Videogame News Thread

[Kalyx triaD]

Heard some rumors but it seems like fake news.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Hey Kalyx, were you aware that fire is hot?

Heard some rumors but it seems like fake news.

Damn climate change deniers. :nono:

[Kalyx triaD]

Forget to mention the Division 2 beta is live until Tuesday. It's a 42gig beta so... get started.

[ClockShot]

Ehh.

Wanna dive back in. But, I think I'm on the home stretch of Far Cry: New Dawn and want to wrap that up this weekend.

I don't even know if I kept my save data from the closed beta.

[Fignuts]

lol $93 for the DOA 6 season pass. Fuck off.

[Emperor Smeat]

* The writer of Knights of the Old Republic II and a few other notable games, Chris Avellone, revealed that he recently finished work as a writer for Respawn Entertainment's upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
https://twitter.com/ChrisAvellone/status/1101372911502319616
https://www.destructoid.com/chris-avellone-is-one-of-star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-s-writers-544828.phtml

* Based on a recent Australian ratings board report, Konami is currently working on an arcade classics set for their 50th anniversary celebrations this year.
https://www.destructoid.com/konami-50th-anniversary-collection-arcade-classics-rated-in-australia-544758.phtml

* For those interested in the new ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove game, Macaulay Culkin was recently revealed to have worked on the game as its executive producer.
https://twitter.com/toejamandearl/status/1100826219279351808

* For those interested in the Switch ports of Resident Evil 1 Remake, RE Zero, and RE 4, those versions were revealed to cost more than on PS4 and Xbox One. Also revealed that this isn't due to Switch cart costs since the games will only be available digitally.
https://www.destructoid.com/resident-evil-s-switch-ports-cost-more-than-other-versions-544633.phtml

[ClockShot]

That gives this Star Wars game some hope if Chris Avellone is writing.

But, damn that man for leaving KOTOR 2 on a freaking cliffhanger. :fu:

[Emperor Smeat]

* Microsoft is currently rumored to be releasing a disc-less Xbox One S model this Spring.
https://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-one-s-all-digital-edition-preorder

* In a "Did You Know Gaming" type fact, yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Turok . To celebrate the occasion, Nightdive Studios announced both a Switch port of Turok remaster and a release date of March 18th.
https://www.destructoid.com/in-two-weeks-you-can-play-turok-on-your-switch-545244.phtml

* According to the recently released Kingdom Hearts III Ultimania book, the official reason why Kingdom Hearts III did not have any content from Marvel and Star Wars was due to Disney's weird licensing structure. Required separate contracts to be made and it couldn't conflict with Marvel's and Lucasfilm's existing gaming contracts with other companies.
https://www.destructoid.com/kingdom-hearts-director-dishes-on-series-secrets-and-marvel-world-woes-545228.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* Halo franchise director Frank O'Connor recently debunked rumors of Halo Infinite skipping the Xbox One in favor of Microsoft's next Xbox console.
https://www.destructoid.com/halo-franchise-director-reiterates-that-infinite-will-be-on-xbox-one-545367.phtml

* During a recent interview with website J-Wave, Hideo Kojima revealed that development on Death Stranding is currently behind schedule although didn't reveal when it might be finished.
https://www.destructoid.com/kojima-notes-that-death-stranding-is-slightly-behind-schedule--545336.phtml

* According to GamesIndustry.biz, Activision is currently facing a class-action lawsuit in regards to allegations of them purposely misleading investors with their handing of Bungie's departure.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-03-05-law-firm-encouraging-shareholders-to-sue-activision-blizzard-over-bungie-split

[Emperor Smeat]

* EA announced they are scrapping their usual boring press conference format for this year's E3 and instead will be holding several official streams during the first 2 days of the event.
https://www.destructoid.com/we-won-t-have-to-sit-through-a-90-minute-ea-press-conference-before-e3-545514.phtml

* Devolver Digital announced they will be holding a press conference at E3, making it the third year in the row for them.
https://twitter.com/devolverdigital/status/1103737150552637440

* For those interested in VR cardboard, Nintendo recently announced a new Labo kit that supports VR gaming using the Switch as the basis.
https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-just-stealth-announced-a-labo-vr-kit-545426.phtml

* 3D Realms officially revealed a new game currently in development called Wrath: Aeon of Ruin which is a fantasy-based first-person shooter, runs on the original Quake engine, and planned for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
https://www.destructoid.com/3d-realms-is-harnessing-the-power-of-the-quake-engine-for-wrath-aeon-of-ruin-545434.phtml
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CgrLN9Wl4xU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[ClockShot]

Sounding like it's gonna be a dull E3 with Sony and now EA not doing major pressers.

[Emperor Smeat]

Outside of a few exceptions, EA usually held the most boring conference at E3 for years so not that big of a loss in terms of entertainment quality.

At least with Sony, they did hint at likely being back next year and were upfront of not really having anything major to showoff for this year. Pretty much tipped their hands of next year being the big reveal of the PS5. Same for all the recent rumors of Microsoft likely showing off the next Xbox at next year's E3.

[Emperor Smeat]

* For those interested in The Division 2, the Day 1 patch includes the whole game and must be downloaded regardless if you own the physical version or pre-loaded the game. In regards to platforms, the PS4's patch (88-92 GB) is almost double the size of the Xbox One and PC's patches (48-52 GB).
https://www.destructoid.com/the-division-2-s-day-one-patch-size-is-out-of-control-on-ps4-545690.phtml

* During a recent interview with Telegraph, Dark Souls series director Hidetaka Miyazaki revealed he would like to make a Battle Royale game in the future if given the chance by FromSoftware.
https://www.destructoid.com/souls-boss-says-he-wants-to-tackle-the-battle-royale-genre-but-single-player-games-are-thriving-545633.phtml

[Fignuts]

The last system update for PS4 added remote play for iOS. I played Spider-man on my phone last night. Well, just web swung around. You cant properly play games like that with the on screen buttons. It does support Mfi controllers though.

I'm gonna try it away from home. Sim some fire pro while I get a bite to eat.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to reports, Epic Games recently won a big legal victory in regards to the on-going dance emotes controversy in Fortnite.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a two part ruling with the first part involving all lawsuits against Epic that did not have their dance trademarks/copyrights approved beforehand must be dropped. This pretty much covers all the lawsuits that have been filed against the company.

The other part involves any lawsuit forced to be dropped can be resubmitted at a later date should the plaintiff gain legal ownership of their dance. This ruling pretty much stacks the odds in favor of Epic Games for lawsuits.

https://www.pcgamesn.com/fortnite/emote-lawsuits-dropped
https://www.destructoid.com/supreme-court-ruling-temporarily-scuppers-all-fortnite-dance-lawsuits-545967.phtml

[Kalyx triaD]

Seen this coming. Huge waste of time.

[Emperor Smeat]

* For those interested, Microsoft announced both a PC port for Halo: The Master Chief Collection and an update for the set that will add in Halo Reach but with a catch. Reach's multiplayer modes, theater, and forge will be free but campaign mode needs to be purchased.
https://www.destructoid.com/halo-the-master-chief-collection-confirmed-for-pc-adding-halo-reach-on-both-pc-and-xbox-546114.phtml

* Based on a recent Australian ratings board report, Konami is currently working on a Castlevania Anniversary collection set.
https://gematsu.com/2019/03/castlevania-anniversary-collection-rated-in-australia

* Nintendo recently revealed the list of games they will be showing off at their booth at PAX East later this month. Included in the list are Mortal Kombat 11 and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-s-pax-east-booth-includes-mortal-kombat-11-546138.phtml

[Tom Guycott]

* For those interested, Microsoft announced both a PC port for Halo: The Master Chief Collection and an update for the set that will add in Halo Reach but with a catch. Reach's multiplayer modes, theater, and forge will be free but campaign mode needs to be purchased.
https://www.destructoid.com/halo-the-master-chief-collection-confirmed-for-pc-adding-halo-reach-on-both-pc-and-xbox-546114.phtml



Sounds nice, but what would be better is if they announce an update that would guarantee the damn game to work online. I can't even play MCC in any multiplayer capacity because it invariably freezes/crashes. Works fine solo, but I gave up anything resembling trying to capture Halo nostalgia online with friends years ago.

[Emiriya]

Hi! Is there any good strategy game news?
I want to write (https://writemyessayonline.com/) an article about the upcoming ones.

[ClockShot]

Sega has halted sales of Judgement in Japan because one of the actors in the game got arrested for drug possession.

Now the Western release date is up in the air.

[Kalyx triaD]

Hi! Is there any good strategy game news?
I want to write (https://writemyessayonline.com/) an article about the upcoming ones.

No.

[Fignuts]

Stellaris dropped on console but it’s an almost 2 year old version that’s missing loads of important game changing updates.

So I dunno if I’d call that good news.

[Emperor Smeat]

* According to a report from Reuters, EA paid Twitch's top streamer Ninja around $1 million to promote Apex Legends during its launch day. Making things interesting is EA claims Ninja was upfront about being paid to play the game while some who watched his streams stated he didn't and exploited a loophole in Twitch's rules for sponsored content.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-electronic-arts-apexlegends-idUSKBN1QU2AC
https://www.destructoid.com/ea-reportedly-paid-ninja-1-million-to-promote-apex-legends-546281.phtml

* Apparently 343 Industries was hit with a pizza flood following the announcement of a PC port for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Took about 90 minutes after the announcement for the amount of pizza being sent as thank you gifts to become a serious issue for the studio.
https://twitter.com/ske7ch/status/1105623644472897537

* Jade Raymond, former Assassin's Creed series producer and former EA Motive founder, announced she has recently joined Google as the new vice president of their gaming division.
https://twitter.com/ibjade/status/1105602638517669889
https://www.destructoid.com/jade-raymond-joins-google-seemingly-as-the-vice-president-of-its-gaming-initiative-546186.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* Sony is currently denying rumors of them being in recent talks with Take-Two regarding a potential purchase of the company.
https://www.destructoid.com/sorry-but-sony-says-it-s-definitely-not-trying-to-buy-rockstar-and-2k-546417.phtml

* Capcom announced Devil May Cry 5's free Bloody Palace DLC pack will be reelased on April 1st.
https://twitter.com/DevilMayCry/status/1106208527159386113

* Google is currently expected to be making a major gaming announcement at next week's GDC 2019 event. They revealed their keynote panel will feature reps from both Ubisoft and id Software.
https://twitter.com/googledevs/status/1105964410168721409

[Fignuts]

If everything under the Take Two umbrella becomes ps exclusive, that’s gonna be a huge blow to Xbox owners.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Yacht Club Games, developer of Shovel Knight, announced they will be officially debuting a new game at PAX East later this month.
https://www.destructoid.com/the-studio-behind-shovel-knight-is-publishing-a-new-project-to-be-revealed-at-pax-east-546515.phtml

* Besides Sega's Judgement game, Square Enix also announced they are currently working on an update for the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts III to replace all of Olaf's voice actor work due to his recent drug arrest.
https://www.destructoid.com/kingdom-hearts-iii-update-will-replace-olaf-s-japanese-voice-following-pierre-taki-arrest-546416.phtml

* During a recent interview with Game Informer, Resident Evil series designer Kazunori Kadoi revealed the official reason why Resident Evil 2 Remake uses over-the-shoulder cam instead of traditional static cam is due to the game running on a RE 7-based engine. Also confirmed the Tyrant's movement is dynamic and "cheats" by always knowing your location in the game.
https://www.destructoid.com/resident-evil-2-remake-director-getting-the-right-item-balance-is-a-lot-of-trial-and-error--546445.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* Bethesda announced they will be holding this year's E3 press conference on June 9th at 5:30 PT.
https://twitter.com/bethesda/status/1107661942645276672

* Nintendo announced they will be holding a new Indies-themed Nintendo Direct episode this Wednesday.
https://www.destructoid.com/half-hour-nintendo-indie-showcase-set-for-wednesday-546804.phtml

* According to website PCGamesN, Resident Evil 2 Remake has sold around 1 million copies on PC since its launch. For some comparisons, Resident Evil 7 still has yet to hit the million sales mark for PC.
https://www.pcgamesn.com/resident-evil-2/resident-evil-2-steam-sales

* For those interested, 343 Industries recently released a free pizza-themed gun skin DLC pack for Halo 5 as thanks for all the pizza and support given to the studio following the announcement of The Master Chief Collection for PC.
https://twitter.com/Halo/status/1107345860877275141

[Emperor Smeat]

* In a "Did You Know Gaming" type fact, Sega once considered the idea of making an Aliens vs Predators football game for the Sega Genesis based on recently discovered concept art. The game would have been called Cosmic Hard Bowl, feature two leagues with one based on aliens and the other on predators, and each team has a human as the QB.
https://www.slashfilm.com/alien-vs-predator-football-video-game/

* Google's big announcement at GDC 2019 ended up being the official debut of Google Stadia, which is a gaming streaming service. Some details include:

"No new hardware" required since it will support all existing USB controllers and mouse & keyboard devices. Google is also making their own controller for the service.
Available for desktops, laptops, TVs, tablets, and mobile devices.
Late 2019 release for North America and most of Europe
Google is developing exclusive games for the service
1080p & 60 FPS and 4K support for streaming
Full support for cross-platform play

https://www.destructoid.com/google-stadia-is-a-streaming-platform-that-doesn-t-require-any-new-hardware-546944.phtml

* During GDC 2019, Otherside Entertainment released the official debut trailer for System Shock 3.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j--cFOyeT7E" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Kalyx triaD]

Stadia is going nowhere.

