If you’re in the UK, you might be disappointed by the prevalence of milder and less warm weather throughout the country over the past few weeks, but thankfully, there’s been plenty of gaming industry news to distract you.
Obviously, this past week has been no different in this regard, with lots of news to chew on and digest, including the announcement of a new game in a beloved franchise, more layoffs (sadly), and lots besides.
Here’s what’s been happening over the course of the week in gaming news.
A new Resident Evil game is in development
This week, Capcom held a showcase in which it showed off some of its upcoming games, including Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess.
That showcase also brought some exciting news for survival horror fans: the next Resident Evil game is officially in development, although Capcom didn’t go into much more detail than that.
We do know that the game will be directed by Koshi Nakanishi, who also served as the director on 2017’s excellent Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Let’s hope the new game takes its cues from that and not from Resident Evil 6.
This showcase also gave us the news that Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, the upcoming visual overhaul of the 2000s zombie classic, is coming out on modern systems in September. Hooray!
It looks like Sega is making big changes to Crazy Taxi
The original Crazy Taxi is one of Sega’s arcade stalwarts of the late 90s; it’s a frenetic, fun, and fast-paced taxi sim that isn’t really about driving taxis, but more about sheer speed and exuberance.
If a report from Sega itself is to be believed, however, Sega is making some big changes to the game; its new Crazy Taxi title will shift the emphasis to multiplayer gameplay and will also feature an open world to explore.
We can’t say we’re particularly enthused by the idea of transforming Crazy Taxi into what sounds suspiciously like a live-service game, but then again, we do understand that Sega probably sees it as the only way for the IP to survive in this day and age.
More layoffs, unfortunately
It wouldn’t be a weekly summary of the gaming industry without news of layoffs, and sadly, that’s exactly what we got this week, with a couple of studios impacted by job losses.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau developer Surgent let around a dozen of its staff members go this week in response to the industry’s tough climate, following on from Ubisoft, which also laid off employees last week.
It’s difficult to feel like we’re not heading towards some kind of moment for the industry given all of the layoffs that have been occurring recently, but let’s hope things settle down soon.
Wii U repairs come to an end
It’s the end of an era, albeit an era that has been trundling on for what feels like a very long time given the lack of success enjoyed by the console in question.
Nintendo announced this week that it will no longer be able to repair Wii U consoles, as the company has run out of the parts necessary to conduct repairs.
If you’ve got a Wii U that isn’t working anymore, then unfortunately, you’ll have to fall back on third-party services or find other ways of playing the games available on the system.
Exoprimal isn’t getting anything new
Capcom’s dinosaur shooter Exoprimal is getting no new content, the studio has confirmed. Instead, its current seasons will begin to cycle on a regular basis going forward.
To be honest, we can’t say we’re particularly sad to see the back of Exoprimal; it was an interesting idea, but the game just didn’t have the chops to pull off the ambition, and Exoprimal stumbled right out of the gate simply for not being Dino Crisis.
Still, perhaps this will convince Capcom to make that long-awaited Dino Crisis remake, eh? Given how popular the property is, we’re surprised that said remake hasn’t already been announced, but hey, there’s still time!
Nintendo is wary of AI, wants to crack down on inappropriate images
If you’ve spent any time on the internet at all, you’ve probably come across some kind of inappropriate images, and there’s a very good chance some of those images involved Nintendo characters.
Well, Nintendo isn’t very happy with that; in a recent Q&A with shareholders, the company said it wants to take “appropriate action” against anything that makes consumers feel “uncomfortable” with its IP.
In the same Q&A, Nintendo also declared that although generative AI has a lot of creative potential, it also has serious issues with intellectual property rights, and that it’s not going to be a part of Nintendo’s core first-party strategy in the immediate future.
Final Fantasy XIV could be coming to mobile
Have you ever wanted to enjoy some Final Fantasy XIV on your smartphone or your tablet? Well, according to a recent report, you could be doing just that very soon.
According to a “credible leaker” on Exputer, a mobile version of Final Fantasy XIV is in development. It’ll be a joint effort between Square Enix and the Chinese company Tencent.
Of course, this mobile version hasn’t been confirmed yet, so take this report with a pinch of salt, but it would make sense given the fact that Final Fantasy XIV is still surfing a giant wave of popularity.
Summer Games Done Quick raises some serious cash for charity
Here’s a story that might warm your heart if you’re despairing for the state of the gaming industry right now. Summer Games Done Quick, the charity speedrun organiser, has raised £40 million for charity across its lifetime.
That’s counting events for charities like the Malala Fund, the Prevent Cancer Foundation, and Doctors Without Borders, and it spans a number of different charity streaming marathons and broadcasts.
Let it never be said that video games can’t make a difference to the world in general!
