The release date wasn't supposed to be announced for until tomorrow, but it's leaked and it's soon(ish): the worldwide release is scheduled for September 1, 2015.  Phantom Pain will be released for Xbox One/360, PlayStation 4/3, and PC. 

Unreal Engine 4 is free to use for everyone! If you ship your project commercially, a 5% royalty goes to Epic.  Get it here, and let your imagination run free.  Think of all the stuff you could make!

Lionsgate Entertainment has made a "significant" investment into Telltale Games as part of their previously announced move to expand beyond television and film.  The investment means that Lionsgate's CEO will be joining Telltale's board of directors, and according to their press release, the "collaboration will also enable the two companies to explore opportunities to co-develop existing and original IP into episodic games and television."

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer had this to say about the investment: "Telltale is one of the premier storytellers in the gaming world today. Their leadership in narrative-driven episodic games, together with our investment and the potential opportunities created by our premium content expertise, will continue to strengthen their ability to offer exciting new avenues of storytelling to their next generation audiences across a broad range of platforms."

UPDATE: Telltale's CEO has spoken to EW, and announced that part of this investment includes work on a "Super Show," which is a concept that combines "one part of interactive playable content with one part of scripted television style content. Both pieces, when combined together, are what make an actual Super Show 'episode.'" Whatever that means.

Bethesda has issued a cease and desist letter to the game Fortress Fallout for 'confusion' surrounding their use of the word 'Fallout' in their game title.  For reference, Fortress Fallout is a tower building mobile game, not at all similar to the Fallout series, but given the size of the company making it, they've got no choice but to find a new name rather than fight Bethesda on this one.  

You may remember Bethesda doing something similar to Mojang over the game Scrolls, but Mojang was lucky enough to win their case. As ridiculous as all of this is, if you're an indie developer, maybe just don't use anything remotely related to a Bethesda property in your game title; it's just not worth the risk.  Or, you know, just go all out and call your game The Elder Dishonored Rogue Warrior Fallout: New Scrolls.

From their announcement:

We’re hosting our first-ever E3 Showcase in Hollywood, CA on June 14th and we’ve saved some seats just for you, our fans. Feel like a celebrity by attending our most exciting event yet, live and in-person! Keep an eye out – in the coming months we’ll be sharing details on how you can register to attend.

Can’t make it out to LA to join us? Don’t worry, we have you covered. On Twitch.TV/Bethesda (Followhere), you’ll be able to tune in on 6/14 and watch every moment live!

According to the Chicago Sun Times, Brandon Willson aka "Famed God" has been arrested in connection to a SWATting prank that took place in July.  Willson apparently fabricated a murder claim in order to get police to a streamers home after hacking their consoles to attain their personal information.  Willson also at one point tried to take credit for the PSN hack last year, but has been confirmed to not be a part of the hack.

Police executed a search warrant at Willson's Las Vegas home where they found evidence connecting him to the SWATting incident.  Willson is charged with two counts of computer tampering and one count each of intimidation, computer fraud, identity theft and disorderly conduct.  If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.

What do you think, is five years an appropriate conviction for someone involved in a SWATting prank?

People in Turkey are really worried that “Minecraft” is going to turn their kids into hardened criminals.

The country’s Family and Social Policies Ministry has launched an investigation into the game after receiving numerous complaints from parents that the game encourages violence (particularly towards women), according to Hurriyet Daily News.

Apparently Turkey hasn’t heard of GTA V.

“In the higher levels of the game the player may need to kill women, allies and even friends for survival reasons,” the article says.

Minecraft is probably one of the least violent games in existence right now, with a majority of the game devoted to hours of mining, farming and building a life in a blocky, pixelated sandbox where anything is possible.

According to the report:

If the ministry’s investigation decides that the game encourages violence, the ministry will proceed by opening a law suit against the game for a country-wide ban.

This isn’t the first time “Minecraft” has been accused of promoting violence.

Last year PETA launched a HQ in “Minecraft” as a sort of animal sanctuary where no one was allowed to harm the digital creatures.