[PATREON UNLOCK] Update Patch - November 2024

Update Patch News Round-up (09/11/24)

Borderlands 4 Release Window Narrowed Down

Take-Two Interactive, owners of both Gearbox and Rockstar, has narrowed down the release window for the upcoming Borderlands 4 to its 2026 Fiscal year, which runs between  April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, according to an earnings report. The Gamescom teaser highlighted 2025, so we can guess that the game will come out sometime after April 1, 2025. CEO Strauss Zelnick said in an interview with Variety that the publisher doesn’t want the looter shooter and the much-hyped Grand Theft Auto 6 to compete, saying: “I think it’s safe to say that we wouldn’t, and no one would, stack up huge releases unnecessarily.” Despite the absolute disaster that was the Borderlands movie, Zelnick told IGN that Take-Two didn’t regret the investment because it helped sell more games while Lionsgate fronted most of the money for the box office bomb.

Pokemon TCG Pocket Hits 30 Million Downloads And Launches First PVP Event

According to an announcement on X (formerly known as Twitter), Pokemon TCG Pocket has been downloaded over 30 million times since its launch less than two weeks ago. It took less than 48 hours for the game to smash through the 10 million downloads mark and generated $12 million in its first four days which puts it on track with top mobile earns like Monopoly Go!. The game also launched its first player-versus-player battle event to complement the ongoing solo battle Lapras Ex event. In the ‘Genetic Apex Emblem Event, players can earn pack hourglasses for participating, and victories will lead to Emblems that can be displayed on your profile, with 45 victories being required for the Gold Emblem. The event will run until 5.59 am local time on Thursday, November 28.

Key Features About The Nintendo Switch’s Successor Have Been Revealed

During a recent Nintendo earnings call, the company’s president Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed that Nintendo still plans to announce the successor to the Switch during its current Fiscal year, which ends in March 2025, reports Reuters. In a financial presentation and then later on X, Furukawa also confirmed that Nintendo Switch software will be compatible with the yet-to-be-announced platform. He acknowledged the benefits that Nintendo Online accounts brought and confirmed that they would continue to be a part of the next console. However, the Kyoto-based company did not confirm whether physical games or accessories like JoyCons or Pro Controllers would be compatible. In a Q&A, Ko Shiota, a Nintendo executive, highlighted how unique Nintendo’s products are, and said they intend to “carefully balance uniqueness with the ease of software development as we strive to create uniquely Nintendo products.”

Death Stranding Gets A Surprise Xbox Release

After five years of PlayStation and PC exclusivity, Death Stranding made a surprise landing on Xbox this week with a steep discount, likely due to the exclusive Sony publishing license elapsing. In a press release, Hideo Kojima said “It is my pleasure to finally announce that Death Stranding Director’s Cut will be delivered to Xbox players. I would like to thank all the fans who have stayed connected with us as well as everyone in the Xbox community who have been patiently waiting. Kojima Productions (Death Stranding) will continue to connect more and more players around the world, so please stay tuned.” The Studio is currently deep in the development of Death Stranding 2 which is slated to release on PlayStation 5 in 2025, but has also announced an exclusive project with Microsoft rumoured to utilise cloud computing in some way.

Sega Will Soon Delist A Handful Of Its Classic Games

Sega will be removing several of its classic titles from digital storefronts by December 6. This will affect Steam, Nintendo, Xbox,  and PlayStation stores. While PlayStation and Switch will both see a bundle game (Sega Genesis Classics) be removed, Xbox and Steam will see the removal of a significant number of individual games. However, it has been confirmed that Switch Online subscribers will still have access to the Sega catalogue. This comes in the wake of Sega’s announcement that the developer would be rebooting several franchises like Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi, and Shinobi at The Game Awards last winter. If you’re a retro gamer or Sega fan, now might be your last chance to get these classic games in a modern format. The full list is on Sega’s website.

