Videogame News Thread

[Sepholio]

lol Arkane's lead director might have just thrown a wrench into Microsofts defense in the Activision/Blizzard acquisition.

He was talking about their upcoming game Redfall and stated that they were making that game for PS5 as well. Until Microsoft told them to shut it down. Womp.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:

* Next Level Games reportedly is currently rumored to be working on a remaster of classic Gamecube game F-Zero GX for the Nintendo Switch, according to Nintendo Prime. It was reported that their sources confirmed earlier rumors about this game being in development and as part of two unannounced projects currently being developed at the studio
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-basID2Qhc , https://gamerant.com/f-zero-gx-remas...t-level-games/

* Activision and Vicarious Visions reportedly were rumored to have been developing a new game in the Donkey Kong Country series in 2016, according to Famiboards.com. It was reported that the reason why there has not been a new game in the Donkey Kong series since DKC Tropical Freeze is due to Nintendo is still undecided over the plans and direction for a new game. Nintendo reportedly had contacted Activision to develop a new DK game that would have been a 3D and not 2D style game with Shigeru Miyamoto helping out its development. Nintendo reportedly decided in 2018 to move the project in-house instead and later shelved it for unknown reasons.
Link: https://mynintendonews.com/2023/03/2...-moved-to-epd/ , https://famiboards.com/threads/what-...-5#post-594139

* Ubisoft announced that they are currently developing a new A.I.-based scriptwriting tool called Ghostwriter that the company claims will help their writers by providing a first draft of scripts to be used for NPCS in their games.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/ubisoft-...-npc-dialogue/

* Valve recently confirmed the rumors of them working on a new Counter Strike game and revealed that its not a remake of Go running on a new version of their Source Engine but instead a sequel called Counter Strike 2. Valve also recently released a few videos showcasing the new changes and improvements made to the CS series for this upcoming new game.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/@Valve , https://www.destructoid.com/counter-...-2023-release/

* In a recent interview with Variety, Gears of War series developer The Coalition revealed that Netflix recently hired Dune film writer Jon Spaihts to be the lead writer for their upcoming Gears of War television series.
Link: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/g...ix-1235559889/

[Sepholio]

Holy shit I am totes down for more F-Zero. Loved those games.

Can we get Xtreme G next?

[Emperor Smeat]

Still regret big time not buying F-Zero GX many years ago when it was like $20-$24 thinking if I waited a bit longer it would go down more to an enticing $15 or under price. Main reason was not being that big of a racing genre fan at the time and still am to this day outside of the Mario Kart series in general.

Instead the game shot up in price around the same time Nintendo games from the GC and N64 started spiking in price.

Same for missing out on buying Tales of Symphonia when it was around $20ish at the time but didn't get it since I'm not that big of an RPG fan and now its one of the most expensive GC games.

[Emperor Smeat]

During a recent interview with IGN, Arkane Austin director Harvey Smith revealed that their upcoming Redfall game was originally planned to be a multi-platform game prior to Microsoft's purchase of their parent company ZeniMax Media.

Smith stated that the game was originally planned to be released for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC but Microsoft requested for the PS5 version to be dropped from development shortly after their purchase of ZeniMax.

Smith also stated that he thinks dropping the PS5 version from development was actually a good thing in the end since it meant they wouldn't be stretched as thin developing three versions at the same time and would be able to better focus on the remaining two platforms for its development and polish.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Developer Arkane Austin has confirmed that its incoming monster-masher Redfall was initially planned as a multi-platform title, but was asked to drop the PS5 edition once Microsoft acquired the studio in the ZeniMax Media purchase — which took place back in the summer of 2020. The somewhat unsurprising revelation was made by studio director Harvey Smith in an interview with IGN France. Smith describes the Microsoft purchase as “Change with a capital C”, noting any plans for a Playstation edition of the vampire-hunting multiplayer title were instantly scrapped by the new owners. “They came in and they said ‘No PlayStation 5. We’re focusing on Xbox, PC, and Game Pass.” Smith notes that he thinks it was a good idea, with the dropping of Redfall on PS5 allowing the studio to focus on one less platform and add further polish to the project. Smith also points to Xbox Game Pass’ 30 million subscribers as a solid install base for the multiplayer-focused shooter, which will hopefully provide Redfall with a ready-made community of players. A Monster Squad, of sorts.

