Summer gaming season is officially over (at least until Gamescom lands in August), so we can all breathe a little bit easier, safe in the knowledge we’re not going to miss any seismically important announcements.
Of course, that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been any news at all; as usual, the world of gaming has been active this week, and plenty has happened to give you pause for thought.
As ever, then, why not pull up a chair and join us as we take a look at the week in gaming news?
Paralives is coming to Early Access in December
If, like us, you’ve been craving a new Sims-esque game, you’ll be pleased to know that the indie title Paralives has you covered, and that it finally has an Early Access release date.
As revealed during the PC Gaming showcase this week, Paralives will be arriving on December 8th, so you’ll finally be able to take a break from The Sims 4 to play…er…more Sims.
That’s not entirely fair, of course; Paralives has plenty going for it outside of the usual Sims life sim trappings. It’s got a more cartoony art style, for one, and what appears to be a greater focus on life outside the home as well.
A brand new Splatoon game has been announced
Nintendo revealed a brand new Splatoon game this week, and while we don’t know much about it, it will serve as the first ever spinoff of the Splatoon series.
Splatoon Raiders will take you to the Spirhalite Islands, which you’ll be exploring alongside everyone’s favourite trio Deep Cut. More info will be coming in the near future, Nintendo says.
The game was announced alongside a big Splatoon 3 update that will introduce more gear to the game, as well as some enhancements for the Switch 2. Now that’s woomy.
Embracer Group’s CEO steps down
Lars Wingefors, the CEO of Embracer Group (which will soon be renamed to Fellowship Entertainment as part of the company’s splitting into three separate entities), stepped down this week.
He’ll be replaced in his role by current deputy CEO Phil Rogers in August, but he won’t be departing the company completely; instead, he’ll take a role as the executive chair of the board.
During his tenure, Wingefors oversaw hundreds upon hundreds of layoffs, as well as studio closures, as part of a “restructuring” to cut costs.
Splitgate 2 CEO says sorry for his “Make FPS Great Again” hat…sort of
If you watched the Summer Game Fest show last week, you probably saw Splitgate 2 director Ian Proulx make a fool of himself by wearing a hat that said “Make FPS Great Again” on stage.
Well, this week, Proulx sort of apologised for the hat, as spotted by Eurogamer. Technically, he’s actually saying sorry for “what this has done to the community”, but it’s a start, right?
If you need a little extra context here, the hat is a reference to President Donald Trump’s controversial “Make America Great Again” slogan, which it’s safe to say some people take issue with.
The Switch 2 is now Nintendo’s fastest-selling console ever
The Nintendo Switch 2 has managed to surpass every single previous Nintendo console before it in terms of sales speed, smashing records set by the likes of the original Switch or the DS.
According to Nintendo, the new console managed to sell 3.5 million units globally within its first four days on sale, which makes it “the fastest-selling Nintendo hardware ever” on a worldwide basis.
Whether the Switch 2 can keep up this momentum is another question, but it’s nice to see the console doing well for itself, and it will no doubt make Nintendo happy as well.
Days Gone developer Bend Studio lays off staff
Bend Studio, the company behind Days Gone and the Syphon Filter series, has become the latest studio to lay off staff as it “transition[s] to [its] next project”.
In a statement shared on social media, the studio said that the layoffs represented a “difficult moment” for Bend, but that the studio remains committed to “creativity, passion, and innovation in the titles we craft”.
The move comes after Sony cancelled a live-service project in development at Bend Studio earlier this year, although we don’t know what that game actually was.
Konami and Bloober Team are making a Silent Hill remake
During a Konami livestream this week, it was revealed that the publisher is working on a Silent Hill remake, and that the project is being headed up by none other than Bloober Team.
If you don’t know the studio’s name, it was the developer responsible for last year’s Silent Hill 2 remake, so its involvement with this latest reimagining makes perfect sense.
We didn’t get much more than just a logo and a snippet of music from the original Silent Hill, though, so we’ll have to wait a little while for more concrete info.
Street Fighter 6 and Devil May Cry 5 reach new sales milestones
Two Capcom games reached new sales milestones this week, namely fighting game Street Fighter 6 and “character action” (think stylish combat) title Devil May Cry 5.
The former managed to cross the five million sales barrier, likely helped by its launch on the Nintendo Switch 2, while the latter has passed the ten million mark, helped along by the Netflix anime.
Hopefully, these sales figures buoy Capcom into creating Devil May Cry 6. We think it’s been long enough now!
Stellar Blade sets PlayStation records on PC
This week saw the PC release of action game Stellar Blade, previously a PS5 exclusive, and it’s managed to set records for the company on Valve’s platform.
The game, is by far the most-played single-player release from PlayStation on PC, racking up almost 200,000 concurrent players in its first week alone.
It’s managed to beat out the likes of Ghost of Tsushima, Spider-Man 2, and God of War, a feat of which developer Shift Up will likely be proud.
