Tag: video game news

Dynamic duo Zahra and Maylee take the reins in this weeks episode of Zed Games. Tobi brings us an extended look into the week in #GamingNews, Maylee talks teal in a review of the board game Hues and Cues, designed by @wscottbrady and published by @theopgames. Then Paul gets intrigued by the mysteries in Animal World by game engine designer Billy Basso and published by Big Mode.

This week in gaming news. Busy-ness in Games, Esports, and a smorgasbord of Gaming Bits and Bytes.

Let’s start this week’s news with a run down on what happened in the back rooms of game development this week.
On Tuesday Humble Games Business Development Manager Nicola Kwan announced via LinkedIn that all 36 employees “…were being let go and that the company is shutting down.” Humble quickly released a press statement saying it was not shutting down, but it would be restructuring the operations of Humble Games. The statement continues, saying that this would not impact on the releases of upcoming games, or the operations at Humble Bundle.
Warner Brothers is also doing the game dev shuffle this week. With the announcement that NetherRealm’s mobile team was shutting down through LinkedIn job asks came earlier this week with around 50 staff being affected by the cuts. This was speculated to effectively close the live services to Mortal Kombat Mobile, Injustice 2, and Mortal Kombat Onslaught, however Warner has clarified that Mortal Kombat Mobile and Injustice 2 will continue to receive support. Possibly with the recent acquisition of the developer of MultiVersus, Player First Games. With WB Games President stating that the new team will add “… to our extensive development capabilities.”
In better news, Bethesda now has a wall-to-wall union with all 241 either signing up to or indicating the desire for representation with the “Communications Workers of America” or CWA. The union has been recognised by their benevolent overlords at Microsoft, even after their most recent layoffs by closing down Zenimax Studios. And in more studio news, staff from the Pixelberry Studio layoffs earlier this year have rallied to create Candlelight Games and are looking at announcing their debut project soon.
This week also saw gamers voting with their wallets, with 2.2 million people buying the Deluxe pre-order of EA Games College Football 25, and all for the juicy bonus of playing the game three days early. And Comscore’s 2024 State of Gaming Report has revealed that 82% of US gamers purchased some sort of in game content in freemium titles in the 23-34 financial year. They also speculated that over 80% of Gen Z and millennials consumed esports content.

Speaking of Esports content last weekend was Evo 2024, the biggest in the Evo history, where 10 thousand of the best fighting gamers congregated in Las Vagas. Some notable events of the weekend were when “Punk” defeating “Bigbird” to bring home the first Street Fighter for America in over 20 years, 41-year-old Hayao performing physical stunts of celebration as well as an “astounding” parry in the losers quarterfinals of the Street Fighter IIIL Third Strike, with some now referring to the moment as “Evo Moment 38.”

“WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?” #Evo2024 pic.twitter.com/FKlprooTFT

— Evo (@Evo) July 21, 2024

And it was announced the thrown into a volcano he definitely is dead villain Heihachi Mishima from Tekken that will be resurrected in the next instalment, even though producer Katsuhiro Harada has previously confirmed his permanent demise. That’s not all, but it’s all I have time for, click here to learn more!

Continuing the Esports news. The International Olympics Committee has partnered with the National Olympic Committee of Saudi Arabia to create the First Olympic Games to take place in Saudi Arabi in 2025. The media release from the IOC states that the reason for this is to support “our young people” and the game titles  will be chosen to promote “… gender equality and engagement…”, however the gaming community are not so happy. While Saudi Arabia does have the money to support this endeavour (and the prizes to attract players), it’s treatment of the women, migrants, and the LGBTIQ+ community are a genuine concern to the safety of players seeking to participate.

@dailymailgaming After taking first-place prize in Mortal Kombat 1 at EVO 2024, SonicFox made a statement to encourage more minorities to break into the games industry. #sonicfox #evo #lasvegas #mortalkombat #gaming #esports #evosesports ♬ original sound – Mail Gaming

Warframe’s Tennocon also happened over the weekend with a few announcements. Firstly, the prequel Warframe; 1999 is coming and is hitting some nostalgia notes. With romancable team members through archaic Instant Messenger CRT Screens and an alternative earth-based timeline. Basically, Warframe in all-new earthy environments, plus a 90s styled infected boyband called On-Lyne. Coming this (northern hemisphere) winter

They also announced the upcoming new title Soulframe. This game will utilise magic instead of the space magic we’re used to from Warframe in what some are calling the baby of Warframe and Elden Ring.

