Category: News

Sued Over Video Game Addiction

A lawsuit in Arkansas, United States, has been filed against Microsoft, Epic Games, Activision Blizzard, and other companies claiming that they ‘use patented designs, algorithms, and marketing containing addictive features and technology’, subsequently leading to addiction.

The concern over gaming addiction isn’t new, with a clinic in the UK being established to help those with ‘gaming disorders’ experiencing a massive influx of new patients in recent months.

Tina Bullock, the attorney representing the family who filed the lawsuit, states that she believes video game addiction is serious, and should be treated as such. The firm she represents claims that this is only the first of many lawsuits that will be filed in the foreseeable future.

Revenant Hill Ain’t Coming

We got to see Revenant Hill unveiled earlier this year during the PlayStation showcase, in development by the same team behind Night in the Woods, and in a similar style, and unfortunately development won’t be continuing. The reason? Key developers impacted by severe health issues.

“We are a cooperative, and we make decisions as a group. For us, this was the clear path to take for the well-being of the team, which is frankly more important than games.” says The Glory Society in a statement on their website.

Live Action Zelda: It’s Happening

Wes Ball, the director of the movie Maze Runner, will be directing the live-action movie based on The Legend of Zelda franchise. Shigeru Miyamoto, Legend of Zelda creator, and Avi Arad, who produced Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, will also be involved as producers, with the movie being co-funded between Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

“I have been working on the live-action film… for many years now… It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it.” said Miyamoto on socials. So it’ll still be a bit of a wait.

Video Games In School

No no, I’m not talking about Coolmath Games, and I’m not talking about the games of CounterStrike you’re definitely not supposed to be playing. Thanks to the increasing popularity of esports there’s some renewed conversation among parents and teachers about the future of welcoming online video games into school.

With 50,000 students from over 300 schools taking part in the Fuse Cup, an international esports competition for children, it’s no longer just a fun oddity, it is becoming as embedded as traditional sports. Recently 60 players from 25 schools across Australia competed in the national esports finals on the Gold Coast. Although the esports scene isn’t quite as lucrative in Australia as it is in Europe or Asia, it was an Australian teen, Lucas Malissa, who was crowned champion in the Olympic Esports Series held in Singapore earlier this year.

Of course, this acceptance also means that schools can delve into topics with their students about healthy gaming habits, keeping themselves safe online, and other fun stuff like that.

And now for some upcoming games!

November 10

• Air Twister – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

November 13

• Spirittea – PC, XSX, XBO, Switch

November 14

• Gods of the Twilight – PC

November 15

• Checkmate Showdown – PC
• Lake: Season’s Greetings DLC – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO
• The Last Faith – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Teardown – PS5, XSX

November 16

• • Flashback 2 – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
  • Jagged Alliance 3 – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO

• Loddlenaut – PC

That’s it this week in gaming news!

Even though video games peaked in 2004 there’s still video game news happening, so let’s check, check, check, check it out.

Tony Hawk is back – Literally!

Do you love the soundtrack to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater? Do you love skateboarding or at least pretending to skateboard on a video game console? Do you love going outside and doing things? Then boy howdy do I have good news for you.

To celebrate 25 years of Tony Hawk’s pro Skater, the Fortitude Music Hall will have two sessions on January 27, one all-ages and one for those of us who were around when the first game came out, that will feature bands playing music from the game, an area set aside with consoles for you to play the games, a giant vert ramp and none other than Tony Hawk himself!

Bodyjar will be there at the 18+ gig playing their contribution to the classic game soundtrack, and Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of a Tony Hawk Cover Band) will be playing all the classics in addition to acts like Alex Lahey and Teenage Joans. Skate legends Lizzie Armanto, Elliot Sloan and Reese Nelson join Tony Hawk himself and other pro skaters to show off their skills. It’s gonna be totally late ‘90s-riffic.

