Cyberpunk, Steam, & The Switch

Nintendo of America President says Switch is Entering “Midpoint” of its Console Lifespan.
In a recent interview, American Nintendo Boss Doug Bowser stated he believes the Switch console has reached the middle of its lifespan. That doesn’t mean they’re slowing down anytime soon though; many titles are in development for 2021 and beyond. He also addressed the long-rumoured Switch Pro model, stating it is not something Nintendo is focusing on for the immediate future and they will instead lean further into their Switch & Switch lite consoles for 2021. Despite the recent launches of the Playstation 5 and Xbox series X, the Nintendo Switch outsold both in November with 1.35 units sold. Doug credits it’s continued popularity to its mobility and versatility but it’s hard to deny covid-19 played a significant role – you only need to look at Animal Crossings release and the craze that followed. It will be interesting to see how this console progresses next year, and through the rest of its lifespan.

Controversy Surrounding Cyberpunk2077 Continues
Amidst the ongoing drama of Cyberpunk 2077’s release Developer CD Projekt Red continues damage control and a rapid release of patches to address the games numerous bugs. Sony has removed the game from its digital store  “until further notice” but the game is still available in physical copies for those still keen to try it out. Microsoft hasn’t removed the game but issued a warning on its online store stating, “Users may experience performance issues when playing this game on Xbox One consoles until this game is updated.” Both Microsoft and Sony are offering refunds for people who are unhappy with their purchases of the game. After eight years of anticipation, the game has now been dubbed a “flop” by many of it’s disappointed players but there is still a sizeable group of players (mostly on PC) singing the games praises. Love the game or it hate it, it’s impossible to deny it has had one of the rockiest, most controversial releases in memory.

Steam’s 2020 Autumn Sale Was Its Biggest Ever.
In a recent blog post Valve revealed the 2020 Autumn Sale was “the biggest-ever in terms of revenue for developers and publishers”.  Several factors seem to be at play here, a resurgence of popularity for older games, a spread of new games finding success, and of course the ongoing pandemic. During the sale, just shy of a million players bought a game or made a microtransaction on the platform. Even more impressively concurrent users peaked just under 24 million users, 7 million more than the same time a year prior! With Steam’s Holiday sale just around the corner, it will be exciting to see if it can be even bigger.