Category: News

With more scoops than a big bowl of ice cream, here’s this week’s gaming news!

More Sims Than The Sims

During a recent announcement showcase, Paradox Interactive has hinted at a new game called Life By You, which is very much in the style of The Sims. The reason this news is turning heads is that it’s being developed by Rod Humble, the former head of Sims and CEO of Second Life studio Linden Labs, so there’s a lot of excitement about how this could be a real contender for the crown of virtual life simulators. 

However, only a short teaser trailer has been released and there is currently limited information available about the game. A full trailer and further details are expected in the coming weeks.

eShop Shutdown

Everybody loves shopping on the Nintendo eShop, which is especially bad news for 3DS and Wii U owners. Nintendo are shutting down access to this service for these systems on March 27. Apparently the little hamster that powers the server is being retired and taken to a nice farm (SFX: Gunshot). So you have a few short weeks to go on eShop and buy those 3DS games you’ve always wanted. Or just hack the machine and download whatever you want forever. Wait, did I say that bit out loud?

Oh speaking of Wii U, word is floating around the internet that Wii U devices are prone to bricking – or terminally failing to turn on – if they’re not used for extended periods of time. Like, several years worth of time. And let’s be honest, that’s pretty easy to do with the Wii U. So if you’re one of the dozens of Wii U owners out there, maybe check in on it and see how it’s doing?

Cheating’s a drag, man

Battlestate Games, the developers of the tremendously popular war simulator Escape From Tarkov, have done something unusual about people who cheat in their game. Not content with just banning them outright, they’ve released the names of over 6,000 players who they say are using mods to cheat and otherwise make legit players’ lives worse. I’m sure the parents of cooldude69 are just dying from the shame their son has brought upon their family. It’s an interesting use of time from the developer who once claimed that adding female characters to their game would just be too much work.

And now, get your credit cards ready for these upcoming game releases!

March 9
Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse [PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch]
Tiny Troopers: Global Ops [PC, PS5, XSX, XBO, Switch]
Train Life: A Railway Simulator [Switch]
Accuse [C64] 

March 14
Escape From The Red Planet [PC] 

March 17
Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon (Switch)

Pokémon Day 2023 Announcements

The 27^th of February is Pokémon Day and as always The Pokémon Company treated players to a stream of updates and announcements for all things Pokémon. Here are some of the highlights:

Scarlet & Violet expansions:

One big announcement was the upcoming expansion for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet called The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero. The DLC will split into two parts: The Teal Mask, planned for a fall 2023 release on Nintendo Switch, and The Indigo Disk, planned for a winter 2023 release. The DLC will allow players to explore an entirely new area, the land of Kitakami, and the school of Blueberry Academy. “While this tale is split into two parts, they link together to tell a connected story,” the press release said.

Pokémon Sleep app:

This app was originally announced in 2019 but we’ve heard nothing about it in the years since, until now. Players of Pokémon Sleep will journey to a new island where Professor Neroli studies the nature of Pokémon sleeping habits. Of course, Snorlax will be a key part of this game but you’ll be able to meet and catch many others who you’ll find napping together each morning.

Alongside the app is a new device called the Pokémon Go Plus Plus, similar to the previously released Pokémon Go Plus and Pokéball Plus hardware. We don’t have a date yet, but we know that Pokémon Sleep will be released for Android and iOS devices this winter.

Pokémon Concierge series:

The Pokémon Company and Netflix have teamed up to create Pokémon Concierge, a stop-motion animated series set to premiere on Netflix later this year. It follows the story of a concierge named Haru who works at the Pokémon resort, an uncreatively named resort for Pokémon. Not much else is known yet but the trailer suggests it will be a cute slice of life detour from the typical battling and catching Pokémon formula.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie release date has been brought forward:

A recent update announced that the film, which was set to release on April 7^th has been moved slightly forward to release on April 5^th for Australia, the USA, and 60 other markets around the world. While not the first time the release date has been altered, with it first being 2022, then March, then April, it is hopefully the last.

Playstation State of Play:

Late last week was Sony’s State of Play and we were treated to trailers, updates, and announcements for a range of games. There are more than we can talk about here but some of the highlights were:

There was an announcement trailer for Journey to Foundation. It’s based on Isaac Asimov’s sci-fi epic and coming Fall 2023!

