Distortion2 beats Elden Ring in record time, Amouranth spends a fortune on Activision Blizzard stock, and Bungie sues a bunch of fraudsters.
There was a lot going on in the world of gaming today, but don’t worry because it should be real easy for you to get back up to speed. That’s why these roundups are here. Today, we heard about the well known speedrunner Distortion2 beating Elden Ring in just under 19 minutes, the popular streamer Amouranth buying up $2 million worth of Activision Blizzard stock despite the ongoing scandals at the company, and Bungie seeking to sue the people behind those fraudulent copyright takedown requests. These are just our top stories and so read on for the rest.
The developer behind Fortnite, Epic, removed the building mechanic last week, but the game will be right back to normal tomorrow. “Building will return in core modes tomorrow,” the official statement reads. The mechanic was taken out of the game to the surprise of many fans who started lamenting its loss, but some players were happy to see building disappear from Fortnite, preferring to focus on the shooting mechanics. In any case, all of that controversy is now in the past.
The speedrunner known as Distortion2 has been making waves in the Elden Ring community for beating the game in record-breaking time. Distortion2 first managed to beat the game in less than an hour, then it was less than half an hour, and now it's less than 20 minutes. The speedrunner in fact finished Elden Ring in just under 19 minutes. “Changed a flight and did a 15 hour stream for this, almost gave up hope, but in the end I prevailed,” Distortion2 said. “Thank you everyone who was there and supported me during this insane stream.”
Somebody seems to have been impersonating the company which takes care of Bungie’s intellectual property, CSC. While they’ve kept their identity a secret so far, Bungie is definitely out to get them, noting how they’ve caused “nearly incalculable damage” to its reputation. The impersonators were apparently able to send fraudulent copyright takedowns “because of a hole in YouTube’s DMCA-process security which allows any person to claim to be representing any rights holder in the world for purposes of issuing a DMCA takedown,” according to Bungie. “In other words, as far as YouTube is concerned, any person, anywhere in the world, can issue takedown notices on behalf of any rights holder, anywhere.”
Twitch recently saw the outbreak of several racist hate raids, but content creators from marginalized communities are fighting back, demanding that conditions improve on the platform. "While Twitch claims to be 'listening to creators and building solutions to help stop unwanted harassment,' it still has not offered a timeline for when these demands will be met, if at all," they said in an open letter to Chief Executive Officer at Twitch Emmett Shear. "Twitch has shown repeatedly that it is not willing to be transparent and cares more deeply about its public image than the safety of Black streamers."
Amouranth first purchased a gas station. Then a convenience store. Now the streamer has gone and bought $2 million worth of stock in Activision Blizzard. The decision apparently had nothing to do with the ongoing struggle for unionization or the allegations of workplace abuse and misconduct. “As for Activision Blizzard, this is near Berkshire price,” Amouranth pointed out. “Good intellectual property, domestic, world where globalization is waning.” The content creator added that “to be clear, I am looking to capture the takeover spread. That’s the main point. I just think it’s not a bad price even if that fails to happen.”
Justin is a news editor at TheGamer. He specializes in labor relations, intellectual property law, and game development. You can find his work in EGM, Vice, Unwinnable, Heterotopias, and more.
