All Elite Wrestling has announced that the name of their first official video game will be called AEW Fight Forever and that it is being developed for release on unspecified consoles as well as PC, though the company did not reveal when fans could expect the wrestling game to be released.
What was revealed is some new footage showing off a bit of gameplay from the Yuke’s developed game, highlighting two of the more popular female wrestlers that will be in the game’s roster, Nyla Rose and Kris Statlander, as they perform a few in-ring moves and show off their entrances. Both videos can be found below.
After being delayed for well over a year and a half past its original set release date, Ubisoft has announced that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake is no longer being developed by Ubisoft Prune and Ubisoft Mumbai and instead Ubisoft Montreal will be taking over development of the remake. This follows multiple delays, issues with early footage, and more as the developer has stated that the development team “now take the time they need to regroup on the scope of the game to deliver you the best experience for this remake of an all-time classic, when it’s ready.”
As one would expect given this announcement, no new release window was given though the last given was sometime in 2022. Currently the game is being developed for release on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Here we are again bringing to you another indie release review. This time we have HunterX, an action side scroller using the now tired, but still welcome, Souls-like and metroidvania templates. I am personally a huge fan of the metroidvania formula, but not too fond of souls-like elements, especially when they’re implemented as just a way to capitalize on the ever growing hype-train that doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon with the release of Elden Ring. Fortunately, HunterX does more than just that; what we have here is a true classic metroidvania experience.
Story
Tsuki is the token anime school girl devil hunter with a ridiculously short skirt and her trusty katana. One day, while patrolling the streets at night in search of her next demonic prey, she happens upon a dimensional gate; one that leads directly to the demonic realm. As she decides to investigate this other dimension, she soon realizes that the demons are planning to invade the human realm. With the help of her impish companion, Tsuki decides to take the battle directly to the demons.
Over the course of the game, Tsuki will find other hunters that are already in the demonic realm, apparently waiting for the next hunter strong enough to receive their help in order to save humanity. These NPC encounters are scarce, and they provide a bit of insight to the story, although, just as it is with Tsuki, they have almost zero backstory. As you may have noticed, HunterX’s story is as deep as a puddle, and is nothing more than an excuse to get the action going.
Gameplay
HunterX is a mixed bag gameplay-wise. It combines 2D side-scrolling arcade action, Souls-like character development, and an old metroidvania aesthetic and overall game progression as can be seen in Bloodstained or any other “Igavania.” Although there are some light puzzles and platforming, they aren’t as prominent as in more pure metroidvanias. As a result, the game’s focus is much more on combat rather than on exploration. Even then, the game progresses in a traditional metroidvania dynamic; as the player advances, new obstacles appear that’ll require the use of a specific skill such as a double jump, or an air dash. At the end of a given area, a boss battle unfolds. It’s this specific gameplay dynamic that makes metroidvanias fun, and it’s well implemented in HunterX.
With all that said, is HunterX the best metroidvania to be released after Bloodstained? Far from it. Its shortcomings are as noticeable as its qualities.
Tsuki can equip a variety of weapons ranging from katana to scythes, but apart from each weapon having a distinct visual and even sometimes a discernible difference in attack speed, they all have the same move set which is the basic two hit combo that you have in the beginning of the game. Even when you unlock new moves, they never change depending on the weapon that you’re using.
Enemy variety is another problem; at the beginning it seems fine, but as you advance further you’ll come to realize that they’re mere palette or skin swaps with few exceptions. This is less of a problem with bosses, but is still very noticeable.
With that out of the way, HunterX is still an enjoyable game and a good metroidvania in general. Tsuki can level up in statues, and that’s done much like in Souls game where you use your karma – the currency of the game – to allocate points to attributes such as strength or HP. By leveling up, you are given keystones that unlock perks in a skill tree. Those include invulnerability for your dash, an extra weapon attack while you’re in the air and many more.
The combat is fast and the controls are perfect; it feels good to trample your enemies with the use of your weapon or with occult magic that is unlocked by defeating bosses or even some regular enemies. The difficulty in HunterX is high at first with enemies, especially bosses, dealing heavy damage in just one hit; even a bump with a little bat is enough to deplete half of your HP, which is a bit ridiculous but I digress.