Another announcement was for Synapse, a VR Shooter where you wield telekinetic powers releasing exclusively to PlaystationVR2.

Another game for PlaystationVR2 is The Foglands, a stylised roguelike with western vibes, releasing later this year.

Before your Eyes is coming to VR2 March 10^th.

Goodbye Volcano High has been brewing for some time now and we’ve just got a trailer and release date for June 15^th, 2023.

Finally, we saw a new trailer for Tchia, which is releasing March 21^st, 2023.

​

Upcoming Game Releases

March 3^rd  – Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

March 6^th  – Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania DLC for PC, Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch,

March 7^th – The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition for PC, PS5, & Xbox Series X

March 7^th – Little Witch Nobeta for PS4 & Switch.

And that’s all, this week, in gaming news.

Tears of the Kingdom artbook leak

If you’re looking forward to the upcoming ‘Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’ on May 12^th, let this be a warning for you.  The entire 200+ page artbook has been leaked onto the internet. With game details currently scarce and 3 months left until release spoilers now abound regarding characters that will appear in game and designs. While the artbook doesn’t directly spoil any gameplay elements can certainly be inferred by some of the content.  So be wary of those looking to spoil your sense of   discovery.

We’ve now signed a binding 10-year contract to bring Xbox games to Nintendo’s gamers. This is just part of our commitment to bring Xbox games and Activision titles like Call of Duty to more players on more platforms. pic.twitter.com/JmO0hzw1BO

— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) February 21, 2023

Microsoft Spread the COD

Vice President of Microsoft Brad Smith has announced a binding 10 year contract with Nintendo outlying their intent to bring Xbox and Activision games to Nintendo platforms. Specifically, the deal outlines a commitment to release Call of Duty games “the same day as Xbox with full feature and content parity.” How the plan to achieve this is yet to be seen.

Shortly afterwards at a press conference in Brussels Smith also announced that all Xbox games would be coming to the competing cloud gaming service GeForce Now. The moves are part of Microsoft’s strategy to defend their proposed acquisition of Activision to the European Union’s antitrust authorities. The deal is currently under investigation and has been heavily criticised by Sony primarily on the issue of potential Call of Duty exclusivity.

Microsoft is hoping to settle the matter by June this year.

They changed Mario's "WAHOO" in the latest Super Bros. Movie trailer–and it's way better! pic.twitter.com/MQr6Pf6PGy

— André (@AndreSegers) February 19, 2023

Mario movie ‘wahoo’ update

In the most gripping news of the year so far it has been noticed that the reading of “Wahoo” used in the trailer for the upcoming ‘The Super Mario Bros Movie’ has been updated!  As a controversial choice for the iconic plumber Chris Pratt has a lot to prove and to help sell him in the role we’ve gone from THIS to THIS. The shocking change has rocked our very perception of reality but is it a step in the right direction?  Only time will tell.

Oh and here it is in French

pic.twitter.com/7mH6vEYIRY

— Firaxis Games (@FiraxisGames) February 17, 2023

Firaxis Games loses two

Legendary XCOM and Civilisation studio Firaxis Games has seen the departure of both the studio head Steve Martin after 27 years  and creative director Jake Solomon who was a primary driving force behind the development of Xcom 1, 2, War of the Chosen and the recent  Marvel’s Midnight Suns after 23 years of the company.  Both posted messages announcing their departure on twitter. No reason has been stated for their departure however they appear to have both left the company on good terms.

Game Releases

February 24

Blood Bowl 3 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC), Company of Heroes 3 (PC), Kirby’s Return To Dream Land Deluxe (Switch), Octopath Traveler II (PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, PC)

February 28

Destiny 2: Lightfall (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC), Scars Above (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC), Dungeons of Aether (PC)

That’s all this yahoo in gaming woo!

World of Warcraft Player Maxed Out Without Playing

World of Warcraft players, and those who tried to become a WoW player, are probably familiar with the tutorial boat that takes players to the starter zone. And yet, despite there being absolutely no quests, enemies, or even resources to harvest on the boat, a player has managed to level up their character to the recently increased level 70. How?

Pets.