[Fignuts]

Wait is the System Shock remake still coming or did it turn into this?

[Emperor Smeat]

Still arriving in the future. System Shock 3 is being made by Otherside Entertainment studio and Remake is being made by Night Dive Studios.

A trailer for System Shock Remake was also released around the same time at GDC.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JdiaIRkjpI0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Emperor Smeat]

* Quantic Dream studios announced they have recently signed a deal with Epic Games to port "select" games to the Epic Games Store. It was also announced that Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human will be the first games ported to PC and these games will be exclusive to Epic's store for 1 year.
https://www.destructoid.com/detroit-developer-quantic-dream-locks-up-timed-exclusive-deal-with-epic-to-bring-their-lineup-to-pc-546835.phtml

* Some of the indies games announced during today's Nintendo Direct episode included a Switch port of Cuphead with a April 18 release date, a new game from Double Fine called "Rad" with a Summer 2019 release date, Blaster Master with a March 20 release date, and Crypt of the Necrodancer featuring Legend of Zelda themed content and Spring 2019 release date.
https://youtu.be/wUnpK23g4FY
https://www.destructoid.com/double-fine-reveals-neon-synth-heavy-rad-for-switch-547054.phtml

* Konami confirmed the recent rumors of them working on an Anniversary Collection are true and the first collection of games will arrive on April 18 for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.
https://www.konami.com/games/50th/ac/us/en/
https://www.destructoid.com/konami-announces-the-anniversary-collection-for-all-major-platforms-546997.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* During the on-going GDC event, Epic Games Store boss Steve Allison stated the company will eventually slow down on signing exclusive PC gaming deals for their online store and also avoid another Metro Exodus situation from ever happening again.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3373854/the-epic-games-store-wont-always-push-for-exclusives-at-this-scale.html

* For those interested, the Switch port of Final Fantasy VII was released today on the eShop. Nintendo is also currently holding an Indies sale this week on the eShop.
https://www.nintendo.com/games/sales-and-deals/;jsessionid=8BAE2CF10FC5E43883D109D85C836DB0

* According to a report from website Windows Central, Microsoft's rumored disc-less Xbox One S model will have a 1TB hard drive with 3 pre-installed first party games included.
https://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-one-s-all-digital-release-date

* Skybound Games announced the final episode of the final season of The Walking Dead will be arriving on March 26 for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC (Epic Store).
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/y7006sUs1Fs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Fignuts]

The Epic Store is fucking garbage. Didn’t even have a search bar when it launched.

[Emperor Smeat]

* In an effort to clamp down on phishing attacks and improve account security, Rockstar is currently giving away $500k bucks for GTA Online and 10 gold bars for Red Dead Online to everyone who activates two-factor authentication for their Social Club accounts.
https://twitter.com/RockstarGames/status/1109112275552604160

* Gearbox is currently rumored to be working on a Borderlands 1 remaster according to a recent ESRB ratings report. Unlike the original game, this remaster is also rumored to feature a micro-transaction system.
https://www.destructoid.com/who-s-up-for-a-borderlands-remaster-that-probably-has-microtransactions--547362.phtml

* Microsoft announced they will be holding a Nintendo Direct-like stream on March 26th called ID@Xbox Game Pass and will be showcasing upcoming indies games for the Xbox One.
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2019/03/22/id-xbox-announces-id-xbox-game-pass/

* Sony also announced they will be holding a Nintendo Direct-like stream on March 25th called State of Play and will be showcasing upcoming PS4 and PSVR games.
https://blog.eu.playstation.com/2019/03/22/state-of-play-playstations-new-video-showcase-debuts-monday/

[Droford]

Two new switch models are coming this year. A cheaper version and a souped up version. Might get one

[Fignuts]

I’ll get one if they’ve improved the WiFi chip

[Emperor Smeat]

Similar to Google, Apple announced they are also joining the game streaming market with their service to be called Apple Arcade.

Currently planned for a Fall 2019 release and will be exclusive to Apple devices.

Boasting a curated library of full games, Apple Arcade will not just be for games that came out on the App Store in the past, but new games from famous designers such as Will Wright (Sim City), Ken Wong (Monument Valley), and Hironobu Sakaguchi (Final Fantasy) will also be coming to the platform.

Not content to simply be a publisher, Apple is also looking to help fund games that are released through its service. Phil Schiller, Apple's senior VP of worldwide marketing, claims that they are "working with some of the most innovative game developers in the world to create over 100 new and exclusive games to play across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV." It has been confirmed that Apple Arcade will stay exclusive to Apple products which really cements this as Apple's entry to try and stave off Google's Stadia that was recently announced.


https://www.destructoid.com/apple-digs-deeper-into-the-gaming-industry-with-subscription-based-apple-arcade-547675.phtml

[Droford]

sony cutting off all brick and mortar stores from selling digital codes for full games (but not DLC or season passes) seems like a heavyhanded move. You'll only be able to buy games through PSN.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here is the full text outlining these changes (Sony full game digital codes at retail) <a href="https://t.co/wY39bWyhaj">pic.twitter.com/wY39bWyhaj</a></p>&mdash; Wario64 (@Wario64) <a href="https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1109211277975416832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 22, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Ruien]

Always thought it was weird to buy digital games from other sources.

[ClockShot]

Looks like I'll be buying alot more PSN prepaid cards now

[Kalyx triaD]

Waste of paper anyway.

[Emperor Smeat]

Always thought it was weird to buy digital games from other sources.

Only real benefit to getting those games outside of PSN was having more sales possible for games than having to rely on just PSN. Same for getting discounts just for being a member of Amazon Prime or other similar subscriptions.

Sony's new rule pretty much gets rid of both of those sales advantages for consumers.

[Emperor Smeat]

EA recently laid off around 4% of its workforce according to a report from Kotaku.

Around 350 people were laid off and the official reason given was their past fiscal quarter "did not perform to [its] expectations." Also shut down several offices and put a freeze on new hirings.

Electronic Arts has laid off a substantial number of employees, reducing its total workforce by four percent. For the 9,000-employee publishing giant, this amounts to approximately 350 people who are left without jobs. This follows a particularly "difficult quarter" where EA says it "did not perform to [its] expectations."

According to Kotaku, it's mostly the marketing, publishing, operations, and analytics departments that are affected. People in marketing have reportedly expected something along these lines for a while now, as EA had placed a freeze on hiring and travel months ago. Additionally, EA has closed offices in Japan and Russia as it "focus[es] on different ways to serve players in those markets."

https://kotaku.com/ea-lays-off-350-people-in-marketing-publishing-analyt-1833575289

[AlexJones]

A lot of people are waking up to the ill effects of video gaming, but so many people have been conditioned by the government controlled media to think that it's cool not to care.

[Fignuts]

K

[ClockShot]

EA recently laid off around 4% of its workforce according to a report from Kotaku.

Around 350 people were laid off and the official reason given was their past fiscal quarter "did not perform to [its] expectations." Also shut down several offices and put a freeze on new hirings.



https://kotaku.com/ea-lays-off-350-people-in-marketing-publishing-analyt-1833575289

So it begins.

[Big Vic]

Would be pretty cool if EA folded.

Won't be cool when Disney buys all of its properties.

[ClockShot]

Would be pretty cool if EA folded.

Won't be cool when Disney buys all of its properties.

Nah. They'll keep the Star Wars stuff obviously. I'm sure if they want to get into gaming or not after just getting Fox.

If it happens, EA and their IPs will probably get parted out just like what happened to THQ.

[Fignuts]

EA is not folding. They’ve still made ridiculous numbers. They just haven’t met their absurdly unrealistic expectations.

And no matter how bad stuff like Anthem or Battlefield does, as long as they have FIFA, they’re fine.

[Emperor Smeat]

Speaking of Anthem, supposedly the game made around $100 million since its launch but its on track to do well below EA's game sales expectations. EA wanted 6 million copies sold in 6 weeks and instead its around 1.6 million with about 2 weeks left.

[Fignuts]

Clearly it was the marketing department that is responsible for this. Good thing EA got rid of them.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Ubisoft announced their press conference at this year's E3 event will be occurring on June 10th.
https://www.destructoid.com/ubisoft-s-doing-its-usual-thing-for-e3-547940.phtml

* According to reports, the Switch port of Final Fantasy VII has the same audio bug that was first discovered back in 2012 for the PC port of the game. Final Fantasy IX also has a similar audio issues in all of its ports.
https://nintendosoup.com/final-fantasy-vii-on-switch-reintroduces-bug-that-was-patched-previously/

* Yacht Club Games recently released the debut trailer for a classic Ninja Gaiden-inspired game called Cyber Shadow. No release date was given but it will arrive for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AAjkJJiWTps" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Emperor Smeat]

A new game in the Legend of Zelda series is currently in development based on recent job postings from Monolith Soft, developer of the Xenoblade Chronicles series.

Wouldn't be the first time they've worked on Zelda games but only in a supporting role and not main dev role.

As Siliconera points out, the Kyoto branch of Monolith Soft has worked on Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, and Breath of the Wild proving support for Nintendo.

https://www.siliconera.com/2019/03/28/monolith-soft-is-recruiting-staff-for-developing-the-legend-of-zelda/

[Emperor Smeat]

Ubisoft announced their upcoming RTS game called Anno 1800 will be available for both Steam and Epic Games Store although with a big catch.

The Steam version will only be available for sale via pre-order until its launch. Afterwards, the game will only be purchasable on Epic Games Store and Ubisoft Store.

For city-builder Anno 1800, Ubisoft has opted to play both sides in a way that should placate everyone -- presuming they act within the next couple of weeks. Anno 1800 can be pre-ordered through Steam up until its April 16 release date. Anyone who does that can launch the game through Steam and will get regular updates through Steam.

However, at launch, Anno 1800 will switch so that it can only be purchased on the Epic Games Store and the Ubisoft Store. That's the Ubisoft and Epic partnership coming into play. Only people who pre-order have the option of launching Anno 1800 from their Steam library; everyone else has to use a different client. Because multiplayer is filtered through Uplay, all PC players (regardless of client) will be able to play together.

