Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

John Smedley steps down as CEO of Daybreak, will remain with the company

Kris Wouk
By

john smedley amazon game studios sony entertainment interview
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Earlier this year, we saw Sony Online Entertainment go indie in a sense after being sold to private equity group Columbus Nova and changing its name to Daybreak Game Company. The studio came out swinging, but now it will have to continue under new leadership.

John Smedley will be stepping down as president and CEO of Daybreak Game Company, VentureBeat reported yesterday. The cause for Smedley’s decision is currently unknown, though it seems that, following a hiatus, he does plan on returning to the company, albeit in a different position.

Recommended Videos

“I can confirm that John Smedley will be taking some time off from the company for the near-term and transitioning to a different role to be determined,” a Daybreak representative told VentureBeat. “Upon finalization of his plans, further communication will be provided.”

This comes after Smedley had publicly shared his thoughts on the recent sentencing of a member of the hacking group Lizard Squad. Though Julius “zeekill” Kivimaki was convicted of over 50,000 separate charges computer-related crime, he didn’t receive any jail time.

Smedley said that this particular member of Lizard Squad had brought down a flight he was on by claiming there were explosives on board. “I’ve heard the entire recording where he convinced an airline customer service agent there was a bomb on the plane,” Smedley wrote on Reddit.

“He’s been involved for years in every kind of terrible thing you can imagine including Carding, hacking, swatting people all over the world,” Smedley continued. “He’s also participated in a major way in DDOS attacks that caused a lot of grief for gamers and a lot of economic damage to the companies that make and run games.”

Smedley said on Twitter that he was “coming for” Kivimaki, and while this garnered him respect from fans, it hurt Daybreak. Shortly after the tweet, multiple Daybreak games including H1Z1 and Planetside 2 were hit by distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, taking them offline.

While it hasn’t been confirmed that Smedley’s time off has anything to do with this harassment, or his public comments concerning Kivimaki, it would be easy to understand if that was indeed part of his decision. Chief operating officer Russell Shanks will take over Smedley’s role for Daybreak Game Company, though it’s currently unclear is this is a temporary measure.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Kris Wouk
Kris Wouk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…
All Trinkets in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, explained
The main character of Tales of Kenzera: Zau stands with two elemental items.

Your main upgrades in a metroidvania like Tales of Kenzera: Zau will always be your new abilities. These transform the way you move and fight, but there are other ways you can make Zau a more powerful shaman. Trinkets are introduced right away, but aren't given away as freely as you might think. Each one requires you to overcome a small trial that tests your platforming abilities off the main path. Technically, you can miss every single one aside from the one you begin the game with. Even though there are a few fast travel points, backtracking isn't a particularly fun experience. Here are all the Trinket locations in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, plus which ones you should equip.
All Trinket locations
You can see which zones have Trinkets on the map, and for the most part, you will be able to grab them as you navigate through them for the first time. Here are each of the Trinket locations roughly in the order you should naturally be able to get them.
Battering Stance
This is the Trinket you begin the game with and is equipped by default.
Lifted Spirit

The first Trinket is found in this side path trial in The Buluu Caverns.
Retaliating Spirit

Read more
How to start The Forgotten Kingdom DLC in Remnant 2
Invoker

Remnant 2 is a massive game that already boasts nearly endless replayability, but that isn't stopping developer Gunfire Games from adding even more to do in the popular looter shooter. The game's new DLC, The Forgotten Kingdom, provides players with a substantial amount of extra stuff to check out, such as new biomes to explore, an additional archetype known as The Invoker, and plenty of fresh enemies to take down. If you're ready to see all of what The Forgotten Kingdom DLC has to offer, read on to learn how to access it from within the game.
How to start The Forgotten Kingdom DLC
The first step in accessing The Forgotten Kingdom DLC is to ensure you've purchased and downloaded it. You can buy the standalone version from your respective storefront for $10, or you can opt to snag the $25 bundle, which includes The Awakened King, The Forgotten Kingdom, and another future DLC that has yet to be announced. If you intend to play the full trilogy of DLCs, the former is your best option, as you'll save five bucks off the total cost of all three.

Once you've purchased and downloaded the DLC, you'll be ready to access The Forgotten Kingdom by visiting a World Stone and opening Adventure Mode. You'll need to have completed the Yaesha biome at least one time. At that point, you can select "Reroll Adventure Mode" and choose The Forgotten Kingdom: One Shot on the right, which will notably give you exclusive DLC content your first time through. Keep in mind that while this initial run won't feature any older content, your subsequent playthroughs of Yaesha will weave DLC areas in with main campaign content.

Read more
All Baobab Tree locations in Tales of Kenzera
Zau fights a dragon in Tales of Kenzera: Zau.

While it wasn't marketed as being a particularly punishing game, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is by no means easy. You will have plenty of environmental challenges that can instantly sap your life, and the enemies you face -- especially the bosses -- are no slouches. When you first begin, it will only take a couple of bad hits to send Zau to the land of the dead himself. Alongside the Trinkets you can unlock through hidden challenges around the map, there are also Baobab Trees where Zau can stop to reflect on his journey thus far, have a short dialogue with Kalunga, and get a small addition to his health bar. Like everything in the game, these trees aren't prohibitively hidden, but you could easily pass one by and have no idea where it was when trying to backtrack. These are all the Baobab Tree locations so you can max out your health bar.
All Baobab Tree locations
There are six Baobab Trees to find in Tales of Kenzera: Zau and each adds a small segment of health to your total. When you collect them all, you will roughly double your HP bar. Here are each of their locations in the rough order you should naturally find them in. Most can be picked up on your first time through that area.
Ikakaramba

This one is very hard to miss as it is directly on your critical path. If you do, you can fast travel to the nearby campfire to grab it.
The Great Cliffs

Read more