Cheatcho has a number of account-wide pet battle quests, meaning that they can be done on separate characters, while allowing Cheatcho to redeem the quest rewards on a completely different character, namely the one on the ship. Apparently if you have a level 25 Chrominius pet on your account, you can use an ability called arcane explosion that can wipe out the quest giver’s pets quickly.

This method took 200 days to achieve max level.

Xbox is now Aware (of carbon)

A new Xbox firmware update brings changes to power management, where every Xbox console defaults to energy-saving mode, reducing console power consumption when the console is off. This change won’t affect performance or how updates install, but you won’t be able to remotely wake your console, and it boots up a little more slowly. It is optional, and players can opt for ‘Instant On’, although this uses up more energy.

In addition, your Xbox can schedule game, app, and OS updates at specific times to help reduce carbon emissions, by connecting to the internet and using the available regional carbon intensity data.

You can also hide game art when choosing tiles for the home page, letting you change game art to blocks of solid colour, helpful if you find yourself overwhelmed with visuals.

Massive Trans Witch Games Bundle

In response to Hogwarts Legacy, and the rising interest in games centred around magic whilst being trans-friendly, itch.io has a bundle of 69 (nice) items made by indie queer artists.

24 of the games are digital, with a further 41 titles being physical tabletop games. Some notable mentions include a witchy dating sim called Casting Hearts, and my personal favourite, a game about a skateboarding witch in Magic Trick.

VRChat Sex Worker Denied Entry to US

VRChat is a form of chat room where attendees are present in virtual reality, allowing them to interact, talk, and play together in a virtual room despite being countries apart. It’s not uncommon to enter a room with a dozen skeletons, 3 furries, and a lot of chaos. Everything ranging from concerts to birthdays to just about anything can exist. Humans being humans, sex, and consequently sex work, also has a place.

The VRChat sex worker, Hex, resides in the United Kingdom, however attempted to visit the United States to visit some friends. She was denied entry and explained how her work was done in a ‘virtual game’. However, according to Hex, the woman interviewing her didn’t quite understand. Despite not technically meeting the legal definition for prostitution in U.S. immigration laws, she was issued an official letter stating that she was denied entry due to ‘prostitution’.

And now for some upcoming games!

February 16

• Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (PS4, Switch)
• Wild West Dynasty (PC)

February 17

• Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)
• The Settlers: New Allies (PC)
• Tales of Symphonia Remastered (PS4, XBO, Switch)
• Wild Hearts (PC, PS5, XBO)

February 18

• The Dreams in the Witch House (PC)

February 21

• Atomic Heart (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO)
• Like a Dragon: Ishin (PS5, PS4)
• Ninja JaJaMaru: The Great Yokai Battle+Hell Deluxe Edition (PS4, Switch)
• Ninja JaJaMaru: The Lost RPGs (PS4, Switch)
• Ninja JaJaMaru: The Legendary Collection (PS4, Switch)

February 22

• Digimon World: Next Order (PC, Switch)
• After the Fall (PSVR 2)
• Fantavision 202X (PSVR 2)
• Gran Turismo 7 PSVR 2 upgrade (PSVR 2)
• Horizon Call of the Mountain (PSVR 2)
• Job Simulator (PSVR 2)
• Jurassic World Aftermath Collection (PSVR 2)
• Kayak VR: Mirage (PSVR 2)
• Kizuna AI – Touch the Beat! (PSVR 2)
• The Last Clockwinder (PSVR 2)
• The Light Brigade (PSVR 2)
• Resident Evil Village (PSVR 2)
• Song in the Smoke (PSVR 2)
• Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge – Enhanced Edition (PSVR 2)
• Synth Riders (PSVR 2)
• The Tale of Onogoro (PSVR 2)
• Tentacular (PSVR 2)
• Tetris Effect (PSVR 2)
• What the Bat (PSVR 2)
• Zenith: The Last City (PSVR 2)
• Zombieland: Headshot Fever Reloaded (PSVR 2)

https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2023/02-07-1-million-for-11-digital-games

Games Getting Funded!

Screen Australia has announced 11 games that will each receive a part of 1.5 million dollars in funding through what is called the Games: Expansion Pack fund.  The fund is targeted at emerging or small to medium independent game studios with budgets below $500 000.