Visuals
Graphically, HunterX is as simple as it can be. This comes with the territory when you’re an indie game dev, as the budget simply isn’t there. I have a high tolerance to low tech, low polygon graphics, which is exactly the case with HunterX. What I can’t stand is an ugly artstyle, and in this department, HunterX is a bit inconsistent. Some models are more detailed than others. The artstyle varies a fair bit too, with enemies ranging from chibi low-polygon big-headed goblins to more realistic and detailed ones like the provocative vampiress. The only thing that I can say is consistent across the board is how monotone and repetitive the backgrounds are. Sure, the locales are somewhat varied, and there are some cool lighting effects. We have an abandoned village, a castle, an underground passageway with its rustic and dungeon-like visuals and more, but the textures and layout design of these places are very repetitive and unimaginative. Thankfully, what HunterX lacks in its visuals, it makes up for it to some extent with smooth graphics and fluid animations.
Audio
Although the music in the game is mostly forgettable, it serves its function in providing nice tunes to enjoy during gameplay. The soundtrack is mostly upbeat music with a sense of danger to them. It won’t annoy you, but won’t stay with you.
Overall
HunterX mostly gets the classic metroidvania gameplay right, something that is disturbingly rare to see nowadays. With a seamless and addictive sense of progression, fueled in great part by its fast paced combat, HunterX certainly deserves a look by metroidvania fans, even if its flaws bring it down a couple notches.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
New rewards, quests, and the return of Sir Dapper Duckington highlight Trove’s latest seasonal event!
Hamburg, May 3, 2022 – gamigo is happy to report spring has officially sprung in its voxel-based MMO, Trove. That could only mean one thing: Spring Fling is back! This year’s event marks the return of Sir Dapper Duckington Esquire as he provides Spring Flingers, but also new rewards, a new pack featuring all player-made content, and MORE Waspiders! Sorry, Arachna-Spheksophobics…
Starting today through May 16, Trovians can take part in several new and returning activities starting with an 8-step quest chain saving bees for bucks (aka endgame currencies) and new rewards that include two new pets, two new mounts, and a new banner.
It wouldn’t be a Spring Fling event without spring flingers! These multipurpose posies can be purchased from Sir Dapper Duckington and can be used year-round to spawn flowers at thrown locations (now with additional colors) as well as spawning a Bee Buddy Ally in the Medieval Highlands and Permafrost zones.
If flinging bombs is more a Trovians’ style, then they’ll be happy to hear a new season of Bomber Royale has also sprung! Players can bomb their buds across four new maps using the latest in bomb technology in the form of three new powerups. A new queue system and options for private matches round out this bombastic betterment!
About gamigo group
The gamigo group is one of the leading publishers of online and mobile games in Europe and North America. The company’s diverse game portfolio includes free-to-play titles such as ArcheAge, RIFT, Trove and Aura Kingdom, as well as the recently launched buy-to-play game ArcheAge: Unchained. Counting more than 400 employees, gamigo is one of the largest German companies in the gaming industry. Besides its 5 german locations in Hamburg (HQ), Berlin, Cologne, Münster, and Darmstadt, the gamigo group also has branches in Warsaw (Poland), Istanbul (Turkey), New York, Redwood City, Austin, Bellevue (US), and Seoul (South Korea). In addition to gamigo AG, the group includes the subsidiaries WildTangent, Aeria Games, Verve, and Mediakraft Networks as well as the brands Infernum, Intenium, Looki, and Poged. The company strives to grow not only organically, but also through acquisitions. Since 2013, it has made more than 25 acquisitions, including titles, gaming and technology companies as well as individual game assets.
Sydney, Australia, May 4th, 2022 – THQ Nordic and Bugbear Studios has kicked off digital pre-orders for Wreckfest for Nintendo Switch™. The game with the best looking vehicular destruction is coming to your handheld console with over-the-top crashes, neck-to-neck fights on multiple racing tracks and a considerable amount of vehicles to choose from.