Pretty much avoids another Metro Exodus situation from happening which Epic Games later admitted to being sorry for their role in the debacle.

https://www.anno-union.com/en/ubisoft-is-partnering-with-epic-games-store-for-anno-1800/
https://www.destructoid.com/ubisoft-s-anno-1800-plays-both-sides-in-the-steam-vs-epic-war-probably-to-avoid-a-metro-exodus-like-fiasco-548224.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

Seems Valve ditched their partnership with HTC and will be releasing their own VR headset this June. Also was confirmed to not simply be an April Fools gag by Valve.

After partnering with the design conglomerate just several years ago, Valve is poised to enter the VR business in earnest with their own hardware: the "Valve Index." This was announced without warning over the weekend and details are very vague: yep, that's Valve (minus the nebulous "Valve Time," as a May 2019 release date was shared).

As The Verge points out there seems to be several wide-angle cameras to prevent any room-based bumps, as well as a slider for folks who might not adjust to VR as well as others. The longstanding wild rumor is that Half-Life 3 will be a VR experience to help sell Valve's future vision of VR (but not necessarily at launch).

https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/1/18291013/valve-index-vr-headset-product-page-early-launch-date

[Emperor Smeat]

Square Enix announced Final Fantasy VII Remake's development was recently hit with another shakeup.

For instance in 2015 when it was announced, learned that CyberConnect2 (famous for Asura's Wrath and a boat load of Naruto games) was working on the remake in tandem with Square Enix. Then we found out that they were jettisoned as the publisher moved to an in-house strategy. This week, Square Enix has announced by their own recruitment page that Naoki Hamaguchi (who was a programmer for the XIII series and was promoted to project lead for the VII remake) is now co-directing with the veteran Tetsuya Nomura.

https://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-vii-remake-development-shifts-around-again-548629.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* EA announced an upcoming update for Battlefield V will include the option to purchase in-game items and rank levels via real money and no longer just with in-game currency earned.
https://www.ea.com/games/battlefield/battlefield-5/news/battlefield-5-currency
https://www.destructoid.com/battlefield-v-is-rolling-out-real-money-cosmetic-items-and-time-savers-548866.phtml

* For those that like their Devil May Cry games to feature exposed butts, newest update for the PS4 version of Devil May Cry 5 removed the lens flare censor for a specific CGI scene. Only North America got this update while those in Europe still have the censor intact.
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-04-02-devil-may-cry-5-patch-pulls-lens-flare-butt-cover-up-on-ps4-but-not-in-europel

* According to Gamestop's recent fiscal report, 2018 ended up being the worst fiscal year in company's history with an overall net loss of $673 million. Previous all-time worst was -$269.7 million in 2012.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-04-02-gamestop-posts-usd673-million-full-year-loss

[Emperor Smeat]

Whatever grand plans Ubisoft had for their toys-to-life Starlink game is now in the gutter since they recently stopped all production of the game's figurines.

Also means the new set of figurines originally planned to arrive as part of the big Spring update for the game will no longer be happening.

https://www.destructoid.com/starlink-battle-for-atlas-halts-production-on-further-toys-548968.phtml

[Kalyx triaD]

Strange outcome being the game itself was well recieved. Guess the kids didn't dig it.

[Fignuts]

Shame. Seemed like it was what Starfox Zero should of been.

[Emperor Smeat]

Next Assassin's Creed game is rumored to be titled as "Kingdom" and take place during the Viking era, based on a supposed Easter egg in The Division 2.

Players tongues have been set wagging due to a mysterious Easter Egg in Ubisoft's multiplayer shooter Tom Clancy's The Division 2. As first noted by YouTuber JorRaptor, the interior of the in-game Potomac Events Centre sports a range of posters for an upcoming show, titled "Valhalla" and featuring the image of a proud hooded warrior.

Eagle-eyed players have noticed, however, that the Viking appears to be grasping The Apple of Eden, the main plot device - or "MacGuffin," as film wankers say - of the Assassin's Creed series. This has led players to suggest that the follow up to Assassin's Creed Odyssey will be set in The Viking Age, which took place around 1000 A.D.

This find also ties in with a previous report by website Kotaku, in which two independent sources both stated that the horned-helmet berserkers would indeed be making their debut in the Assassin's Creed franchise. Said sequel is supposedly being developed under the working title of "Assassin's Creed Kingdom" and is said to be scheduled for a 2020 release.

https://www.destructoid.com/ul/549402-rumour-next-assassin-s-creed-title-kingdom-set-in-viking-age/ass%20creed%20kingdom%20rumor%20vikings-noscale.jpg
https://www.destructoid.com/rumour-next-assassin-s-creed-title-kingdom-set-in-the-viking-age-549402.phtml

[ClockShot]

Well, if that's the case, I hope they learned their lesson with Origins and Odyssey and really put some thought and listened to the community about this next installment.

[Emperor Smeat]

For those interested, Sony finally added the ability to change user names on PSN starting today although it does come with a few big warnings.

Similar to Microsoft, the first change is free and afterwards its $10 per name change. PS+ members only have to pay $5 for additional name changes.

As Sony subtly reminds us the backend is kind of a mess, so the only games guaranteed to support the ID change are ones published "after April 1, 2018." Anything before that might not work or cause various issues, though Sony says that "most actively played PS4 games" will be fine.

Wild right? Side effects for non-supported titles include (cue soothing music) "a non-visible PSN ID, lost progress, bugged games, and "losing access to content." These issues are plainly explained on the official PlayStation Blog and exist out of the test/staging area, so it's a very much "at your own risk" sort of deal.

https://blog.us.playstation.com/2019/04/10/online-id-change-on-psn-your-questions-answered/
https://www.destructoid.com/psn-id-changes-are-finally-live-for-everyone-on-ps4-here-s-how-to-do-it-549640.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* While it won't be officially revealed until tomorrow morning, a piece of game art for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was accidentally leaked early by Amazon.
https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1116410707891802112
https://www.destructoid.com/some-star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-art-leaked-and-it-s-badass-549980.phtml

* The co-founder of Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment, Jason West, reportedly has been recently hired by Epic Games to work on their gaming division according to a report from Geoff Keighley.
https://twitter.com/geoffkeighley/status/1116715991088627714

* Epic Games is rumored to be holding another Thanos themed event for Fortnite as part of Marvel's marketing plans for their upcoming Avengers: Endgame film.
https://www.destructoid.com/fortnite-datamining-efforts-uncover-possible-thanos-revival-on-the-dawn-of-the-new-avengers-film-549923.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* According to a recent episode of Kotaku's Splitscreen podcast show, Bungie originally had plans for Destiny 2's Forsaken expansion pack to feature cross-platform support for character transfers. Those plans were squashed due to Sony's refusal to approve it for PS4 and marketing reasons involving the game.
Episode link: https://overcast.fm/+FKOYoMxYg/57:15
https://www.destructoid.com/sony-allegedly-stopped-destiny-2-cross-platform-character-transfers-550286.phtml

* A sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn reportedly is currently in production based on an accidental leak by one of the game's voice actors.
https://www.destructoid.com/horizon-zero-dawn-s-inevitable-sequel-is-seemingly-confirmed-by-voice-actor-550048.phtml

* Capcom is currently rumored to be working on a plug-and-play device featuring a selection of classic arcade games including Alien vs. Predator, Darkstalkers, and Street Fighter 2.
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/04/capcoms_big_announcement_is_a_plug-and-play_arcade_stick_packed_with_classic_games

[Emperor Smeat]

* During a recent interview with Wired, Playstation lead architect Mark Cerny revealed some early details regarding the next Playstation including rumors of a late 2019 release being false, backwards compatible support for PS4 games, SSD for its hard drive, and Death Stranding to be a cross-gen game for PS4 and PS5.
https://www.wired.com/story/exclusive-sony-next-gen-console/

* Microsoft confirmed rumors of a new disc-less model of the Xbox One currently being in production with a release date of May 7th and price tag of $250.
https://www.destructoid.com/microsoft-s-disc-less-xbox-one-s-launches-may-7-for-250-550292.phtml

* Capcom confirmed rumors of them currently working on a plug-and-play device called Capcom Home Arcade with 16 games included, a £200 price tag, and an October 25th release date.
https://www.destructoid.com/capcom-home-arcade-is-a-huge-200-stick-complete-with-built-in-arcade-classics-550382.phtml

[ClockShot]

Judging from what that PS5 is potentially packing in terms of hardware, along with backwards compatibility, and still using discs...…..

Sounds fantastic.

[Fignuts]

That Capcom home arcade is a fucking joke. For the same price you could get the same thing, at the same price from Pandora’s box, except with 1500 games instead of 16.

[ClockShot]

If anyone is looking for a freebie today, Ubisoft put Assassins' Creed: Unity on their Uplay store for free in honor of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire. They're also donating $500k to the restoration effort.

[Droford]

Judging from what that PS5 is potentially packing in terms of hardware, along with backwards compatibility, and still using discs...…..

Sounds fantastic.

I want to know if the PS4 backwards compatible part will handle the games like a PS4 pro

[Kalyx triaD]

...It's a PS5.

[Droford]

Doesnt mean shit if you put a PS4 pro enhanced game in it and it doesn't play in 4k

[Kalyx triaD]

The PS5 is confirmed to output at 8K, I think it'll be fine.

[OssMan]

Rather than systems that output games in 8K and 1640 P or whatever I'd like one that I can play on a TV that's smaller than 50 inches and still be able to read what's on the screen

[Droford]

I found my answer

However, the PS4 games will run a bit faster on PS5, thanks to the inclusion of a solid-state drive (SSD). As an example, Cerny compared the load times for fast travel in Spider-Man. The PS4 Pro load took roughly 15 seconds, but the same sequence took less than one second on the PS5 dev kit. So if you upgrade your hardware, you'll probably have a nice smoother experience in some respects.



Spiderman is enhanced for Pro at least

[Emperor Smeat]

Faster loading times being a given makes sense since anything else would likely require special patches made by devs for their games.

Might have some rare cases where backwards compatibility could cause problems if certain stuff is hard coded like with GTA V and Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 or if the PS5's emulator is a bit wonky like Xbox 360's emulator for original Xbox games.

[Emperor Smeat]

For those interested in the Switch version of Final Fantasy X-2 Remaster, apparently Square Enix made things a lot more of a hassle than needed to be for the game if you opt for the physical release.

To recap, if you buy Final Fantasy X/X-2 on Switch as an Asia-region physical purchase, it'll contain both games on the same cart with multiple languages. Done. In the west, only X is on the cart: X-2 is a download. Now that the apocalypse is finally here, people are contending that the situation is even worse than we thought.

What Square Enix has seemingly done is tie Final Fantasy X and X-2 together as one download, with the latter serving as what is basically DLC for the former. Meaning, even if you redeem the X-2 download code packed into the western edition of the physical version, you still need the game cart to play it. If you trade it in, you can't boot up the downloaded X-2.

https://www.destructoid.com/apparently-the-western-version-of-final-fantasy-x-2-requires-the-cart-on-switch-even-though-it-s-a-separate-download-551040.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

Square Enix announced they will be holding their E3 2019 press conference on June 10 at 6PM PST. Might be a pre-taped conference like others they've held in the past.

For some reference, that timeslot was Sony's traditional spot at E3 before they decided to not hold one this year.

https://square-enix-games.com/en_US/news/e3-2019

[Emperor Smeat]

Next game in the Call of Duty series is currently rumored to be Modern Warfare 4 based on a supposed leak during a recent Call of Duty co-promoted event held by Activision and the NFL.

