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.
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 20th, 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 24th, 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 26th, 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.
Listen in as Paul, Peter, and Rani expose their experience with their balls in this weeks Pinball themed show. Rani mixes magic with paddles in a review of Pinball Wizard, and Paul reveals his ball handling experience with a look into his history of Pinball-like games.
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.
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.
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.
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)
Rani rocket’s in to save the day running the first Zed Games show of 2023! Cameron finds the fair winds in the game Sail Forth, and the team chats their experiences with Rage Quitting!
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
January 11
January 12
That’s it this week in gaming news
Join Zed Games in the chaos that is New Years Game Resolutions and a Triple Threat review from Paul where he reviews, not one but THREE games! Plus the last in Gaming News for 2022.
Goat’s stepping on toes, or going for the viral takedown?
Developers of Goat Simulator 3, Coffee Stain Studios, have been slapped with a takedown notice from Rockstar Games for using footage from the September GTA 6 leaks. The now-removed video featured an interview with Shaun, a professional NPC, where he talked about his many experiences as an NPC in games, including in the leaked GTA 6 footage. After being removed from Twitter, it was replaced with a tweet from the company with the following gif…
Act of stupidity or marketing genius? You decide.
Why all the Updates Nintendo?
You may have noticed the recent slew of updates hitting some old and new favourites from Nintendo, coming with the patch notes;
“Several issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience.”
These patches have been pushed for many games such as Mario Kart 7 for 3DS, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Splatoon 2&3, ARMS, Super Mario Maker 2, Nintendo Switch Sports and are probably needed for many more. This patch is actually to prevent an exploit called “ENLBufferPwn” which allowed full takeover of the system without detection through security holes in online play, allowing access to saved payment information, as well as in-built peripherals such as cameras and microphones. The worst part? While the issue is relatively easy to patch on the Switch, the Wii U and 3DS eShops’ ability to roll out patches for this and future exploits will close in Feb 2023, leaving any vulnerability open for future exploitation.
Aurora taking Sky: Children of Light into the Stratosphere.
In a recent interview Jenova Chen, founder and CEO of Thatgamecompany, creators of Sky: Children of Light, revealed that more than 1.6 million players have attended the Aurora Concert that first occurred on December 8. This has been achieved through the intense work of the programmers and servers to maintain instances of around 4000 players, each with emote interactivity to the entire instance and a text based proximal chat with players in their row. Contrasted to other games’ concerts, such as Fortnite with only 40 people per room, highlights the near year of work of the team at Thatgamecompany to make it happen. The show officially called “The Musical Voyage” contains several performances from Aurora where players are collectively involved in the visual space. The performance has been playing every 4 hours since, with the last show to play January 1st.
Now, normally I’d do games coming out… but since there are none, I thought I’d list some of the games that Shutdown this year.
Long standing tactical shooter America’s Army
Released 4th July 2002,
Shutdown 5th May 2022.
MOBA that couldn’t break League of Legends’ hold Heroes of Newerth
Released 12th May 2010,
Shutdown 20th June 2022.
Fantasy MMO Tera, who’s developers just wanted to move on,
Released 25th January 2011,
Shutdown 30th June 2022.
Car sim Project Cars 1 & 2 succumbed to car and track licence expiry date blues,
With one released 6th May 2015,
Shutdown 3rd October 2022
And two released 21st September 2017,
Shutdown 21st September 2022
Overwatch
Released 3rd May 2016,
Shutdown 3rd October 2022
Just a year and a bit of life, the MMO Crowfall fell,
Released 6th July 2021,
Shutdown 22nd November 2022
Free-2-Play Super Bomberman R Online bombed out
Released 1st September 2020,
Shutdown 1st December 2022
Fuser, the Harmonix successor to Guitar Hero and Rock Band and reviewed by our own Paul, just didn’t hit the bigtime
Released 10th November 2020,
Shutdown 19th December 2022
Square Enix’s Final Fantasy kart game, Chocobo GP… not quite gone, but the store and purchased mithril will be worthless past the shutdown date
Released 12th January 2022,
Last Update 21st December 2022,
Shutdown 1st June 2023
Literally every game that was released for Google Stadia
Released 19th November 2019,
Slated to be shutdown 18th January 2023.
That’s all this week in gaming news.