Wreckfest gives you the chance to get creative when you wreck your friends online in an up to 16-player multiplayer mode as well as in offline tournaments whether you pick a lawn mower, school bus or crop harvester – this game is all about having fun and aiming for demolition dominance.
The Nintendo Switch™ version offers two acquirable season packages additionally to the base game: Season 1 package includes 20 crazy and iconic vehicles, 20 insane roof decorations, and a car customisation pack with new armour, rims, and more. Season 2 package grants you access to 12 additional cars. SRP for the digital edition of the base game is $59.95. Season packs are sold separately.
About Wreckfest Expect epic crashes, neck-to-neck fights over the finish line and brand-new ways for metal to bend – These are the once-in-a-lifetime moments that can only be achieved in Wreckfest, with its true-to-life physics simulation crafted by legendary developer Bugbear, who also brought you FlatOut 1, 2 and Ultimate Carnage. Burn rubber and shred metal in the ultimate driving playground!
Awesome Cars – Old, banged-up, patched-together cars that simply ooze style! From old American heavy-hitters to agile Europeans and fun Asians, you won’t find anything like this in other games.
Meaningful Customisation – Change not only the look of your cars but also upgrade their body armour
Receive free updates that add new tracks and tournament challenges with unique rewards!
Multiplayer – Wreck your friends online and take racing to the limit while chasing for demolition dominance!
About Bugbear Entertainment Bugbear Entertainment is a game studio specializing in action driving. The company has been developing car games for sixteen years, starting with Rally Trophy (2001, PC). With over a decade of development under its belt, Bugbear Entertainment has successfully redefined the genre of action racing and is best known for the critically acclaimed demolition racing series FlatOut (2004-2007, PC, PS2™, Xbox, Xbox 360) and street racing title Ridge Racer Unbounded (2013, PC, PS3™, Xbox 360).
New bunny girl characters and 0.5-Year Anniversary festival roadmap revealed
SEOUL – May 4, 2022 – Publisher Nexon has declared May to be Blue Archive month and in celebration begins the anime mobile RPG’s new story event “Bunny Chasers on Board,” releasing new bunny-themed characters and event rewards, in addition to revealing the 0.5 Anniversary roadmap.
The story follows the Cleaning & Clearing (C&C) members aboard a cruise ship to chase down the Millennium Science School’s resident troublemaker, White Rabbit, all while disguised as Bunny Girls. Players can enjoy the event story, quests and challenges.
Blue Archive fans who collect chocolate coins, bunny stickers and boarding passes from the event can exchange them for various items at the event shop including Intact Phaistos Disc, Superior Tactical Training Blu-ray, Asuna’s Eleph and more.
Additionally, a few of Blue Archive’s favorite characters are transforming into a new look: Neru (Bunny) and Karin (Bunny). Neru (Bunny) is a Tank with an Explosive Attack Type who uses an EX skill to move her to a designated location and grant a barrier, while Karin (Bunny) is a Mystic type Dealer who uses an EX skill that deals damage to enemies in a fan-shaped area.
Details regarding Blue Archive’s story event update, “Bunny Chasers on Board,” can be viewed in the official community.
Developed by NAT GAMES, Blue Archive follows a group of adventurous schoolgirls as they navigate romance, school clubs, academic events – and the occasional battle with rival schools. Players will take on the role of the students’ teacher and guide them as they investigate incidents throughout the city.
Blue Archive is available on Android and iOS devices in 237 countries and supports multiple languages including English, Korean, Thai and Chinese (traditional).
Players can find out more on the Official Website and follow the Blue Archive social media pages for the latest news and updates:
About NEXON Co. Ltd. Founded in 1994, NEXON Co., Ltd. (Nexon) (3659.TO) is a company engaged in the production, development and operation of online games and Virtual Worlds. First listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 2011, Nexon was placed on JPX400 in 2015 and added to the Nikkei Stock Index 300 in 2017. In 2020, Nexon was added to the Nikkei 225. Nexon currently has more than 50 live games on multiple platforms including mobile and available in more than 190 countries. Major game franchises include MapleStory, KartRider and Dungeon&Fighter.
