It’s once again time for another look at what’s been going on in the world of gaming, and since we’re in the middle of the drought period between the summer gaming events and Gamescom, it’s been a relatively quiet week.
Still, that doesn’t mean nothing’s been happening, of course; between major studio layoffs (yet again, unfortunately), developers teasing features for upcoming games, and more, there’s plenty to keep you occupied.
Here’s our rundown of the week spanning July 29th through August 4th in the world of gaming.
Jackbox makes things easier
If you’ve ever played Jackbox Party Pack games with your friends, you’ll know how tricky it can be to choose which game you want to play, especially if you’ve got tons in your collection.
Well, this week, Jackbox released a brand new tool called the Jackbox Megapicker, which is available for free right now on Steam. Console players are seemingly out of luck, sadly.
The tool collects all of your Jackbox games in one handy list, and you can organise them to your liking as well, making it the perfect addition to any Jackbox fanatic’s library.
Marvel Rivals is looking rough on Xbox Series S
Marvel and NetEase’s upcoming hero shooter Marvel Rivals is a pretty-looking game, but if you’re playing on Xbox Series S, then you’re going to be making some compromises.
As a new Digital Foundry report showed this week, Marvel Rivals targets 60fps across all consoles, but that means on Series S, it’ll target a 972p resolution, dropping to 540p at its busiest.
That means if you’re hoping to play Marvel Rivals at its most beautiful, you’re going to want to shell out for an Xbox Series X, a PS5, or a decently powerful PC.
Bungie lays off hundreds of employees
It wouldn’t be a week in the gaming industry without layoffs (not these days, at any rate), and this week, it was the turn of Destiny and Marathon developer Bungie.
Describing the layoffs as a “new path” for Bungie, studio head Pete Parsons said that the elimination of 220 staff roles at the studio was one of “the most difficult changes” Bungie has ever had to make.
Nevertheless, there doesn’t seem to be any kind of reckoning for Parsons himself on the cards, despite the fact that he spent millions of dollars on classic cars ahead of the layoffs.
Intel wipes out thousands of jobs
Computing giant Intel announced this week that it intends to cut about 17,000 jobs (yes, you read that number correctly) as part of an operation to “reduce costs” across the next year or so.
In a classic piece of corporate speak, CEO Pat Gelsinger said to employees this week that Intel needed to “align [its] cost structure with [its] new operating model”.
We don’t think that’s going to go over particularly well with the employees who now find themselves looking for work again, but hey, at least Gelsinger isn’t buying millions of dollars’ worth of classic cars.
Prison Architect 2 hit by an indefinite delay
Paradox just can’t seem to help itself when it comes to delaying games these days. Now, Prison Architect 2 has become the latest game on the publisher’s delay-strewn chopping block.
According to Paradox, Prison Architect 2 simply won’t be ready for its previously-announced September release, and more time is needed to ensure the management sim is “release-ready”.
After Paradox cancelled Sims competitor Life by You, no game truly feels safe from the publisher’s cancellation cleaver, but let’s hope Prison Architect’s following is enough to grant it a last-minute reprieve.
Chivalry 2 isn’t getting any more big updates
Multiplayer medieval battler Chivalry 2 is officially not getting any more major content updates, its developers announced this week.
While Chivalry 2 will still receive bug fixes and other updates focused on maintenance, the game won’t be getting any new maps, modes, or weapons anytime soon.
Instead, the developers are moving on to focus on other projects they’ve currently got in the pipeline, including a new game in the Chivalry series that will “utterly blow players away”, according to the devs. Exciting!
THQ Nordic showcase confirms a new Darksiders game
This week, THQ Nordic held a new showcase in which the publisher showed off some of its upcoming projects, and there’s exciting news if you’re a fan of action-adventure hack-and-slash franchise Darksiders.
During the show, we got to see announcements for Wreckfest 2, a hand-drawn platformer called The Eternal Life of Goldman, and Gothic 1 Remake, the latter of which we finally got to see some gameplay for.
We also got to see very brief cinematic trailers for a new Darksiders game and an as-yet unannounced project by Tarsier Studios, the original developers of the Little Nightmares games.
Blizzard apparently sets up a new AA studio
Reportedly, World of Warcraft developer Blizzard has established a new internal studio to create smaller-scale games based on its existing IPs.
That’s according to a report this week by Windows Central’s Jez Corden, who says that the new studio, which mainly consists of employees from Candy Crush developer King, will work on franchises like Diablo, StarCraft, and more.
Since the games are smaller-scale productions, don’t expect any massive cinematic AAA extravaganzas, but this could be a great gateway to the revival of some of Blizzard’s most slept-on properties, which could be exciting.
Avowed isn’t coming out in 2024
Bad news if you’ve been looking forward to Obsidian Entertainment’s Skyrim-style RPG Avowed; it’s not going to be coming out this year, unfortunately.
This week, Microsoft announced a new release date for Avowed: February 18th next year. The new release date has been put in place in order to “give players’ backlogs some breathing room”.
It’s almost a given, however, that the delay is also due to Obsidian needing a little extra time to put some more polish on the game. Avowed does look like a pretty ambitious project, so a little extra development time is welcome.