Link: https://fr.ign.com/redfall/64224/new...-prevu-sur-ps5 , https://www.destructoid.com/redfall-...box-exclusive/

[drave]

c-c-c-c-c-c-c-combo breeeeeeeaker

[Fignuts]

Hasn't sony been in the process of trying to buy rockstar, to add gta to their already extensive list of exclusives? And they're seriously trying to make claims of microsoft having an unfair advantage?

[Emperor Smeat]

According to reports, UK regulator Competition and Markets Authority recently dropped most of their objections to Microsoft's attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard.

In an official statement, the CMA stated that Microsoft's purchase would not harm competition in the gaming industry and eased their earlier concerns and issues over it.

Despite them hinting their approval of the purchase, the CMA also stated that they still have some concerns over the potential negative impact MS's purchase of AB would have on the cloud gaming market.

The CMA also became less concerned over MS's purchase after they had publicly pledged a 10 year deal to keep the CoD series on Playstation and also signed a similar deal with Nintendo for it.

Originally Posted by Reuters Britain's competition regulator said Microsoft's (MSFT.O) 69-billion purchase of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) would not harm competition in gaming consoles, removing a major obstacle to the deal. In findings based on new evidence, the Competition and Markets Authority said on Friday that it would not make financial sense for Microsoft to make "Call of Duty" exclusive to its Xbox console, and it would instead still have the incentive to continue to make the game available on PlayStation. The regulator, however, said it was still looking at the impact of the deal on the cloud gaming market. The takeover, the biggest ever in gaming, remains subject to the scrutiny of regulators in the United States and Europe. The CMA had noted Activision's flagship "Call of Duty" franchise was important in driving competition between consoles, and it worried that Microsoft could benefit by making the game exclusive to Xbox, or only available on PlayStation under materially worse conditions. But Microsoft has since offered Sony a licence deal to address those concerns. "Our provisional view that this deal raises concerns in the cloud gaming market is not affected by today's announcement," the CMA said, adding that its overall investigation was on course for completion by its April 26 deadline. A Microsoft spokesperson said: "We look forward to working with the CMA to resolve any outstanding concerns."

Link: https://www.reuters.com/markets/deal...al-2023-03-24/

[Sepholio]

Originally Posted by Fignuts Hasn't sony been in the process of trying to buy rockstar, to add gta to their already extensive list of exclusives? And they're seriously trying to make claims of microsoft having an unfair advantage?

There is no evidence of Sony trying to buy rockstar other than internet rumors that they will as a response to MS getting Actiblizzard. It started with some guy named Rhythian on twitter who suggested it as a theoretical response from Sony to the MS takeover, and then everyone ran with it like it was gospel.

Fact is Rockstar is on record saying they want to remain an independent organization that controls themselves and have no interest in selling to anyone.

[Kalyx triaD]

This Diablo thingy ain't bad. Just finished the prologue. Gonna try mulyiplsyer questing.

[drave]

D IV was amazing. They've a lot of work to do in terms of balance. I raised 4 of 5 to level 20+ and ho boy......




The barb needs work, and the druid. It was a fucking struggle (sometimes didn't happen) to beat some bosses with those two classes. Every other class was able to walk around and kinda scratch their butt with one hand and take out demons with the other.


I've played Diablo since it's inception on PC. D4 is the best god damn Diablo since I. To me, it is better than 2 (so far) and makes 3 look very, very silly. Nearly cannot recognize it as a Diablo game (three that is).




6/6/2023. Hit me up anytime.

[Sepholio]

I feel like no one figured out the build I was using on barb. It took me no effort to roll everything. I mauled the butcher encounter with ease and that's widely considered the hardest encounter in the beta.

[Sepholio]

Don't get me wrong, it still took me a touch longer to kill bosses, but I also didn't have to constantly run away while dropping hydras and avoiding everything.