CEO of Screen Australia Graeme Mason said, “There are huge opportunities for growth in the local games sector. The Government’s $12 million investment to support digital games developers and small and medium independent games studios will enable Screen Australia to support more Australian developers to create original games, build sustainable businesses and attract local and global audiences.”

The Games: Expansion Pack is open for applications on an ongoing basis until 4 May 2023.

https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/news/update-01-31-2023

The Sims 4 News

In the latest Sims 4 update Maxis has added a variety of customization options in create-a-sim, with medical wearables and trans-inclusive cosmetics.  The update (1.95.207.1030 on PC and version 1.69 (nice) on console) includes hearing aids, glucose monitors, top surgery scars and binders and shape-wear.

Oh and they added a light switch too.

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2023/02/nintendo-announces-10-per-cent-pay-raise-for-devs-despite-lower-profits/

Nintendo is decent.

Nintendo has announced a 10 percent pay rise for its game developers, in spite of their reported 20 percent drop in switch sales, stating that securing their workforce is important to their long-term growth.

This is in line with Nintendo’s history of being actually pretty decent to their employees (barring crunch but that’s a different kettle of fish) such as in 2011 when faced with the poor sales of the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata took a 50 percent pay cut.

I suppose in the wake of all the layoffs in the gaming industry (last month Microsoft announced 10 000 job cuts) it’s nice to see a company taking care of the people who actually make the games they sell.

Releases!

February 9

Monster Outbreak – Switch

February 10

Go! Go! PogoGirl – PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch

February 14

Blanc – PC and Switch

Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition – PS5 & Xbox Series X

Outzone – PC

Ten Dates – PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch

Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Collection Vol.1 – PC

Truxton – PC

Twin Cobra – PC

Wanted: Dead  PC, Playstation and Xbox

Zero Wing – PC

February 15

Pharaoh: A New Era – PC

Returnal -PC

And that’s all this week in gaming news!

Microsoft starts the year boldly

Microsoft held an event called the “Xbox + Bethesda Developer Direct” covering 5 upcoming titles. A 4v4 PvP mode for the upcoming Minecraft Legends was shown off mixing up action, base building and strategy. Arkane’s upcoming multiplayer vampire survival game Redfall got a release date of May 2, the next Forza Motorsport showed off the goods with 500 cars included and The Elder Scrolls Online got a timeframe of June for its next expansion based in Morrowind titled Necrom. But perhaps the biggest announcement of the event was the simultaneous reveal and release of Tango Gameworks’ new game. The Evil Within and Ghostwire Tokyo developer surprised viewers with Hi-Fi Rush a bright and colourful 3^rd person character action game crossed with a rhythm game. The environment and action all operates at the beat of the music player that has been mistakenly embedded in the protagonists chest.

Australian Government to re-establish Interactive Games Fund

The National Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, has announced the return of the government’s Interactive game fund.

‘All forms of storytellers now – whether it’s narrative, visual art, music, acting – are finding themselves jobs in the video games industry. Screen Australia, when you’ve got an industry expanding like this around the world, shouldn’t be left trying to check if there’s some spare change back in the lounge to fund this rapidly growing, AU $4 billion sector.’

‘So we’ll restore the Games Fund for Screen Australia that was abolished nearly 10 years ago.’ – Tony Burke

Labor hopes the fund along with the previously announced Digital Game Tax Offset will help support and establish new Australian Developers for years to come.

E3 Still Ain’t Coming Back

The big three Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft will not attend this year’s planned return of E3. Xbox’s Phil Spencer has said Microsoft plans to hold their regular Showcase at the same time but will not be officially part of the expo.  Sony dropped out of E3 back in 2019 and Nintendo have been unpredictable with their announcements in recent years. It’s a big blow for event organizers Reedpop who have taken over the event to shape into something more suitable for the current climate of the industry.

Tomb Bag? Or perhaps Flea Raider?

Amazon have announced plans to develop a Tomb Raider television show with Phoebe Waller-Bridge who is perhaps most well known for her Emmy Winning series Fleabag which she wrote, produced, and starred in. Waller-Bridge is positioned to write and produce the series but alas will not be filling the shoes of Lara Croft herself.

