This Week In Gaming

July 28, 2017

7/28

Roblox Developers Get Rich – For those who are unfamiliar, Roblox is a free-to-play mix of Minecraft and Lego, and has become incredibly popular. With their active user count jumping to 56 million recently, some of the game’s top developers …

July 28, 2017

7/28

Roblox Developers Get Rich

For those who are unfamiliar, Roblox is a free-to-play mix of Minecraft and Lego, and has become incredibly popular. With their active user count jumping to 56 million recently, some of the game’s top developers …

August 4, 2017

8/4

Guild Wars 2 Expansion

Five years after its initial launch, Guild Wars 2 has announced its newest expansion will be coming in September. The main additions to the game include five massive new zones for players to explore, as well …

August 11, 2017

8/11

Spelunky creator to release 50 games

Some indie developers follow up their game with a sequel, others release fifty titles instead. Derek Yu, creator of the hit indie title Spelunky, has announced that his next title is a collection …

August 18, 2017

8/18

Crackdown 3 Delayed

Crackdown 3 has once again been delayed, this time to early 2018. For those who don’t know, Crackdown is an open world, third-person shooter, published by Microsoft that boasts having a completely destructible environment.

Planet of the

September 7, 2017

9/07

Rockstar Announces LA Noir Remaster
LA Noire was Rockstar’s hard-boiled detective game set in 1940s Los Angeles that released just over six years ago now. Today they announced a VR version coming to Vive, 4K remasters for Xbox One and …

September 22, 2017

9/22

Game Releases This Week

Divinity: Original Sin 2 http://store.steampowered.com/app/435150/Divinity_Original_Sin_2/  [PC]– A top-down RPG clearly inspired by Dungeons and Dragons where every choice matters. Reviews have been overwhelmingly positive so far.
Pokken Tournament DX  http://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/pokken-tournament-dx  [Switch] – A Pokémon fighting game,
September 29, 2017

9/29

Battlefront 2 Listened to Fans
Earlier this week, Star Wars Battlefront 2 released a trailer highlighting all of the ways it was different from its predecessor, and in the process also demonstrating how the devs listened to criticism. The trailer, …

October 13, 2017

10/13

CEO and President of Riot Shift Roles

CEO, Brandon Beck and President, Marc Merrill of Riot Games announced in a blog post that they will be stepping down from their respective leadership roles to work on a new project. The …

October 20, 2017

10/20

Visceral Studios Shut Down

Earlier this week, Executive Vice President of Electronic Arts, Patrick Söderlund announced that Visceral Studios would be closing, and the development of their action-adventure game set in the Star Wars universe would be moving to EA

October 30, 2017

10/27

Microsoft Stops Kinect Production

After its seven year run, Microsoft has officially stopped production on its motion gaming device, Kinect. Throughout the years Microsoft has slowly been de-emphasizing Kinect by no longer including it in console bundles to reduce price …

November 10, 2017

11/10

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Announced

Following the development of their incredibly successful augmented reality mobile game, Niantic Labs has announced officially that their next title will be Harry Potter: Wizards Unite(HWPU). Details on the game so far are scarce, but …

November 17, 2017

11/17

EA Battlefront Release Recap

It’s been a week of changes in regard to EA’s Star Wars Battlefront 2 with angry players taking to the internet to combat the game’s monetization tactics. For those who haven’t been following, here’s a quick …

April 20, 2018

4/20/2018

Alexa to Help Players with COD: WWII

This week Activision rolled out a Beta of an Alexa skill that will help players with Call of Duty: WWII. The skill uses machine learning and natural language processing to analyze a player’s …

May 18, 2018

5/18/2018

Black Ops 4 Details Emerge

The big news this week surrounds Call of Duty: Back Ops 4, the latest in Treyarch’s series for publisher Activision. Previously there have been rumors that Black Ops 4 would not have a single-layer mode …

May 25, 2018

5/25/2018

Battlefield 5 Returns to WWII

In a move sure to excite longtime fans of the series, Battlefield 5 will return to the franchise’s roots, with DICE’s latest entry returning to WWII to relive the glory days of the franchise. Details …

June 1, 2018

6/1/2018

Roblox is following in Minecraft’s shoes and launching it’s own Education initiative, the company released this week. Roblox is one of the many simple graphics crafting games released in the wake of Minecraft’s success, catering heavily
June 8, 2018

6/8/2018

Developer and publisher Valve announced this week their latest policy for content curation in the wake of a game about school shootings being released on  their platform. The content sales and delivery platform announced they
June 15, 2018

6/15/2108

Netflix announced this week that it’s next foray into gaming will be with Minecraft: Story Mode by Telltale Games. Minecraft experimented with “choose your own adventure” style gaming earlier this year with a game
July 6, 2018

7/6/2018

Xbox One Fast Start July Update

The Xbox One system July update cuts the wait time in half by enabling players to start playing once essential files have been downloaded and less essential files required for the full game download …

July 27, 2018

7/27/2018

Record Number of Valve Accounts Banned

 Last week the Valve Anti-Cheat System banned nearly 100,000 accounts on Steam.  A record setting number.

