Update Patch | September
September is coming to an end, and I have been woken up to deliver this month’s Update Patch. The month has seen American idiots and delays making us take a longview. The Green Day references have become tenuous so let’s just get to the Update Patch.
1. TripWire CEO Trips Up
In the highest-profile news/gaff/continued stepping in ranks, TripWire CEO John Gibson stepped down following a controversial tweet supporting Texas’ new anti-abortion laws.
Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court affirmed Texas’ new anti-abortion law which bans women from getting an abortion when a “fetal heartbeat” can be detected, a term that is typically defined as 6 weeks into a pregnancy. This is based on a group of cells firing off electrical signals in an area where the heart of the baby will be but is only there to be the heart’s pacemaker and not the cells that make up the heart itself.
Some of the themes of this game really haven’t aged well…
In response to the US Supreme Court decision, Gibson tweeted “Proud of #USSupremeCourt affirming the Texas law banning abortion for babies with a heartbeat. As an entertainer I don’t get political often. Yet with so many vocal peers on the other side of this issue, I felt it was important to go on the record as a pro-life game developer.”
It is worth noting Gibson was attending the somewhat controversially still in person PAX West at the time. The day before he tweeted a picture of himself offering to meet up with fans at a local farmers market that mandated wearing masks. He was not wearing any mask in the photo.
Gibson’s statement was met with harsh criticism and quick responses, with partner Shipwright Studios announcing they had begun cancelling any and all contracts with the company.
This tweet led to Tripwire releasing a statement a couple of days later stating “The comments given by John Gibson are of his own opinion, and do not reflect those of Tripwire Interactive as a company… Our leadership team at Tripwire are deeply sorry and are unified in our commitment to take swift action.”
This led to Gibson’s immediate dismissal from Tripwire (Killing Floor, Maneater) with Alan Wilson taking over as interim CEO. Wilson has been with the company since its inception in 2005.
2. Epic v Apple: NOBODY WINS!
A key update has taken place in the Epic Games vs Apple lawsuit that saw Fortnite taken off the App Store on Apple devices, with the judge overseeing the case, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, making a decision. In short, both companies lost.
Editor’s note:
That’s it this is the official Tim Sweeney photo of record to be used whenever we mention him.
In the case of Epic, they weren’t able to show Apple was unfairly monopolizing the mobile app marketplace through its operating system, thus Epic will have to pay damages in the millions of dollars to Apple. However, on the other side of things, Apple will be forced to remove policies that ban developers from promoting their own payment options and diverting them to Apple’s own in-app purchases.
Apple has since barred Epic from putting Fortnite back on the App Store, as revealed by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney very professionally tweeting through it on his Twitter account. He explained that the game has been “blacklisted” from the App Store, however, he and his company will fight this until all court options have been exhausted, a process which Sweeney says could be as long as a “5-year process”. Fortnite is still available on other platforms.
3. PlayStation Shows Up
Sony held their latest PlayStation Showcase this month, providing a number of updates on many upcoming titles for the platform as well as a few reveals scattered throughout the event.
The games taking the largest headlines of the show were the official reveals of Remedy’s remaster of Alan Wake, Insomniac blowing people away with reveals of Marvel’s Wolverine and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 as well as confirmation of a remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic from Aspyre. Alan Wake Remastered will be published in partnership with Epic Games and has a confirmed release date for 5th October and will include the original’s DLC expansion. Meanwhile, Insomniac showed a very early teaser for their Wolverine game - which seems very far away from release. Mainly because it is slated for release after the 2023 date given to Spider-Man 2, however, the web-slingers sequel did confirm both Spider-Men in Peter Parker and Miles Morales will be playable and the studio also teased fan-favourite villain, Venom. As for KOTOR, little is known aside from its developers being Aspyr and its a full reconstruction.
Logan is going to be waiting at this bar for a long time before we get to see him again.
I just think he’s neat!
The other big news was a lengthy update to God of War: Ragnarok. Aside from the confirmation of the title, with gameplay showing some new combat manoeuvres for beleaguered Dad Kratos as well as reveals for the design and voice of Thor & Odin who will be appearing in-game. There is yet to be a confirmed release date beyond next year.
For more details of the showcase, you can check out Ollie’s roundup here.
4. Nintendo Also Shows Up
In similar news, Nintendo also held their own showcase with plenty on offer for those interested in the upcoming OLED Switch in the form of the latest Nintendo Direct.
Kept you waitin’, huh?
In terms of the headline announcements, Bayonetta 3 finally re-revealed itself after being announced at The Game Awards way back in 2017, the Switch exclusive finally showed some gameplay, along with the eponymous hero sporting a new look. The long-awaited third entry is due for release next year. A new entry for the roundest pink orb and strongest Smash Bros. character Kirby was also revealed in the form of the 3D Kirby and the Forgotten Land, also due for 2022. There also happened to be some casting news about the Super Mario movie, which runs the gambit of casting from inspired like Jack Black as Bowser to the truly cursed like Chris Pratt as Mario.