Flay with the bleed damage, WW with bleed boost, couple items to boost bleed damage, then stack life regen on items and socket skulls into dual wielded weapons. Regen gave me enough health to tank any aoe ground effects and the like, skulls let me pull even more life off trash mobs, WW for CC, and then quickly stack a bunch of bleed with Flay onto bosses, which look like I'm hardly damaging them for about 5 seconds and then BAM hit em with rupture and they disintegrate as all the stacked bleeding is triggered at once.

[Sepholio]

I just hope eventually I can feel as powerful as the weird impaler focused DH I used in 3. Ran with a friend with a DH that focused on blasting away packs with ease as I followed behind and whenever we hit a boss he steps back and I walked in and throw a couple daggers and bye bye boss. Killing high level rift guardians in less than a second was awesome lol

[ClockShot]

Ubisoft backs out of E3.

Which is sad because they always put on a good show. But with all their issues right now, I wouldn't be surprised if the only thing they have in the pipeline is Assassins' Creed: Mirage.

Let's not talk about Skull and Bones.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:

* Nintendo announced they will be holding a new stream tomorrow showcase around 10 minutes of gameplay and new details for the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom game. This stream will air live starting at 10AM EST/ 7AM PST.
Link: https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/...53190414565378

* In an interview with Polygon, Paramount Global Senior VP Doug Rosen announced that a new Teenage Mutant Turtles game based on the TMNT The Last Ronin comic series is currently in production. The game was stated to be planned to be a single player adventure game similar in gameplay style to the recent God of War games. No other details regarding the game were given beyond it being in early pre-production stage.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Released in 2020, TMNT: The Last Ronin tells of a single turtle — wearing a black mask and wielding the iconic weaponry of all four Heroes in an Half-Shell — as they pick their way through a dystopian, futuristic take of New York, seeking revenge for their fallen brethren. The identity of the turtle remains something of a mystery until its revelation further in the tale, making The Last Ronin a particularly grim entry to the TMNT pantheon.

Link: https://www.polygon.com/23645176/tmn...-ninja-turtles , https://www.destructoid.com/tmnt-the...turtles-comic/

* As noted before, Arkane Austin director Harvey Smith stated that the upcoming Redfall game was originally planned to be a multi-platform game prior to Microsoft's purchase of their parent company ZeniMax Media. In a recent statement to Eurogamer, Microsoft denied that they had pushed for the development of the PS5 version of the game to be dropped following their purchase of ZeniMax. It was stated that they have not pulled any games from development that was planned for the PS5 following their purchase of Zenimax.

Originally Posted by Eurogamer "We haven't pulled any games from PlayStation. In fact, we've expanded our footprint of games that we've shipped on Sony's PlayStation since our acquisition of ZeniMax, and the first two games we shipped after closing were PlayStation 5 exclusives. We did the same thing since our closing of Minecraft as we extended the reach of that franchise. All of the games that were available on PlayStation when we acquired ZeniMax in March 2021 are still available on PlayStation, and we have continued to do content updates on PlayStation and PC. We have always said that future decisions on whether to distribute ZeniMax games for other consoles will be made on a case-by-case basis."

Link: https://www.eurogamer.net/microsoft-...ll-ps5-reports

* Last week's GDC 2023 event reportedly was plagued with multiple instances of people being sexually harassed and abused according to those who had attended the event. There were reportedly also instances of people having their drinks spiked without their knowledge at a karaoke night show held as part of the event. In one instance, two women reportedly were "lured up to a hotel room by a man in a position of power for a ‘pitch’, where he then assaulted them."
Link: https://twitter.com/LeenaVanD/status...47400249864193 , https://twitter.com/YugSTAR/status/1639706520052027396 , https://www.destructoid.com/gdc-2023...drink-spiking/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:

* This year's upcoming E3 event recently took another big hit in terms of dropouts. IGN reported that Sega, Tencent, and Devolver Digital will also not be attending this year's event and joins the growing list of notable companies who have backed out from having a physical presence at this year's event. It was also reported that more companies likely will also be dropping out soon based on recent contacts with those companies.
Link: https://www.ign.com/articles/rumors-...shers-back-out