Goodbye Tess

At a time when The Last of Us TV show is gaining much praise and attention came the sad news that actor Annie Wersching who played Tess in the original game and remake has passed away from cancer. She was 45 years old.

Upcoming Game Releases

Deliver Us Mars (PlayStation Platforms, Xbox Platforms, PC), Life Is Strange 2 (Switch), Tails: The Backbone Preludes (PC), Your Only Move is Hustle (PC), The Pathless (Xbox Platforms, Switch) – February 3^rd

Coming in hotter than a Blue Shell from eighth place, here’s this week’s gaming news!

WOW guy says “wow”… after he got fired

Brian Bermingham, lead engineer on World of Warcraft Classic, has been fired from Activision-Blizzard, reportedly for not participating in the controversial ‘stack ranking’ process. Stack ranking asks team leads to mark 5% of their teams as not suitable to receive promotions, royalties or even continued employment, and it’s a pretty cold way to evaluate team members. Bermingham says he’d be willing to rejoin the team if he was asked to. In completely unrelated news, joining the Game Workers of Australia union is cheap and easy. 

343’s trial separation from Halo

Halo Infinite developers 343 Industries are reportedly stepping back from their committed relationship with Halo. The company will allegedly still have a supervisory role on future Halo game development, allowing other developers the opportunity to actually release a Halo title that makes people happy for the first time since Bungie went off to make Destiny games. 343 has reassured us that they still love us, this is just something grown ups do sometimes and it’s not our fault. However, 343 Industries studio head Pierre Hintze debunked this rumour on Twitter over the weekend: 

“Halo and Master Chief are here to stay. 343 Industries will continue to develop Halo now and in the future, including epic stories, multiplayer, and more of what makes Halo great.” 

Justin Roiland sucks

In news surprising nobody who’s ever had to deal with him, it turns out that Rick and Morty co-creator and main writer of the recently released Squanch Game’s High on Life has been fired from Squanch Games, Adult Swim and anyone else who doesn’t want his stink on their shoes. I really don’t feel like submitting us all to his creepy crap, but rest assured we’re all better off without predators like him in the industry. 

Breaking News: Unpacking is still awesome.

There’s no real news here, just a gentle reminder.

Sony unveil PSVR2 lineup

Sony have announced a swathe of new titles designed to get us excited about their second generation VR headset. The new hardware includes eye tracking and 4K displays, but what will make it really worth buying are the game experiences that are coming in the next few months. A new Horizon game called Horizon Call of the Mountain heads the lineup, followed by VR updates to Gran Turismo 7 and Resident Evil Village. I personally can’t wait to buy Tetris Effect for the sixth time and declare it game of the year for the sixth time. 

Upcoming Releases

Get your wallets ready folks, because there’s a-heapin’ of games coming our way, including:

Jan 26 

Castle Shadowgate (C64)

Jan 27

Dead Space (PS4, PS5, PC, XSX) 

Jan 31
Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake (PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, XS)

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (Xbox One, XS)

Hitman: World of Assassination [PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch] 

Powerwash Simulator [PS5, PS4, Switch] – and the Powerwash Simulator Tomb Raider DLC…wait, what?

DnD OGL Update Aftermath
In the aftermath of the Open Game Licence 2.0 leak, Wizards of the Coast have struggled to claw back their fanbase as DnD Beyond servers suffer under the load of mass subscription cancelations. Additionally, several big third-party publishers who would be affected by the new royalty system have tabled their intention to either jump ship or create their own licensing system. Kobold Press teased “Project Black Flag”, Matt Colville’s MCDM Productions is working on both a new OGL as well as a new TTRPG, and Paizo/Pathfinder looking to collaborate on an open RPG license.
In response, a statement was released insisting “It was never our intent to impact the vast majority of the community.” They also tried to clarify stating that any future revisions “…will not include the license back provision that some people were afraid was a means for us to steal work. That thought never crossed our minds.”

Activision Blizzard… when will it end?
As the saga continues, here’s the current headlines coming out of the company that can’t stop making waves.