Find out more info at thps25.com.au

South park calls out Baldur’s Gate

The latest South Park special made a snide joke about Baldur’s Gate 3’s cross-platform saves not working, prompting developer Larian to respond publicly on social media.

In the show, the kids of South Park travel to an alternate universe where they’re in different bodies. Alternate reality Cartman complains about how they’d already sunk 50 hours in to Baldur’s Gate 3 and wanted to know if save games could cross between multiple universes. The reply from Stan jokes that cross saves don’t even work between PCs and PlayStation 5s.

In reply, Larian posted that while cross-multiversial barriers are beyond their technological abilities, cross-saves between PC and PS5 in this dimension do indeed work. So there you go folks, next time you want to complain about something in a game not working right for you, just start up a multi-million dollar entertainment franchise and use it to complain directly to the developers.

Atari Keep Buying History

Long-time video game publishers and my #1 enemy on Earth Atari keep buying up companies. After a string of acquisitions including the AtariAge website, video game history database Mobygames and the back catalogues of classic computer game developers Accolade and Microprose, they just announced the acquisition of Digital Eclipse. They’re widely known as the premier software house that deals in remastering classic games for modern systems, and recently released The History of Karateka, Teenage Mustant Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Collection and Atari 50.

The $20 million US Dollar Deal means two things – one, Atari now has a top-tier studio that can handle their preservation and re-release efforts, and two, someone’s given Atari 20 million dollars and I want to know who it was. Confess your sins, heathens! Atari does not show pity, or remorse, or fear, and it absolutely will not stop until it buys everyone. Who’s next?!

More layoffs for everyone!

Isn’t the video game industry great? As a reward for all their hard work on Destiny 2, Bungie this week announced a massive slew of layoffs in the company, kicking an estimated 8% of the company to the kerb. Apparently it’s because a line didn’t go up in some spreadsheet, or didn’t go up enough, it’s hard to make clear from the HR-filtered press statements issued by Bungie, but the long and short of it is that not enough people are playing Destiny 2 these days. The people who Sony gave 3.6 Billion US Dollars to for buying Bungie are doing fine though, so that’s all that really matters right?

And now for the latest game releases!

Today sees the release of:
RoboCop: Rogue City PC / PS5 / Xbox Series
Thirsty Suitors on PC PS5 PS4 Xbox Series, Xbox One and Switch

Tomorrow is all about
WarioWare: Move It! On Switch
Boulder Dash Junior 8 ½ for the Commodore 64

Blizzard wants your blood

Blizzard has launched a US campaign encouraging players to donate blood. The Diablo Blood Harvest has a goal of 666 quarts of blood which will unlock a series of in game rewards for all players. Participants just have to submit proof of donation to at the campaign’s website. Not content to leave rewards in the digital realm, once the goal is complete a sweepstakes will open to win a custom PC! That’s right nothing creepy about it at all as long as you skip the part where real human blood is included in the liquid cooling system.  It’s US only and while I normally would recommend finding potential 3^rd party shipping, that whole real human blood thing may cause a few headaches at customs.

I can’t wait for the Valentines promotion where they try to collect 69 gallons of…

I hate to see you leave but I love to watch you t-pose

This week brings not one but two rounds of layoffs at Sony owned studios.  PlayStation’s Visual Arts Group an animation house who act as a support studio on games like Last of Us Part 1 received a substantial round of layoffs this week. Not to be outdone, Media Molecule of Little Big Planet and Dreams fame have had roughly 15%-20% of their workforce let go.

Studios are tightening their belt in difficult economic times and are downsizing across the industry. The developers at CD Project Red, stressed out after a third round of layoffs in just three months have now unionised to secure more stability in their roles. You can find out more information on the Polish Gamedev Workers Union website.

It was always a bad idea

If you like anime and mechs then you probably enjoy some form of Gundam but did you know Bandai Namco was developing a Gundam metaverse?  That’s right a world that bridges the gap between games, model kits, anime and music. Plus you can’t dream anymore.