Also fueling speculation of this game being Modern Warfare 4 was a report from Eurogamer about this event that sneaked in the game's title via a coded message trick.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I see you <a href="https://t.co/R0HlmBvNgt">pic.twitter.com/R0HlmBvNgt</a></p>&mdash; Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/1121075824239812609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-04-24-this-years-call-of-duty-hasnt-been-announced-but-some-footballers-have-played-it
https://www.destructoid.com/the-new-call-of-duty-isn-t-officially-modern-warfare-4-but-it-s-probably-modern-warfare-4-551329.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* According to EA and Respawn Entertainment, the future of the Titanfall series has been put on an indefinite hold due to the success of Apex Legends and Respawn only has 2 dev teams in the studio. Since one team is currently busy with Apex Legends and the other with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, they don't have the manpower needed for a third project any time soon.
https://www.ea.com/games/apex-legends/news/an-update-on-apex-legends

* Based on Nintendo's recent fiscal report, the Switch has sold over 34 million consoles since its launch and surpassed the N64 as the 4th best selling console in company history. In regards to game sales, Super Smash Bros Ultimate sold more copies since its launch (13.81 million) than Wii U did for its lifetime console sales (13.56 million).
https://www.destructoid.com/switch-hits-34-47-million-units-sold-worldwide-officially-putting-it-above-the-nintendo-64-551408.phtml
https://www.destructoid.com/smash-ultimate-outsells-the-wii-u-as-in-the-wii-u-system-wild-stat-right--551409.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* Based on Sony's recent fiscal report, PS4 has sold over 96 million consoles since its launch.
https://www.destructoid.com/sony-nearly-hits-100-million-ps4s-sold-worldwide-approaches-lifetime-wii-sales-551561.phtml

* According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Sony still do not have any plans to release a new console within the next 12 months. Current speculation is a possible late 2020 as the earliest date for the PS5's launch.
https://twitter.com/mochi_wsj/status/1121687268123529216

* Nintendo stated their next mainline Pokemon games, Pokemon Shield & Sword, are being developed with a strong emphasis towards the Switch's handheld play capabilities.
https://www.destructoid.com/pokemon-sword-shield-is-being-developed-primarily-with-handheld-play-in-mind-551557.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* According to Variety, Microsoft will be holding a special event at Mojang studios celebrating Minecraft's 10th anniversary but have banned series creator Notch from the event. Official reason due to his habit of making controversial statements in recent years and Microsoft no longer wanting any association with him.
https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/minecraft-creator-excluded-from-anniversary-due-to-comments-and-opinions-exclusive-1203200050/

* Based on Koei Tecmo's recent fiscal report, Dead or Alive 6 has sold around 350k digital copies since its launch and well below the 600k they were expecting in digital sales by now.
https://www.destructoid.com/dead-or-alive-6-shifted-350-000-copies-in-its-first-month-551802.phtml

* Indie developer Askiisoft announced that Katana Zero sold over 100k copies during its launch week.
https://twitter.com/askiisoft/status/1121447097411276803

[Emperor Smeat]

* NetherRealm Studios is currently dealing with allegations of management abusing Mortal Kombat 11's crunch time with 80-100 work weeks being common. The studio is also alleged to have purposely paid Q&A testers lower pay than typical for their work due to their over-reliance on temp workers to cut costs.
https://www.pcgamer.com/former-devs-speak-out-about-severe-crunch-at-mortal-kombat-studio/

* Epic Games is also currently dealing with allegations of harmful crunch time demands and toxic work environment issues for Fortnite according to a report from Polygon. In Epic's case, these issues went well into the game's post-launch due to management's increasing demands for the game to generate more money the more successful it became.
https://www.polygon.com/2019/4/23/18507750/fortnite-work-crunch-epic-games

[Emperor Smeat]

Epic Games reportedly has recently purchased Psyonix studio, developer of Rocket League, for an undisclosed sum and also hinted Rocket League will be pulled from sale on Steam later this year.

https://www.engadget.com/2019/05/01/epic-buys-psyonix/
https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/1/18525842/epic-games-psyonix-acquisition-rocket-league-fortnite-unreal-deal

[Fignuts]

Valve needs to do what Netflix did when threatened with other services. Original content. They're literally sitting on some of the most successful, critically acclaimed IPs in modern gaming history.

[ClockShot]

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night finally arrives next month. June 18th for PS4, XB1, and PC. Switch users gotta wait a few extra days. June 25th for them.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/05/02/castlevania-spiritual-successor-bloodstained-ritual-of-the-night-will-be-released-next-month?abthid=5ccb12dbc00933d23f0014ce

[Emperor Smeat]

* Ubisoft currently teasing they will be debuting a new game in the Tom Clancy series on May 9th. Current speculation points to this new game being from the Ghost Recon series.
https://www.pcgamesn.com/new-tom-clancy-game

* During an interview with Video Games Chronicle, Platinum Games head producer Atsushi Inaba revealed the company will be self-publishing their games in the future in order to have more creative freedom towards game development.
https://www.destructoid.com/platinum-is-going-to-start-self-publishing-its-games-so-that-it-can-make-sequels-552369.phtml

* Activision is currently expected to officially reveal the next game in the Call of Duty series by the end of this June based on their recent investors meeting.
https://www.destructoid.com/activision-will-reveal-new-call-of-duty-title-before-the-end-of-june-552307.phtml

[Fignuts]

Would be cool if they made a sequel to Wildlands but combined it with Future Warfighter or something.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Ubisoft confirmed the next game in the Tom Clancy series will be from the Ghost Recon sub-series and will officially debut this Thursday at 11:30 PST.
https://twitter.com/GhostRecon/status/1125441958606929920

* EA announced the first gameplay trailers for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be shown off at their EA Play E3 event on June 7th.
https://twitter.com/Respawn/status/1124750674674110464

* Sony announced their next Nintendo Direct-like State of Play episode will be taking place this Thursday and features the new MediEvil game and a "new title announcement."
https://www.destructoid.com/sony-s-next-nintendo-direct-esque-state-of-play-stream-is-this-week-will-include-medievil-info-new-game-announcement-552665.phtml

* Capcom recently announced a Switch port of Devil May Cry 1 is currently in development with a Summer 2019 release date.
https://www.destructoid.com/devil-may-cry-is-coming-to-switch-which-opens-the-door-for-dante-in-super-smash-bros--552673.phtml

[ClockShot]

Totally down for a new Ghost Recon game if it's setup like Wildlands. Aside from the end of that game, it was a blast.

[Emperor Smeat]

* According to a report from Gameindustry.biz, Starbreeze Studios is currently facing serious financial issues and could potential shut down within the next 12 months unless a new investor is found.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-05-07-starbreeze-seeks-funding-to-avoid-imminent-liquidity-shortfall

* According to a report from Kotaku, over 150 employees recently walked out of Riot Games in protest of the company's toxic workplace environment and poor handling of their recent discrimination lawsuits. The tipping point was the company recently filed a motion for all of their lawsuits to be placed into Forced Arbitration as a way to prevent their employees from filing more lawsuits against the company.
https://kotaku.com/over-150-riot-employees-walk-out-to-protest-forced-arbi-1834566198
https://www.destructoid.com/riot-games-employees-hold-walkout-protest-over-forced-arbitration-of-recent-lawsuits-552779.phtml

* In an update to recent Devil May Cry Switch port news, Capcom announced it will only be a digital release for the eShop.
https://www.destructoid.com/devil-may-cry-switch-will-not-get-a-physical-release-here-s-what-it-looks-like-552781.phtml

* For those interested, EA announced their EA Access subscription service will finally be arriving on PS4 this July.
https://www.destructoid.com/ea-access-is-heading-to-ps4-in-july-552791.phtml

[ClockShot]

Would not be surprised if NetEase went and invested money into Starbreeze to keep them afloat. Or just outright bought them to add to their little collection of studios.

[Fignuts]

Jesus Christ, this industry.

The combination of terrible work environments and ridiculous levels of greed is making this hobby so fucking gross.

At this point I’m almost hoping for another crash. God knows I’ve got enough in my backlog to keep me busy until it’s rebuilt.

[Fignuts]

Seriously, just burn it all.

[Sepholio]

Rumor mill seems to think FF7 Remake is going to get a new trailer/big announcement at Sonys State of Play tomorrow. Secondary rumor is that perhaps it might be the rereveal of Deep Down from Capcom. Seems those are the 2 front runners for the announcement by a wide margin.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ubisoft accidentally leaked their big Tom Clancy announcement early.

Next Ghost Recon game is called "Ghost Recon Breakpoint" and in terms of storyline timeline, it takes place after Wildlands' Operation Oracle DLC pack.

A recent listing on Ubisoft's online store has leaked the next Ghost Recon game. Set for a reveal tomorrow afternoon, the latest entry in the long-running tactical squad shooter will be called Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Taking place after the recent "Operation Oracle" event in Wildlands, this newest game will see Team Ghost squaring off against The Punisher Cole D. Walker (played by Jon Bernthal) and his army of mechanized drones. Sounds like a political statement, despite Ubisoft not doing that.

Not much else is known about the title. A Reddit thread claims there will be four-player co-op with the game releasing on October 4, 2019, for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. We don't have any confirmation on PvP or whether the game will be open-world like its predecessor (though I imagine it will be). What we do know is that a Ubisoft Store exclusive "Wolves" edition will be available. That will come with a 24cm figure of Cole, a map and art book, a Year 1 DLC pass, the "Ultimate Pack," and three-day early access.

https://www.destructoid.com/ubisoft-accidentally-leaks-ghost-recon-breakpoint-ahead-of-tomorrow-s-stream-552907.phtml

[Fignuts]

Fucking hyped for that shit, boy howdy. Wildlands is lots of fun.

[ClockShot]

Sweet.

Just change the location, keep the core gameplay intact, you can have my $60.

[Fignuts]

Sounds like they’re doing what I hoped and adding a bit more GRAW into it.

[ClockShot]

Breakpoint looking awesome right now.

[Fignuts]

Yeah it does. Love the new realistic touches like getting shot in the leg affecting movement, and being able to move enemy and ally bodies.

[ClockShot]

Sony State of Play summary:

New Final Fantasy 7 remake teaser. More to be revealed at E3.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qOn2bWuA_0w" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Monster Hunter World: Icebourne. Goes live 9/9/2019 for PS4 and XB1. PC sometime this winter.


Medieval Remake, October 25th 2019.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OdFgmLIjYiw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


New Predator game. Predator: Hunting Grounds. Coming 2020. Sounds like it's gonna play like Evolve. Multiplayer, 1 player is The Predator, everyone else is part of a fireteam hunting him down.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ocP3VPsEGds" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>


And finally, this year's Days of Play special edition PS4.

https://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/stg.ign.com/2019/05/Screenshot-132.png


There's other small tidbits. But I'm sure you're able to track them down.

[Fignuts]

Fuck.

I wanted an open world Predator game.

Using the evolve formula is a pretty neat idea though.

[Kalyx triaD]

Likely they're going off the concepts they used in the Jason game, which blows Evolve out the water in terms of asymmetric gameplay. Predator is a good fit.

[Fignuts]

Xbox apparently leaked Janemba as the final dlc character for dragonball fighters.

Fuck yeah.

[Fignuts]

Also no way they leave out UI Goku and Kefla, so I’m calling a season 3 right now

[Fignuts]

Damn. Really feeling the Super Best Friends break up with a new Mortal Kombat out. Would have been fun.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Update on recent Starbreeze Studios financial crisis news as Starbreeze recently sold one of their sub-studios, Dhruva Interactive, to Rockstar Games for around $7.9 million.
https://www.destructoid.com/rockstar-swoops-as-starbreeze-is-forced-to-sell-off-a-studio-553493.phtml

* According to a report from Box Office Mojo, Detective Pickahu managed to set a new record for the biggest ever opening day box office in North America for a video game-based film at around $58 million. Previous record was Lara Croft: Tomb Raider at $48.2 million.
https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4512

* Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada revealed that he has recently become the new General Manger of Bandai Namco. In regards to the Tekken series itself, Michael Murray will be taking over as its new producer.
https://www.destructoid.com/tekken-producer-katsuhiro-harada-becomes-general-manager-at-bandai-namco-553449.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently Yukes finally realized major changes are desperately needed for their WWE gaming series.