Mass Effect Will Be Adapted Into A TV Show By Amazon MGM

After long unsubstantiated rumours that started back in 2021, we finally have some reasonably solid claims that Amazon MGM will be adapting Mass Effect into a TV show. An exclusive report by Variety states that the series will be written and produced by Daniel Casey, the screenwriter behind the ninth Fast & Furious movie, F9. Beyond a few people named as executive producers (including long-time Mass Effect dev Michael Gamble, and Ari Arad, who worked on the recent Borderlands movie and the Sam Rami Spider-Man Trilogy), we don’t know any concrete details. There’s no info about which of the games will be adapted, or if it’s more of a ‘based in the same universe’ kind of situation like the recent Fallout show. We also don’t know any actors involved as of yet but we do know this will likely be the next Mass Effect release as Bioware recently confirmed that only now that Dragon Age: The Veilguard has shipped the majority of its team has moved over to Mass Effect. Hold tight to the Normandy and wait for further announcements.

startmenu News Roundup (17/11/24)

GOG Has Launched A Video Game Preservation Project

GOG, the DRM-free digital storefront, has announced the GOG Preservation Program to “make games live forever.” If a game on GOG’s storefront has the Preservation Program stamp, it signifies that GOG has committed, “our own resources to maintaining its compatibility with modern and future systems.” It acts as a seal of approval to show buyers that those games are compatible with modern PCs in a fuss-free way. The program has launched with 100 games including Diablo and Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3. With this program, GOG is aiming to maintain the integrity of classic games for future generations in order to “keep our shared history alive”. The classic games being improved and preserved by GOG will also continue to be DRM-free. This is a huge step forward in video game preservation and archiving. 

According to the Video Game History Foundation, 87% of classic games (released before 2010) are no longer easily accessible, often due to archaic copyright laws that don’t apply to movies and other media, and it’s a huge blow to the history of gaming. As if it isn’t already bad enough, even modern games are disappearing because of server shutdowns: two players are attempting to launch a class action lawsuit against Ubisoft after the shuttering of the online-only racing game The Crew’s servers, essentially deleting the game from the record.

Hundreds of ZeniMax QA Workers Strike Over Job Security Concerns

After parent company Microsoft outsourced QA work without bringing the issue to the Communication Workers of America union, ZeniMax QA workers voted on a one-day strike. The union filed an unfair labour practice charge against ZeniMax because Microsoft’s action, "threatens job security amid record layoffs across the video games industry,” according to GamesIndustry.biz. The striking workers also expressed discontent with Bethesda’s move to return to in-office work. The return-to-office policy was reportedly directed only toward QA workers and acted as a soft layoff for people hired during the height of COVID-19 with an expectation of remote work and who are unable or unwilling to relocate. “We have members who wouldn't be able to return to the office if they were forced to and would have to quit even in a hybrid model,” said ZeniMax Workers United-CWA member and Senior Quality Assurance tester Dylan Burton.

Half-Life 2 Gets Surprise 20th Anniversary Update

The update was released on November 16, Half-Life 2’s 20th birthday, and has added Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and Episode 2 to the base game. A brand new commentary track with the game’s original development team has also been added for players who want to get an all-new behind-the-scenes look into the classic game. The game will now also progress through the expansions from within, making it feel like one continuous experience rather than separately launching them from the menu. In addition, Valve has reworked controller support and every level has had bugs squashed, content restored, and quality improved, making it absolutely ripe for a replay. On top of the in-game commentary, Valve has also released a two-hour documentary on YouTube. The rare behind-the-scenes look at the often mysterious corporation (filmed by NoClip sister company Secret Tape) is filled with behind-the-scenes footage, developer insights, the story of the games’ creation and even a glimpse at cancelled projects including a planned Episode 3.

This War Of Mine Announces New DLC for 10th Anniversary

This War Of Mine, the depressing simulation game where players control a group of survivors in a war-torn city, is set to receive a new DLC to commemorate its 10th anniversary. “A decade since its release, the game's mission to shed light on the civilian cost of war is far from over,” said developers 11-bit Studios in a post on the game’s Subreddit. The new DLC is called Forget Celebrations, and all the profits from the game will be going to support 11-bit’s charity partners, War Child, Amnesty International, Liberty Ukraine, and Indie Games Poland.  The DLC will see players return to Pogoren to follow Katia’s story. She is a seasoned war correspondent writing a book on the harsh realities of war, but a missile strike destroys her home, forcing her into a harsh fight to survive. There’s no confirmed release date yet but players can wishlist the DLC on Steam to be notified of developments.