Racing Bonuses: 4X RDO$ in Standard Races and More
Triple Gold on Open Races, Free Community Outfit, Plus Blood Money and Free Roam Bonuses
Take advantage of huge rewards on Races, test your mount’s stamina in the weekly Featured Series, claim a free stylish outfit, and more in Red Dead Online this month.
Racing Bonuses and Rewards for All
Test your horse’s stamina and resolve against a crowd of competitors in various Races this week to earn rewards, including:
4X RDO$ for participating in Standard Races
3X Gold for cutting your own route between points A and B in Open Races
5X XP for steady shooting while out-racing the competition in Target Races
2X RDO$ and XP on Select Blood Money Contracts There are various ways to get your boot in the door as an aspiring outlaw: helping Guido Martelli attack the Central Union in The Railroad Contract; rescuing a gang leader in The Jeb Phelps Contract; and collecting Bluewater John’s debt in The Bluewater Contract; all these Blood Money Contracts are dishing out 2X RDO$ and XP, all month long.
Seek out Anthony Foreman, Sean Macguire, James Langton, or Joe to launch these adventures and earn yourself a reward, a dangerous reputation and some Capitale, to boot.
2X RDO$ and XP on Free Roam Missions
Wandering the frontier and helping do-gooders and despicable characters alike by taking part in Free Roam Missions will pay out 2X RDO$ and XP, all month long.
To fully replicate the happychrimus look, you’ll need to swap in the Wakeeney Hat — so we’ve also made a select colorway of the Wakeeney Bounty Hunter Outfit free to Bounty Hunters this month as well. All the above are available from local Tailors and the Wheeler, Rawson & Co. Catalogue, free of charge until June 6.
Featured Series Calendar
Here’s a rundown of each week’s rotating Featured Series, along with special weekly bonus incentives. All Rewards and Offers will be delivered within 72 hours of completion.
May 3 – May 9: Race Series
Dispense some frontier justice by completing any Bounty Hunter Mission to receive an Offer for 40% off a Bounty Hunter Novice or Promising Role Item
Completing “A One Horse Deal” will yield an Offer for 50% off the Fast Travel Post for your Camp
May 10 – May 16: Open Target Races and Overrun
Collectors who reach Rank 10 and above will receive an Offer for 40% off a Collector Novice or Promising Role Item
Win 2 rounds of this week’s Featured Series to receive a bonus to the tune of RDO$100
May 17 – May 23: Races and Shootouts
Complete 10 Daily Challenges this week to receive the Yeehaw Emote
Complete 2 Trader Sell Missions to receive a Citadel Rock Treasure Map
May 24 – May 30: Select Races
Play with your Persistent Posse to receive the Respectful Bow Emote
Pave the way for your bootlegging route by destroying 3 Revenue Agent Roadblocks to receive a select colorway of the Levens Gun Belt
May 31 – June 6: Target Races and Capture Mode
Riders who place Top 3 in any race this week will receive a select colorway of the Vaquero Baroque Spurs
Purchase any Pamphlet this week to receive a bonus of RDO$150
In addition to the above, Red Dead Online players will receive 10 Classic Oatcakes, 10 Horse Meal, and 10 Apples to keep their mount nourished every week this month. Participating in a NominatedSeries every week before June 6 will reward you with 10 Capitale. Plus, purchasing any Weapon Modification will result in a bonus of 5 Special Horse Stimulant.
Get The Danube or The Tasman Outfit Plus Returning Limited-Time Clothing
Placing in the Top 3 in any 6 Races in a single week will earn you The Danube or The Tasman outfit, depending on your character.
This week marks the return of the Dillehay Hat and Carver Pants to the pages of the Wheeler, Rawson & Co. Catalogue. Make sure to visit your local Tailor to try them on for size and buy them before they’re gone.
Discounts:
Ride like the wind, all Daily Stable Fees are waived for the entirety of this month. Stables are also offering half off Stable Slots and Stirrups, plus 30% off Race and War Horse breeds. In addition, there are discounts on Pistols, Emotes, Pants, Skirts, and more:
30% off Pistols
30% off Emotes
50% off Horse Food
50% off Stable Slots
50% off Stirrups
30% off Race Horses
30% off War Horses
50% off Reinforced Lasso
40% off Pants
40% off Skirts
Prime Gaming Benefits:Red Dead Online players who connect their Rockstar Games Social Club account to Prime Gaming through June 6 will receive the Flex Emote, a select colorway of the Espinal Double Bandolier, and a select colorway of the Windcliff Coat for free.