• Activision Blizzard has refused to acknowledge the union that formed late December. Management at Proletariat issued the statement that leadership “…has always been pro-worker“ and that employees “…deserve some time to process (sic) and to better understand its potential impacts.”
• The Microsoft Activision Blizzard merger that was announced in January 2022 has had new challenges with the European Union filing an antitrust challenge and Google parent Alphabet Inc, and Nvidia are filing for unfair advantages in the gaming market. These join other objections placed with the US Federal Trade Commission to be investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority, and finalised in April.
• In some hearsay arguments Activision Blizzard claims that it was Netease that rejected the six-month extension of their partnership. Various sources cite irreconcilable differences including Netease president referring to an Activision Blizzard executive as a “jerk”. Because of these, after January 23^rd several titles will no longer be accessible in China, most notably World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, Starcraft, and Overwatch 2.

Doors Close on Stadia
As the curtains close on the experiment that was Google Stadia, refunds have been processed for everything but Pro subscriptions… but payments were also paused the day shutdown was announced. But what about all that hardware you don’t have? Well, if you did manage to get the controller, Google has pushed a self-serve tool to enable Bluetooth connections with the gamepads. Meaning, your Stadia Gamepad may be obsolete, but at least you can still use it on the hardware you didn’t get because you used Stadia.
Oh! Remember that guy who had 6000 hours in Red Dead Online on the Stadia who was pleading for a character transfer? Well, not only did Rockstar organise a transfer, he also got a gift box from the company. Unfortunately, Rockstar has announced they will no longer be releasing any major content for Red Dead Online, instead focusing on the upcoming GTA6.

And finally, a moment for the death of Google Stadia…

And now, for some upcoming games.
On Friday January 20^th, the next instalment in the series Fire Emblem Engages and its Wave 1 DLC are coming to Switch. World War 1 horror survival Trenches emerges from Steam early access onto PlayStation, Xbox, & the Switch.
Tuesday January 24^th, the RAM-hungry, RPG, fantasy shooter Forspoken is coming to PC & PS5, and deckbuilding & strategy boardgame mashup Mahokenshi comes to PC.
And on Thursday January 26^th, for that nostalgia hit Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection is coming to PlayStation and Switch. The strange Hitman: World of Assassination hodgepodge that collects Hitman 1 to 3 as well as Hitman 3: Freelancer Mode are all coming to PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. Fight the nightmares of a girl in the twin stick shooter NeverAwake, coming to PlayStation and Switch.

Dungeons and Dragons’ new license has fans and creators worried.

Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns D&D announced last year they would be updating the game’s license as they make the shift to One-DnD. Recently the new document, which will come into effect very soon, was leaked online and many people are unhappy with it. There have been tweaks and shifts previously but nothing this big since the Open Gaming License was published in 2000.

It’s impossible to go into all the details of the over 9000-word document but there is now a requirement to register your work with WotC before publishing and to feature a “badge” on your
product to show it is in line with the new OGL. All creators will be classified based on their revenue and those in the highest tier will be required to pay royalties. That’s anyone making over $750,000 per year across all Licensed Works. The majority of creators will not be required to pay Wizards any royalties but there are plenty of other things in the document making them nervous.

WotC will gain the ability to terminate their license agreement with anyone, at any time, for any reason. If they did this, the creator would no longer be able to sell products associated with Dungeons and Dragons and would be required to “destroy all inventory and marketing materials bearing the Compatibility Logo.” To top that all off, WotC will have the right to use any content created under the new OGL whether it is commercial or not. The document states they will have a “nonexclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sub-licensable, royalty-free license to use that content for any purpose.”

The third-party creators that surround Dungeons-and-Dragons has always been central to the game’s popularity and some fans are worried this could collapse that community. Some others are optimistic that the new changes are just legal speak and WotC will not significantly change the way it engages with third party creators. Whatever the case, we won’t know until the new license put into effect.

Battle Royale “Deathverse: Let it Die” temporarily shuts down.

Deathverse: Let it Die is a Battle Royale game set in a post-apocalyptic world where players take part in a battle royale reality show “Death Jamboree” to entertain. It’s a fun premise but the game has struggled to attract a solid player base since it launched late last year. On the sixth of January, the developers published a notice to their community saying that they will be suspending the game to allow them to completely overhaul it and fix the issues they have been struggling with.