One part of the Gundam Metaverse project, “Gunpla Colony” (Gunpla refers to the plastic model kits) launched into a public beta on October 11 before suddenly shutting off access a week later. Bandai Namco have confirmed that the shutdown was due to players discovering that the game data included CAD files of several Gundam models that would potentially allow anyone with a 3d printer to create their own accurate model kits. Bandai Namco have stated that it will take “necessary measures to address the situation.” which I would expect means not leaving sensitive files, that could significantly hurt profits, unsecured and unencrypted in future.

Game releases

Dave The Diver (Switch), Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery (PlayStation platforms, Xbox Series platforms, Switch), Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord (PlayStation VR2, Quest), Ghostrunner 2 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC), Mineko’s Night Market (PlayStation platforms, Xbox One), World of Horror (PlayStation platforms, Switch) – October 27

Alan Wake 2 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – October 28

Resident Evil Village + Resident Evil Village: Winters’ Expansion (iOS) – October 31

Jusant (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC), The Forest Cathedral (PlayStation 5) – November 1

Alien Hominid Invasion (Xbox platforms, Switch, PC), Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story (PlayStation platforms, Xbox Series platforms, Switch, PC) – November 2

It’s Done

It’s been in the works for a while, but Microsoft has finalised its deal to acquire Blizzard Activision for a whopping $68.7 billion. It has taken 20 months of duking it out with regulators, restructuring the deal to appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK, and defeating the Federal Trade Commission in the US federal court, but now it’s finally done.

“We love gaming. We play games, create games, and know first-hand how much gaming means to all of us as individuals and collectively, as a community. And today, we officially welcome Activision Blizzard and their teams to Xbox,” says Phil Spencer, Xbox chief. “As one team, we’ll learn, innovate, and continue to deliver on our promise to bring the joy and community of gaming to more people.”

And just so you know, Activision or Blizzard games will NOT be coming to Game Pass this year.

300 MILLION SALES

Minecraft has officially become the first video game to hit 300 million sales. To put that in perspective, Minecraft’s biggest rival in sales is Grand Theft Auto V, which has sold over 185 million copies. (Tetris doesn’t count as it’s considered a series). It is suspected that a good portion of these sales might be from people purchasing multiple copies.

Minecraft has been available since 2009 in its pre-release version, before being officially launched in November 2011. And it still has a grip on the gaming community to this day. Congratulations!

Epic Gains Bandcamp, Employees Lose

Epic Games acquired Bandcamp a year ago, a platform that co-founder Ethan Diamond hoped would “bring the power of healing to everyone” through music.

Well, Epic Games sold it to Songtradr, and following it, roughly half its staff laid off. Songtradr, the music licensing company, states “… the operating costs of Bandcamp have significantly increased. It required some adjustments to ensure a sustainable and healthy company that can serve its community of artists and fans.”

50% of Bandcamp employees have accepted offers to join Songtradr, with the remaining 120 employees being laid off with 6 months severance, while negotiations with Bandcamp’s union continue.

Pokemon Van Gogh Cards Gone

The Pokemon and Van Gogh collaboration event, which involved giving a special promo card, Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat, to customers who bought any item at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, has been ruined by scalpers, because scalpers ruin everything.

Now collectors will have to spend a minimum of $30 on Pokemon Trading Card Game products to receive one of the cards. So, stop looking at that online listing that’s going for $500.

And now for some upcoming games!