* While Ubisoft is currently not planned to be holding a press conference at this year's E3 event, they recently announced they will be holding an E3-like Ubisoft Forward stream on June 12th to discuss updates for previously announced games current in development and the official debut of new games in development as well.
Link: https://twitter.com/Ubisoft/status/1640747302166884352

* Valve recently announced that they will be dropping official support for their Steam Client for Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 operating systems starting on January 1, 2024. Official reason is due to the way certain new features for Steam rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome that no longer works on older Windows OSs.
Link: https://help.steampowered.com/en/faq...4F2B-1321-800A

* The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) recently gave their official approval for Microsoft's attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard. Similar to other government bodies around the world, the JFTC stated in their filing that they believe that MS's purchase of AB "would not substantially restrain competition in any particular fields of trade" nor do they believe that it would violate Japanese anti-trust laws, especially in regards to cloud gaming.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/japan-ap...zard-purchase/

[Sepholio]

The Last of Us: Part 1 PC port is getting absolutely destroyed in reviews.

Iron Galaxy is excellent at releasing absolutely terrible ports of great games.

[ClockShot]

The inevitable has happened as the ESA has cancelled this year's E3.

[Emperor Smeat]

According Jeff Grubb on yesterday's Game Mess Mornings show, this was pretty much inevitable once the latest batch of dropouts happened.

Grubb stated that his sources told him that the organizers for this year's now cancelled event waited way too long to put things into motion for the plans for this year's E3 which also meant they delayed contacting other companies for their commitments. This is what led to the string of dropouts and non-committals in the end.

One company had even told the organizers that they should have started doing this several months before than what was done since now it meant they no longer had the prep time needed to do an E3 showcase and already had set their work and events schedules for the year in place.

[Sepholio]

Feels like this is the death of E3. Kinda sad. Used to be so hyped for E3 every year

[Splaya]

The problem would become in my eyes is that these companies would rather use their social media platforms to promote it, rather than go to the event. There always used to be a Final Fantasy exhibit filled with news about future games, and we rarely get that anymore.

[Sepholio]

I mean I get it. It's good business. Cheaper and a much wider reach just doing your own presentation on social media. Plenty of other big shows throughout the year if you want to do something in person. It just sucks because E3 was a big part of growing up/young adulthood as a gamer for me. Was always excited for it to come around to see what was cooking behind the scenes.

Ah well. RIP E3.

[Emperor Smeat]

I'm a bit surprised the ESA had any remaining goodwill left with companies for E3 after that massive data breach incident a few years ago.

COVID took a big hit on E3 that it never recovered from but E3 could have easily been done for good back in 2020 after that incident.

[Emperor Smeat]

Film production studio Legendary Entertainment reportedly recently signed a deal with Capcom for the film & tv rights for their Street Fighter series, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Originally Posted by Hollywood Reporter Legendary is ready to unleash a sonic boom, with the studio acquiring the film and TV rights to the classic beat-’em-up game Street Fighter. The studio will work with video game company Capcom on future projects ... Hollywood has made moves on Street Fighter in the past, with Universal releasing an ill-fated 1994 film that starred Jean-Claude Van Damme as Col. Guile and featured a cast including Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na Wen and the late Raul Julia. More than a decade later, 20th Century Fox released Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009), which starred Kristin Kreuk in the title role. Like its predecessor, it was a commercial and critical bomb. An assortment of animated adaptations have also made their way to the screen. Legendary, which has a film distribution deal with Sony, has Dune: Part Two due out Nov. 3. Its deal for Street Fighter comes as video game adaptations have found success in recent years, with Paramount’s Sonic films, Sony’s Uncharted and HBO’s The Last of Us all cutting through to various degrees. And on Friday, Universal will try its luck with The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the first time in 30 years that gaming giant Nintendo has teamed with a Hollywood studio to put one of its prized properties on the big screen.

Link: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ry-1235365168/

[Emperor Smeat]

As noted before, UK regulator Competition and Markets Authority recently dropped most of their objections to Microsoft's attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard setting the stage for their official approval of the deal for the UK region.

