Friday news, the long part two:
This Japanese grand strategy titan celebrates its 40-year anniversary with a western release in July
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-japanese-grand-strategy-titan-celebrates-its-40-year-anniversary-with-a-western-release-in-july/
Nobunaga's back, baby, and he's as ambitious as ever. Koei Tecmo has announced Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening, the "culmination of the series' 40-year history," set for release on July 20 this year. And yes, it really has been around for 40 years. God help us.
The Foxhole devs are making a medieval warfare MMO that supports 1000s of players at once
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-foxhole-devs-are-making-a-medieval-warfare-mmo-that-supports-1000s-of-players-at-once/
Foxhole developer Siege Camp has unveiled a new project called Anvil Empires that promises to let players take part in massive medieval battles of up to 1,000 people at a time in an open-world sandbox "with no safe zones or other artificial barriers to combat."
CD Projekt CEO says Polaris 'is Witcher 4,' company quickly takes it back
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-ceo-says-polaris-is-witcher-4-company-quickly-takes-it-back/
Back in March 2022, CD Projekt announced that a new Witcher game was in development, which we eventually came to know as Project Polaris. We immediately called it The Witcher 4—it's the one coming after The Witcher 3, so it just made sense—but CD Projekt made a point of saying it had not announced "a game called The Witcher 4."
(...)
But that was then and this is now, and now CD Projekt has—for the first time, as far as I know—referred to Polaris as The Witcher 4. The statement came during the company's year-end financial call, in response to a question about CD Projekt's move to Unreal Engine 5.
E3 2023 is cancelled
https://www.pcgamer.com/e3-2023-is-cancelled/
The planned big return of E3 in 2023 has been cancelled, as the ESA says it has been forced to pull the plug due to a lack of interest.
E3 used to be the videogame industry's premiere showcase event, but it was brought low in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic. That led major publishers to hold their own online events instead, and that actually worked out pretty well, leading to serious questions about E3's relevance in the streaming era.
Cyberpunk 2077 devs announce that they'll announce something about Phantom Liberty in June
https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077-devs-announce-that-theyll-announce-something-about-phantom-liberty-in-june/
(...)
We haven't heard much since a pretty sick trailer at the Game Awards last year, but the official Cyberpunk Twitter account revealed the "exciting news" today that we'll learn more about Phantom Liberty in June.
>> I hope they weren't planning to do it during E3.
The Australian government wants to slap games with loot boxes—like FIFA—with a mature rating
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-australian-government-wants-to-slap-games-with-loot-boxeslike-fifawith-a-mature-rating/
Australia may introduce harsher age ratings for games with loot boxes—including the likes of FIFA, and the NBA 2K games—if changes proposed by the federal government are passed. The Albanese government announced yesterday its terms for a modified National Classification Scheme, and among the changes include a minimum M rating for games with paid loot boxes, and a minimum R18+ rating for games containing "simulated gambling".
Dark and Darker studio fires back over DMCA takedown fiasco: 'We hope that Nexon will stop making baseless claims'
https://www.pcgamer.com/dark-and-darker-studio-fires-back-over-dmca-takedown-fiasco-we-hope-that-nexon-will-stop-making-baseless-claims/
Dark and Darker developer Ironmace has released a four-part response to its legal challenge from Maplestory publisher Nexon, including an overview statement, a written rebuttal and asset comparisons from Ironmace's character concept artist, a list of in-game assets and their origins, and the reportedly full, only partially-redacted git log (a sequential history of changes to the game's code) of Dark and Darker's development thus far.
Vampire Survivors beats out Elden Ring and God of War to score Best Game win at BAFTAs
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-survivors-beats-out-elden-ring-and-god-of-war-to-score-best-game-win-at-baftas/
Folks, I'm afraid we've gotta hand it to the BAFTA Game Awards. After a night in which prestigious, expensive Sony titan God of War: Ragnarok swept six awards and Elden Ring took home two, it felt like the Best Game trophy was a dead heat between the pair of them. But the judges went and surprised us, giving it to Vampire Survivors instead.
All Genshin Impact codes from the version 3.6 livestream
https://www.pcgamer.com/genshin-impact-codes-3-6-livestream/
Genshin Impact codes are a way you can get some free Primogems before each new version of the open-world RPG drops, providing you with a few extra wishes with which you can pull the new five-star characters. This time around we've got two Dendro-users: Kaveh and Baizhu.
Players collectively spent over 7000 years in Diablo 4 in its two beta weekends
https://www.pcgamer.com/players-collectively-spent-over-7000-years-in-diablo-4-in-its-two-beta-weekends/
Diablo 4 concluded its second and final beta period last weekend, and the numbers are in. The two beta weekends—which ran from March 17 to March 20 and March 24 to March 27—made up the largest beta in Diablo history, with over 2.6 million players hitting level 20 and earning themselves a coveted wolf puppy backpack.
Vampire Survivors is getting a new DLC incredibly soon, and it's definitely not basically Fire Emblem
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-survivors-is-getting-a-new-dlc-incredibly-soon-and-its-definitely-not-basically-fire-emblem/
Our best roguelike of 2022 and the BAFTA jury's game of the year is getting new DLC. Vampire Survivors has announced Tides of the Foscari, a "never heard before tale of a warrior, a mage, and a thief venturing into a forest," due out on April 13, a mere two weeks from now.
Bubsy the Bobcat creator & Bend studio co-founder Mike Berlyn dies at 73
https://www.pcgamer.com/bubsy-the-bobcat-creator-and-bend-studio-co-founder-mike-berlyn-dies-at-73/
Mike Berlyn, the designer, programmer and writer best-known for the creation of Bubsy the Bobcat, has died at the age of 73. Berlyn had a long career in the games industry, starting with 1981's Oo-Topos, before going on to work at storied studios including Infocom and Accolade, as well as co-founding Blank, Berlin & Co (also known as Eidetic, and which would become Bend Studio). Berlyn's other pursuits included writing novels, founding a book publisher, and starting a jazz band called Hot Mustard.
And these are the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:
+GOG
+Steam
And that's it. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.
