It seems like just yesterday we convened for our last session examining the most important gaming news of the preceding week, but it’s been another seven days, and we’ve got new happenings to take a look at.
We’ll forgo our usual small talk about the weather, as we’re sure you’re getting sick of it by now (summary: we’re looking forward to autumn), and instead, we’ll get stuck right into what matters.
You know the drill by now: grab a drink and a chair in whatever order you like and let’s have a gander at what’s been happening in the gaming world over the last week or so.
Marathon is moving away from its seasonal model
Could this be the beginning of the end for Bungie’s extraction shooter Marathon? It might be a little too early to call, but a blog post this week set out the game’s future, and it’s looking murky.
In the post, Bungie says that Marathon is “moving away from a strict seasonal schedule” in order to give the game’s development team “more flexibility to build, test, and improve features before they are released”.
The shooter, which appears to be floundering a little if Steam player numbers are to be believed (and that’s a big if), is also getting its first permanent PvE mode in October, hopefully bringing in a much-needed influx of conflict-shy players.
007 First Light isn’t hitting Switch 2 until next year
IO Interactive had originally planned to release its smash hit action-adventure romp 007 First Light on Switch 2 sometime this year, but that’s no longer the case, according to a post on social media.
The studio says it needs more time to “deliver the quality of experience players expect”, and as such, 007 First Light will now be gracing Nintendo’s newest machine in March 2027.
No specific date was revealed, but IO Interactive says that the positive feedback received by the Switch 2 demo at Gamescom is “a great sign of the progress being made across the whole game” on the platform.
Rayman Legends Retold is being delayed by a couple of months
007 First Light isn’t the only game you’ll have to wait a little longer to play, as Ubisoft announced this week that it’s delaying upcoming platformer remake-slash-re-release Rayman Legends Retold.
According to Ubisoft, Rayman Legends Retold has “officially gone gold”, but more time is needed “to make sure every detail gets the care it deserves”. That’s a pretty common refrain when it comes to game delays.
To mollify disgruntled fans, Ubisoft is releasing a brand new trailer tomorrow (at time of writing) that will show off some of Rayman Legends Retold’s retooled systems, so make sure you give that a look if you’re hyped.
It looks like MindsEye’s Build a Rocket Boy might be shutting down
This one probably won’t come as much of a surprise if you remember the disastrous launch of MindsEye last year, but it would appear that developer Build a Rocket Boy is either shutting down or significantly downsizing.
As reported by IGN, several Build a Rocket Boy developers reported layoffs on social media this week, potentially pointing to seismic staffing changes at the studio.
It wouldn’t be surprising to us if more staff cuts are underway at Build a Rocket Boy, and our hearts go out to those who are affected, but we can’t say we’re sad or shocked at MindsEye’s continuing failure to redeem itself.
Wardogs’ CEO has responded to controversy surrounding recent comments
Joe Brammer, the CEO of Wardogs developer Bulkhead, found himself in hot water recently over comments allegedly revealing that the studio mandated crunch during difficult development periods.
Brammer took to X this week to address the controversy and to fire back at platforms he believed had misrepresented his words, stating that he’s never said crunch was mandatory at his studio and that a four-day work week was in place for half of Wardogs’ development time.
If you ask us, Brammer has somewhat missed the point of the controversy, but that hasn’t stopped supporters on X showing up to back him up, so we guess he’s saying something right.
More Game Pass games have been revealed for September
The second wave of Xbox Game Pass titles for September was revealed this week, and as usual, Xbox’s needlessly confusing tiering system makes figuring out exactly what’s coming to the subscription service over the ensuing days a little tricky.
Subscribers to the Ultimate tier can look forward to the likes of Minecraft Dungeons 2, Mad King Redemption, and Well Dweller this month, while those who are signed up for Premium can enjoy Ninja Gaiden 4, Ultimate Sheep Raccoon, and more.
That’s not all for Game Pass this week, either. If recent rumours are to be believed (and, again, that’s a significantly-sized if), a shakeup could be on the way for Game Pass that introduces a new ad-supported tier and removes day one releases.
Marvel’s Wolverine looks to be off to a strong sales start
The ongoing discourse surrounding Marvel’s Wolverine and its overly prescriptive game design doesn’t seem to have hurt sales, if newly-reported figures are to be believed.
According to Alinea Analytics, Marvel’s Wolverine managed to shift almost 2 million copies within its first three days on sale, which, as the firm points out, means it’s already surpassed Death Stranding 2’s lifetime figures.
It’s looking like Wolverine won’t serve as the watershed moment for a more open-ended and permissive design philosophy as some of its more vocal critics had hoped it might, but hey – at least some folks are having fun, right?
No, Marathon and Destiny aren’t merging
We’re not quite done with Bungie this week, it seems, as Marathon creative director Julia Nardin took to social media this week to quash some rather strange and far-fetched rumours.
Nardin told expectant fans that no, those rumours about Marathon and Destiny merging were not true; although the two IPs “share a lot of the same Bungie DNA”, the studio is adamant that they will remain “their own independent entities”.
We’re not entirely sure what fans were expecting when these rumours started circulating, but in any case, this will hopefully be the end of them, at least for the foreseeable future.