It is unclear what spurred this high level of enforcement action, but there is speculation that a revolt …

August 10, 2018

8/10/2018

5 Highlights of the New FIX PUBG Initiative

PUBG is getting a major overhaul to help reinvigorate the game.  Bugs, performance problems, and quality-of-life issues have been limiting PUBG’s true potential.  The initiative targeted five major categories for improvement:  Fewer …

August 24, 2018

2018-08-24

The Largest Purse Prize in Esports

 The prize pool for Dota 2’s International tournament has surpassed last year’s $24.7 million pool, remaining the largest pool prize in esports.  This is the sixth year in a row that Dota 2’s community …

December 14, 2018

12-14-2018

The Game Awards 2018 

With over 26 million people streaming The Game Awards, the awards also has become an event with reveals.  Such reveals include Smash Bros Ultimate will gain Persona 5’s Protagonist, Mortal Kombat 11 announced, and …

May 17, 2019

5-17-2019

Red Dead Online out of Beta
Rockstar launched a substantial update for Red Dead Online, new content in this patch includes poker tables, ponchos, a new revolver, some new missions and changes to the player aggression system, officially taking the …

May 24, 2019

5-24-2019

Overwatch Anniversary 2019
Overwatch’s anniversary event for Summer 2019 will be running from May 21-June 11. This year’s event comes with three new sprays, eleven skins and access to many previous arcade modes and cosmetics of earlier events. Heroes who …

June 11, 2019

6-7-2019

Fortnite World Cup delayed
The Fortnite World Cup qualifiers have only two weeks left before the competition kicks off, one for solo players and one for duos. Many members of the duo teams, however, have been put into an unfortunate …

June 14, 2019

6-14-2019

Cyberpunk 2077 release announced

CD Projekt Red’s next big game, Cyberpunk 2077 had two big reveals at E3 this year: release date and the inclusion of Keanu Reeves. Cyberpunk will launch on April 16th, 2020, finally giving fans a date …

June 21, 2019

6-21-2019

Bungie overhauls Destiny 2’s Eververse store
Bungie announces an overhaul for Destiny 2’s cosmetic Eververse store before the Armor 2.0 system to launch with Shadowkeep, Destiny 2’s newest expansion.  The new Eververse store will no longer sell armor with independent …

July 5, 2019

7-5-2019

Rainbow Six Siege, a Western
Rainbow Six Siege is a modern, team-based FPS with an arsenal of weapons and gadgets at the player’s disposal; Siege’s new event, however, brings to the game a Western Showdown. In this 3v3 event, running …

August 2, 2019

8-2-2019

Original Doom Trilogy coming back
The original doom trilogy; Doom, Doom 2, and Doom 3 has arrived for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and mobile devices. Doom has been available for some time on various platforms, but now the three installments …

August 23, 2019

8-23-2019

Sony acquires Insomniac Games – Polygon
Sony is buying Insomniac Games; this purchase marks the end of Insomniac’s development of PlayStation exclusives, which results in a broader audience for their games. Insomniac is also the first new game development studio …

October 11, 2019

10-11-2019

PS5 announcements – GameSpot
Sony has officially announced their next generation of the console: PlayStation 5; to be released around Holiday 2020. Numerous innovations have already been announced for the PlayStation 5. Of note is a new system for vibration …

November 8, 2019

11-8-2019

Overwatch 2- The Verge
Three years after its release, Blizzard announces their team shooter, Overwatch, will be getting a sequel. This announcement came rather unexpectedly from an on-stage announcement during BlizzCon 2019. Overwatch 2 seems to focus on a cooperative …

December 13, 2019

12-13-2019

Overwatch Winter Wonderland 2019 – Polygon
Overwatch’s annual winter holiday event, Winter Wonderland, is now live, running December 10th to January 2nd. Players can unlock new holiday and winter-themed cosmetics, including legendary skins, through loot boxes, and weekly challenges. Mei’s …

March 13, 2020

3-13-2020

CoD: Warzone update – GameSpot

There has been much talk about Activision giving CoD: Modern Warfare a battle royale mode, but they have just announced CoD: Warzone; a standalone game solely for battle royale. Everyone can now download Warzone for …