They are forming a new internal dev team who will be working on a brand new wrestling IP. The idea is to use this new IP to create internal competition and provide the motivation needed for the rest of the studio to make better WWE games.

Also admitted that AKI leaving the wrestling genre was the worst thing to happen since it created the void in competition and led to them becoming too complacent in making WWE games.

Futura said the studio may “find a way to do things in the way that we want, in terms of our existing relationship with our publisher”. However, for the time being its solution is to create its own rival wrestling IP.

“We are trying to launch a new wrestling game,” she said. “Of course, we will retain the WWE team, but we are also aware that our creators are beginning to lose sight of their passion and confidence and becoming focused only on completing assigned tasks. That’s not the direction Yuke’s wants to go in. So, in order to compensate, we’re going to start a new wrestling project.”

Furuta said the unnamed project is at a “very early” stage and that Yuke’s has ideas for new game systems it thinks will result in “an interesting game”.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/wwe-2k-studio-creating-rival-wrestling-ip/

[Fignuts]

Thats.....interesting.

[Kalyx triaD]

Divert the games as one being arcadey, and the other being simulation.

[Fignuts]

Mortal Kombat movie will be filmed in South Australia and will be produced by James Wan.

Apparently only has a 50 mil budget though. oof

[Emperor Smeat]

* Epic Games announced they will be the main sponsor for this year's PC Gaming Show at E3 on June 10th.
https://www.destructoid.com/epic-is-sponsoring-the-e3-pc-gaming-show-553628.phtml

* Netflix announced they will be hosting a panel at E3 on June 12 called "Bringing Your Favorite Shows to Life: Developing Netflix Originals into Video Games." At the moment, only their Stranger Things series has been announced for the panel.
https://www.destructoid.com/netflix-wants-to-talk-about-video-games-at-e3-553635.phtml

* For those interested, SNK announced those who purchase the new Samurai Shodown game by June 30th will receive the game's Season Pass for free as a gift. The game itself launches on June 25th for PS4 and Xbox One.
https://gematsu.com/2019/05/samurai-shodown-launches-june-25-for-ps4-and-xbox-one-in-the-americas-and-europe

* Seems Ghost Recon Breakpoint isn't the only new Tom Clancy game in development at Ubisoft as the creative director of The Division 2 recently announced he is currently working on a new game in the Splinter Cell series. EDIT: Nevermind, it was just an elaborate joke by the creative director for some cheap laughs based on a statement made by Ubisoft afterwards.
https://twitter.com/jgerighty/status/1128395675329335296
https://www.gamesradar.com/new-splinter-cell-2019-tweet-reveal/

[Fignuts]

I was gonna get Samurai Showdown anyway, so that’s awesome. Good on SNK for throwing their customers a bone.

[Sepholio]

Yeah now that's an incentive I can get behind. Reward early adopters with something decent for once.

[Sepholio]

FF7 is going to have an early November release date for part 1. Game will not be as episodic as thought and will instead be 2 parts only. I imagine the end of part 1 will either be when Aerith dies or when cloud loses his mind, having the second game start with the bit that takes place in his head. Will depend where they decide to expand upon the content the most.

[ClockShot]

The Division 2's upcoming raid, Dark Hours, will NOT have matchmaking support.

And, that was one of Ubisoft Massive's big promises for this game. All endgame content will have matchmaking capabilities.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/05/15/the-division-2-raid-will-not-have-matchmaking

[Fignuts]

If it’s anything like destiny’s raids, then matchmaking would be worthless. Though if they were planning that kind of raid, they shouldn’t have promised matchmaking to begin with.

[Emperor Smeat]

For those interested, Namco will be releasing a new DLC pack tomorrow for Soulcalibur VI that contains around 50 new customisation items but like 49 of them don't matter since none compare to the new "cat hat" which is just putting a cat on the top of your character's head and shoulders.

Over 150 customisation items will be made available, as well as a whopping 97 music tracks from previous Soulcalibur releases. However, more importantly than all of that, is the apparent ability to have kittens perched on your fighter's head and shoulders. Actual Cat Hats. I know we all tend to frown on paid DLC, - and understandably so - but that's before I saw this image, and now I'm kind of turned around on the subject.

https://www.destructoid.com/ul/553704-soulclaibur%20dlc%20cat.jpg

[Kalyx triaD]

Namco corrected themself in that It's about 50 pieces, not over 150. The new update is pretty good, tested it right at launch.

[Fignuts]

Holy shit Mario Maker 2 looks good.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Microsoft and Sony announced they are partnering together towards the development of new and improved AI and cloud-based tech for gaming. The partnership will be focusing primarily around Sony's sensor tech and Microsoft's cloud and AI tech.
https://news.microsoft.com/2019/05/16/sony-and-microsoft-to-explore-strategic-partnership/
https://www.destructoid.com/microsoft-and-sony-are-teaming-up-to-share-gaming-tech-553899.phtml

* According to a report from Famitsu via GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo's Switch recently surpassed PS4 as the highest selling current gen console in Japan with 8.13 million sold compared to the 8.07 million for PS4.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-05-15-nintendo-switch-sales-pass-ps4-in-japan

* Based on Ubisoft's recent fiscal report, the company will be revealing three more AAA status games before the end of March 2020. One of the games rumored to be getting revealed is Watch Dogs 3.
https://www.destructoid.com/ubisoft-has-three-more-unannounced-games-coming-before-march-2020-553820.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently Epic Games somehow managed to botch something as simple as holding their first sale on the Epic Games Store.

Biggest issue was several publishers pulling their games from the sale due to not being informed ahead of time and likely didn't have any input on the discounts being handed out.

At least one noted issue of an artificial price hike being done in order to manipulate the special discount for games priced at $14.99 and over.

On top of that was several noted cases of game purchases being denied and accounts locked due to anti-fraud security being falsely triggered. Its all due to the lack of a shopping cart feature for the store.

https://www.destructoid.com/epic-games-store-s-first-sale-is-off-to-a-rocky-start-554005.phtml

[Fignuts]

Having a store that functions properly and has basic features like a search bar or shopping cart isn’t nearly as important as buying exclusivity rights. Come on now.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Sony announces they have opened a new division called Playstation Productions which will handle the development of tv series and films based on their video game properties.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sony-interactive-launches-unit-adapt-games-film-tv-1211850

* Update to recent Riot Games' mass employees protest news as the company stated they are not dropping their push to get a Forced Arbitration decision for all of their on-going lawsuits nor are they working to fix their alleged toxic workplace environment.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-17/riot-games-to-keep-arbitration-clause-despite-employee-protest
https://www.destructoid.com/riot-games-steadfast-on-forced-arbitration-for-current-employees-despite-protests-554279.phtml

* Based on their recent fiscal report, Capcom announced they have been very pleased with the RE Engine and it will remain as the focal point for the development of their upcoming games and next gen games.
https://www.destructoid.com/capcom-really-loves-its-re-engine-will-keep-using-it-beyond-resident-evil-and-devil-may-cry-5-554285.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* Supermassive Games announced the first game in their The Dark Pictures Anthology horror series, Man of Medan, is currently scheduled to be released on August 30th for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
https://www.destructoid.com/until-dawn-creator-s-next-horror-story-man-of-medan-set-for-august-554402.phtml

* According to a report from Gematsu, Game of Thrones series creator George R.R. Martin recently teased that he is currently working with From Software on the development of a new open world game. It was also reported that this new game is currently planned to be officially revealed at next month's E3.
https://gematsu.com/2019/05/george-rr-martin-ive-consulted-on-a-video-game-out-of-japan

[Emperor Smeat]

According to a report from Kotaku, Activision recently pulled Sledgehammer Games Call of Duty project from development and Treyarch will now be handling next year's CoD game.

Unofficial reason is due to lingering issues with the game's development and constant bickering between Sledgehammer Games and co-developer Raven Software over its direction.

Treyarch reportedly also got really upset over the new since now they have to deal with the fallout of Sledgehammer's game being dropped and likely rush development on their own CoD game due to now having one less year to work on it.

https://kotaku.com/sources-call-of-duty-2020-in-upheaval-as-treyarch-take-1834858368

[Emperor Smeat]

According to analyst firm SuperData, Apex Legends' monthly revenues have been dropping at a significant rate since its launch. Last month's revenues reportedly were around 74% less than its launch month revenues.

According to a report from market research firm SuperData, Apex Legends has gone from earning $92 million in February to around $24 million in April. That's a drop of roughly 74%, which is a huge drop from being the "strongest start for a free-to-play title" as SuperData said months ago.

While publisher EA hasn't commented on the player base for Apex in a while, one only need look at the viewer numbers on Twitch to get a rough estimate for the title's current popularity. Apex has fallen off considerably since its February launch, according to website Twitch Tracker. There was also some blowback to the quality of the first battle pass, with a lot of players being severely underwhelmed by it. With Apex not receiving any new content until possibly E3, it seems players are becoming impatient and jumping ship.

https://www.destructoid.com/apex-legends-profits-drop-for-a-second-month-in-a-row-554736.phtml

[Kalyx triaD]

Cause their premium skins are ass.

[alvarado52]

CDkeys is having a sale on 3 month Xbox Game Pass codes (all legit, ive reupped for 2 years using this deal) for $11. Says the limit is two per transaction, but I just did paypal checkout 2 at a time.

https://www.cdkeys.com/xbox-live/memberships/3-month-xbox-game-pass-xbox-one?utm_currency=USD&gclid=Cj0KCQjwz6PnBRCPARIsANOtCw2rfkgzk8_2cPCbgmC8cghWRaXV335NkkWqGfY_QN8Zij1U87M3ExAaApjaEALw_wcB

[Emperor Smeat]

For those interested in Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima recently teased new details and/or trailer for the game will be arriving tomorrow.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The countdown of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DEATHSTRANDING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DEATHSTRANDING</a> has started... May 29th. <br>Create the rope. <a href="https://t.co/26ynWg2m3s">pic.twitter.com/26ynWg2m3s</a></p>&mdash; Kojima Productions (@KojiPro2015_EN) <a href="https://twitter.com/KojiPro2015_EN/status/1132953645119442946?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Fignuts]

Upcoming No Man's Sky has convinced me into saving for VR. I was worried about motion sickness. Don't want to spend that kind of money for something I can only use in 10 minute intervals. But after reading a few forums, it seems like something you only have to deal with from the start. Eventually you get used to it, and can play in full motion without a problem.

[ClockShot]

VR's not bad. You just gotta have the room to move around.

[RP]

Death Stranding looks pretty darn good. Releases November 8th

[Kalyx triaD]

One of my favorite experiences as a gamer is Kojima trailers. Sometimes I don't even want the game to ever come out. Just annual trailers.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Sony is currently dealing with a lawsuit from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in regards to allegations of the company breaking Australian consumer laws related to game refunds. The ACCC claims that Sony's current terms are too restrictive, not allowed to have separate rules for digital and physical refunds, and not allowed to only offer in-store credit for digital refunds.
https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/allegations-sony-breached-consumer-law-for-playstation-games
https://www.destructoid.com/the-australian-competition-and-consumer-commission-is-suing-sony-over-allegedly-breaching-consumer-law-555208.phtml

* Ubisoft is currently rumored to be working on plans for a new subscription-based service called ""Ubisoft Pass Premium" for UPlay.
https://www.vg247.com/2019/05/27/ubisoft-pass-leak-ubisoft-store/

* According to Kotaku, The Last of Us II is currently rumored to have been delayed till early 2020 and unofficial reason due to Sony wanting Death Stranding to have the spotlight for the big PS4 late 2019 release.
https://www.destructoid.com/the-last-of-us-part-ii-reportedly-pushed-into-early-2020-555254.phtml

[Fignuts]

Fuck off with all these publishers having their own subscription services.

[Fignuts]

So Mario Maker 2 introduces multiplayer to the game.

But you can only play online with randoms.

