Friday news, the long but final part two:
Embracer Group sells off Space Marine maker Saber Interactive and most of its studios for $247M, but the price could go a lot higher
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/embracer-group-sells-off-space-marine-maker-saber-interactive-and-most-of-its-studios-for-dollar247-million-but-the-price-could-go-a-lot-higher/
Embracer Group has announced the sale of Saber Interactive to a company called Beacon Interactive, founded by Saber co-founder Matthew Karch, in a deal worth $247 million, although options in the deal mean that price could go much higher. The deal will also see Embracer halt all operations in Russia, which the company said in a presentation "reduces geopolitical risk."
V Rising declares a 1.0 release date, climbing from the grave of a years-long early access to become your next time vampire
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/v-rising-declares-a-10-release-date-climbing-from-the-grave-of-a-years-long-early-access-to-become-your-next-time-vampire/
V Rising, a game that ah-ah-ah'd its way into a fairly successful early access in 2022, is finally hurling aside the stone lid of its early access tomb to suck away some more hours of your life.
(...)
As per the announcement on Steam, V Rising's 1.0 update will arrive May 8. The full release will feature a new endgame zone named The Ruins of Mortium, "a final chapter to cap off your Vampire journey", new bosses, fresh gear and—most importantly—better decorations to revamp your lair with, because what's an immortal being of the night to do with their long years, other than study interior design?
RimWorld's new expansion is introducing 'IEDs that resurrect the dead,' fleshbeasts, and a 'beautiful golden cube' that you will love, or else
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/rimworlds-new-expansion-is-introducing-ieds-that-resurrect-the-dead-fleshbeasts-and-a-beautiful-golden-cube-that-you-will-love-or-else/
Horrible things are afoot in RimWorld. More horrible than usual, I mean, and RimWorld can already get pretty horrible. What with the cannibalism and all.
Sorry, what were we talking about? Right! RimWorld's announced a new expansion called Anomaly, and promises "all manner of monstrous, mysterious, and maddening threats". It centres around what happens when your hapless colonists anger a "mad superintelligence," giving rise to all sorts of Lovecraftian horrors that are determined to make their bad mood everyone else's problem.
Cyberpunk 2077 player stumbles across main menu easter egg hidden in plain sight, dev says 'I started to doubt you chooms will ever find it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/cyberpunk-2077-player-stumbles-across-main-menu-easter-egg-hidden-in-plain-sight-dev-says-i-started-to-doubt-you-chooms-will-ever-find-it/
I won't lie to you, folks, this one's niche. Positively infinitesimal. So small it might slip between the gaps in an atom. But I think it's interesting, so here we are.
"It" in this case is an itsy-bitsy easter egg found in the main menu of Cyberpunk 2077. Discovered by a Twitter user named Crushovitz (and spotted by GamesRadar), it turns out that if you hover your mouse cursor for long enough over the game's current patch version it'll tick over to display 2.0.77. Hey! That's the year Cyberpunk 2077 happens in! You can tell because they put it in the name.
The next big D&D videogame is a survival-life sim from the makers of Disney Dreamlight Valley
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/the-next-big-dandd-videogame-is-a-survival-life-sim-from-the-makers-of-disney-dreamlight-valley/
Wizards of the Coast parent company Hasbro hinted very strongly in February that more D&D-based videogames are on the way, which makes sense given the massive success of Baldur's Gate 3. I have to admit, though, that I didn't expect the next one would be a co-op survival game developed by the team that made Disney Dreamlight Valley, but yup, that's what it is.
Destiny 2: Into the Light, the two-month series of updates leading into The Final Shape, begins on April 9
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/destiny-2-into-the-light-the-two-month-series-of-updates-leading-into-the-final-shape-begins-on-april-9/
Bungie announced today that Destiny 2: Into the Light, the two-month stretch of updates and new content that will lead into The Final Shape, will get underway on April 9. The studio will hold three separate livestreams leading up to the big day showcasing hands-on gameplay and the new features, content, and rewards coming to the game.
I can't decide which new Helldivers 2 update rules harder—the wicked hot fire tornadoes on Hellmire or the full-auto laser rifle that melts everything
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/i-cant-decide-which-new-helldivers-2-update-rules-harderthe-wicked-hot-fire-tornadoes-on-hellmire-or-the-full-auto-laser-rifle-that-melts-everything/
If you can't take the heat, get out of the hellpod. It's been 48 hours since something exciting and concerning happened in the world of Helldivers 2, so naturally, Arrowhead turned on the fire tornadoes. You're reading that right: columns of hot death have been spotted on the aptly named Hellmire in Terminid territory.