October 20

• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – PS5
• Super Mario Bros Wonder – Switch

October 23

• Just Dance 2024 Edition – PS5, XSX, Switch
• Three Minutes To Eight – PC

October 24

• Cities Skylines 2 – PC, PS5, XSX
• Dark Envoy – PC
• The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria – PC, PS5
• Metal Gear Solid Master Collection: Volume 1 – PC, PS5, XSX, Switch

Game Engine Dev News
After the backlash against Unity’s contentious plan to charge developers extra fees for each game installation as of last month, Unity is parting ways with CEO John Riccitiello. Riccitiello has stepped down as CEO, and all major seats at the Unity Table, effective immediately. Unity’s announcement of his near decade-long tenure ending rave about his contributions rather than his recent price gouging – sorry, I meant subscription model.
While the change in pricing structure from Unity was almost universally panned, it hasn’t stopped Epic from taking the idea on board with the announcement of a per-seat licensing fee for licensees in Film, TV, Automotive and other fields… but excluding the gaming industry. This would primarily affect studios using the technology for real-time CGI like Disney (The Mandalorian), Warner (The Batman), and HBO (Westworld), as well as small companies who primarily use the system for 3D animation (3^rd World Studios). This price restructuring also comes after a recent layoff of nearly 900 employees. CEO Tim Sweeney has attributed these changes to recent financial difficulties at Epic Games, primarily due to the company’s heavy reliance on Fortnite’s revenue over the last 6 years.

CD Projekt Makes Headlines
CD Projekt have announced the cost of bringing Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.0 to all platforms as well as the recently well received DLC Phantom Liberty totalled around $125.9 million dollars. That’s almost $200 million in Aussie dollar bucks.
In totally unrelated news also at CD Projekt, CD Projekt employees, along with others in the Polish video game industry, have formed a union in response to multiple rounds of layoffs at the studio in the last year (totalling around 170 lost jobs). The union’s goal is to improve workplace and industry standards with legal power and a stronger collective voice. The union aims to address these issues and protect the gaming industry’s potential by providing a stronger voice in times of crisis.
Hopefully this gives them the job security they need, unlike the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf QA unionised workers we reported on in June of 22 who have all been laid off in September. Bioware’s head of marketing, Liz Corless, said in an email this was due to “…the end of a fixed term client contract.” And according to a former employee Keywords Studio (their employer) has “…no more work available” while posting job vacancies for QA work. The union has filed a complaint against the studio this week.

Nintendo Formally Steps Away From The WiiU & 3DS.
Nintendo announced this week that they will formally be discontinuing the online support for the Wii U and 3DS in April of 2024. This will include all online play, ranking systems, and data distribution for all Nintendo titles. However, this does not include eShop support! You will still be able to update and redownload purchased software. And for you Pokéfans, the Pokémon bank and Poké Transporter will also continue to be supported until further notice.

And now for some upcoming games!
Friday October 13, get ready for Christmas with The Grinch: Christmas Adventures and Transformers: Earthspark – Expedition both coming to PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch.
Monday October 16, cozy hex strategy game Growth comes to PC.
Tuesday October 17, cyberpunk RPG Cyber Knights: Flashpoint comes to PC, or enjoy the roguelike autobattler Legend Creatures 2. Both coming to PC.
Oh and Sonic Superstars is also coming to everything the 17^th as well.
Wednesday October 18 brings us Alaskan Road Truckers coming to PC.
And next week on Thursday October 19 comes a heap with The 7th Guest VR for PC VR, Quest and PSVR2. Agatha Christie – Murder on the Orient Express from developer Microids coming to PC and Consoles. Or how about you get your vehicle combat experience with Chaos on Wheels coming to PC. Pick up the twin stick shooter and tower defence game Endless Dungeon, coming to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Maybe battle for your sanity in the Lovecraftian horror Forgive Me Father 2 coming to PC. Or for a social experience, grab a friend to rob the rich to give to the poor in the co-op action game based in a Robin Hood world Gangs of Sherwood coming to PC and next gen consoles. Or shoot at your friends in the large scale, top down, multiplayer shooter Operation Valor coming to PC. Or just play a few games with them with The Jackbox Party Pack 10 coming to most platforms.

Video Games Fighting Sex Trafficking

A group of researchers from Texas, U.S.A. are utilising a federal grant to use a video game as a tool designed to extract data from the myriad of press releases and other datasets. Datasets that would normally be very inaccessible, and time consuming to sift through.