Wide Right Interactive, creators of What the Dub?!, and RiffTrax, the talent behind “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, team up to create the most hilarious wisecracking movie dubbing party game to date!
LOS ANGELES – March 15, 2022- Developer Wide Right Interactive, creators of the popular party game What the Dub?! and RiffTrax, the critically acclaimed team behind the Emmy nominated and Peabody Award winning Mystery Science Theater 3000, announced today that they have teamed up to create the definitive movie heckling party title, RiffTrax: The Game! With over 250 movies clips, new game modes, Twitch integration, and expanded ways to connect players, fans of witty one-liners and low-budgets movies can look forward riffing off with friends and family when the games releases on multiple platforms including Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 (forward compatible with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S), and Steam (PC/Mac) on May 5th!
RiffTrax: The Game brings the best of MST3K-style comedy to digital party games. Comedians Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett have been bringing their comedic running MST3K-type commentary to movies of all kinds for over 15 years-and now players have the opportunity to riff along with them! Gather with friends and family to see who can write the best jokes over some of the worst bits of what can loosely be called cinema. Players along with audience members will have the chance to vote each round for their favorite zingers and decide who has what it takes to be the next movie riffing genius!
“As someone who frequently comes in last when playing games I’m very excited to be part of actually making a game. Creating this with Wide Right Interactive, I think, energized everyone involved because though it’s obviously very close to what we do, it’s a fresh new way to do it. And I think it’s a way to make a lot of people laugh who maybe wouldn’t have otherwise had a chance to experience RiffTrax.” – Michael J. Nelson, RiffTrax
RiffTrax: The Games features:
● Over 250 movie clips from RiffTrax classics such as “Rollergator”, “Attack Of The Supermonsters”, and “Plan 9 From Outer Space”! ● Featuring two exciting ways to play! Write your own riff and watch your comedy genius come to life via text-to-speech. Or leave it to the pros and choose from over 2,000 expertly crafted riffs from the RiffTrax team. ● Play head-to-head with up to 6 players using any internet connected device as controller. An additional 12 audience members can also play along. ● Bring the party to your friends with support for remote games, cross play, and voice chat. ● Streamers, get your entire chat in on the action with Twitch chat voting. Additional moderation, privacy, and content tools ensure your stream remains problem-free.
RiffTrax: The Game Details
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Xbox One, Sony PlayStation 4, and Steam (PC/Mac) Next Gen: Forward compatible with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S Release Date: May 5th, 2022 Players: Local or remote multiplayer for up to 6 players. Supports an additional 12 audience members. Twitch chat voting is uncapped. Genres: Party, Multiplayer, Casual, Comedy
AboutWide Right Interactive – Developer & Publisher
Founded and operated by Jim Dirschberger, an Emmy nominated director and producer, Wide Right Interactive is focused on creating original content through collaborative efforts with emerging artists. Their debut game Freedom Finger saw a successful multi-platform release in 2020. Since then, Wide Right has supported Freedom Finger with multiple content updates, distribution in Asia (via EastAsiaSoft), and two sold-out physical editions (via Limited Run Games and Super Rare Games). Their second game What the Dub?! was released worldwide in 2021. The multiplayer party game was a hit on Twitch, with streamers such as The Sidemen, KarlNetwork, and Forsen playing the game with their millions of followers. What the Dub?! also landed on Metacritic’s Best PS4 games of 2021 list. WideRightGames.com
RiffTrax – Writers, Producers, and Performers
RiffTrax is an entertainment and comedy e-commerce company featuring the stars of the Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award-winning show “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” The guys at RiffTrax have added their comedic riffing treatment to over 450 feature films and over 400 classic educational shorts over the past 15 years. RiffTrax is composed of Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett. In addition to their starring roles as Mike, Tom Servo, and Crow on “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” they have appeared on numerous radio and TV shows, penned the screenplays for Hollywood Blockbuster films, and authored numerous best-selling books. To find out more about RiffTrax, visit www.rifftrax.com.
