We’re fast approaching the week of the Game Awards, which is traditionally when many big companies and studios announce what’s next in their pipeline, and that means a lot of studios are likely holding onto their big news for this occasion.
As such, the week or so before the Game Awards airs can tend to be a little quieter in the world of news, but as ever, we’ve still got lots of stuff to recap from this past week, so without further ado, let’s once again dive into the week in gaming news!
Call of Duty is getting a Squid Game crossover
Activision Blizzard announced this week that its flagship shooter franchise Call of Duty will be getting a crossover with Netflix’s killer game show-focused thriller series Squid Game.
At the moment, we don’t know what form the crossover will take; it could just be a few cosmetics in Call of Duty, or it could be a fully-fledged game mode with specific rules and rewards.
It’s likely that we’ll learn more about this crossover in the next couple of months, because it’ll probably be landing at around the same time as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s second season in January.
Stalker 2 reportedly hit by a Russian disinformation campaign
Ukrainian first-person shooter Stalker 2 has apparently been in the crosshairs of a Russian disinformation campaign this week, according to the news outlet 404 Media.
The campaign “falsely claims the game is being used to enlist more Ukrainian soldiers” in the war effort to defend Ukraine against the ongoing Russian invasion, and it also alleges that Stalker 2 is collecting player data without consent.
It goes without saying that there’s no evidence for the campaign’s claims, and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time that Russia has targeted Western media for its disinformation efforts.
Elden Ring 2 isn’t currently in development
Bad news if you’ve been hanging on for an Elden Ring sequel: a followup to the critically-adored 2022 open-world action-RPG is not currently in development.
From Software head Hidetaka Miyazaki confirmed as much this week, although he did also reveal that numerous other projects are currently in the works at the studio, none of which he deigned to reveal.
Even if Elden Ring 2 isn’t being developed, that doesn’t mean we won’t be getting something along similar action-RPG lines, so don’t worry; we’re sure From Software will return in triumph when it does announce its next game.
First wave of Xbox Game Pass games for December revealed
This week, Xbox revealed which games will be coming to its Xbox Game Pass service throughout December, and there are some very heavy hitters indeed in the lineup.
The list includes Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, of course, but it also offers Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, racer EA Sports WRC, and co-op city-builder Overthrown.
We also got a sneak preview of some of the games coming to Game Pass in January, which will include disturbing Metroidvania Carrion and road trip adventure Road 96.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s PC specs look crazy
Warhorse Studios revealed what kind of PC specs you’re going to need if you want to run Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 this week, and the specs you’ll require are pretty crazy.
To run the game at 1440p resolution and 60 frames per second, you’re going to need an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080, as well as an eye-watering 32GB of RAM.
Suffice it to say that if you’re looking forward to this one and your machine is a few years old, then it’s likely you’re going to need to splash out on a few upgrades.
Ubisoft shuts down XDefiant and lays off hundreds of staff
We got the latest instalment in Ubisoft’s ongoing year of horror this week, as the studio announced it’s shutting down first-person shooter XDefiant next year.
Not only that, but hundreds of Ubisoft employees will also be laid off thanks to the closure of the Ubisoft San Francisco and Osaka locations, as well as the “ramp down” in production of the Sydney branch.
Given how bad a year it’s been for Ubisoft thanks to underperforming releases, delays, and looming lawsuits, the shutdown of XDefiant feels like it’s heralding some even harder times ahead for the company.
Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone is once again working on Haunted Chocolatier
Remember Haunted Chocolatier, the next project from Stardew Valley developer ConcernedApe (aka Eric Barone)? If you don’t, you’re about to get a big reminder, as Barone has confirmed he’s once again working on the game.
This week, Barone took to his blog to remind people of Haunted Chocolatier’s existence, as well as to confirm he has “a lot more” he wants to share about the game.
Of course, the game is still some time away from being released; Barone says it’ll “still take a while” before Haunted Chocolatier is ready for the general public to play.
Moonlighter is getting a sequel
It’s official: the management game-slash-action roguelite Moonlighter is getting a sequel, and it’s apparently landing on PC and current-gen consoles next year.
Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault will swap its 2D visuals for a 3D art style this time around, although the gameplay looks like it’ll largely remain intact from the first game.
That means lots of dungeon exploration, combat, and gathering loot, then returning to your shop to sell the loot you’ve gathered by haggling with villagers.
The upcoming Croc remaster has been delayed
Argonaut Games, the newly-revived developer behind the original Croc: Legend of the Gobbos and its upcoming remaster, has some bad news for 3D platforming fans of yesteryear.
The Croc remaster has, according to the studio (via Eurogamer), been delayed until next year so that the devs can add some extra polish to the game.
If you’re a big Croc fan, then you’ve already been waiting for over 25 years for this remaster to arrive, so hopefully, a few extra months won’t be too much of a hardship. Still, it’s a disappointing announcement.