Instead, players of the game called “Dark Shadows” will be able to assist. How does it work? Players will get to act as an investigator for a fictional crime. As the player solves the crime and finds clues, actual human trafficking data will also be sorted by proxy. In time, the AI driving the program will learn to sort more effectively, and it is hoped that the algorithm may be able to make connections between various datasets for people to investigate.

GameStop’s Chairman Thinks GameStop Should Make Money

Ryan Cohen, chairman of GameStop, a major games retailer, has written a passionate email about the need to practise “extreme frugality”, and how “the company has no use for delegators and money wasters”, as the company continues to struggle.

GameStop has already initiated waves of layoffs in 2022, Ryan has already fired the CEO he himself picked, and the company has already tried NFTs and meme currency, so it’s not too clear what else could be done, however Ryan did finish his email with:

“I expect everyone to roll up their sleeves and work hard. I’m not getting paid, so I’m either going down with the ship or turning the company around. I much prefer the latter. It won’t be easy. Best of luck to us all.”

Who Is Crossing Over With Magic: The Gathering?

That’s right! Fans of both Doctor Who and Magic: The Gathering can look forward to five new cards, all themed around the good doctor and their timey-wimey adventures.These cards will be coming to the commander decks. Here’s what they’re called:

All of History, All at Once a Sorcery card.

Regenerations Restored, an Enchantment card.

Rory Williams, Legendary Creature – Human Soldier.

The Pandorica, a Legendary Artifact.

The Wedding of River Song, another Sorcery card.

Gaming Laptop Spotted In Court!

Donald Trump’s lawyer has been using what looks like an Asus laptop, complete with an underglow cycling from blue to orange, in court. There’s no point to this, it’s just a little funny to imagine.

And now for some upcoming games!

October 6

• Detective Pikachu Returns – Switch
• Sunshine Manor – PS4, XBO, Switch
• Sword Art Online Last Recollection – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO

October 10

• Forza Motorsport – PC, XSX
• Lil Gator Game – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO
• Roblox – PS4
• Wild Card Football – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

October 11

• The Front – PC
• Honkai Star Rail – PS5
• Total War: Pharaoh – PC

October 12

• Company of Heroes Collection – Switch
• Haunted House – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

HAVE SOME TASTY NEWS

Australia changing the classifications of games with gambling-like content

From September 2024 the Albanese Government will introduce mandatory minimum classifications for games ‘containing gambling-like content.’  This means that games which contain in-game purchases such as loot boxes will have a classification of at least M- not recommended for children under 15 years of age and games that contain simulated gambling will be required to be rated R18+.

These changes are in response to ‘growing community concerns’ about the ‘potential harms of children accessing gambling-like content in computer games.’

https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/rowland/media-release/new-mandatory-minimum-classifications-gambling-games-content#:~:text=The%20changes%20mean%20that%20computer,under%2015%20years%20of%20age).

A potential video game voice actor strike?

With a provisional deal being reached in the Hollywood writers strike after 146 days it looks like there may be another strike on the horizon with SAG-AFTRA members having approved a strike authorization vote, winning with 98.32% voting in favor.

This does not mean that a strike is going to happen, only that one can be declared if ‘bargaining fails to produce a deal the members will accept.’  Since October 2022 SAG-AFTRA has been in negotiations with various video game companies to get voice actors a fair contract, with similar issues that the Hollywood writers strike is addressing such as protections against AI use, appropriate wage increases and safety for both on screen and vocal performers.

https://www.sagaftra.org/get-involved/take-action/interactive-media-video-game-strike-authorization-2023

NFTs are worthless

Remember when NFT’s were selling for stupid amounts of dollars?  Well it seems like those days are a distant memory as apparently 95% of all NFT’s are basically worthless and with 79% of all NFT collections remaining unsold.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/nft-market-crypto-digital-assets-investors-messari-mainnet-currency-tokens-2023-9

CULT OF THE LAMB LIVE EVENT GO GET SACRIFICED

And if you’re in Melbourne on the 5th of October I am super jealous because there’s a live ritual!  Part of Melbourne International Games week it is one of many events that are on.  It is to be held in Fed Square, Cult of the Lamb: The Ritual is a free event that combines puppets, projection mapping and a live DJ set by River Boy (the creator of the amazing soundtrack of Cult of the Lamb.) So what are you waiting for?  Dress up like a woodland creature and go get sacrificed!