Because they don't want playing with friends to affect leaderboards.

My fucking brain hurts.

[Emperor Smeat]

* During a recent interview with PlayStation Lifestyle, one of the directors for Call of Duty Modern Warfare stated the game will not feature a Zombies mode and official reason is due to them focusing more on realism for its gameplay and story.
https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2019/05/30/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-zombies-mode-no/

* Micrsoft's Xbox division boss Phil Spencer teased that they will be revealing 14 first party games at their E3 press conference later this month.
https://www.destructoid.com/microsoft-is-prepared-for-a-banger-of-an-e3-with-14-first-party-game-reveals-555498.phtml

* A new game in the Darksiders series is currently rumored to be getting revealed at this month's E3 event.
https://www.destructoid.com/-fresh-new-darksiders-game-teased-for-e3-2019-555525.phtml

[Fignuts]

Pretty fast turnaround for Darksiders considering how long it was between 2 and 3.

[ClockShot]

Strife and his guns should be a blast to play with.

Hope they bring back a more open world concept this time. Fury without a horse in 3 was just weird.

[Savio]

Spelunky 2 might come to the switch :) (@end)



<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MmzTT4Sou-A" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Emperor Smeat]

* Google announced they will be holding a Stadia Connect live stream this Thursday featuring more game announcements and launch details for their upcoming Stadia streaming service.
https://twitter.com/GoogleStadia/status/1135584478389264389

* Deep Silver and Shenmue III director Yu Suzuki announced that the game has been delayed till November 19th and official reason is them needing more time for final tweaks and polishing.
https://www.destructoid.com/shenmue-iii-delayed-three-months-to-late-2019-555769.phtml

* The next game in the Watch Dog series will be called Watch Dogs Legion based on a recent leak from Amazon UK.
As the title implies, Watch Dogs Legion will allow players to play as literally any NPC in the game. Taking a page out of the Fulton recovery system gimmick seen in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, it seems players will be able to recruit NPCs to their side and then control them at will. The official product description on Amazon reads:

Play as anyone, Every individual you meet in the open world, has a full set of animations, voice over, character traits and visuals that are generated & guided by gameplay systems.

https://www.destructoid.com/watch-dogs-legion-leaks-ahead-of-e3-555831.phtml

[ClockShot]

That new concept sounds just plain weird for the new Watch Dogs.

If you were doing recruiting like in Assassins' Creed: Brotherhood and creating your own hacker crew or something, you might have my attention.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to a report from Forbes, cross-play for this year's Call of Duty game between has a bit of a catch in regards to PC players.

Its not a pure PC vs. Xbox/PS4 but works more similar to Fortnite.

If a PC player uses a controller, they automatically get paired with console players. If they use a keyboard & mouse, they only get paired with other k&m PC players. Its possible for console players to play against k&m PC players but requires them to opt into those matches since matchmaking won't do it by default.

Those restrictions on k&m PC players don't apply for party groups.

Also its unknown if PS4 players will be restricted to matches only against PS4 players whenever a DLC pack gets released regardless if they bought it or not due to Sony's 1-week exclusivity for them.

https://www.destructoid.com/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-s-cross-play-will-be-based-on-input-device-555907.phtml

[ClockShot]

Darksiders Genesis is announced.

Yes, as you're playing as Strife.

The twist here is that this is gonna be a Diablo style top-down format this time.

[Kalyx triaD]

That's not a twist, that's a spin-off.

[Destor]

That's not a twist, that's a spin-off.

Its not anymore than shifting style and tone of each game before it was.

[Destor]

DS3 was a souls-like

[ClockShot]

Indeed. First 3 games were hack & slash with something tied in. Legend of Zelda, Dark Souls, etc.

I'm intrigued with the next entry.

[Destor]

DS1 God of War meets Zelda
DS2 God of War meets prince of persia
DS3 Dark Souls meets metroidvania
DS4 Diablo meets ???

[Emperor Smeat]

For those in the UK, video game retailer GAME reportedly is currently in the process of being under new ownership in order to save the company from potential closure.

One of their minority owners, Sports Direct, recently purchased more ownership stock in the company and hit the percentage needed to legally trigger an official takeover bid.

Only downside is even with them being under new ownership, GAME still expects to layoff a sizeable portion of their workforce due to how dire their financial situation has been for years.

https://www.destructoid.com/game-digital-receives-51-9-million-takeover-bid-from-sports-direct-556149.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

From Software's collaboration project with Game of Thrones series creator George R.R. Martin was revealed to be for a game called Elden Ring and is currently planned for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

https://www.destructoid.com/from-software-s-elden-ring-brings-together-miyazaki-and-george-r-r-martin-556378.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

EA revealed a new 15-minute gameplay trailer for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order at their E3 EA Play event held earlier today.

During their EA Play presentation we got roughly 15 minutes of raw footage, which begins "roughly three hours into the game" after protagonist Cal has gotten the hang of some of his powers.

So far it's very Star Wars as one might guess: we see some light force powers like force push, lightsaber throwing, some slo-mo, and a whole mess of melee combat. Lock-on is a go, self-healing by way of your companion droid, and dismembering are a thing in this very melee-centric game, and as intimated in the debut trailer, light platforming is involved. Push, pull, flip (double-jump), and slow were confirmed after the stream.

Exploration is linear and seems to funnel quickly into myriad skirmishes, which is always a plus for an action romp. It won't shy away from bestial combat either, as the demo shows a few fights with insectoid foes. While there's nothing wow-worthy so far, it does seem like a decent enough successor to the Jedi Knight series.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8939aURV9Dc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

In terms of their E3 event itself, it continued the trend of their conference being the most skippable each year.

[Emperor Smeat]

Haven't watched Microsoft's E3 conference yet but based on some reading online, seems it had the same issues people have had for years with the format and style of their conferences. They did delivered on their promise of announcing a lot of interesting games.

Biggest stuff revealed was Double Fine now being a 1st party dev for Microsoft, Phantasy Star Online 2 being published by Microsoft in the West, and next Xbox console arrives in late 2020 with Halo Infinite as a launch game.

Microsoft's next generation console will feature a custom designed processor based on AMD's Zen 2 technology and GDDR6 memory, making project Scarlett "four times more powerful than the Xbox One", and capable of "resolution and framerates we've never seen before". Project Scarlett is expected to feature 8K visuals, with accelerated ray-tracing, and support variable framerates of up to 120FPS. New SSD technology hopes to all-but-eliminate load times.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-ktN4bycj9s" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Sepholio]

Cyberpunk release date is April 16,2020. And Keanu Reeves is in it, fully modeled and voiced. So. Hype.

[Emperor Smeat]

Besides more footage and details for Etenral Doom (Nov. 22 release), other stuff announced at Bethesda's E3 conference included:

Bethesda currently working on new streaming-based tech called Orion
new action-adventure game called GhostWire: Tokyo from Shinji Mikami and Tango Gameworks studio
new game from Arkane Studios (Dishonored series dev) called Deathloop.


In terms of the conference itself, was pretty hit-or-miss. First half was pretty bad but got a lot better afterwards.

Announced during Bethesda's E3 presentation, Orion is a new piece of software that works at the game development level to improve streaming quality. It will reportedly work with any game engine and can be used with Google Stadia tech. Orion can greatly reduce bandwidth and latency and, if it works the way Bethesda is promising, it make our streaming future all the more viable.
https://www.destructoid.com/orion-is-bethesda-s-new-software-that-will-make-streaming-better-556672.phtml

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9qrXLQqHkJk" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MXv5IDp8y74" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Emperor Smeat]

Another year in a row I was very entertained with Devolver Digital's wacky E3 conference. Them going with a Nintendo Direct parody for this year's format was great.

Them announcing a new Enter the Gungeon game as an actual arcade release was a big surprise. If Dave & Busters doesn't carry the game, only know of 1 other place locally that still supports arcade gaming somewhat well.

[Emperor Smeat]

Square Enix decided to reveal the release date for Final Fantasy VII Remake a day before their actual E3 conference. Ended up revealing it at an official Final Fantasy concert that people are claiming was a big scam in terms of what was advertised for it.

First episode arrives on March 3, 2020.

[Tom Guycott]

Another year in a row I was very entertained with Devolver Digital's wacky E3 conference. Them going with a Nintendo Direct parody for this year's format was great.

Them announcing a new Enter the Gungeon game as an actual arcade release was a big surprise. If Dave & Busters doesn't carry the game, only know of 1 other place locally that still supports arcade gaming somewhat well.

I'm actually hoping that, say, next year, all this subplot means they're going to announce a Nina Struthers game. Breaking necks and cashing checks, bitches!

[ClockShot]

I'll check out the new Xbox and Cyberpunk trailers later.

Not really into this E3 this year since everyone either leaked or announced all their news beforehand. Any real surprises so far?

[Fignuts]

I'll check out the new Xbox and Cyberpunk trailers later.

Not really into this E3 this year since everyone either leaked or announced all their news beforehand. Any real surprises so far?

Keanu Reeves is in Cyberpunk and showed up on stage.

Xbox Game pass, Gold, and PC game pass all bundled together for 15 bucks. Thats pretty awesome.

[ClockShot]

Read about the Keanu Reeves bit. He gonna be Ted, Neo, or John Wick?

$15 is great for all that Xbox stuff. Still looking for a reason to buy one.

[Emperor Smeat]

Apparently Ys Net studio and publisher Deep Silver are currently facing backlash regarding the announcement of the PC version of Shenmue III being Epic Games Store exclusive. Main issue is them not informing backers ahead of time of the change from Steam to EGS resulting in a lot of pissed off backers and a flood of refund requests.

Also second time that Deep Silver has pulled this stunt with them suddenly pulling a game planned for Steam in favor of EGS with no prior warning given.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/10/18660126/shenmue-3-epic-games-store-exclusive-backers-angry-steam-key-refund-request-e3-2019

[Emperor Smeat]

Some stuff from Ubisoft's E3 conference:

Next game in the Watch Dog series was confirmed to be Watch Dogs: Legion and features the ability to recruit NPCs as playable characters. Releases on March 6, 2020 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
https://www.destructoid.com/watch-dogs-legion-lets-you-play-as-a-stealth-grandma-and-a-whole-lot-more--556859.phtml
Next Rainbow Six game is called Rainbow Six Quarantine and features three-player co-op gameplay. Arrives in early 2020 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One and will be part of Ubisoft's new subscription service.
https://www.destructoid.com/rainbow-six-quarantine-is-coming-in-2020-556870.phtml
Ubisoft confirmed the rumors of their UPlay service getting a subscription model added called UPlay+. Similar to EA's Access service, it will allow the ability to play new releases early and as the premium editions of those games. Costs $14.99 per month and launches this September for PC.
https://www.destructoid.com/uplay-is-getting-a-premium-subscription-and-it-s-coming-to-stadia-556877.phtml
A new game called Gods & Monsters was officially announced from the devs of Assassin's Creed Odyssey. This is an action-adventure game inspired by Greek Mythology and launches on February 25, 2020 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and Google Stadia.


<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Egzb6_HCqQw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[RP]

Simpsons Arcade 1up might be getting announced tomorrow. Rumor has it, its a bigger IP than TMNT or Marvel. I figured it would be NBA Jam, but it has to be Simpsons I think.

[RP]

O M G that FF7 remake. It's not episodic either it looks like . I'm gonna have to sell semen and blood for that.

[Emperor Smeat]

O M G that FF7 remake. It's not episodic either it looks like . I'm gonna have to sell semen and blood for that.

Its still episodic but seems its just be 2 episodes now with Midgar as its own due to how long its taken them to develop the game. While not episodic, Konami did something similar when it came to Ground Zeros being a standalone game from Metal Gear Solid 5.

So the "multi-part" concept came to light finally. The publisher notes that the game is now "two blu-ray discs worth of gameplay content." The first is, as expected, Midgar, and has become a "standalone game in its own right." That's definitely what we're getting in March of 2020: an expanded Midgar portion.