This week Zed Games brings you the chaos of Shiny Friends for your holiday season! With Gaming News and the team’s Games of the Year! Brought to you from the mouth holes of Hazel, Zahra, & Caroline and beamed directly into your government mandated mind control chips.
Death Stranding Movie
Hideo Kojima, hot on the heels of his announcement of Death Stranding 2 at the Game Awards has announced that his studio Kojima Productions will be teaming up with Hammerstone Studios to develop a Death Stranding film. Hammerstone Studio head Alex Lebovici, who recently produced the horror hit Barbarian, has stated the film “will be something far more intimate and grounded” which may be Kojima’s greatest challenge yet!
Announcements at the Game Awards
Last week’s game awards brought with it a slew of new game announcements. Some of the bigger titles included Ken Levine’s first game since Bioshock Infinite titled Judas. A new IP that very much follows in the vein of Bioshock but now it’s about comic space cowboys.
A sequel to the 2018 indie juggernaut Hades was revealed. Hades II is planned for an early access release next year featuring a new protagonist Melinoe, the daughter of Hades and Persephone. The game will deal with the dawn of witchcraft in a battle against the titan Chronos.
With Bayonetta 3 still fresh Platinum Games have announced a new game in the series. This time taking part before the trilogy. With a new fixed perspective and art style Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon will be out on March 17 2023.
The Celeste team Extremely OK Games have announced their next game, Earthsword. Playing to their strengths you can look forward to the exploration heavy, pixel art platformer in 2024.
Many other new games were shown off. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Armoured Core VI: Fires of Rubicon, Crash Team Rumble, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd, Remnant 2 and Transformers: Reactivate just to name a few. We’ll be posting many of the trailers over on the Zed Games Facebook page.
The upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was also revealed to have one last performance from voice actor Kevin Conroy who passed away on November 10th this year. He has been voicing Batman for the last 30 years
Epic’s half a billion fine
In a dispute with the US Federal Trade Commission, Epic games agreed to pay $520 million dollars to settle violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and deceptive practices that tricked players into purchases in the videogame Fortnite. The COPPA violation at $275 million is the largest penalty ever levied by the FTC for such a violation and Epic will need to change default settings in game to better protect children and teens along with policies for their protection. The second settlement will be used to refund players that were affected by unintended purchases due to Epic’s practices.
The majority of these issues were resolved in 2018 but if you believe you’re eligible for a refund you can find information of the FTC website and Epic’s statement on the settlement.
This year Fortnite has generated $5.8 billion in revenue.
Duke Nukem lives again! (Oh wait that’s Blood)
Did you remember to bet on Duke? Fallen 90’s video game icon sees two unofficial releases this week. The Duke Nukem Forever 2001 Restoration Project has released the first slice of their mod for the leaked development copy of the abandoned 2001 version of Duke Nukem Forever. The project aims to complete the game and make it fully playable. You can find the project on Mod DB.
The other surprise Duke release is that of the cancelled Duke Nukem: Endangered Species which put the blonde action star into a game-hunting style title. The game by Action Forms Ltd was cancelled in 2001 and many of the assets were then used to develop Vivisector: Beast Within. A prototype of Endangered Species has been released online and can be found at thedatadungeon.com.
Nintendo celebrates Christmas with Indies!
Nintendo has been running a Christmas YouTube advent event where they announce 4 indie titles a day for 5 days with each day so far containing an instant release. We have seen announcements for Risk of Rain Returns (a rework of the original Risk of Rain), The Punchuin (a platformer about a boxing penguin from the team that brought us Fast RMX and The Tourist) and Potion Craft among others. It is heavily rumored that the final two days will include a release of the hotly anticipated Queensland developed Golf Story follow up, Sports Story. Will it make it out for Christmas? Let’s find out.
Carmack Leaves Meta
The legendary coder and founder of id software John Carmack has left his position at Oculus, I mean Facebook, I mean Meta. His internal farewell message was leaked in part to the media so he posted it publicly in response.
“This is the end of my decade in VR, I have mixed feelings.”
“Quest 2 almost exactly what I wanted to see from the beginning”
“We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort. There is no way to sugar coat this; I think our organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy.”
“VR can bring value to most of the people in the world, and no company is better positioned to do it than Meta. Maybe it actually is possible to get there by just plowing ahead with current practices, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
You can read his full statement on John Carmack’s Facebook page.
Carmack has moved onto his own startup Keen Technologies, which is working on artificial intelligence.