There are many other fun video game things being held on the day at the location but Cult of the Lamb is my favourite and therefore I’m biassed.  For the full lineup check out the Melbourne International Games Week website.

https://gamesweek.melbourne/BGNO

Game Releases!

September 28

Chipmonk! Playstation, -Xbox & Switch

CounterAttack: Uprising -Switch

Crowns And Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit – Switch

Diluvian Ultra – PC

My Hero Ultra Rumble – PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One and Switch

Overpass 2 – PC, PS5, XSX

Firefighting Simulator – The Squad -Switch

Gothic Classic -Switch

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai -PC, Playstation and Switch

Islanders VR Edition PC VR

Wildmender -PC, PS5 and XSX

September 29

Cocoon – PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch

EA Sports FC 24 -PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch

Park Beyond: Beyond Extreme DLC -PC, PS5 and XSX

October 3

Battle Shapers -PC

Scorn -PS5

Silent Hope -PC and Switch

Station to Station -PC

October 4

The Fabulous Fear Machine -PC

Worldless -PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch

BLUEY!

Whether you’re a parent to a child who is obsessed with the blue puppy, or you’re an adult with some form of emotional damage, you’ll be pleased to know that there is a video game coming out in November based off the cartoon!

Outright Games, a UK-based publisher, has officially announced Bluey: The Videogame, for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. The game has been developed by Artax Games with a lot of input from Ludo Studio, delivering a game that features a new four-part storyline that can support four-players, allowing you to play as the entire Heeler family.

The game will feature the voices from the English cast of the show, and you can expect to see some of your favourite characters, as well as existing and original music. It promises to be an “interactive sandbox adventure” with “story-driven, episodic gameplay”.

Sony’s State of Play

Sony recently had their little showcase, and here is a really quick summary of it:

The remake of Resident Evil 4 will get an update with playable Ada Wong and Albert Wesker, along with PSVR2 support on the way.

Avatar fans (the blue people) can experience a whole new part of Pandora, revealing the Western Frontier in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. It is to be set between the first and second movies.

Foamstars, the Splatoon-style shooter by Square Enix, will be getting a playable open beta from September 29th to October 1st, but only for PS5 players in North America. Tragedy.

The second chapter of the Final Fantasy 7 remake project is on its way, and it’s bringing back something weirdly nostalgic for older gamers: experiencing a game across two discs! Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth comes out 29th February, 2024.

Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games expands out to Brooklyn and Queens! So you can patrol every single neighbourhood I guess.

Aaaaaand NINTENDO DIRECT TOO

Tis the season for game announcements and rumours. There’s some speculation about what a new Switch would look like, how much it would cost, blah blah blah.

In more exciting, tangible Nintendo news, we got to see Princess Peach: Showtime, where Princess Peach attempts to save a theatre from the Wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch.

F-ZERO 99 has come to Nintendo Switch Online, allowing you to race against 98 other players.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD will bring spooks in more definition, Mario vs. Donkey Kong will have the plumber facing off against the primate yet again, and detective pikachu returns in Detective Pikachu Returns.

We also got to see the Splatoon 3: Side Order expansion, Another Code: Recollection, from the DS and Wii, will be coming to the Switch, WarioWare: Move It! Was announced to be released on 3rd November, 2023. Exciting times for Nintendo fans.

And now for some upcoming games!

