1、CDPR may suffer a huge fine up to 10% of annual income
According to the report of "Polish Daily", the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) is investigating CDPR. UOKiK’s spokesperson Małgorzata Cieloch said that UOKiK had contacted CDPR and was asking them about the problems in the game "Cyberpunk 2077" and what measures CDPR had taken.
If UOKiK believes that CDPR misled consumers in the pre-launch promotion of "Cyberpunk 2077" and did not try to solve the current problems, UOKiK will impose a fine on CDPR, which may reach up to 10% of its annual revenue. UOKiK might also force CDPR to refund players, and these two penalties could be affixed to CDPR at the same time.
In addition, CDPR is currently facing a class action lawsuit initiated by investors. The company is accused of major misrepresentation and lied to investors about the status of "Cyberpunk 2077" on PS4 and Xbox One.
2、The plaintiffs in the Xbox conctroller lawsuit are seeking to block Microsoft's compel arbitration motion
In April 2019, Microsoft was filed a class action lawsuit by several players due to the drifting controller of the Xbox. In the lawsuit, the plaintiff claimed that the drifting joystick problem was caused by its design flaws, and Microsoft did not remind users when it was aware of this situation.
Not long ago, Microsoft filed a motion requesting that the case be taken out of court and arbitrated on the grounds of the service agreement agreed upon when consumers purchased the controller. Microsoft said that in the service agreement, the plaintiff had agreed to settle the dispute through arbitration, and that the case should not be under the jurisdiction of the court and requested plaintiffs to withdraw the lawsuit.
On January 8, 2021, the plaintiffs replied: "Microsoft did not publicly deal with our allegations of deliberately selling defective Xbox handles. Instead, it tried to force consumers claim into a secret arbitration process. Because of Xbox Live and the defects of the built-in terms of service, there is no arbitration agreement." The plaintiffs called the judge to reject Microsoft’s request on the grounds of defects of the service agreement. At the same time, most of the plaintiffs in this case are minors, which will invalidate the agreement declared by Microsoft.
As far as Xbox Live is concerned, the plaintiff stated: “Microsoft forces users to agree to the "Xbox Live Service Agreement" in order to obtain online support for the console...The agreement does not mention Xbox hardware accessories, such as controllers. Because this dispute is about a controller defect, and is not a claim related to the real-time service covered by the agreement, the agreement does not apply to this case under any circumstances.”
The court held that the plaintiff was not bound by the arbitration clause.
3、NetEase's "Minecraft" announcement: The court ruled "Mini World" and "NetCraft" constitute infringement
The Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court made a first-instance judgment that the "Mini World" operated by Shenzhen Mini Play Company constituted an overall infringement of "Minecraft", and the infringement should be stopped immediately and a compensation of RMB 21.1324 million should be paid to NetEase. The Tianhe District People’s Court of Guangzhou made a first-instance judgment that the game screen of "NetCraft" is substantially similar to "Minecraft", which constitutes copyright infringement; the propaganda of "NetCraft" has implemented confusing behavior, which constitutes an act of unfair competition. The company to which "NetCraft" belongs should compensate NetEase with RMB 20 million.
4、Vocational standards for "E-sports players" are about to be formally introduced
According to NCNA, CCAA held the final review of the national vocational skills standard for E-sports players in Beijing on November 30, commissioned by the Vocational Skills Identification Center of MOHRSS. At the meeting, the preparing expert group reported to the leaders and evaluation experts on the preparation of the "E-sports" national vocational skill standards, level settings and existing problems.
Leaders and experts of relevant units examined and approved the contents of occupational standards one by one, listened to the instructions of experts, and finally formed the evaluation opinions. In 2019, MOHRSS, SAMR and NBSPRC officially released 13 new occupations, which attracted great attention from the public. E-sports player and E-sports operator are two occupations among these 13 new ones. Commissioned by the Vocational Skislls Identification Center of MOHRSS, the e-sports Management Committee of CCAA is responsible for the compilation of national vocational skill standards for "E-sports player". In the past year, the committee invited experts and scholars in the fields of culture, science and technology, sports, human resources and society, education, etc. to compile this standard after extensive research on relevant units of E-sports.
5、Tencent sued stores selling cracked Nintendo Switch, and the court made injunctions
The Yuexiu District People's Court in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, and the Zhonglou District People's Court in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, respectively ruled a video game store in Guangzhou and an electronic product firm in Changzhou to immediately stop producing and selling non-standard Nintendo Switches. These two injunctions are the first batch of litigation injunctions involving the cracking of console games in China.
The Yuexiu District People's Court held that the act of a video game firm in Guangzhou selling modified Nintendo Switch consoles without permission is contrary to the principle of good faith that operators should follow in their production and operation activities, disrupts the order of market competition, and damages the legitimate rights and interests of applicants. Zhonglou District Court held that the Nintendo Switch related business operated by the applicant was well-known, and it would be difficult to control the infringement if the action preservation measures were not taken in time.
6、Lin Qi, the actual controller and chairman of YOOZOO GAMES, died after rescue
On the evening of December 25, YOOZOO GAMES announced that Lin Qi, the company's actual controller and chairman, died. On December 23, the official microblog of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a police report. The circular pointed out that at about 17:00 on December 17, 2020, a patient Lin (male, 39 years old) in a hospital was suspected of poisoning, and his colleague Xu (male, 39 years old) was suspected of committing a major crime.
Zaker has previously reported that Lin, the victim of the above-mentioned police intelligence circular, is Lin Qi, the founder of YOOZOO GAMES, while Xu, the suspect, is Xu Yao, Lin Qi's colleague. In the latest public information, Xu Yao can be found as the CEO of "three body universe (Shanghai) Cultural Development Co., Ltd." and the legal representative and actual controller of the company is Lin Qi.
YOOZOO GAMES, founded in 2009, is a game company based on web games. It was listed in A-share backdoor market in 2014. Now it is positioned as an interactive entertainment provider. Now it is positioned as an interactive entertainment provider. Lin Qi, 39, is the founder, actual controller and chairman of YOOZOO GAMES.