Further updates include the first gameplay reveal for Splatoon 3, showcasing the game’s new setting in Splatsville and familiar paint-filled firing. The upcoming Metroid Dread received some additional gameplay footage as well as further information on the titular villain. Additionally, Monster Hunter Rise will be receiving a large expansion in Sunbreak, set for 2022 with new stories, quests, locations and hunts to take on.
Victories of war.
Credit: Chris Scullion on Twitter
And in the most Nintendo of stories, you will soon be able to pay Nintendo an extra subscription fee to play select N64 and Mega Drive games on your Switch. These games, which totally cannot be played anywhere else already, will also launch alongside a £50 Bluetooth N64 Controller and a £50 Mega Drive controller… with only three buttons… unless you live in Japan, where you can buy a six-button controller… OH NINTENDO!
5. Sir Clive Sinclair & George Mawle Pass Away
A couple of sad bits of news in the form of a couple of deaths in the gaming sphere. Firstly, Sir Clive Sinclair passed away at the age of 81 following a long battle with cancer.
Sir Clive Sinclair (1940-2021)
Sinclair was a keen inventor and spent his life inventing the pocket calculator and more relevantly, the ZX brand of computers leading to the release of the ZX Spectrum in April 1982. The top model at the time came loaded with 128KB of RAM and a floppy disk drive and would be enough of a hit to usher in the age of home computing, and also came loaded with numerous games like JetPac, Cybernoid and even the very first Football Manager title before the management sim was revived in 2005 by Sports Interactive. Sinclair was one of the most gifted technological minds, even selling DIY radio kits during his A-Levels and inventing numerous off-beat projects beyond the ZX Spectrum to varying success.
Furthermore, George Mawle, a gameplay designer on the God of War series, has passed away this month. Mawle worked on the acclaimed reboot and handled much of the development of the Leviathan Axe and Chaos Blades in the reboot series. Mawle had a number of credits over his career including Prototype 2 & Scarface: The World is Yours. Mawle received numerous tributes, including from game director Cory Balrog, who said:
George Mawle (-2021)
"George was such an amazingly funny, smart and warm human being. He was one of the fathers of the Leviathan feel. Without his curiosity and intellect those moments of pure joy recalling the axe would never have existed."
We at startmenu would like to pass on our condolences and best wishes to the family and friends of Sinclair & Mawle respectively.
6. Activision Blizzard’s Woes Deepen
Activision Blizzard continues to be in the news for all the wrong reasons as investigations continue following the lawsuit by California’s Department of Fair Employment & Housing against the company over the summer.
Firstly, the company’s alleged behaviour and institutional sexual harassment have now attracted the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who have subpoenaed the company and a number of its senior officials, including CEO Bobby Kotick. This action demands the company supply employment records and communications between senior employees to determine whether the company disclosed this information to any investors in a timely fashion. This comes after one of the investment groups behind Activision Blizzard, SOC, expressed disappointment at the company’s response to the original lawsuit.
Remember the days when Blizzard released a game and it was a big deal and not a footnote alongside legal proceedings?
This follows on from an employee-led lawsuit against the company filed two weeks before the SEC investigation was made public. This suit, filed by the ABK Workers Alliance, accuses the company of attempting to block their attempts to form a trade union within the company. Additionally, a number of key staff have left the company including chief legal officer Claire Hart who described her time at the company as “full of unexpected twists and turns”.
Activision Blizzard have also been brought and settled yet another lawsuit in this time, in the form of a case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), where the company has settled for $18m. The company has denied wrongdoing. Ok then.
Patch Notes:
Yep, that looks like a prestige TV show made in 2021.
Sony has enabled the internal expansion SSD slot in the PS5, now allowing users to hook up additional M.2 SSD storage as long as it meets specific requirements which can be found here.
Speaking of Sony, flagship title The Last of Us’ HBO live-action adaptation seems to have confirmed Neil Druckmann will direct some episodes as well as his already confirmed role as co-writer and executive producer alongside Chernobyl showrunner Craig Mazin. This news also comes when the first photo of the show was released, depicting Joel & Ellie overlooking the wreckage of a plane.
For those interested in Nintendo’s offerings for their showcase, the company has reduced the price of the base model of the Nintendo Switch to £259.99 in the UK and €269.99 in Europe.
Delays continue in the gaming industry, with Dying Light 2 set back to the 4th February 2022 and Battlefield 2042 delayed to November of this year.
Following the #ADayOffTwitch movement and numerous calls for Twitch to take action against hate raids, the company has filed suit against two users on the platform known as CruzzControl and CreatineOverdose who are accused of organizing “unlawful, fraudulent and highly offensive” hate raids.
