We’re finally moving into autumn, which should mean that the weather calms down somewhat. Great news for the heatwave-averse among us, but more importantly, great news for gaming as well.
Don’t get us wrong; we’ve never had a problem staying resolutely indoors and ignoring the call of the wild while it’s summer, but it’s much easier to do so when the weather isn’t particularly inviting.
With that said, then, there’s never been a better time to get up to speed on what’s been happening in the gaming world, so grab your favourite drink and join us for our latest news rundown!
Fable has a 15-20-hour story
In a new interview with the folks at Polygon, Fable associate director Will Kennedy confirmed this week that you can expect to take around 15-20 hours to finish the game’s main story.
Kennedy says that number will also double for the side quests, so if you want to clear the game completely, you’ll likely be spending around 30-40 hours to do so.
We reckon that’s a very healthy number indeed, especially given the kind of ridiculous bloat to which it seems many open-world games have become beholden in recent years (we’re looking at you, Assassin’s Creed Shadows).
Forza Horizon 6 seems to have been delayed on PS5
If you’ve been hoping to get your hands on Japan-set racing sandbox Forza Horizon 6 on PS5 this year, then you may be out of luck, as the game appears to have been pushed back to 2027.
That’s according to a report by The Verge’s Tom Warren, which was later confirmed by IGN to be accurate. So much for getting to explore Playground’s vision of Japan, eh, Sony gamers?
This might be disappointing news, but as a quick reminder, you can still grab Forza Horizon 6 on both PC and Xbox Series X|S right now, so if you’re desperate and you have other systems, you know what to do.
Most of Star Wars: Zero Company developer Bit Reactor’s staff were apparently furloughed prior to launch
Game File’s Stephen Totilo reported this week that “much of the team” behind tactical strategy game Star Wars: Zero Company were placed on furlough prior to the game’s release.
Totilo cites a rep for developer Bit Reactor, who states that the furlough was a “difficult decision” which was made “before it was clear how launch would go” (these are Totilo’s words, not direct quotes from the rep themselves).
Suffice it to say that, since Star Wars: Zero Company is currently enjoying around 27,000 active players on Steam (at time of writing, that is), launch has gone well, so perhaps those staff could return to being paid properly now?
PlayStation reckons “reasonable consumers” know they don’t own their games
Sony is currently trying to argue that most “reasonable consumers” would understand that, when they purchase a game on the PlayStation Store, they’re not actually buying the game, but leasing it instead.
In a legal filing last month, Sony claimed that it is “not plausible to allege that reasonable consumers believ[e] they [are] obtaining ownership of a digital game” in the current digital climate.
Given that Sony routinely uses wording like “buy now” on its storefront (as do many of its compatriots, it must be said), we’re not entirely sure that’s the case, but we suppose time will tell.
The first wave of September Xbox Game Pass games has been announced
As has become customary for the early days of each month, Xbox has announced the games you can expect to be added to the Game Pass lineup in the coming days, so get ready to enjoy some new titles.
The lineup is fairly thin for the first part of September, with games like SpeedRunners 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage making their way to the service soon.
Hopefully, the second half of the month will have something a little more substantial for subscribers to sink their teeth into, as Xbox really can’t afford to lose more customers at this stage.
Final Fantasy VII Revelation is officially out in April
During this week’s PlayStation State of Play showcase, we got to learn when Final Fantasy VII Revelation will land, and Square Enix revealed a few more details about the game as well.
Unlike previous titles in the Final Fantasy VII remake project series, this one will be launching simultaneously across all platforms on April 8th next year, so you won’t miss out if you’re not a PS5 owner.
Square Enix also revealed that you can expect two story-focused DLCs to launch for the game; one will revolve around Sephiroth, while the other will foreground Vincent and the Turks organisation.
Xbox is putting monthly limits on cloud gaming
Are you a frequent user of Xbox’s cloud gaming service? If you are, Xbox had bad news for you this week, as the company is imposing time limits on the amount of cloud gaming you can take part in each month.
Ultimate subscribers will get to enjoy 15 hours of cloud gaming per month, while Premium members will have access to 10 hours and Essential users will get just 5.
Xbox says this change is only likely to impact around 4% of Game Pass users, and you’ll be able to purchase additional time should you run out of your allotted hours, although we’re not sure that’s going to be much of a comfort for those affected.
Two new Nintendo Direct presentations are set for next week
Earlier this week, Nintendo took the unusual step of revealing two Nintendo Direct presentations for next week, so you’ll have plenty of Nintendo-related news to think about in the coming days.
The first Direct will air on September 8th and will revolve around The Legend of Zelda to coincide with the series’ 40th anniversary. We’d be very surprised if we don’t get more information about the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake.
Following that, a more typical Nintendo Direct will subsequently arrive on September 9th, and will feature more conventional updates about games coming to the Switch family of consoles.