I wouldn't dare report on a lethal weather event I won't run toward myself, so I set course for Hellmire to meet these spicy twisters in person, and try out the new guns in the "Cutting Edge" premium warbond. It's the first post-launch warbond added to the game, and it's similar in size to the Steeled Veterans bond—three pages consisting of four weapons, three armor sets, and a handful of other goodies for $10 worth of Super Credits. I banked a modest pile of medals for the occasion to immediately unlock a gun on the first page I've been eyeing for a week: the LAS-16 Sickle.
Aspyr makes Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection statement after crashing to 'Overwhelmingly Negative' reviews, says it's working on it, doesn't apologise or explain why it needs 62.87GB of your disc space
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/aspyr-makes-star-wars-battlefront-classic-collection-statement-after-crashing-to-overwhelmingly-negative-reviews-says-its-working-on-it-doesnt-apologise-or-explain-why-it-needs-6287gb-of-your-disc-space/
With the Steam user reviews now comfortably at "Overwhelmingly Negative," it's fair to say that the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection has been a disaster. (...)
In the wake of all that, the company has released a (stunningly brief) statement on where it plans to go from here. Thanking the Battlefront community for its "overwhelming support and feedback" for the Classic Collection—which is certainly one way of phrasing it—Aspyr cops to the fact that it "experienced critical errors with our network infrastructure" that caused "high ping, matchmaking errors, crashes, and servers not appearing in the browser."
'I am surprised I’ve not gone grey!': Satisfactory's community is celebrating its 5th birthday with a grand tournament, and even the devs are joining in
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/i-am-surprised-ive-not-gone-grey-satisfactorys-community-is-celebrating-its-5th-birthday-with-a-grand-tournament-and-even-the-devs-are-joining-in/
We're just a few days away from Satisfactory's 1.0 release and fifth anniversary, and to celebrate, the community has decided to put together a tournament. Everyone's invited to join, including the developers.
Final Fantasy 14 will soon let players raid with their friends across the pond… well, as long as they're in Oceania
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/final-fantasy-14-will-soon-let-players-raid-with-their-friends-across-the-pond-well-as-long-as-theyre-in-oceania/
Long gone are the days where you couldn't leave your designated server in Final Fantasy 14. A patch in 2019 introduced the ability to hop between servers within your data center, before an update in 2022 went one step further and let folk hop between data centers within their region. Players hoped that it would extend to cross-region travel, but that hasn't been the case. Until now. Kind of.
Stellaris just announced a new major expansion that will put your dad in the Matrix
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/stellaris-just-announced-a-new-major-expansion-that-will-put-your-dad-in-the-matrix/
Stellaris, Paradox's venerable space 4X, is getting a new expansion this year. Called The Machine Age, it's launching alongside the game's 3.12 Andromeda update in the second quarter of 2024 and it will be plugging your loved ones into the supercomputer, buddy. No ifs, ands, or buts.
We are once more informing you that the KOTOR remake is probably delayed for at least another year
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/we-are-once-more-informing-you-that-the-kotor-remake-is-probably-delayed-for-at-least-another-year/
(...)
In a conference call yesterday, Embracer's CEO Lars Wingefors was asked about said "AAA game based on a major licence", and whether it was "for the coming 12 months", he replied: "No, I think that kind of game needs some deep love and respect, so. Without giving full colour, I think it's some time left until that game is released."
Palworld dev says 'a game without a multiplayer mode just doesn’t feel right in the era we live today'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/palworld-dev-says-a-game-without-a-multiplayer-mode-just-doesnt-feel-right-in-the-era-we-live-today/
2024 has so far seen two breakout hits and, while they're very different prospects, both share some elements in common. Arrowhead's Helldivers 2 is the current flavour of the moment, while just before that we saw the huge success of PocketPair's Palworld. It might not seem the two have much crossover, but both are built around an irreverent multiplayer take on popular genres, extraction shooters and survival games, and the sense of community both have managed to foster feels key to their appeal.
PocketPair CEO and Palworld creator Takuro Mizobe has given an interview to Bloomberg, in which he muses over some of the reasons behind the game becoming such a smash. The 35 year-old Mizobe describes the current environment as one where a game must be fun to watch as well as play, and where multiplayer elements are essential: Pokémon is the most oft-cited inspiration, but Mizobe credits the game's design to ideas lifted from several titles including ARK: Survival Evolved, Factorio and RimWorld. And once you have the foundation, then you start adding personality like… dead Pals?
Time to check the GOG and Steam deals during the weekend:
+GOG
+Steam
- Not much to say, right? The Spring Sale should be more than enough.
That’s all for this week. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.