Phil Spencer Confirms There Will Be A Handheld Xbox…Eventually

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer confirmed the Microsoft-owned company would be looking to enter the handheld gaming world. He said that the “expectation is that we would do something,” and while they are currently prototyping and developing a handheld, a new device is still years out. “Longer term, I love us building devices,” Spencer said. “And I think our team could do some real innovative work, but we want to be informed by learning and what’s happening now.” 

Before then, however, Xbox is focusing on its app to ensure it works as it wants it to across platforms. Rumours about a handheld Xbox have been around for a while, so this confirmation is great news for fans of the Microsoft gaming ecosystem. This comes as Xbox begins its winter marketing push “This Is An Xbox”, an ad campaign designed to highlight devices like laptops, phones, smart TVs and more that can access Xbox’s cloud streaming service and storefront without the need for a traditional console.

startmenu News Roundup (24/11/24)

Awards Season Is Well And Truly Upon Us

It’s the end of the year, and that means award season. It is a chance to celebrate the best of the year, acknowledge achievements, and hold up the best of the best for all to gaze upon. The Game Awards (which will be held on December 12) is the biggest of the lot, but there are others. The Golden Joysticks were held in London on November 21, and the indie game-focused IndieCade Festival was last week (November 9). 

At the IndieCade festival, management RPG Keep Driving, in which players drive through a procedurally generated world picking up hitchhikers, picked up the Grand Jury Award. The rest of the winners can be found on the IndieCade website.

The Golden Joysticks celebrate more mainstream games and crowned Black Myth Wukong as the Ultimate Game of the Year through an online public vote. This decision was met with some criticism due to the developer’s history of misogyny. Indie darling Balatro took home Best Indie Game and the Critics Choice Breakthrough Award. The rest of the winners can be found here.

LocalThunk, Balatro’s solo developer, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) after the awards to say “No idea how to describe just how absurd this all feels,” after admitting that he started making the game during a vacation as a “fun little project for me and my friends.” Here’s hoping for more fun little projects in the future.

Meanwhile, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth scooped up four of the seven awards it was nominated for (it tied with Astro Bot for being most nominated), prompting the game’s director, Naoki Hamaguchi, to say to GamesRadar+ that he feels vindicated in his decision to split the remake into three parts. “I think this has proven our concept now, with us being the most-nominated game at today's Golden Joysticks, also the most-nominated game at The Game Awards later this year, I think people have finally come around to understand the reasons, the advantages, and why it's a good thing to have it as a trilogy. So hopefully people are a bit more convinced now."

And last but not least, The Game Awards released their shortlists. We won’t know the winners until mid-December, but the shortlist for Game of the Year is: Astro Bot, Balatro, Black Myth Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Metaphor ReFantazio. Best Independent Game nominees are Animal Well, Balatro, Lorelai and the Laser Eyes, Neva, and UFO 50. The full list of nominees can be found on The Game Awards’ website, where gamers can vote for their choices in each of the 29 categories.

Notable absences from the award scene include Palworld. Fans took to X to claim the game had been deliberately snubbed, prompting a response from the community manager who said he doesn’t think it was a deliberate snub…but he did think Satisfactory was snubbed. Meanwhile, indie fans are aghast that 1000xResist didn’t make the Best Independent Game shortlist, and Cult of the Lamb developers Massive Monster expressed disappointment that they weren’t recognised for the work they’ve continued to put in to support the game post-launch.

Many gamers have raised questions about whether it’s right that Game of the Year nominees include an expansion (Shadows of the Erdtree) and a remake (Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth), and yet more are mad that Silent Hill 2 was not nominated for Game of the Year, perhaps proving that no matter what the judges do with the shortlists, gamers will always be mad.

