raises to its QA workers, excluding the Raven group because it said altering the pay of workers pursuing a union would violate labor laws.

What’s next: Activision has until May 31 to file an objection to the NLRB vote.

Activision workers vote to form industry's first big union in U.S.

Illustration of a gaming controller with different fist icons on the buttons. 

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Stories

Report: Mobile game players don't mind playable ads

A video game from Mexico imagines a different kind of future

Activision workers vote to form industry's first big union in U.S.

Gender discrimination lawsuit against PlayStation returns

Video game studios are speaking out on abortion