September 21

• Days of Doom – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Hellsweeper VR – PC VR, PSVR 2
• Payday 3 – PC, PS5, XSX
• Resident Evil 4 Remake: Separate Ways DLC – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4
• Super Adventure Hand! – PC, Switch
• Warhaven – PC

September 22

• Cyber Citizen Shockman 2: A New Menace – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Shuyan Saga – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Slaps and Beans 2 – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

September 25

• Project Planet – Earth Vs Humanity – PC
• Relic Hunters Legend – PC
• These Doomed Isles – PC

September 26

• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion – PC, PS5, XSX
• Mineko’s Night Market – PC, Switch
• My Time At Sandrock – PS5, XSX, Switch
• Paleo Pines – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Truck Driver: The American Dream – PS5, XSX

September 27

• Astronimo – PC

That’s it this week in gaming news!

Starfield Hype
This week marked the launch of Todd “it just works” Howard/Bethesda’s shiny new RPG, Starfield. Starfield went supernova, instantly becoming the biggest Bethesda launch of all time, and since its release it has hoarded over 6 million players, with over a million concurrent players shooting into the stratosphere when counting over all platforms. With official mod support coming next year, PC players have had the hardest time since release, with Intel and Nvidia systems copping the brunt of the issues. Todd Howard’s response for people with PCs?

“You might need to upgrade your PC.”

Unity, no longer for the gamer
Unity, the game engine behind Rust, Hollow Knight, and Pokémon Go, and the controversial Creative AI Unity Muse and Unity Sentis, has introduced a controversial new fee for developers. The Runtime Fee, set to take effect in 2024, is a per-install fee that will apply to games that reach a previously established annual revenue threshold and a lifetime install count. Indie developers are concerned that this new policy will kill smaller games with the new system severely affecting their bottom line, and leading devs of free-to-play games questioning if they’d end up owing hundreds of thousands of dollars or more under the new system. Unity’s attempts to provide clarity have so far only fueled devs’ frustration and spawned more questions from those with both currently active and in-development games using the engine. This has led to warnings from industry professionals such as creative director at Necrosoft Games, Brandon Sheffield, stating in an op-ed for Insert Credit, “But now I can say, unequivocally, if you’re starting a new game project, do not use Unity,” and “If you started a project 4 months ago, it’s worth switching to something else. Unity is quite simply not a company to be trusted.”
After regrouping on the evening of September 12, Unity clarified their previous statement, claiming that they will only charge for the initial installation of a game, reversing their previous stance that multiple charges would be made for reinstalls. Unity also stated that the fee will only apply to monetized titles and that charity games and bundles are exempt; however, the announcement has raised further questions about the impact on the free-to-play genre, as well as demo installs. Further, concerns remain about how installs will be tracked, with the potential for abuse by bad actors, and devs concerned about the need to implement third party DRM (Digital Rights Management) in their games.

E3 is Dead, Long Live E4?
With the earlier announcement this week that PAX organiser Reedpop and E3 had cut ties, it may come as unsurprising news that E3 2024 is in doubt. The Entertainment Software Association or ESA who runs E3 have also informed the longstanding home of E3, the LA Convention Center, they will not be there in 2024. However, according to news site GamesIndustry.biz they are “working on a complete reinvention of the E3 show for 2025.” We live in hope.

And now for some Gaming Bytes.
About to load up Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC? Best check your system with Lead Scene Programmer CD PROJEKT RED Filip Pierściński imploring gamers via tweet to check system stability and to “please check conditions of your cooling systems in PC.”
And feeling old? Well Steam turned 20 on the 12^th of September , and 25 year old fansite AtariAge has been acquired by Atari.

