It’s been another exciting week in the world of gaming, with major multiplayer games causing controversy, indie strategy sims taking off, and much more happening besides.
Since the gaming industry still appears to be grappling with layoffs and closures, this week unfortunately also brought some bad news for the good people working on Kerbal Space Program 2.
Without further ado, let’s dive into what’s been happening in the world of gaming this week.
Returnal promises something…then arguably doesn’t deliver
Returnal developer Housemarque set tongues wagging this week with a mysterious teaser on Twitter (that’s right, we’re still sticking stubbornly to this insistence on not calling it X).
The teaser, which was posted on April 29th, promised more news “tomorrow”, prompting fans to believe that a Returnal sequel could be in the offing.
One suspects that Housemarque could do with a lesson in managing expectations, however, because the eventual announcement turned out to be…a graphic novel and an artbook.
Obviously, we don’t want to denigrate the good work of the people who worked on these endeavours, but we can’t help but feel a little disappointed ourselves.
Xbox announces summer show and mystery Direct
This week, Xbox announced the date and time for its summer show, which will replace the company’s historical presence at E3 after the latter shut down for good last year.
The show will happen on Sunday, June 9th at 6pm BST or whatever that happens to be in your local time, and it will be followed by a mysterious show that hasn’t been fully announced yet.
Observant viewers noticed, however, that the blacked-out publisher logo for the show is pretty much definitely the Activision logo, so it looks like we’re in for some Call of Duty news.
Presumably, this is when Call of Duty: Black Ops Gulf War, which has been rumoured but not confirmed up til now, will be officially announced.
Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus games revealed
The Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus lineups for the first part of May were officially unveiled this week too, so if you’re signed up for either, prepare for a good time.
Game Pass sub holders can look forward to Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Kona Brume, Little Kitty Big City, and Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition dropping this month.
PlayStation Plus members, meanwhile, are getting EA Sports FC 24, Ghostrunner 2, Tunic, and Destiny 2: Lightfall. That’s right – four Essential games this month!
We’re still yet to learn the PS Plus Extra and Premium games for May, as well as the second half of the Game Pass run, so you’ve still got something to look forward to even if none of these games do anything for you.
Take-Two has apparently shut down the Kerbal Space Program 2 studio
Have you played Kerbal Space Program 2? It’s a space sim with lots of adorable little characters and a surprising emphasis on realistic physics.
Well, it is for now, anyway. This week, rumours began to swirl that Take-Two Interactive has shut down Kerbal 2 developer Intercept, with lots of evidence to suggest this is the case appearing.
That evidence includes layoffs at Intercept, Take-Two closing down a developer in the place where Intercept is located, and a statement from Take-Two to the effect that Kerbal Space Program 2 development will continue.
Following these rumours appearing, more chatter suggested that Roll7, the developer behind Rollerdrome, was also being closed down. Let’s hope this isn’t the case.
Helldivers 2 incurs the wrath of its player base
When Helldivers 2 launched, developer Arrowhead and publisher Sony quietly announced that players would eventually need to link a PlayStation account to their Steam profile in order to play.
However, that requirement was temporarily waived at the game’s launch thanks to technical issues, which means many players weren’t aware it was still in place.
Well, this week, that requirement came back to haunt Arrowhead, as the dev announced that players would soon need to link their Sony account to keep enjoying Helldivers 2 on PC.
That, combined with the fact that the game was delisted in over 150 countries in which PSN doesn’t operate, led to a wave of negative reviews, eventually causing Arrowhead and Sony to rescind the requirement.
That’s not the only Helldivers 2 news this week, though. The game also received a new warbond battle pass allowing players to unlock new weapons and items.
Said warbond, Polar Patriots, includes a new assault rifle, an SMG, and a plasma weapon, plus a pistol and a new grenade type. New capes and emotes are also included so you can show off.
Fans love Knuckles, apparently
Paramount’s deeply odd Knuckles TV show has been getting a lot of love this week, suggesting that Sonic fans really can’t get enough of their favourite characters.
According to Paramount’s Jeff Grossman, Knuckles’ performance on the Paramount+ network has been “record-breaking”, with reports suggesting that 4 million hours of the show were viewed within its first three days.
Grossman says this indicates that “the Sonic the Hedgehog fans came out in full force”, and it’s not hard to see why he says that.
Sonic fans are notoriously devoted, so does this mean we’ll be getting spinoff shows based on some of the other characters as well? Fingers crossed for an Eggman show!
Resident Evil 9 is getting revealed soon, apparently
Have you been eagerly awaiting a new announcement for the Resident Evil series? Well, according to one leaker, you won’t have to wait too much longer.
Dusk Golem, otherwise known as AestheticGamer, tweeted recently that Resident Evil 9 will be revealed soon and will be released next year.
In case you haven’t heard of them, Dusk Golem is a fairly reliable source; they’ve previously leaked the existence of games like Resident Evil Village and Alone in the Dark.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the RE9 announcement is definitely happening, but it does lend further credence to Dusk Golem’s credibility. Let’s hope they’re right!