Sony recently issued an official statement criticizing the CMA for revising their earlier stance against MS's attempt to purchase AB. Sony claims that CMA's reason for their reversal is "surprising, unprecedented, and irrational" over them being pleased at MS's 10 year offer to Sony & Nintendo for the CoD series and no longer having concerns that MS owning the CoD series would give them a near monopoly-like status in the console gaming industry.

Microsoft filed a response in regards to Sony's statement stating that they have no financial reason for wanting to purposely "withhold or degrade access to Call of Duty" that would cost them billions of dollars as a strategy to do so.

An official decision by the CMA is currently expected to be made by April 26th.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Sony has issued a new statement regarding the Competitions and Markets Authority, or CMA, and its recently narrowed scope of concerns over Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The paper, submitted last month and recently publicized, sees Sony describing the CMA’s “reversal” of its position on its consoles theory of harm as “surprising, unprecedented, and irrational" ... Sony’s response goes into several errors it believes the CMA has made in its findings, including an assertion that Minecraft, which is already on multiple platforms, says “nothing” about whether Microsoft would pursue Call of Duty exclusivity. In one instance, Sony cites a recent quote from Arkane’s Harvey Smith to IGN. In it, Smith said that Redfall was in development for PlayStation 5 prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda. “We got bought by Microsoft and that was a huge sea change,” Smith said. “They said, ‘No PlayStation 5. Now we’re gonna do Game Pass, Xbox, and PC.'” Sony asserts that this provides compelling evidence of Microsoft’s ability, and incentive, to “foreclose rivals to acquired games.” The company also brings up a point it’s mentioned before: that any degradation of performance or quality of play on PlayStation, or delays in release, would harm Sony’s reputation. It ultimately calls on the CMA to revisit its analysis of Microsoft’s incentives and partial foreclosure. “In conclusion, SIE respectfully submits that the Addendum does not justify the CMA’s U-turn on the consoles theory of harm,” Sony’s statement concludes ... Microsoft also had a response, issuing the following statement today (via Eurogamer): “The Provisional Findings Addendum correctly confirms that Microsoft has no incentive to withhold or degrade access to Call of Duty. As Microsoft has explained throughout the course of the CMA’s investigation, such a strategy makes no commercial sense and would result in Microsoft writing off billions from the deal value.” The CMA is expected to deliver its final decision on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard no later than April 26.

Link: https://assets.publishing.service.go...E_response.pdf , https://www.eurogamer.net/sony-pounc...on-acquisition , https://www.destructoid.com/sony-rep...blizzard-deal/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* As noted before, Legendary Entertainment recently signed a deal with Capcom for the film & tv rights for the Street Fighter series. Capcom recently confirmed that a new live-action Steer Fighter film is currently in production by them and Legendary.
Link: https://twitter.com/StreetFighter/st...60498150227977

* Longtime Halos series developer Joseph Staten announced that he has recently left Microsoft. Official reason given was due to him wanting to go in a new direction for his career. Prior to his departure, Staten had been involved in Halo series since the first game, first as a cinematic director and eventually as the creative director.
Link: https://twitter.com/joestaten/status...01906126176257 , https://www.destructoid.com/joseph-s...inite-studios/

* According to Variety, the recently released Super Mario Bros film broke the record for largest ever opening-day box office for an animated film at $377 million in global revenue and is currently expected to become the highest grossing film for this year. The previous record was held by 2019 film Frozen 2.
Link: https://variety.com/2023/film/box-of...es-1235577619/

[Emperor Smeat]

For those interested, Sony will be airing a new State of Play stream on Thursday focusing on Final Fantasy XVI.