Nowadays, we can find management games about almost everything but to my knowledgeCat Cafe Manager is the first one featuring a cat cafe and that is why it got my attention in the first place.
Management games can seem a bit daunting especially for people that have never played them before. This game falls into the category of more casual management games meaning that most aspects of the genre are present, but the gameplay is rather simple and straightforward. So, it’s an easy game to understand.
Story
The premise is simple. The main character goes to the village of Caterwaul Way for the first time. Their grandmother sent them a letter asking them to rebuild the cat cafe she owned there. Soon after the cat cafe open again, a mysterious cat comes up at the door and asks help to rebuild the cat shrine, present in the village, to its former glory. A bit later in the game the player will learn that a corporation threatens to buy the village and destroy the cat shrine that has been here for decades. The main character will also meet NPCs living in the village and the more the player will talk with them the more friendly they’ll become.
It’s interesting that the game has a storyline. It’s not especially engaging, but at least it’s present.
Gameplay
The gameplay is accessible, so it’s a perfect game for a first experience of the management game genre. Comparatively to games such as Roller Coaster Tycoon, there aren’t a lot of options to take care of and the menus are simple.
The gameplay loop is as follows: people come and place orders, the player has to prepare the food and give it to them. There is a satisfaction meter and the more satisfied a customer is, the more resources they will give away. These resources can then be used to upgrade the cafe or to buy more food. To expand a little on the topic of resources, all of the patrons will give “delight” to the player which will be used to upgrade the cat shrine. They will also give away materials or currency; these depend on what category of people they are. The game contains five different categories of customers: witches, artists, fishermen, businessmen and punks. All of them giving the player specific resources that can be used to buy items in the stores. Having multiple categories of characters is a great idea. But after a while they felt a bit identical, it would have been great to have a few more categories once the player reaches the mid or late game.
While preparing and serving order the player also obtain skill points that they can distribute to the staff and the cats as they want to.
The player can hire staff and adopt stray cats to help expand our cafe. There’s the possibility to adopt many different cats, some of them such as a racoon or a ghost cat are strange on purpose. Also, we can give the cats a forever home meaning that they’ll then be adopted by someone else.
Cat cafe Manager might be easy to understand, but I wouldn’t say that it is relaxing. On the contrary, the game can be stressful and even frustrating at times. I thought that the difficulty was not well adjusted. Sometimes I found myself not doing much because my employees were doing almost all of the work. But on other moments customers were ordering items I didn’t even have the recipe for yet, and I just couldn’t satisfy them fully. Having difficulty settings and the ability to manually make time go faster would have fixed this issue.
The main problem this game has is its repetitiveness, a lot of the days felt very similar to me and during the late game I had the impression that it took me a lot of time to make progress. That repetitive aspect could have been quite easily fixed with more random events happening.
Visuals
The visuals are simple, but they work well. There’s a decoration option which is simple yet still good. the player can choose what they want their cafe to look like. Some of the decorations don’t impact the gameplay such as the type of material the player uses to build the floor or the walls. On the other hand, the furniture does have an impact on the employees, some are more efficient when the cafe is equipped with a set of a particular furniture style.
Even though it didn’t impact the gameplay I think it’s important for me to mention that I had frequent graphical bugs, for example, patrons would be floating away from their chairs.
Audio
The soundtrack is inspired by the surge of the “lo-fi” music genre meaning that the music is relaxing and cozy which fits the game perfectly. I once again wish that there were more tracks because after a while, I realized that I was listening to the same few musical loops in repeat.
