General Gaming News

[Drizzle]

I'm regretting not trying harder to pick up one of those N64 controllers for the Switch right now.

 

[metaphysician]

Following on the news of Embracer acquiring Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal:

Crystal Dynamics takes control of its most beloved games – Crystal Dynamics


Updates to our Terms of Service and Privacy Notice | Eidos Montréal

Embracer really does seem to be one of the most studio-friendly big publishers. Even more than Microsoft, they seem to be establishing a policy of "Look, we'll pay the bills and take our cut of the sales, but otherwise we just stay out of the way and let you get to work making games".

 

[Marvolo]

Really said gamers are too racist for a Black Panther game, huh?

To be fair a WW2 Marvel game makes more sense with Captain America. Black Pather and wakanda being involved feels like them wanting a Captain America game but needing to check the diversity box.

 

[Iceman]

Embracer really does seem to be one of the most studio-friendly big publishers. Even more than Microsoft, they seem to be establishing a policy of "Look, we'll pay the bills and take our cut of the sales, but otherwise we just stay out of the way and let you get to work making games".

I saw an interview with the people in charge there and they do seem like having the best interests of their studios at heart. Let’s see if they can get good results with their system as they also need to make good money to continuously fund all these projects across so many studios.

 

[Silvermoth]

Goldeneyeeeeee! Can’t wait to play as Baron Samedi again. Really hope I can organise a gaming sesh with my friends for this

 

[Silvermoth]

Oh sweet can’t wait to play this

 

[Pennywise]

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

ReviewGeek - Google Stadia Is Shutting Down, Refunds Incoming

 

[Gee]

CD Projekt announced new projects, including one new IP, and North American locations:
https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/wp-content/uploads-en/2022/10/strategy-update-2022-presentation-en.pdf

 

[Iceman]

CD Projekt announced new projects, including one new IP, and North American locations:
https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/wp-content/uploads-en/2022/10/strategy-update-2022-presentation-en.pdf

Greta on more Witcher stuff, but the above sounds like a lot of work. They need to sort their management structure out or it will be a disaster. Releasing before something is ready adds on much more work overall having to try live fixes.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

 

[Gee]

This is sad.

The devs on STALKER 2 continue to develop the game while fighting in the war.

 

[psylockolussus]

Microsoft Activision Deal Fiasco Has Taken a New Turn

Lol Microsoft.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

That's their evolution from "Do you guys not have phones [for Diablo Immortal]?" (2018) to "Don't you guys have post-paid phone plans for your phone [for Overwatch 2]?" (2022). Just imagine what BS this company comes up with next in the future.

The Verge - Overwatch 2’s launch problems include prepaid cellular bans, failed account merges

Prepaid plans are budget-friendly for lower-income families and can be a more practical, economical choice since, at least in the US, they operate on the same mobile networks of premium carriers like Verizon. Overseas, prepaid seems to be a more common way to get service, especially in big gaming markets like South America and South Asia.

“Here in Indonesia, I have never met anyone who uses postpaid,” wrote one user on the r/Overwatch subreddit. “So I’m locked out just when I was going to try OW again. My total playtime is 1500 hours or so, and Blizz slams the door in my face.”

Another issue is that it’s unclear which types of plans on which carriers are affected. Users are reporting the ability to use Metro by T-Mobile, while others can’t. Players are losing years’ worth of progression for something announced with only a week’s notice, and only if they dug into the details to find out exactly what was required. It’s become a legitimate barrier of entry for a lot of Overwatch players, affecting more than just edge cases.

 

[Iceman]

RIP

 

[Iceman]

This is sad.

The devs on STALKER 2 continue to develop the game while fighting in the war.

Such a difficult environment to be working in. I really hope things get better for them and also that the game is a success.

 

[Sithborg]

Generally speaking, you may want to alter plans juuuuusssst a bit after a failure like that....

 

[Iceman]

One of the bigger recent failures I can remember.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I finished Plague Tale for the first time. What game. Ready for the sequel.

 

[Gee]

Square Enix Montreal rebrands as Onoma
Studio Onoma - Our Brand Story | Studio Onoma

 

[Iceman]

I finished Plague Tale for the first time. What game. Ready for the sequel.

Nice

I also plan to play the first (never have) ahead of the launch of the sequel. Great dev they are, hope they do well.

 

[Snow Queen]

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Will Require Phone Number Verification

 

[metaphysician]

On one hand, okay. I can sort of sympathize. Keeping out cheaters and griefers is hard, and one of the more effective ways is by tying the ability to play a game, with something that can't be easily spoofed or replaced. If getting banned just means you need to create a new account, then it has no teeth; if you can reasonably expect that the one account you create is the *only* one you can reasonably create, by contrast, then being banned is a serious threat. It at least puts a pain threshold on bad behavior ( presuming there is any moderation in the first place, anyway ).

On the other hand, this is a problem they created for themselves. You know what the most traditional such pain point for being banned is? Having to buy a new copy of a game, because your existing copy is the one that got banned. Blizzard are the ones who chose to move to a free to play model and thus lose that basic level of protection. My guess is that everyone in the room making the decisions on how to set up the phone number security system? Is a rich tech bro, at least relatively, and thus completely ignorant about how commonly people use prepaid cellphone plans in the real world.

And on the third hand, making this all uglier is how this was theoretically supposed to be an upgrade to Overwatch 1. The Overwatch 1 that people actually *did* pay money upfront to buy, and which Blizzard was now saying effectively "Your banned". I bet this angle is why Blizzard pretty rapidly reconsidered the idea. Existing Overwatch 1 owners might have had grounds for a class action lawsuit, depending on how well Blizzard covered their legal behind ( and since this probably wasn't an intended outcome, they likely *didn't* ).

 

[Sithborg]

Sickening in that there is no way Kotick walks away anything but rich.