State of Play presents more than 20 minutes of new Final Fantasy XVI gameplay this Thursday. Tune in live at 2pm PT / 5pm ET / 11pm CEST: https://t.co/nOULcwLVnQ pic.twitter.com/vNR9kGbxL6

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) April 11, 2023

[Sepholio]

I hope they sneak in a little something about FF7 Remake 2

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* For those interested, Capcom will be holding a new showcase stream on their official YouTube channel on April 20th focusing on their upcoming Street Fighter 6 game. It was announced that this stream will be over 30 minutes in length and starts at 6 PM EST.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow46UZ0CCuQ , https://twitter.com/StreetFighter/st...72179590561793

* Also for those interested, Diablo IV associate game director Joe Piepiora stated in a recent interview with PC Gamer that it will take around 80 hours on average to fully complete a Battle Pass season for Diablo IV.
Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-bor...s-of-monsters/

* Nintendo announced that they will be releasing their final pre-launch trailer for their upcoming Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom tomorrow on their official Youtube channel. It was also announced that this final pre-launch trailer is around 3 minutes in length.
Link: https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/...51322134036488

* Tecmo Koei stated that the recent rumors of Team Ninja currently working on a new unannounced game planned to be released before their Rise of the Ronin game in 2024 are not true. The source of the rumors originated from some confusion over the wording from a recent interview Famiysu had with Team Ninja boss Fumihiko Yasuda.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Following a recent interview with Team Ninja lead Fumihiko Yasuda, reports swirled that the studio had another game in the works, set to arrive before 2024’s Rise of the Ronin. But Koei Tecmo confirms those rumors aren’t accurate to Team Ninja’s plans. Speaking to Famitsu, Yasuda discussed Team Ninja’s upcoming docket of games. The previously announced Rise of the Ronin is set for 2024. Yasuda also expresses a desire to release something new in 2025. The confusion arises around a certain phrasing, though. “‘Rise of the Ronin’ has been under development for about 7 years and is scheduled to be released in 2024,” Yasuda said. “This work will be released in 2023, and I feel like I want to release a new title in 2025.” Famitsu’s interview was published online on March 11, after the release of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty earlier this year. This, alongside mention that the game in question was in development, led to speculation and reports that Team Ninja has another game planned for 2023. Koei Tecmo clarifies As noted in Famitsu’s article, though, this interview was conducted on February 14, 2023, prior to the launch of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. And the interview itself is about Wo Long, too. We reached out to Team Ninja parent company Koei Tecmo to clarify, and a spokesperson confirmed that “this work” refers to Wo Long. The spokesperson also confirms their 2023 game is Wo Long, and Team Ninja does not have another full game planned for 2023. Which, considering Wo Long still has a season pass’ worth of content on the way alongside Rise of the Ronin and thoughts of a 2025 game, is probably a good thing. Team Ninja has had a steady cadence over the last few years.

Link: https://www.destructoid.com/koei-tec...plans-wo-long/

[ClockShot]

Like what I saw in the Sony Final Fantasy showcase. Looking like a good preorder right now.

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* The National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) recently announced that the theme song to the original Super Mario Bros game will be the first ever game music inducted into the Library of Congress. This song will be part of this year's class of 25 pieces of music to be added to the Library of Congress' music preservation catalog.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/super-ma...pr-koji-kondo/

* Voice actor Matthew Mercer recently announced on Twitter that he voiced Ganondorf for Nintendo's upcoming Legend of the Zelda Tears of the Kingdom game.
Link: https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/st...76756122705922

* A new "Gamer's Lawsuit" class-action lawsuit was recently filed against Microsoft over their on-going attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard. This new lawsuit is an amended version of their original lawsuit that was filed this past January but dismissed this past March due to the presiding court ruling that "The Complaint does not plausibly allege the merger creates a reasonable probability of anticompetitive effects in any relevant market." This new lawsuit reportedly claims to contain redacted documents from Microsoft’s board of directors and also recent statements from Sony over their objections to MS's purchase attempt as part of their claims why MS should not be legally allowed to buy AB. MS recently responded to the new amended lawsuit stating that those involved “waited 11 months after the transaction was announced to file their lawsuit, and then wasted several additional months filing an implausible complaint."
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/gamers-l...tivision-sale/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Super Marios Bros Movie recently surpassed $600 million in box office sales making it the highest ever grossing video game-based film in history. Variety reported that it had surpassed $500 million as of this past mid-week while Destructoid reported that the film added another $100 million this past weekend for a current tally of around $667 million.
Link: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/s...er-1235583559/ , https://www.destructoid.com/super-ma...er-box-office/