[Fignuts]

Simpsons Arcade 1up might be getting announced tomorrow. Rumor has it, its a bigger IP than TMNT or Marvel. I figured it would be NBA Jam, but it has to be Simpsons I think.

Its a Star wars game. They said they would be releasing a cabinet that "would bring a new hope to the gamer galaxy".

[Fignuts]

I like what was shown of FF 7's combat system. I liked FF15, but at times it was so chaotic it was hard to see what was going on. This looks more managable, especially with the "atb" mechanic.

[Fignuts]

Fucking gutted that Ori is so far out.

But I'd rather they take the time to get everything right rather than release it too early like so many AAA releases these days.

[Emperor Smeat]

:D No More Heroes III just got announced for the Switch

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Banjo's reveal trailer for Smash Bros Ultimate.

[Emperor Smeat]

Next Zelda game is going to be a sequel to Breath of the Wild.

[Fignuts]

I’m not even going to look at any Final Fantasy forums because I’m sure that it’s a shit show. The combination of the new combat system, and the entire first game taking place in Midgard is going to be divisive. The Final Fantasy community does not handle divisive well.

Personally, I’m glad they’re doing something different with the combat. I would be less excited if it was the same turn based combat as the original. Maybe after years of playing jrpg’s Im just burned out on turn based combat FF 15 felt like such a breath of fresh air and I’m not ready to go back yet.

[Droford]

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I dont see how that goes over well, someone will definitely object on grounds of marketing beer to kids

[Destor]

I’m not even going to look at any Final Fantasy forums because I’m sure that it’s a shit show. The combination of the new combat system, and the entire first game taking place in Midgard is going to be divisive. The Final Fantasy community does not handle divisive well.

Personally, I’m glad they’re doing something different with the combat. I would be less excited if it was the same turn based combat as the original. Maybe after years of playing jrpg’s Im just burned out on turn based combat FF 15 felt like such a breath of fresh air and I’m not ready to go back yet.i had no interest in this until i saw the combat. Dont get me wrong i would have preferredturn based but this is a brilliant comprimise. Im not going to buy it until its all out (and at a discounted price) but im looking forward to the day they have a final product.

[OssMan]

I'm probably going to get the remake, despite having nothing good to say about Square Enix for the past ten years, just because I'm an FF7 mark. But my expectations are extremely low. I know it's not going to have the things I want so I'm just hoping that it has some pleasant surprises

[OssMan]

I'm also gonna bet that they charge $100 for the game straight up. Not collector's edition, not both episodes together. Just the standalone game. $100.

[Fignuts]

Why would they charge 100?

[OssMan]

Cus the universe was created for FF7 Remake

[Kalyx triaD]

<iframe width="810" height="456" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nlWadg2kwdk" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I dont see how that goes over well, someone will definitely object on grounds of marketing beer to kids

Well they're not and it's a very conservative type grievance anyway. That no longer gets traction like it did against entertainment in the 80s and 90s. Now if it had a pin-up girl on the can...

[Destor]

I'm probably going to get the remake, despite having nothing good to say about Square Enix for the past ten years, just because I'm an FF7 mark. But my expectations are extremely low. I know it's not going to have the things I want so I'm just hoping that it has some pleasant surprisesi understand FF might not be in a place that most enjoy but squares released tons of grear titles. Dragon Quest 11 is as good as any classic JRPG and in the past 10 years several other Dragon Quests have dropped. Octopath Traveler is in my all time list. Tomb Raider reboot started strongggggg but tapered as it went admittedly. KH handheld titles have been tops and KH3 was real strong too.


Square isnt sleeping. Final Fanatasy...well theres a debate to be had.

[OssMan]

True enough, my gripes are mostly with FF and Star Ocean. I'd like to give DQ a try at some point but I'm just not at that point right now

[Destor]

If you try DQ11 research the difficulty options they cant be changed after you start and the game is super duper easy without them. They let you customize difficulty but blind the options might as well he greek; to compensate i just avoided battles to keep my level low and that made it much better.


Still HIGHLY reccomended.

[Fignuts]

Feel like Final Fantasy 15 was a step in the right direction at least. Like, it didn’t restore the series to glory or anything, but it at least got me interested in playing Final Fantasy again.

[Destor]

I liked 15. Art direction, themes and presentation were all good.


Combat was bit too passive but i liked the game despite this. Looks like ff7 remaster takes the ff15 core and adds strategy that for me is the staple of JRPGs that 15 lacked. If so we might have the blue print for what square has been trying to solve since they invented ATB. How to marry action and tactical combat in a way that reaches both demographics.


We will see.

[Destor]

Ultimately i enjoyed FF15 but i acknowledge the common criticisms as valid

[Emperor Smeat]

* Update on the recent Shenmue III PC version backlash news as Deep Silver and developer Ys Net studio ended up making things a lot worse recently. They refused all refund requests from Kickstarter backers pissed the game is now Epic Games Store exclusive for PC and appears to have violated Kickstarer's rules in the process.
https://www.destructoid.com/backers-denied-refunds-over-shenmue-iii-epic-games-store-exclusivity-556998.phtml

* Nintendo announced Super Mario Maker 2 will be getting a post-launch update to allow the ability to play with friends online instead of only being restricted to random players due to leaderboards issues.
https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-backtracks-on-super-mario-maker-2-restrictions-will-allow-friends-to-play-together-online-557109.phtml

* According to Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma, Link's Awakening remake will include the previously Game Boy Color port exclusive Color Dungeon.
Today during their annual Treehouse live post-Direct E3 stream, Nintendo gave us some more details for Link's Awakening on Switch.

Legendary series producer Eiji Aonuma sat in on a demo of the game and gave a few thoughts on the history of the series and why it's making an appearance after all this time. Speaking on behalf of his team Aonuma noted that he "always wanted to remake" Link's Awakening, in part because of how hard it was to get your hands on the original Game Boy version (it was ported to Game Boy Color in DX form, as well as the eShop, but that's probably not enough for Aonuma).

Speaking of the DX edition, the "Color Dungeon," a new exclusive location for the Game Boy Color port, will be included in the Switch remake. As you might have seen in the E3 trailer, new content is also a go, as Dampé (a character from Ocarina of Time) is crossing over to handle the "Chamber Dungeon" creation mechanic.

[Fignuts]

Thank fucking christ @ Mario Maker. I love Nintendo, but when comes to online services and functionality, they make some absolutely fucking baffling decisions.


On another note, Watchdogs: Legion looks great. And holy shit, props for giving a presentation that was almost all gameplay. The reason I'm so sold on this and Doom Eternal is because we got actual gameplay from the presentation instead of some movie trailer that says nothing about the actual game.

Wow, Ghostwire: Tokyo! Wish I knew what the fuc the game is!

[Fignuts]

Now I feel bad for mocking the game made by that adorable Japanese woman.

[Kalyx triaD]

Barely mocking.

[RP]

One of the more underrated things I've seen from E3 so far is Watch Dogs 3. It looked amazing. The rest of Ubisoft, not so much.

[Sepholio]

If the entire first episode of FF7 ends up being Midgar then it has to be more than the 2 episodes people keep thinking it is. No way they can make a whole game out of Midgar and then only manage a single game out of the rest of the entire world? Nahhhhh.

If it's going to be 2 episodes then the first one has to go to the death of Aeris. That is the only logical stopping point.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Arcade 1Up revealed the mystery new cabinet from them will be classic Star Wars arcade games from the Atari era. The cabinet includes Star Wars, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and has a price tag of $500.
https://www.destructoid.com/classic-atari-star-wars-arcade-games-are-back-in-this-new-arcade1up-cabinet-557246.phtml

* Xbox boxx Phil Spencer recently teased that Microsoft is currently working on plans regarding a potential purchase of a Japanese studio and From Software as one of the studios being considered.
https://www.destructoid.com/phil-spencer-says-microsoft-is-thinking-of-buying-a-japanese-game-studio-557209.phtml

* According to CD Project Red, Keanu Reeves inclusion in Cyberpunk 2077 was not just for marketing reasons and instead his character plays a major role in the game's story.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/e3-2019-keanu-reeves-plays-an-important-part-in-cy/1100-6467728/

[Fignuts]

Figured it would be the classic Atari Star Wars arcade, but I was still hoping it might be that awesome arcade game released in early 00’s

[ClockShot]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. That'll get some Xboxes sold IF Microsoft is targeting From Software.

[Sepholio]

I don't see Souls being a huge console mover on it's own. When you consider that all "Xbox exclusives" all release on PC, it will translate to even fewer people buying the console for the game specifically. I don't even understand the point of having an Xbox at this point considering that, tbh.

[Kalyx triaD]

Because the UI and network is better and all my boys are on it.

[Emperor Smeat]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. That'll get some Xboxes sold IF Microsoft is targeting From Software.

They would need to buy a major publisher or a bunch of studios if the idea is to really boost their brand and sales in the region.

Just having a studio of the level of From Software won't be anywhere close to enough.

Would be like their Xbox and Xbox 360 days where they had several notable Japanese games but couldn't maintain the output needed for consistent sales and brand growth in that market.

[Ultra Mantis]

Xbox can fuck right off going after From.

[Destor]

Because the UI and network is better and all my boys are on it.
Sales of the xbone show the pc market ate into xbine sales huge so the anecdotal testimony is moot

[Kalyx triaD]

It's not moot if you're asking why somebody wants an Xbox. Unless I'm supposed to prefer what sells well?

[Destor]

You werent being asked :lol:

[Destor]

I do think next gen will be microsofts strongest console. Itll still be the 3rd best selling (like all other microsoft consoles) but they will have some good exclusives next gen so i think people will own both consoles next unlike this gen where most either passed completely on xbox or got the 3 exclusives on pc

[Destor]

Really promising time for gamers all around

[Tom Guycott]

I’m not even going to look at any Final Fantasy forums because I’m sure that it’s a shit show. The combination of the new combat system, and the entire first game taking place in Midgard is going to be divisive. The Final Fantasy community does not handle divisive well.



The only thing I keep seeing is stuff about Tifa's tits and their apparent reduction.

Tracer War 2.0.

[Fignuts]

I do think next gen will be microsofts strongest console. Itll still be the 3rd best selling (like all other microsoft consoles) but they will have some good exclusives next gen so i think people will own both consoles next unlike this gen where most either passed completely on xbox or got the 3 exclusives on pc

They've been making a lot great moves in terms of picking up studios. From an objective standpoint, PS4 is the better console to me, simply because it has a lot more games I'm interested in. A good UI is nice and all, but it's the games that matter most.

That said, it can't be understated how important it is for me, and likely a lot of people to play on the console my friends are on. Despite all of PS4's great games, all of my most memorable moments from the current gen, come from playing with friends. Intense, nail biting tekken matches with Kalyx, fucking around in GTA while talking about doing coke off miss eleizabeth's back with Heisenberg, etc, etc. Those are the moments I remember most.
God of War is a masterpiece but I never laughed so hard that I blacked out for several seconds while playing it.

[Destor]

Corss play should be industry standard going forward. You have it with PC and Xbone now basiclly 100% and that trend is going up. Stadia, Xbox, PC, PlayStation and even switch will all be playing with one another next gen

[RP]

Figured it would be the classic Atari Star Wars arcade, but I was still hoping it might be that awesome arcade game released in early 00’s

The setup for the actual cabinet looks cool, but the games dont excite me much. And i have a bad feeling there will be issues with the controls on that cabinet.

[RP]

I was hoping for The Simpsons arcade cabinet. Or maybe NBA Jam/NFL Blitz.

But Arcade1up did give us TMNT and Marvel cabinet, so i cant complain.

[Fignuts]

Would they even be able to do NBA Jam and NFL Blitz? The licensing would probably be a nightmare due to all those retired players.

