With the Game Awards well and truly over and done with for another year, we can now look forward to Christmas and the New Year, a period during which news generally quiets down.
That’s not to say nothing’s happening, of course; we’ve got plenty to highlight as part of our rundown. It just means that big game companies generally won’t have massive announcements to make during this time.
Still, that also means no earth-shattering revelations and no nasty surprises, so grab a cup of hot cocoa (or your drink of choice) and join us as we take a look at the week’s gaming news.
Black Myth: Wukong producer isn’t happy he lost at the Game Awards
We know we said the Game Awards were over and done with for the year, but we do have one last little bit of news to look at from that ceremony (okay, perhaps more than one).
This week, Black Myth: Wukong producer and GameScience CEO Feng Ji railed at length against what he saw as an unfair loss for Game of the Year at the Game Awards.
Despite winning two awards during the ceremony, Feng Ji apparently had his eyes on the top prize, and he seems to feel like he wasted his time with the ceremony given that he didn’t win.
Elden Ring has racked up almost 30 million sales
We learned this week that From Software’s already-classic action RPG Elden Ring has racked up almost 30 million sales, which honestly isn’t surprising given just how much of an impact it seems to have had.
As revealed by Bandai Namco (via Eurogamer), the game now stands at 28.6 million copies sold, which means it’s performed better than the entire Dark Souls series had sold before Elden Ring’s release.
However, the series has picked up since Elden Ring launched, so it’s likely that the game has had a knock-on effect in terms of Dark Souls sales as well. Praise the Sun!
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s director wants you to avoid “inappropriate” mods on PC
Have you been considering making your own mod for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PC? Well, you’d better make sure it doesn’t have any “offensive or inappropriate” content in it.
In an Epic Games interview, game director Naoki Hamaguchi says that while he respects the modding community’s creativity, he asks that modders don’t “create or install anything offensive or inappropriate”.
He doesn’t explain what he considers offensive or inappropriate, however, so it’s possible you could cross an invisible line without even realising it. Broadly speaking, though, you know what to stay away from.
Open-world cat game Catly isn’t using AI, its creator says
When Catly debuted at the Game Awards (that’s right, we’re back there again!), speculation quickly began about whether or not the game was using generative AI for its trailers or in-game art.
Now, developer SuperAuthenti (which is a very strange name indeed) has issued a statement that categorically denies any AI involvement in the creation of the game.
Not only will there be no AI usage, but the game also won’t revolve around NFTs or the blockchain, although naturally, microtransactions and other monetisation methods weren’t ruled out.
Secret Level is getting another season
Have you checked out Secret Level on Prime Video yet? It’s an anthology series containing several episodes based on popular video games, and it was renewed for a second season this week.
The first season contained episodes based on the likes of Pac-Man, Unreal Tournament, and Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2, as well as the ill-fated Sony shooter Concord.
We don’t know what kind of episodes the second season will offer yet, but hopefully, there won’t be any more episodes based on games that are dead before the series itself actually airs.
Amy Hennig reveals new Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra details
If you’re anything like us, you’ll thrill at the mere mention of more details for upcoming action-adventure game Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, and that’s exactly what we got this week.
Writer Amy Hennig revealed more information about the game to Entertainment Weekly, promising that it would allow you to explore not only occupied Paris but also the jungles of Wakanda.
She also said that it will see Steve Rogers and Black Panther Azzuri teaming up to fight Nazis, because, as Hennig says, “who doesn’t want to punch a Nazi?”.
Sonic’s “Live and Learn” is now at the centre of a lawsuit
“Live and learn/Hanging on the edge of tomorrow”. So goes one of the Sonic the Hedgehog series’ most famous songs, but it’s now in the middle of a lawsuit filed by its singer.
As revealed by Polygon, “Live and Learn” singer Johnny Gioeli is suing Sega for breach of contract, arguing that he holds the rights to the song rather than the company.
The song’s use in the recent third Sonic the Hedgehog movie is apparently OK, as Paramount cleared the rights with Gioeli beforehand. It’s the use of “Live and Learn” in other Sonic games and miscellaneous Sega projects that Gioeli is contesting.
Ubisoft quietly brings back Rayman, but not as you might want
If you’re a fan of 90s and 2000s platformers, then you’ll almost certainly remember the escapades of Ubisoft mascot Rayman with fondness, and you might even be hoping for some sort of revival.
Well, be careful what you wish for, because this week, Rayman was indeed revived…just perhaps not in the form you might have been hoping for if you’re a Rayman devotee.
Rather than creating a new whimsical platformer stuffed with fun challenges and charm, Ubisoft instead brought the limbless wonder back as part of an NFT and blockchain game by the name of Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E.
We’ve known about this one for quite some time, but Ubisoft seems (perhaps understandably) reticent to market the game in traditional gaming spheres, perhaps because of its association with technology that some see as past its prime.