I think it’s now time to start of that smorgasbord of gaming bits and bytes
The FTC have taken to arms over the recent tier and price changes to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass, Labelling the new plan a “degraded product” and claims it constitutes “exercising market power post-merger”, this the FTC claims is in direct opposition to Microsoft’s arguments during the merger trial last year. In rebuttle Microsoft states that “The FTC barely mentioned subscription at trial, instead focusing on the theory that Microsoft would withhold Call of Duty from Sony’s console.” Not mentioning that day-one access to first-party titles – like Call of Duty – would no longer be included in the new “Standard” tier.
Bloomberg has reported that workers at Roblox Corp do not feel satisfied with the child safety protections the platform has, and is now the “de facto spot for predators.”  Roblox Corp disputes these claims, and that safety is “foundational” to Roblox.
A new study has pointed to steam CS:GO trades as being used for money laundering. The study looked at the anonymous trading and found significant market manipulation and trading frequency of top traders warranted suspicion.
ConcernedApe has reassured players of Stardew Valley via twitter that “…on the honor of my family name, i will never charge money for a DLC or update for as long as I live.”
Paramount has killed the Halo TV adaptation after its second season. But Xbox will not rest quietly and is already shopping for a new network.
Fortnight is getting the Tesla Cybertruck and players have already announced their intention to either take aim through the huge windscreen or just destroy it on sight.

Get your retro on because in a recent shareholder meeting at Capcom one attendee asked what their plans were for Mega Man, their response? “Mega man is one of our highly-valued IPs and we are considering how to create games for it on an ongoing basis.”
And if you have Netflix and haven’t checked out their game list, now is the time. In their latest earnings call Netflix Co-CEO Gregory K Peters called games a “big market” and even with the “over 100 games launched so far” they have over 80 games currently in development and from this month are planning to release “about one new title per month.”

And now it’s finally time for some game releases!

Friday, July 26, the 2022 Kickstarted indie RPG Wéko the Mask Gatherer is coming to PC

On Monday, July 29, grab a friend and get cooperating in the action roguelite Deathless, coming to PC.
Tuesday, July 30, get multitasking in the tower defence cross match three mashup Cats on Duty, coming to PC, and Consoles. Or get cyberpunky in the FPS roguelite Deadlink on PC. Or maybe you need to relax in a hand drawn cozy life sim? Then grab The Garden Path coming to PC and Switch.
And to round out the month, Wednesday July 21, Save the dog in indie platform shooter Biogun coming to PC. And sci-fi interactive fiction Minds Beneath Us is finally coming to PC

Starting us off in on Thursday August 1^st is the remake of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter  coming to PC, and Consoles. Dive into the depths and find the answers in Thalassa: Edge of the Abyss also for PC.  And lastly get slappy in Thank Goodness You’re Here! from the developers of Untitled Goose Game, coming to Mac, PC, PlayStation and the Switch.

In this week’s Zed Games podcast Hazel, Zahra, and Caroline talk Gaming News and Microsoft taking the box out of Xbox. Caroline farms pixels with clicks while reviewing Farm Keeper from @NapasGames. And Zahra practices their hosting skills in the late night radio host horror Killer Frequency from @Team17 Also, don’t forget the upcoming Indie Dev Night @NetherworldArcade coming in August!

This week Maylee, Zahra, and Peter bring us the exciting week in Zed Games, with Paul newsing the Gaming News and the team talks Wii U nostalgia, and some Mass Effect. Paul then kicks dirty butt in a review of Anger Foot from Free Lives, and Zahra interviews Mike and John from The Brisbane Pinball & Arcade Collective who are running arcade and pinball comps this July 17-21.

This week Zed Games brings you Maylee’s #GamingNews with Paul, Rani and Tom from Netherworld talk game releases, concept album games, and CRAZY TAXI. Paul then presses a single button in Lorelei and the Laser Eyes developed by @SimogoGames. Then the “20% off Great Value” Tom from Netherworld gets PS1 retro in a review of survival horror Crow Country from @SFB Games, and then Paul takes us back to 1997 in a review of the remake of Riven from @CyanGames.

This week on Zed Games Zahra, Hazel, and Peter talk Gaming News and their Steam Library pride and shame, then a recap of this years @QueenslandGamesFestival and all that entails including the board game Casus Belli from @WallaceDesigns, the card game Epic Garden from Jade @epic_card_games, memorising regulars in Coffee Up by Jason Tam @_tototam,  an ear plucking The Ghost of the Witch from @montros.is, farm and builder Delverium from @SagestoneGames, cute Catto’s Post Office by @InShambleStudio, australiana filled Vivid Tracks from Wild Wattle/Beacon Games Studio, management sim Tavern Keeper from @GreenheartGames, frog game Frogreign from @Arkanpixel, multiplayer waiter in space @Servonauts, roly-poly spin-off Isopod from @SBugGames, On Point the VR Shooter from @ActuatorDigital, cartoony unpacking-like decor game Momento from @FatAlienCat, and the winners GoGo Town from @PridefulSlothStudio and Key Fairy from @OwlMachine… We even managed to squeak in a review With Zahra of Linea: An Innerlight Game, and a look at the Mass Effect Remasters to end the show on.

Remember Beyond Good and Evil 2?

Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still in development! That’s it, that’s the news. Ubisoft have reassured us that they haven’t forgotten about it, and they’re still working on it, which is great because it was first announced in 2008, kinda disappeared, reappeared with a trailer in 2017, and then was kinda totally silent since 2018.

There’s been some concerns about its development since Emile Morel, creative director, passed away earlier this year, but Ubisoft has reassured that it is still in the works, and the 20th Anniversary Edition of Beyond Good and Evil, which was accidentally announced early on Twitter before the tweet was deleted, has launched digitally on the 25th of June.

The remaster is supposed to contain some more of Jade’s past, and other content to tie into the second game. There will be a physical copy, and a Collector’s Edition, with preorders for those kicking off 12th of July.

$19 Billion Dollars!

That’s how much Steam users have collectively spent on games they’ve never played. So, congratulations everyone, I know each and every one of you helped to contribute to this remarkable achievement.

This is a bit of a guestimate, as only 10% of Steam accounts are public, but that 10% was responsible for at least $1.9 billion USD.

Gamer Rage

What do you do if you have a dispute with another player in an online game? Most of us probably try to ignore it and move on. Maybe block ‘em. Maybe stooped to their level. You probably didn’t fly to a different state,buy a hammer and a flashlight, break into a home, and attack said player, in real life.

Well, Edward Kang from New Jersey allegedly did just that, flying to Florida to confront a player that he had an argument with in ArcheAge, an online fantasy game. The two were found in a struggle by the player’s stepfather, who heard the player cry for help. Both the player and Edward were taken to a nearby hospital, with the player having severe head wounds, but both will be ok.

Edward is facing charges of breaking and entering, and assault. When he asked how much time he might serve, Leeper, county sheriff, allegedly responded with “I would say, Mr Kang, it’s going to be a long time before you play video games again.”

So next time, just take a walk. Not to the hardware store.

War Thunder Apologises

Gaijin Entertainment, developers of the free-to-play multiplayer War Thunder, have officially apologised for ‘accidentally including imagery from the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster’ in some key art. The Challenger disaster was an event from 1986 where the space shuttle broke apart soon into its flight, killing all seven crew members.

War Thunder players noticed how an image of the disaster lined up with the artwork in the ‘Seek & Destroy’ wallpaper, with one person overlaying a photo from the disaster with the wallpaper.

“Hey guys, please accept our apologies for this, the picture was part of an aerial explosion reference pack used by our artists and the context was lost. We’ll change the key art on Monday and will make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said community manager Oxy.

In the past, the War Thunder community has managed to leak classified military documents onto the forums, often to win arguments or to make suggestions for the developers, so attention to detail is definitely a common trait.

News Nibbles!

Nintendo Switch Sports has had a few updates since it launched, adding golf, and soon, basketball! The motion control should allow players to pass, shoot, and dribble.

Sylvie Nightshade, a software engineer, made a Stardew Valley mod that adds a ‘hardcore’ mode to the game. What does that mean? Well, if you open the Stardew Valley Wiki, your farm will be deleted.

Ryan Lewis, a recent Cornell Tech graduate, created a program that converts the data from Google Maps into Minecraft worlds. The program first converts the data into voxels, and each voxel is turned into a Minecraft block, with the help of an algorithm, accurately recreating buildings, roads, terrain, and more.

And now for some upcoming games!

June 27th

• Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD – Nintendo Switch
• Neo Sprint – PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Xbox SX

June 28th

• Gigantosaurus Dino Sports – PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Xbox SX
• SPYxANYA: Operation Memories – PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC

July 2nd

• Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail – PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox SX
• The First Descendant – PlayStation 5, Xbox SX, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC

That’s it this week in gaming news!

This week on Zed Games, Hazel, Rani and Peter.. who vents about toxicity in games, Tobi brings us the week in Gaming News, Paul jump into the review of Leap Year from Daniel Linssen, Rani channels their feline psychic in a review of Cat and Ghostly Road from BOV, and then the team talks the upcoming Queensland Games Festival this Saturday! Come see us there!

This week the “Hey, Hey, Hey” team lead by the Maylee’s (also Paul and Peter) talk the week in Gaming News… well, kinda? Paul hijacks the episode to talk about this years “Annual Showcase Season” but not before Zahra gets freaky in horror romance Sucker for Love: Date to Die For from Akabaka. Then Paul talks the week in game announcements including; Tempopo from Witch Beam, Mixtape from Beethoven and Dinosaur, Mars First Logistics from Shape Shop, Wanderstop from Ivy Road, Pinball Spire from Apparition Games, and Techno Banter from Dexai Arts.

This week on Zed Games. The team talks Gaming News from Caroline, focussing on the vibes of the new Australian Pokestore. In reviews, Zahra tries to help out the busy gamer, while Tobi zones in on the solarpunk idler Rusty’s Retirement from Mister Morris Games. Paul then talks back to the NPCs in Consortium VR from IDGi, and takes a quick look at the horror puzzler Flathead published by DREAD XP.