March 20, 2020

03-20-2020

Overwatch’s next Hero: Echo – GameSpot

Blizzard has just released the identity and trailer for Overwatch’s next hero, Echo. The community has been anticipating the announcement of Echo since the Overwatch 2 trailer from BlizzCon last year. The trailer gives …

March 27, 2020

03-27-2020

Nintendo Switch is selling fast – Polygon

Considering the quarantine measures currently in place, there is a large demand building up for gaming consoles. Nintendo Switch, for example, is almost sold out everywhere, physically and digitally. Nintendo themselves are out …

May 29, 2020

5-29-2020

Minecraft: Dungeons – GameSpot

When Minecraft first released, it was a fantastic new concept for games, with its early access style and open-ended gameplay. Now, Minecraft Dungeons isn’t trying anything revolutionary but instead introduces a new generation of players to …

June 4, 2020

6-4-2020

Sony delays PS5 reveal event – GameSpot

Sony has now postponed the reveal event indefinitely, stating that they would like “more important voices” heard over them. They have not cited any specific group or movement in this statement, but the …

July 31, 2020

7-31-2020

Halo Infinite – TechRadar

After initial teasing back in 2018, Halo Infinite has finally come to the foreground for Xbox.  Gameplay footage and release information arrived via Microsoft’s July Xbox Showcase. The Gameplay will be a departure from previous entries …

September 24, 2020

9-25-2020

BlizzConline – Polygon
Recently, Blizzard announced BlizzConline, their formal replacement for BlizzCon 2020, airing on February 19th, 2021. So far, we know of a few events Blizzard has lined up alongside some guidelines and safety regulations. Currently, we know of …

October 16, 2020

10-16-20

Overwatch Halloween 2020 event – PCGamer

Overwatch’s annual Halloween event has returned for three weeks this October, bringing new cosmetic items and the return of Junkenstein’s revenge. Each week players can partake in three new challenges with added difficulty in …

October 23, 2020

10-23-2020

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – GameSpot

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla comes out in less than a month. Confirmed information we know to date: the modern timeline story will continue with Layla Hassan after The Fate of Atlantis DLC’s events from Odyssey. Valhalla …

November 13, 2020

11-13-2020

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – GameSpot

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla takes aspects from numerous earlier games in the series and improves the new open-world style. The game follows Layla, a present-day character, transformed into a 9th century Viking via a time travel …

November 20, 2020

11-20-2020

Demon Souls Remake – GameSpot
The remake of Demon Souls is a wonderful experience and a remarkable showpiece for the PlayStation 5. Barring some tweaks, the game is identical to the original by bringing a familiar experience yet creating a …

December 4, 2020

12-4-2020

Fortnite Season 5 – GameSpot

Fortnite Season 5 has started, and the Zero Point has been exposed. The new Battle Pass, as suspected, contains Star Wars-themed cosmetics based on the Mandalorian TV series. Players can unlock the Mandalorian himself by …

December 11, 2020

12-11-2020

Cyberpunk 2077 – GameSpot

Cyberpunk 2077 has officially launched.  From initial reviews, it appears the game currently suffers from bug issues requiring players to load and reload the game. Some of the game content may also need to be tightened …

January 8, 2021

1-8-2021

Fortnite Stormwing returns – GameSpot
Fortnite’s Holiday event brought back the X-4 Stormwing planes, and despite the event ending, some of the planes still sit around the map. The planes, however, now require periodic refueling at a gas station or …

January 22, 2021

1-22-2021

Terminator coming to Fortnite – GameStop

Epic Games teases the next crossover characters for Fortnite with a tag line of “a ruthless machine and a protector of the future.” The terminator reference was confirmed when Epic revealed that the T-800 …

April 23, 2021

4-23-2021

Xsolla acquires Slemma – GameIndustry.biz

Xsolla announced their acquisition of Slemma today. Slemma’s tools allow functionality with third-party platforms and will integrate with Xsolla’s systems throughout the year. Together the two can create a unique platform combining data reporting and …

June 4, 2021

6-4-2021

Nintendo’s New Museum – GameIndustry.biz

Nintendo announces plans to open a museum dedicated to its history In Uji, Japan. The project is projected to reach completion during the company’s 2023 fiscal year, ending in March 2024. Tentatively named the “Nintendo …

June 11, 2021

6-11-2021

UK May charts – GameIndustry.biz

Almost 200,000 game consoles sold in the UK during May, with PlayStation 5 in the lead. Xbox Series X and S came in second, with Switch falling behind. Game sales of 2 million in May …