Overall
I wanted to like this game. I really did, but there are too many things that bothered me. Honestly overall, I didn’t enjoy my experience playing it. The core concept is good, and it is by no means a mediocre game but with a few adjustments it could have been a much better game and this to me is extremely frustrating.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Activision Blizzard Makes new $30 Million Commitment for Veteran Employment Initiatives
Call of Duty Endowment’s Economic Value Creation Estimated at $5.6 Billion
New white paper details Veteran Employment Lessons Learned over 12 years with Recommendations for Veterans, Employers, Policy Makers and Philanthropic Donors
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – May 3, 2022 – The Call of Duty Endowment reached its goal of placing 100,000 veterans into meaningful employment two years ahead of schedule. In addition, Activision Blizzard is also committing $30 million in additional funding to support the program for the next five years. To coincide with today’s announcement, and in recognition of Military Appreciation Month, the Endowment released a white paper detailing veteran employment “lessons learned” over the organization’s 12-year history, with recommendations for veterans, employers, policy makers and philanthropic donors.
In honor of this milestone, the Endowment posted the following video to thank all of its supporters:
Over the last twelve years, the Call of Duty Endowment has helped more than 100,000 veterans find meaningful careers after their military service. The Endowment partners with the most effective nonprofit veterans organizations in both the US and UK to deliver low cost, high value job placement, the service most requested by veterans.
“To put 100,000 placements in perspective, the entire active-duty Marine Corps is made up of more than 178,000 people,” said General James Jones, USMC (retired), 32nd Commandant of the United States Marine Corps and Co-Chair of the Call of Duty Endowment. “While reaching 100,000 placements two years earlier than our goal is an accomplishment to be proud of, there is much, much more we can and should be doing to support our veteran community as they transition to civilian employment.”
“As we begin Military Appreciation Month we are proud of the accomplishments achieved by the Call of Duty Endowment and Dan Goldenberg’s leadership. We also recognize that our heroes need even more post service employment support and opportunity than is currently provided. To date, we have invested over $60 million in support of veterans employment initiatives to secure 100,000 job placements,” said Bobby Kotick, Co-Founder of the Call of Duty Endowment. “Today, we are committing an additional $30 million of funding for new veteran employment initiatives. With our even more efficient programs we expect to generate another 50,000 job placements through Call of Duty Endowment grants.”
“As we recover from the pandemic, there are great opportunities but even greater challenges present in the labor market. Veterans need assistance more than ever,” said Dan Goldenberg, Executive Director of the Call of Duty Endowment and Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at Activision Blizzard. “We are pleased to make a difference in getting veterans placed into meaningful employment, but also realize that we have so much more to do.”
“The Call of Duty Endowment’s financial and moral support has not only been essential for VetJobs’ mission, having funded more than 48,000 of our 77,000 placements, but also in driving accountability to higher standards across not-for-profit veteran employment initiatives,” said Rear Admiral Dan Kloeppel, U.S. Navy (retired), CEO of VetJobs. “There is no better, more supportive resource for veteran job placement than the Call of Duty Endowment.”
About the Call of Duty Endowment White Paper
The new white paper, titled Lessons Learned for the Future of Veteran Employment, highlights areas of opportunity to provide improved job placement services for our heroes upon completion of their military service.
Less than 1/10 of 1 percent of $300 billion veteran spend is focused on employment opportunitiesalthough successful transition into a high-quality careers reduces costs associated with housing and health care.
Veterans are still vastly underemployed as compared to the general population: According to The Veterans Metrics Initiative (TVMI), 61% of veterans are underemployed and 55% believe that they are more experienced than the job they currently have requires.
Modest, individualized assistance such as improving interview skills and resume coaching have a dramatic impact – especially for female veterans and people of color.
TVMI Data shows that:
Veterans are nearly three times more likely to find a job if they practice interviewing with a coach or mentor
Veterans are twice as likely to find a job if an experienced mentor or coach helps them with resume writing
Currently:
10% of male veterans of color are not employed and seeking work
14% of women veterans are not employed and seeking work
22% of women veterans of color are not employed and seeking work
The Call of Duty Endowment is a non-profit organization co-founded by Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision Blizzard. The Endowment seeks to help veterans find high-quality careers by supporting groups that prepare them for the job market and by raising awareness of the extraordinary value veterans bring to the workplace. For more information about the Call of Duty Endowment, please visit www.callofdutyendowment.org.
ACTIVISION and CALL OF DUTY are trademarks of Activision Publishing, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the properties of their respective owners.