Service for the game will end later this year on July 18th, with sales of the in-game currency ending February 7th. There is no word on when the game will return but it seems they are passionate about building the game into their vision.  “Considering how much time goes into developing a game–and that there’s a finite number of games one can possibly make in a lifetime–it’s impossible to say at this stage whether this is the right choice. But we love this game and are proud to have developed it together as a team. Therefore, we believe this is the best possible decision at this time.” Their letter said.

The voice of Monkey Island’s Captain LeChuck, Earl Boen, has died.

Earl Boen, who voiced the main antagonist of the Monkey Island series Captain LeChuck, passed away at the age of 81 after being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer late last year. Boen was asked
to reprise his role in the most recent instalment of Monkey Island but declined “because he’s retired and he’s getting older.”

Aside from this role his voice was part of many other games including World of Warcraft, Metal Gear Solid 2, Eternal Darkness, Baldurs Gate, and Psychonauts. He also worked outside of video games, notably in the roll of criminal psychologist Dr. Peter Silverman from the Terminator series. After the announcement of his passing many fans shared their condolences online and spoke about their appreciation of his work.

Upcoming Game Releases

13th January:
– One Piece Odyssey (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
16th January:
– Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PS5, Xbox Series X/S)
17th January:
– Gigantosaurus: Dino Kart (PS5 5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)
19th January:
– Colossal Cave (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Quest, PC)
– Persona 4 Golden (Switch, PC, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One)
– A Space for the Unbound (PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC)

Mission: Hitman Changes

Fans of the Hitman series are undergoing some changes in order to create an “ever-expanding” world that could evolve over time. And this next step is set to allow IO Interactive realise the vision they’ve set out to achieve.

Hitman 3 will become HITMAN World of Assassination, and will include access to Hitman 1 and Hitman 2. Those who already own Hitman 3 will get a free upgrade to HITMAN World of Assassination. This also means that World of Assassination will be the only single option to start playing.

“There will be no more confusion over which edition to buy, what content you own, how to redeem Legacy packs or import locations, etc. We’re done with that,” says IO Interactive.

These changes will come into effect on the 26th of January, 2023.

Sonic’s Dad Indicted for Insider Trading

The blue hedgehog’s co-creator, Yuji Naka, along with a former Square Enix employee, Taisuke Sasaki, have both been formally indicted after their arrest in November for alleged insider trading.

Naka has been determined to have confidential information about Square Enix’s plans to develop a Final Fantasy spin-off, and used this information to buy ¥144.7 million yen of company stock, or $1.6 million AUD, knowing that the announcement would cause the stock value to rise.

Square Enix has stated that they are fully committed to working with authorities as the investigation continues. It is unclear when Naka and Sasaki will stand trial.

What’s This? It’s Sephiroth with the Chair!

Kenny Omega, a famous wrestler joined the fray at Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom event in a Sephiroth cosplay, even walking out to his theme song, “One Winged Angel ”.

Kenny Omega has spent a few years in America in AEW, a newer competitor to WWE. Omega however returned to Wrestle Kingdom, which is exactly what it sounds like. And yes, his walk was exactly as cool as you imagine it would be, featuring Sephiroth’s wing, giant screens, and pyrotechnics. Omega also won the match.

Logan’s NFTs

YouTuber Logan Paul had developed a “really fun game that makes you money”, CryptoZoo, where you buy currency to spend on egg NFTs that hatch. You can breed these animals to make hybrids, and eventually you’re supposed to be able to cash out money. Members of Paul’s team ended up selling their currency early to make millions, while fans ended up losing thousands.

Logan Paul did address accusations of CryptoZoo being a scam by attempting to discredit his critics, such as investigative YouTuber Stephen “Coffeezilla” Findeisen, who had spent a year looking into CryptoZoo, as well as a slew of scams in the crypto space.

I don’t want to talk about this anymore.

And now for some upcoming games!

January 10

• Flash Party (PC)

January 11

• Children of Silentown (PC, PS4, XBO, Switch)
• Kandria (PC)

January 12

• Gatewalkers (PC)
• One Piece Odyssey (PC)
• Rogue AI Simulator (PC)
• Terror of Hemasaurus (Switch)
• Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider (PC, PS4, Switch)

That’s it this week in gaming news