It’s time once again to step into the time machine we conveniently keep around here to take another look at the gaming news that’s happened in the week that’s just gone by.
As we’ve said before, the weeks prior to December’s Game Awards are often fairly quiet, but that doesn’t mean nothing’s happening; it just means some of the big players are staying fairly low-key for now.
Still, we’ve got lots to take a look at, so let’s get started. Here are the highlights of the past week in gaming news terms!
Dragon’s Dogma 2’s director opens a new studio
Hideaki Itsuno, the director behind Capcom’s RPG Dragon’s Dogma 2, announced this week that he’s opened a new studio…well, sort of, at least.
Tencent subsidiary LightSpeed Studios has hired Itsuno to run its new Japanese branch, which will, perhaps predictably enough, be called LightSpeed Japan Studio.
According to the official studio announcement, Itsuno will focus on making “original AAA action game titles”, so we can likely expect games that are not a million miles away from his work on the likes of the Devil May Cry franchise.
Ex-Star Wars Eclipse writer gets in on the studio fun
It’s not just Itsuno that’s started his own studio this week, either. Ex-Star Wars Eclipse and Detroit: Become Human writer Adam Williams has also opened up a new venture of his own.
Williams’ Republic Games will apparently be working on a “dark, mature fantasy RPG” that serves as a departure from his work on narrative-led adventures for Quantic Dream.
He describes his game as taking place in a “tyrannical regime” that is “brutally enforcing its ideology and crushing all dissent”, and suggests it will be like “Lord of the Rings meets…1984”.
Stellar Blade comes to PC next year
Murmurs have been circulating about a PC port for PS5-exclusive action game Stellar Blade for some time now, but we now know that the game is officially heading to PC next year.
That’s according to an earnings report released by developer Shift Up this week, wherein the studio says that it’s targeting a PC release for Stellar Blade in 2025.
Not only that, but the studio also reiterated comments it’s made in the past to the effect that it expects the PC version to outperform the PS5 release’s sales. Them’s fightin’ words.
PlayStation Plus November lineup announced
This week, we learned what the new PS Plus games for November will be, and there’s a decent haul of titles on offer for Premium or Extra subscribers.
Starting from November 19th (that’s tomorrow at time of publication!), you’ll get to enjoy the likes of Grand Theft Auto 5, Like a Dragon: Ishin!, and Dying Light 2: Become Human on either your PS4 or your PS5, depending on the game.
Premium subscribers, meanwhile, can look forward to games like Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, its PS2 sequel, and the first two Resistance games, which first got their start on PS3 back in the mid-2000s.
Blizzard’s Warcraft celebrations toast the franchise in style
Blizzard held an anniversary celebration to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise this week, and while there was nothing earth-shattering in the show, it wasn’t without its highlights.
Remasters of the first two Warcraft games were announced and released during the show, for instance, and we also got to see what’s coming to Hearthstone, as well as a PC release for Warcraft Rumble being announced.
What’s more, player housing for World of Warcraft is on its way in the next expansion Midnight, although we don’t know when that expansion will be released yet.
Infinity Nikki has a release date
Infinity Nikki, an open-world RPG that emphasises platforming and cozy vibes rather than combat or peril, finally has a release date, and it’s just around the corner.
As confirmed in a new trailer released this week, Infinity Nikki will be arriving on PC, as well as PS5 and mobile devices, on December 5th.
The game is the latest in a long-running series of adventures, but if this is your first time playing a Nikki game, this should still be an ideal place to get in on the ground floor.
New report finds Steam is rife with “extremist” content
A new report commissioned by the Anti-Defamation League this week found that Steam is apparently “rife with extremism & antisemitism”.
The report identified what it says are over a million instances of “extremist or hateful content” on Steam, including “explicitly antisemitic symbols”, “users expressing support for foreign terrorist organizations”, and more.
In response, the report recommends Valve step up its moderation policies, and also makes several recommendations for policymakers, including establishing a “National Gaming Safety Task Force” and enhancing “access to justice for victims of online abuse”.
Half-Life 2 gets a new anniversary update
Half-Life 2 may be 20 years old, but that’s not stopping Valve from continuing to release updates for the game, albeit sporadically. Happily, this week saw just such an update arriving.
The aptly-named Half-Life 2 20th Anniversary Update includes some visual and performance changes, as well as the addition of both of the game’s add-on Episodes to the base package.
There’s also a new documentary about the making of Half-Life 2, created by the same people who worked on the 25th-anniversary documentary of Half-Life last year. Half-Life fans are eating well right now, we must say.
Assassin’s Creed’s new battle pass leaks, Ubisoft responds
The Assassin’s Creed franchise appears to be getting in on the battle pass action, because of course it is. The battle pass for the new Animus Hub was leaked this week, and Ubisoft responded to some of the more choice criticisms in a followup post.
The developer says that all rewards available in the Hub “will be entirely free”, that you won’t have to pay for any subscriptions or battle pass content, and that you’ll have access to “regular content and missions at no extra cost”.
More details will apparently be revealed closer to the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which is currently set to launch in February.
