Wednesday news, part two:
Extraction MOBA Seekers of Skyveil will launch into early access in March, but first, the 'largest playtest' yet is coming later this week
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/extraction-moba-seekers-of-skyveil-will-launch-into-early-access-in-march-but-first-the-largest-playtest-yet-is-coming-later-this-week/
Seekers of Skyveil, the game that mashes up MOBA-style gameplay with extraction shooter mechanics—and seems to be doing a very good job of it—announced today that it's set to launch into early access in March. But first, another round of playtesting is set to kick off on January 10 on Steam.
Citizen Sleeper 2 will likely be the last in the series, though its creator plans to come full-circle with a TTRPG
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/citizen-sleeper-2-will-likely-be-the-last-in-the-series-though-its-creator-plans-to-come-full-circle-with-a-ttrpg/
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector is releasing at the end of the month, January 31—and as someone with a vested interest in the first game, I'm downright excited. The series' creator, Gareth Damian Martin, has found a way to bring the vibes of a smaller-scale indie TTRPG to a videogame not once, but twice now. And you know I love those tasty, Blades In The Dark-style clocks.
Alas, it's likely to be the last installment of the series—that's as per a recent interview with Martin via Eurogamer. When asked if this'd be the final instalment, Martin replies that, as far as videogames go, "I think it is … I'll leave myself a backdoor somewhere that I can climb through and dig it out the grave again. But no. I think especially the ending—and I hope people feel this when they reach the ending—I really felt like, okay, this is me saying the final word on it. I really like where I'm leaving it. I'm really happy with that."
'We're extending the 6v6 playtest': The game director of Overwatch 2 stokes the flames that 6v6 will make an official comeback someday
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/were-extending-the-6v6-playtest-the-game-director-of-overwatch-2-stokes-the-flames-that-6v6-will-make-an-official-comeback-someday/
The 6v6 vs 5v5 debate has been going on in Overwatch 2's community ever since the FPS changed format a couple of years ago. The loud minority of the fanbase has been calling for Overwatch 2 to return to its 6v6 roots, a cry that was ignored for over a year until the game director Aaron Keller announced that Blizzard would be trialing a limited 6v6 mode, which has now been extended.
Call of Duty's development budget ballooned by $250 million between 2015 and 2020 to an eye-watering $700 million
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/call-of-dutys-development-budget-ballooned-by-usd250-million-between-2015-and-2020-to-an-eye-watering-usd700-million/
Games are only ever getting more expensive to make. It's a truth noted by game developers, called a "death sentence" by former publishing chairmen, and conveniently cited by studio executives as they explain why they need to lay off another 200 employees. Despite the universal agreement that game development costs are rising, we rarely see exactly how much more costly they've become, especially for AAA releases. This week, however, thanks to court filings obtained by Stephen Totilo's Game File, we've gotten a glimpse at the staggering production budgets demanded by Call of Duty games, which—as of 2020—cost well over half a billion dollars to develop.
Private Division's 'games and franchises,' including Kerbal Space Program, are reportedly being taken over by former Annapurna Interactive employees
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/private-divisions-games-and-franchises-including-kerbal-space-program-are-reportedly-being-taken-over-by-former-annapurna-interactive-employees/
Take-Two Interactive said in November 2024 that it had sold Private Division, the "high-end indie" publishing label it launched in 2017, to an undisclosed buyer, along with "substantially all of Private Division’s live and unreleased titles." The identity of the buyer was not revealed, but a new Bloomberg report (via Game Developer) says the division's "games and franchises" will be taken over by former employees of Annapurna Interactive, the gaming-focused subsidiary of Annapurna Pictures that collapsed in September 2024 after its entire staff and senior leadership team resigned.
The former Annapurna Interactive employees were not the buyers of Private Division themselves, according to the Bloomberg report: Haveli Investments, a private equity firm, made the purchase and subsequently did a deal with the ex-Annapurna staffers to take control of the games. It sounds like the Private Division label will not be retained, as the newly-formed company does not yet have a name, and some of the roughly 20 employees of Private Division will be laid off.
League of Legends' new season trailer is basically an epilogue to Arcane with 6 new Fortiche champion redesigns in it—so if it's not a preview of the upcoming Noxus show, I'll eat my hat
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/moba/league-of-legends-new-season-trailer-is-basically-an-epilogue-to-arcane-with-6-new-fortiche-champion-redesigns-in-it-so-if-its-not-a-preview-of-the-upcoming-noxus-show-ill-eat-my-hat/
League of Legends is getting its first in-game season of 2025 soon and, as is Riot's tradition, there's a big and flashy new trailer with some gorgeous animation to accompany it. Namely, it has collaborated once again with Fortiche, the studio Riot threw $250 million at to make Arcane, a bet which I'm pretty happy to say has paid off.
Final Fantasy 14 data sleuth gathers more info on the game's script, finds Alphinaud is the king of yappers—though Wuk Lamat's in the top 3 after just 1 expansion
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-14-data-sleuth-gathers-more-info-on-the-games-script-finds-alphinaud-is-the-king-of-yappers-though-wuk-lamats-in-the-top-3-after-just-1-expansion/
Data sleuth turn_a_blind_eye/Rise Narukami has just compiled some more information on Final Fantasy 14's mammoth script—with the help of chronicler Eriyu, who started attempting to digitally bind the game's thousands upon thousands of words back in May 2023, and has clearly made sterling progress since then. The results are interesting, to say the least.
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