[Destor]

I coulod have sworn there was a rerelease of NBA JAM somewhat recently

[Destor]

looked it up though and there was not

[Fignuts]

I think they made a new game with current nba o players.

[Emperor Smeat]

You might be thinking of the NBA Playgrounds series from Saber Interactive.

They made two of them soo far but the first one had some performance issues, at least on the Switch.

[Destor]

mandela effect

[Emperor Smeat]

According to SNK's CEO, the company recently rejected an exclusivity offer from Epic Games for the PC version of their upcoming Samurai Showdown game. Also revealed Epic's tactic for snagging games as Epic Games Store exclusive is them guaranteeing a certain amount of sales and making up the difference if the real sales are lower.

SNK rejected the offer due to the game already having strong pre-order numbers and didn't want to hurt their sales goal had they taken the deal.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kuroki director said, some PC download platform wanted an exclusive release on the condition of a pre-order of hundreds of thousands, but SNK CEO rejected because he thought Samurai Shodown will be for sale million copies.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Samuraishodown?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Samuraishodown</a> <a href="https://t.co/ux0y7kHLn7">https://t.co/ux0y7kHLn7</a></p>&mdash; Gatoray (@gatoray_kof) <a href="https://twitter.com/gatoray_kof/status/1139027757122277376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 13, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Would explain why some companies who took Epic's deal don't reveal sales numbers from Epic's store since real sales are lower than the guaranteed number or don't want to expose what the guaranteed number is. Then you have others who blatantly pass off the guarantee as launch sales or get pissed when people call them out for the deception used for sales numbers.

[Fignuts]

Good for them. Fuck epic and their garbage store.

[Kalyx triaD]

That is objectively a pretty good deal, tho. I'm guessing the sales subsidy is based on the reality of the bad press they get and the fact that Steam is easily the primary source for PC purchases. Drama aside, Epic's store is demonstrably offering a better take than Steam. This is far more nuanced when taking in every side of the equation.

In interest of fairness; yes, Epic needs to buff up the Epic store. If anything but to defang that common argument against them. Also they need to cut these deals well before a game has announced its platforms. They have to know a game suddenly being exclusive to a platform/launcher is bad taste.

I do wonder that when they do beef up the Epic Store yo rival Steam, will gamers get over it or will they shift goalposts.

[Fignuts]

They've made a few kickstarters exclusive, which is a huge fuck you to those who helped fund it.

[Kalyx triaD]

I agree. As I said that's a bad look.

[Destor]

That isnt on epic, thats on the people who went back on their word to give steam codes.

[Emperor Smeat]

According to reports, the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft Story Mode Season 1 & 2 got a huge price hike recently for both games episodes ahead of its delisting next week.

The official reason wasn't due to greed but more so of an issue caused from pulling the game from sale on the Xbox 360 and not wanting any new sales made since technically its not supposed to be on sale anymore.

Minecraft: Story Mode games will no longer be supported via the necessary game servers on June 25th, 2019. All of Minecraft: Story Mode content was removed from sale on each digital storefront ahead of that happening. In the process of removing these items for sale, on the Xbox 360 platform only, existing Minecraft: Story Mode players became unable download their remaining episodes. From working with the Xbox 360 platform, the only solution to this situation is to re-list the downloadable content for purchase. So, to assist existing customers, all the downloadable Episodes for the two Minecraft: Story Mode titles are temporarily re-listed but, to deter new purchases, they will be re-listed at a very high price!

https://www.destructoid.com/minecraft-story-mode-s-xbox-360-price-hike-is-not-a-joke-557896.phtml

[Fignuts]

That isnt on epic, thats on the people who went back on their word to give steam codes.

They deserve the brunt of the blame, but Epic knows it will fuck people over when they offer companies all this money. It’s still pretty shitty on their part, imo.

I think a counterpart to steam is healthy for the industry, but not a counterpart that doesn’t give a fuck about their consumers. Forcing players to use their barely competent store, because why not? Why spend time and resources to make a fully functional storefront at launch when players have to go there anyway to get the games they want?

[Fignuts]

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night getting really good reviews.

Good.

Fuck Pachinko machines.

[Kalyx triaD]

Epic hasn't forced anyone to sign a thing.

If Steam simply matched their offer devs wouldn't need to make that decision. Think from their perspective. Are you gonna take a lesser paying job because people like that business better?

[Fignuts]

Can Steam even match it? If they can, then why haven't they done so for any of these titles.

Anyway, my main issue is them spending all this time and energy picking up exclusives instead of making a store that isn't dog shit.

[Kalyx triaD]

To retain more revenue would be my first guess for why they won't match that deal.

[Emperor Smeat]

Can Steam even match it? If they can, then why haven't they done so for any of these titles.

Anyway, my main issue is them spending all this time and energy picking up exclusives instead of making a store that isn't dog shit.

Yes but it would also go against the mindset they've held for a long time on the PC market. They favor an "open garden" approach instead of a closed off one like with consoles and games exclusivity.

Like if they wanted to money hat games, they would have done it when GOG was starting to rival them as a digital store or cut the legs out of Origin when EA proclaimed they were challenging Steam's dominance.

Epic is pretty much hedging their bet that their massive pool of Fortnite users and them grabbing as many big games as possible will entice people to use their store over Steam regardless of the issues with the store itself. Its why something like a shopping cart feature gets put on the back-burner since Epic doesn't see the store itself as their priority.

[Emperor Smeat]

* According to the NPD, last month broke the all-time record for the lowest sales of new games and hardware in the month of May since they started tracking video game sales in 1998.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-06-18-npd-may-2019-was-the-worst-month-for-new-releases-since-1998

* Nintendo announced Animal Crossing New Horizons features an auto-save system for progress and as a result, Mr. Resetti has been fired from his job in the series.
https://www.vg247.com/2019/06/17/animal-crossing-new-horizons-autosave-resettis-job/

[RP]

EA calling loot boxes, " surprise mechanics " is one of the best things i've ever heard in gaming.

[Tom Guycott]

EA calling loot boxes, " surprise mechanics " is one of the best things i've ever heard in gaming.

It's not financial rape if you yell SURPRISE MECHANICS first.

[Fignuts]

Holy shit that whole committee was amazing.

[Emperor Smeat]

* Gears of War series developer The Coalition announced Gears 5 will not feature a micro-transaction system. The unofficial reason due to the on-going gambling controversy involving loot boxes and several governments working on new laws to regulate it.
https://www.gears5.com/earning-content
https://www.destructoid.com/gears-5-is-the-latest-game-to-drop-paid-loot-boxes-ahead-of-potential-legislation-558200.phtml

* During a recent interview with Nintendo Force magazine, Cuphead developer Studio MDHR revealed they would love to make a game for the Legend of Zelda series if they were ever given permission by Nintendo to do so.
https://www.destructoid.com/the-cuphead-devs-would-love-to-make-a-zelda-game-558039.phtml

[DAMN iNATOR]

I can understand consoles need their own exclusives and all, but I still think it stinks that Cuphead will never be on PS4.

[Emperor Smeat]

Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford is currently facing new allegations of him siphoning around $12 million from the company for his own personal benefit.

Supposedly Borderlands 3 publisher 2K Games sent the company money meant to be paid out as bonuses to the staff for their work on the game. Pitchford managed to get approval from 2K Games to personally handle the money and allegedly diverted it away to a personal company owned by him instead.

This was revealed in a recent updated filing to a lawsuit Pitchford is currently facing from the company's former lead attorney.

https://gamedaily.biz/article/965/former-gearbox-employee-provides-proof-randy-pitchford-diverted-funds-to-personal-company

[Fignuts]

Holy shit, what a scum bag.

[Fignuts]

I mean I shouldn’t be surprised at this point, but fuck.

[ClockShot]

Samurai Shodown revival getting great reviews.

Although for some reason I can't fire it up on my PS4 until 1 this afternoon. That's when the timer ends unless it got fixed overnight.

[DAMN iNATOR]

I mean I shouldn’t be surprised at this point, but fuck.

I think 2K has to shoulder part of the blame here. I mean, they no doubt know about other similar allegations about Pitchford, so I have to wonder what the fuck they were thinking to allow him to handle the money personally as opposed to, oh, I don't know, maybe the person directly below him in the Gearbox chain-of-command?

[Emperor Smeat]

For those interested in Samurai Shodown, apparently SNK's free Season Pass offer isn't restricted to only those who buy the game before June 30th.

When writing about the upcoming characters for Samurai Shodown's season pass, I noticed something interesting. On PS4, you can actually add the season pass to your account regardless of owning the game. While my account has the game, I had a friend test it and it worked. It seems SNK is giving away the season pass for everyone until June 30 instead of limiting it to purchases of the game.

While I can find a link to the PlayStation Store version, there doesn't seem to be one active for Xbox One yet.

https://www.destructoid.com/psa-samurai-shodown-s-season-pass-is-free-regardless-of-game-purchase-558712.phtml

[Fignuts]

That’s fucking awesome.

[ClockShot]

Mine was already bundled in when I purchased through the PS Store.

Yet, for some reason the Nakoruru retro outfit on the store was free through the season pass, but they wanted $2.99 for the Genjuro outfit.

[Emperor Smeat]

Sony announced they have recently entered a partnership with Square Enix for the development of a live-action Final Fantasy XIV tv series.

Hivemind Entertainment studio was also announced to be working on this project. They are also currently working on live-action The Witcher series for Netflix.

Square Enix will be teaming up with Sony Pictures Television and production company Hivemind Entertainment to create a live-action Final Fantasy XIV TV series. Set in the world of Eorzea, the show's plotline will focus on a brand new narrative that will explore "the struggle between magic and technology in a quest to bring peace to a land in conflict." Details are mum because the show is still in the development phase with no cast planned as of yet. There are also no details on where this will air, though given Hivemind is working with both Netflix -- on The Witcher -- and Amazon -- on The Expanse -- it seems likely this will be a streaming show.
https://www.destructoid.com/square-enix-and-sony-set-to-produce-a-live-action-final-fantasy-xiv-tv-series-558968.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* Besides Tetris 99 on the Switch, The Tetris Company recently announced a new Tetris battle royale game called Tetris Royale is currently in development for mobile devices and arrives later this year.
https://tetris.com/article/213/n3twork-partners-with-the-tetris-company-to-exclusively-develop-and-publish-innovative-new-tetris-games-for-mobile-devic

* Based on a recent job posting, Square Enix is currently working on a new Dragon Quest game for next gen consoles.
https://www.destructoid.com/square-enix-hiring-for-a-next-gen-dragon-quest-title-559047.phtml

* For those holding some slim hope that games would be cheaper on Google Stadia than on consoles, Stadia boss Phil Harrison stated that likely will not be the case when the service launches. Harrison did mention that game prices are entirely in the hands of publishers and they feel the service will be worth the full price for games.
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-06-27-dont-expect-games-to-be-cheaper-on-google-stadia
https://www.destructoid.com/google-doesn-t-expect-games-on-stadia-to-be-cheaper-than-consoles-559081.phtml

[Emperor Smeat]

* During a recent interview with Nikkei, Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan revealed that Sony is currently working on plans to purchase more gaming studios as a counter to Microsoft's recent studio purchasing spree.
https://www.destructoid.com/sony-interactive-entertainment-is-considering-clapping-back-against-microsoft-with-studio-buyouts-of-their-own-559292.phtml

* Based on Remedy Entertainment's recent investor's meeting, the company has gained back the rights to the Alan Wake series from Microsoft. As part of the deal, Remedy was paid a one-time royalties fee of €2.5 million from Microsoft for all of 2019 and in return, the rights to the series reverted back to the studio's ownership.
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-07-01-alan-wake-developer-remedy-regains-publishing-rights

[ClockShot]

Public service announcement to PS+ members.

Sony pulled a last minute switch with this month's free games. Pro Evolution Soccer 2019 got switched out with Detroit: Being Human.

[Destor]

become human was real good