Depending on who you ask, June 21st is either the beginning of summer or, well, just a continuation of it. Either way, the warm weather is very much hanging around, so summer is officially on (if the World Cup didn’t already give it away).
Of course, just because the weather is nice and the sun is out until 11pm these days doesn’t mean there’s no gaming news to chat about!
Grab your favourite drink (it’s probably going to be iced at this time of year), pull up your chair, and let’s take a look at this week’s most important gaming news.
A copy of Super Mario Bros. has sold for $3 million
We begin with a bit of fun retro news, as a copy of the original Super Mario Bros. on NES has managed to fetch a very attractive price indeed at auction.
The copy is particularly rare because it formed part of the Control Deck bundle, which, as our Eurogamer source above notes, makes it a very attractive prospect for collectors and retro-minded folks.
The buyer is anonymous, unfortunately, so we don’t know who’s got that kind of cash to throw around, but we’re sure they’re very happy indeed with their purchase.
An ex-Bungie employee has claimed the studio was “very close” to shutting down
A former employee at Destiny 2 and Marathon studio Bungie has claimed that the developer was “very close” to closing down before Sony acquired it.
According to former accessibility staffer Liana Ruppert, Bungie was “below the red line” before Sony picked it up and was “very close to shutting its doors”, at the very least when it comes to the Destiny franchise.
Now that Marathon isn’t doing particularly well either, it’s hard to imagine that Bungie’s days aren’t numbered, but for the sake of the remaining staff, we hope that isn’t the case.
Several Xbox studios are apparently about to be shut down
A report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier (who else?) this week claimed that three Xbox studios are in the process of being closed by Microsoft, unless they can find a buyer.
These studios are South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games, Hellblade’s Ninja Theory, and Keeper and Broken Age outfit Double Fine.
We know what you’re thinking: didn’t Microsoft just announce a new Senua game as part of its summer showcase? Well, that could well have been a Hail Mary-style attempt to attract a buyer on the part of the developer.
Xbox’s next Game Pass haul has been revealed
It’s time to check out another batch of Game Pass games courtesy of an Xbox news announcement this week, and there are only a few new titles to take a look at this time around.
As usual, the waters are muddied a little by the fact that different games are joining different tiers, but you can look forward to titles like RV There Yet?, Abyssus, and EA Sports FC 26 joining the lineup.
The news is perhaps sullied a little by the fact that Xbox is apparently closing yet more studios down this week, but apparently, that’s just the reality we live in now. Hey, at least you’ve got a few more fun Game Pass games to try out!
Don’t Nod is apparently running out of cash
Beleaguered developer Don’t Nod appears to be running out of money, at least if one of its latest financial declarations is anything to go by (note: it’s a downloadable PDF).
In the report, the studio says that it’s potentially going to be out of cash by this autumn, with co-owner Tencent apparently uninterested in funding any further projects. It’s hard to imagine other studios ponying up cash for a developer that hasn’t had a big hit in a while, too.
It’s a little upsetting to imagine Don’t Nod shutting down, but given the shaky quality of some of its more recent releases, we’re also not sure the studio has justified its existence from a creative perspective.
Black Myth: Wukong has apparently sold 30m copies
According to a new report released by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China (yes, really), Soulslike adventure Black Myth: Wukong has hit a big new sales milestone.
The report claims that the game has managed to reach 30 million sales, which would be an incredible achievement if true. Of course, many gamers in mainland China will have been eager to check the game out, which will have helped considerably.
This bodes well for developer Game Science’s next effort, which will revolve around a different figure in Chinese mythology, namely ghost-slayer Zhong Kui. We don’t have a release date or many details for that one yet, though.
Halo: Campaign Evolved’s PlayStation Plus situation is confusing
Just as Xbox was smarting from its other Ls this week, details emerged that Halo: Campaign Evolved would require a PlayStation Plus account to play in split-screen co-op.
Of course, if you click the link above, you will note that it says PlayStation Plus is “NOT required for local split-screen co-op”, so Xbox walked back that statement pretty quickly, although it’s not clear whether it was originally an error.
However, you are going to need a PlayStation Plus subscription if you want to play the game online, so you won’t be able to avoid Sony’s subscription service altogether, we’re afraid.
The man behind the iconic Doom soundtrack has died
Bobby Prince, the man responsible for composing the soundtracks for some of developer id Software’s most iconic titles, has died at the age of 81, his family revealed this week.
As part of an obituary for Prince, his estate described his work as helping to “define an era of gaming”, and it’s hard to disagree; his work on Doom endures to this day through new arrangements in some of the more modern entries in the franchise.
Prince’s last project in the gaming industry was the single-player FPS Wrack, which was released in 2014. Following that, Prince disappeared from the world of gaming, but his contributions will never fade.