Steam Tightens Rules Around Season Passes

In an extremely consumer-positive move, digital storefront Steam has updated its guidance for developers when it comes to DLC Season Passes. A Season Pass is intended to be an easy way for players to buy all of a game’s planned post-release content, with a discount for committing upfront to content that will be released in the future. The new documentation requires developers to commit to launch timing for each DLC that will be included in a Season Pass, and transparency about what will be included. A highlighted box states: “If you're considering offering a Season Pass for your game, it's a good idea to think about whether there's a customer benefit to buying the Season Pass. In exchange for buying the Season Pass upfront, a customer might benefit from a lower overall price on all the content, or extra content thrown in for free. Without a benefit, customers won't have much incentive to purchase a Season Pass.”

Enhanced transparency like this will ensure customers know what they will be getting, avoiding situations such as Destiny 2’s The Final Shape, where players were confused and frustrated about level caps, XP, and progression. Situations where a DLC gets cancelled will also be more customer-friendly because developers will have to issue partial refunds to Season Pass holders if any announced part of it is cancelled.

Pokemon Go Data Is Being Used To Train AI

Niantic, the developer behind Pokemon Go and several other augmented reality (AR) games, is using data from those games to train a ‘large geospatial model’ (LGM) AI. Using geolocation information of the real world gathered from players using the game’s AR mode, the developers are hoping to model the world and “achieve spatial intelligence” according to a blog post. LGMs “will help computers perceive, comprehend, and navigate the physical world,” according to the post. 

Niantic has been using the collected data to construct millions of separate neural networks that represent localized models of specific places, including many locations that traditional mapping techniques (such as Google Maps’ cars) could not reach. They are now planning to combine the individual models into one massive global model that is continually being updated with data from players. This model will then be used to train the LGM to recognize objects and layouts, and make predictions about missing sections. The recent “Pokemon Playgrounds” feature has involved players scanning landmarks and placing Pokemon in specific locations, adding to Niantic’s pool of data.

Itch.io Now Requires Asset Creators To Disclose Use Of AI

Itch.io, the indie storefront, has launched a new policy which requires the platform’s asset creators to label any work that uses generative AI, and exactly which parts of the content are AI-generated. "We are now requiring asset page creators to tag their use of generative AI in their work," Itch.io said on Bluesky. "This tagging tool is available for all pages, but it is a required field for asset creator pages to ensure that buyers are aware of the origins of the material they are obtaining." They went on to add that they are focusing on asset creators at this stage “since their disclosure can impact a larger number of creators that may use their assets.” Any generative AI assets that are not correctly tagged “will no longer be eligible for indexing on our browse pages.” However, they do not currently have any details on how they will detect unlabelled AI content, and will likely rely on user reports to begin with.

Mat Piscatella Shares Latest Video Game Industry Figures From Circana

Video Game Industry Analyst at Circana Mat Piscatella has posted his most recent roundup of industry sales figures. Overall, between October 6 and November 2, 2024, video game content sales have increased by 12% compared to the same period last year, with the largest driver of that being the successful release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on 25th of October (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 released during the November tracking period in 2023 so isn’t in the comparison), and Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero shooting into position as the best-selling Dragon Ball game in the US. Accessories are up 15%, which is a positive indicator of the industry’s overall mood - people are willing to spend money on gaming and perhaps looking to start buying accessories as Christmas gifts. The best-selling accessory by revenue was the PlayStation Portal, which has people gaming remotely. Hardware sales are down -23% but these figures don’t include the PlayStation 5 Pro, which released on November 7. Taking a longer-term look, 2024 to date has seen small revenue increases for game content (up 4%) and game accessories (up 8%) compared to 2023 for the same period. However, hardware has dropped by -29%, perhaps because of the speculation over the upcoming Switch 2 (Switch sales specifically are down 38% year over year) and again, the PlayStation 5 Pro which isn’t included in these figures.

startmenu News Roundup (01/12/24)

Wolfire’s Lawsuit Against Valve Is Now Class Action

Wolfire’s 2022 suit and Dark Catt’s 2021 suit have been combined and approved as a class action lawsuit against Valve, reports GamesIndustry.biz. Overgrowth developer Wolfire’s case got off to a bad start after a judge dismissed it in late 2021 for failing to demonstrate its case sufficiently. However, the developer was given a standard 30 days to amend its case, during which the company managed to make sufficient changes and add additional context which allowed the case to move forward. It was then combined with Dark Catt’s case in July 2022. A court has now reclassified the combined case as a class action suit, opening it up to any developers who have sold on Steam and are displeased with Valve’s 30% cut. 

