Blizzard 
Entertainment, the creator of “World of Warcraft” and a substantial part of the video game industry’s largest publisher, announced plans Wednesday to lay off 600 employees.
The cuts, which generally come from areas other than game development, come as subscriber numbers for the hit online game have fallen substantially in recent quarters.
EA received 
some holiday coal in its stocking Thursday when a California Superior Court judge rejected its argument that it should be excused from a $400 million contract-interference suit.
Activision alleges EA illegally attempted to lure away Call of Duty creators and Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella. Activision is also suing the two developers.
Gamasutra editor-at-large 
Chris Morris looks at two traditional publishers — Activision and EA — examining how the packaged game giants will square off in the emerging social media space.
EA and Activision, despite their ongoing war of words, tend to swim in the same waters. Both like the military shooter genre. Both used to like the music genre. And both want to own the MMO market.
To date, that rivalry hasn’t extended to the social gaming and mobile space. While EA has substantially expanded into both fields, Activision has been content to sit back and view the fray from a distance. That could be changing before too long, though.
E3 is a three-ring circus — and 
like any circus, it’s filled with spectacular sights and things of wonder. (And, thanks to Twisted Metal, it also has a few freakish, scary clowns.)
But it also has a slew of attractions that are just downright weird. We didn’t see any lines of dancing poodles at this year’s show, but here are a few of the less common things on and around the show floor.
Chris Morris: Journalist 