* Former 343 Industries creative director and Halo Infinite head of creative Joseph Staten announced on Twitter that he recently joined Netflix's Netflix Games studio as the creative director for an upcoming "brand-new AAA multiplatform game and original IP."
Link: https://twitter.com/joestaten/status...00044719833088

*GamesIndustry.biz reported that SEGA is currently in the process of purchasing Rovi, Angry Birds developer, for around 706 million euros ($770 million). It was reported that the reason is due to SEGA wanting to boost their mobile gaming development and market presence. It was also reported that the sale is currently expected to be finalized in the second quarter of their current fiscal year.
Link: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sega-t...6-million-deal

[Emperor Smeat]

Add South Africa's Competition Commission to the growing list of government agencies that have given or hinted their approval for Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard.

Similar to others, the SACC's main focus was gaming monopoly concerns over MS owning the CoD series but they eventually dropped their concerns due to being pleased with MS intent to provide 10 year support for CoD games on other platforms should their purchase of AB become a reality.

Originally Posted by Destructoid South Africa looks set to be the latest territory to offer its approval in Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The South African Competition Commission has approved the deal without conditions, joining nations such as Brazil, Japan, and Saudi Arabia in backing the deal. Unsurprisingly, the Competition Commission’s investigation focused primarily on the fate of Activision franchise Call of Duty, and whether or not the industry would be severely hampered by the possibility of the billion-dollar military shooter becoming an Xbox exclusive. The Commission was ultimately satisfied with Microsoft’s intent to approach its competitors with deals pertaining to Call of Duty, and thus offered its approval to the $68.7 billion USD sale. Of course, there are still many hurdles to clear before Microsoft can pop the champagne corks. The publisher still has to win the favor of other major markets, including Europe and the United Kingdom, and will then face its biggest challenge in the form of the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which has gone as far as to file suit in order to prevent the Activision Blizzard sale from taking place. The case is set to go to court this summer. The option to appeal will also be available to the losing side, suggesting that this ongoing situation is still far from reaching closure.

Link: https://www.destructoid.com/south-af...sion-blizzard/

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Sony announced that they are currently in the process of purchasing Firewalk Studios for an undisclosed amount of money. As part of this purchase, Firewalk Studios will be separating from their current publisher ProbablyMonsters.
Link: https://blog.playstation.com/2021/04...ultiplayer-ip/

* Atari announced that they have recently re-acquired around 100 games from their past library from Accolade, Infogrames, and Microprose. While the full list of games was not revealed, it was announced to contain Bubsy, Hardball, 1942: Pacific Air War, F-117A, Demolition Racer series, and F-14 air combat series.
Link: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-r...s-and-90s.html

* Epic Games announced that they have recently purchased Brazilian studio Aquiris, developer of Horizon Chase, as part of their expansion in the South American market and also to work as a support studio under the new name of Epic Brazil for their Fortnite game.
Link: https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US...c-games-brasil

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Staff from SEGA's SEGA of America offices recently filed paperwork to the National Labor Relations Board to hold a planned union election to officially determine if they will unionize or not. This potential new union would be called Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS) and they are partnering with Communications Workers of America (CWA) to help out their process. At least two employees spoken to stated that SoA management have not displayed any anti-union sentiments at this time.
Link: https://www.destructoid.com/sega-of-...vine-industry/ , https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/24/2...a-unionize-cwa

* Deep Silver recently announced that Dead Island 2 has already surpassed 1 million in sales since its launch last week.
Link: https://twitter.com/deadislandgame/s...51266337075211

* In a recent official statement to Eurogamer, Metacritic stated that they are currently planning to "evolve" their moderation system for user reviews for games on their website. This decision is related to a recent user review bombing of the recently released Burning Shores DLC pack for Horizon Forbidden West that included a flood of users reviews containing hate speech, tonal abuse, and homophobia being posted. This issue revolved around the DLC pack featuring Aloy spending a lot of time with another woman through out the DLC story and players eventually being given the option of if they want Aloy to embrace and give a passionate kiss or not to this woman character.