Now for some upcoming games.
Friday September 15, Baby Shark: Sing & Swim Party comes to Pc, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, and tech themed 3D platformer Boti: Byteland Overclocked comes to PC.
Tuesday September 19, start your week with an open-world high-fantasy strategy RPG Dragonheir: Silent Gods, coming to PC. Or, race to your parking space in You Suck At Parking coming to PS4 and Switch. Can you become a real boy in the Pinocchio soulslike Lies of P, coming to PC, Xbox and PlayStation. And lastly for Tuesday, Mortal Kombat 1 comes to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and Switch.
Wednesday September 20, kick animal butt in the brawler/party game Party Animals, coming to PC, and Xbox. And, put the shooting or spell slinging in the S of FPS in the dark fantasy roguelite shooter Witchfire, coming to PC.
And finally, Thursday September 21^st brings free-to-play medieval warfare PVP Warhaven to PC. Want to release your inner Addams family Thing within to defeat some feet? Then play Super Adventure Hand! coming to PC and Switch. And to finish, Payday 3 is coming to PC and next gen consoles.

Call of Duty Uses AI To Find Toxicity

Call of Duty is no stranger to less-than-pleasant behaviour from players, like many massively popular games with an online component. What is Activision doing now to combat it? Activision is now teaming up with Modulate, an AI program developed specifically to filter through voice chat in order to flag, and deal with, problematic behaviour.

It’s still in its early stages, with ToxMod, the tool being used, entering beta testing on North American servers. The tool is already used in a number of online games, but Call of Duty would certainly be a large task.

The program isn’t capable of banning players, but instead will monitor voice chat in real time, flag problematic behaviour depending on context, and then provide this information to moderators to take action. In theory, you can still cuss out your friends when they’re taking their sweet time getting to you, so players shouldn’t be worried about being boisterous.

Goodbye Volition

The game developer company, Deep Silver Volition, developer of titles like Saints Row, and Red Faction, has closed its doors after 30 years of development. It hasn’t been a smooth journey for the company, with Volition’s Saints Row reboot facing negative criticism upon reveal. After a transfer from Embracer, and a multi-billion dollar deal collapsing, Volition has been shut down while Embracer goes through some pretty significant restructuring.

IPs including Saints Row and Red Faction will be transferred to another subsidiary, Plaion.

“For 30 years now you have played our games – sometimes you’ve loved them, sometimes you’ve been disappointed with them, but you’ve always been there… We can’t thank you enough for sticking with us throughout this time.” Volition says in a letter to its community.

STRAY MOVIE

Did you like that cat game that came out last year? The one where you’re a little kitty cat in a futuristic city populated by robots? Well, it’ll be hitting the big screen! Annapurna Animation, who developed the film Nimona, will be developing an animated film based off of the game.

“It’s a buddy comedy about a cat and a robot, and there’s such a hilarious dynamic. So, there’s comedy inherent in this, but there’s not one human being in this movie. I think it’s one of the reasons why the game was incredibly popular,” says Robert Baird, Annapurna Animation boss.

Annual Diablo Expansions

Blizzard will be releasing multiple expansions for Diablo IV on an annual basis, with each year being broken up into quarterly seasons, with long-term storylines promised.

This roadmap isn’t unusual for developers, to space out new content on a regular basis. The 11 year long gap between Diablo III and Diablo IV has also been cited as a reason, and it’s hoped that this approach will help rectify that.

Season 2, Season of Blood, has been announced as part of GamesCon opening night.

Arcane Season Two!

Season two of Arcane, the Netflix animated series based off of Riot Games’ League of Legends game, will be premiering in winter 2024 (or summer for us Aussies). Woohoo!

And now for some upcoming games!

September 7

• The Dragoness: Command of the Flame – Switch
• Toss! – PC VR, Quest, PSVR 2

September 8

• Fae Farm – PC, Switch
• NBA 2K24 – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

September 12

• Eternights – PC, PS5, PS4
• The Isle Tide Hotel – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

September 13

• Heretic’s Fork – PC
• Super Bomberman R 2 – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

September 14

• Ad Infinitum – PC, PS5, XSX
• AK-xolotl – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• The Crew Motorfest – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO
• Heavy Duty Challenge – PC, PS5, XSX
• Sugar Shack – PC

That’s it this week in gaming news!