Valve maintains that 30% is the industry standard, but that reasoning falls a little flat when you consider that Microsoft and Epic both take just 12%. If a large enough number of developers join the case and if it is successful, Valve could be on the hook for vast amounts of compensation. However developers may feel about Valve’s portion of their sales, the sentiment amongst gamers on Reddit is extremely in Valve’s favour, with the case being called “weak” and the developers “butt hurt”.

No Man’s Sky Is Absolutely Thriving

After eight years of the greatest redemption arc in gaming history, No Man’s Sky has reached a “Very Positive” rating on Steam, meaning it has surpassed 80% positive ratings. The developer team at Hello Games has been celebrating on X (formerly Twitter). “Thank you Thank you Thank you❤️ You have no idea what this means to us 🙏” said the studio’s founder, Sean Murray. Engine developer Martin Griffiths said: “Our tiny team at Hello Games have grafted and then grafted some more.. and although “very positive” might be just a few words, it means an awful lot, especially since we aren’t even close to being finished yet. Thank you to all players who believed in us and those of you who continue to journey with us. x x x”

Meanwhile, the studio has announced its Expeditions Redux schedule for the winter period, giving fans who missed out a chance to revisit five of the game’s limited-time expeditions. Omega (Nov 27 - Dev 11), Adrift (Dec 11 - Dec 25), Liquidators (Dec 25 - Jan 8), Aquarius (Jan 8 - Jan 22), and The Cursed (Jan 22 - Feb 5) will be available for players to take a shot at.

On top of the expedition redux, Hello Games is still working on new content and updates for No Man’s Sky. A massive overhaul to the exploration system in July 2024 was labelled as Worlds Part 1, so we can likely expect a Part 2 at some point, and the expeditions schedule states that “the team are still working enthusiastically on future content for the game - we have much more in store for No Man’s Sky!” And as if that wasn’t enough, they are also “making great progress on [their] upcoming fantasy title, Light No Fire.”

A Palestinian Developer Has Launched A Crowdfunding Campaign From Occupied West Bank

Rasheed Abu-Eideh, a Palestinian game developer living and working in Nablus, a city in the occupied West Bank area of Gaza, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for his next game, Dreams on a Pillow. The game is inspired by historical events and takes place during the Nakba, an event during the 1948 Palestine War which violently displaced around 700,000 Palestinians. Abu-Eideh’s last game Liyla and the Shadows of War depicted a Palestinian family’s struggle to live through the 2014 Gaza War and made waves after Apple initially rejected it from the App Store.

According to the crowdfunding page, “Dreams on a Pillow is a pseudo-3D stealth adventure game inspired by a historical Palestinian folk tale set during the ethnic cleansing that was the 1948 Nakba.” The developers have struggled to raise funds through traditional methods such as publisher deals or cultural grants, being deemed “too controversial” or “too risky”, so they have turned to crowdfunding to raise nearly $200,000 towards the estimated half-a-million dollar total required for the game.

Unfortunately due to the politically complex situation in Gaza and the ongoing genocide being perpetrated by Isreal, Abu-Eideh feels he cannot use more popular crowdfunding sites because they “either do not recognize Palestine or have a history of withholding funding,” and have turned to the lesser-known but Muslim-focused platform LaunchGood.

Larian Has Announced Another Huge Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch

In what appears likely to be the last major content update for Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian has released two key long-awaited features for the acclaimed adventure game - cross-play and photo mode. Cross-play allows players with different platforms to play together multiplayer, and photo mode provides tools and options to capture scenes from the game. In addition to these tools, the developer has also added 12 new subclasses, one for each of the game’s main classes. These allow for even greater customisation between characters and include things like a versatile healing and battle-ready Bard subclass, the College of Glamour; a ranged magic Fighter subclass called the Arcane Archer, and tons more.