Originally Posted by Destructoid The DLC, which was launched by Guerrilla Games on April 19, was generally well-received by critics and Horizon fans — And while some players were left understandably frustrated by Guerrilla’s decision to only publishing the DLC on PS5, (leaving the PS4 community behind), it seems that this is not the main point of contention for a portion of the players who left negative user reviews. A lot of the negativity, (veiled or otherwise) is weighted toward the fact that, over the course of the story, Horizon hero Aloy meets another woman, Seyka, while on her journey through the new world. As the two characters spend time together over the course of the DLC, Aloy finds herself drawn to the Quen tribe warrior, ultimately resulting in a scene where the player can, should they choose to do so, bring the two characters together for a passionate kiss. And it seems that this, of course, is a cause for concern among the angriest and loudest of the gaming community. Last week saw the User Review section inundated with both massively negative written and numerical reviews, leading the DLC to sit at a current score of 4.0 (actually higher than it has been previously). While most of the more homophobic of the site’s 254 negative reviews have since been removed, many remaining reviews choose to mask themselves a little better, simply claiming that the DLC is “poorly written” or that “the world is boring”, before following up with a flat score of zero out of ten — somewhat raising eyebrows.

Link: https://www.destructoid.com/metacrit...oy-moderation/ , https://www.eurogamer.net/metacritic...shores-reviews

[Fignuts]

Convinced that a large portion of people have become so trigger happy with "woke" accusations, that they don't even know what the word means anymore.

[ClockShot]

Isn't there already a big video game union out there? Why not just join up with them?

A.E.G.I.S. Someone really wanted this group to sound cool.

[ClockShot]

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority has blocked the sale of Activision-Blizzard to Microsoft.

And here we go......

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/26/tech/...ard/index.html

[Emperor Smeat]

Today's News:
* Longtime music composer Ryo Nagamatsu announced that he recently left Nintendo with the official reason due to him wanting to go in a new direction for his career. Prior to his departure, Nagamatsu had spent the past 17 years working at Nintendo.
Link: https://twitter.com/NagamatsuRyo/sta...91363515047936 , https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo...platoon-mario/

* Netherealm Studios recently released a video celebrating the 30th anniversary of their Mortal Kombat series. This video also contained a cryptic message at the end teasing the upcoming reveal of the next game in the MK series, Mortal Kombat 12, and a potential story teaser for it. This game was later confirmed to be currently in development from an investor's meeting held earlier today by Warner Bros Discovery.

Originally Posted by Destructoid The video then ends with a cryptic clip, featuring a torrent of sand trickling from the hourglass of the time-twisting boss of Mortal Kombat 11, Kronika. After the final grain leaves the hourglass, its shatters into endless grains, which would perhaps suggest a full restart of the timeline, or even a shakeup into multiple timelines. While Mortal Kombat‘s reboot, which began in 2011, definitely redefined storytelling in the fighting game genre, there’s no denying that the timeline very quickly painted itself into a corner, struggling through the events of MKX and really hitting the wall in MK11.

Originally Posted by Destructoid Speaking on an earnings call today, Warner Bros. head David Zaslav confirms that Mortal Kombat 12 is in the works. The comment arrived during a section where Zaslav was discussing the success of gaming efforts under WB: “[…] And there’s lots more to come, including the highly anticipated Mortal Kombat 12 and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, games also set for release this year with ambitious launch projections.”

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsX8jGhBHgo , https://www.destructoid.com/mortal-k...er-bros-games/

* Add Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to the list of government agencies that have recently approved Microsoft's attempt to purchase Activision Blizzard. According to GamesIndustry.biz, the main reason for the AMCU's approval was due to them not holding a similar level of concern like the FTC and UK's CMA over potential monopolistic fears of MS owning AB, especially in regards to the cloud gaming market for the Ukrainian market.
Link: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ukrain...ision-blizzard

* Variety reported that the Super Mario Bros Movie recently surpassed $1 billion on global box office revenues. It also became the first film this year to surpass the $1 billion mark and one of only a few films to have done it so far since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Link: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/s...ne-1235598832/