Thursday news, the longer than usual part two:
Lego is going to make its videogames in-house from now on, says it would 'almost rather overinvest'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/lego-is-going-to-make-its-videogames-in-house-from-now-on-says-it-would-almost-rather-overinvest/
The world's largest toymaker, Lego, has told the Financial Times that it intends to build its own videogames in-house from now on. The company has heavily invested in digital infrastructure in recent years, tripling the number of software engineers it employs since 2022, and aims to move away from outsourcing the brand to third party studios.
>> That’s bad news for Traveller’s Tales.
A dead MMO that launched with a now-cancelled TV show in 2013 is coming back 4 years after servers were shut down
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/a-dead-mmo-that-launched-with-a-now-cancelled-tv-show-in-2013-is-coming-back-4-years-after-servers-were-shut-down/
Trion Worlds' Defiance was an odd duck. It launched in 2013 alongside a TV show tie-in with the same name, set on a future Earth following an alien invasion—during which the planet was aggressively terraformed. Both the game and the show were a mix of grungy post-apocalyptic western and futuristic sci-fi.
(...)
Only a couple of years later, the show was cancelled, but the MMO persevered. And it stuck around for a while, until 2021, when the servers were shut down. Defiance was never one of the heavy-hitters, and I haven't thought about it for a good long while, but it looks like it's been living in enough folks' heads that it's making a comeback.
Fawkes, "an indie studio and publisher dedicated to reviving treasured titles", has decided that Defiance fits its brief, and has set itself the task of bringing the game back to life. It acquired the rights to both the original 2013 version of the game and the relaunched Defiance 2050 version that appeared in 2018.
Rise of the Ronin is another crappy PC port, performance patch coming 'soon'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/rise-of-the-ronin-is-another-crappy-pc-port-performance-patch-coming-soon/
Rise of the Ronin arrived on Steam this week, a year after its debut on PlayStation 5, and I'm sorry to say it's not going well, as players are reporting serious performance problems with the game. Koei Tecmo says it's now "investigating" the reports and working on a patch that will hopefully "fix or improve some of these issues."
BioWare veteran says a big delay is better than lots of little ones, because sometimes you just gotta 'burn it down and take the other fork in the road'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/bioware-veteran-says-a-big-delay-is-better-than-lots-of-little-ones-because-sometimes-you-just-gotta-burn-it-down-and-take-the-other-fork-in-the-road/
BioWare veteran Mark Darrah, who left the company in 2020 before returning to shepherd Dragon Age: The Veilguard to the finish line, has recently been posting videos about his time in the industry: And the latest is about delays.
Darrah's take on delays is simple: If you really need one, it's better to bite the bullet with a hefty delay and recalibrate what you're doing with the project, rather than ploughing ahead and going through lots of little ones.
Dune: Awakening confirms air-to-air combat in ornithopters
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/dune-awakening-confirms-air-to-air-combat-in-ornithopters/
It's almost spice time. Survival MMO Dune: Awakening launches on May 20, and we're all sitting here not-so patiently in our stillsuits and wearing our nose-tubes until the day we wait to finally set foot on the sands of Arrakis.
But let's not worry about tromping around on the blistering hot sand dunes just yet. In a new blog post today, Funcom revealed more information about Dune: Awakening, and most of it had to do with flying, not walking. Specifically, ornithopters, those cool dragonfly-like helicopters.
8 months into their strike, videogame voice actors say the industry's latest proposal is 'filled with alarming loopholes that will leave our members vulnerable to AI abuse'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/8-months-into-their-strike-videogame-voice-actors-say-the-industrys-latest-proposal-is-filled-with-alarming-loopholes-that-will-leave-our-members-vulnerable-to-ai-abuse/
The SAG-AFTRA union says "progress has been made" in negotiations over the videogame voice and motion capture actors strike that was called in July 2024, but warned that the most recent proposal submitted by the bargaining group is "filled with alarming loopholes that will leave our members vulnerable to AI abuse."
Ubisoft backflips, says Assassin's Creed Shadows will support Steam Deck at launch, but I doubt I'll actually want to play it there
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/assassins-creed/ubisoft-backflips-says-assassins-creed-shadows-will-support-steam-deck-at-launch-but-i-doubt-ill-actually-want-to-play-it-there/
Ubisoft has confirmed that Assassin's Creed Shadows will run on Steam Deck at launch, which is great albeit unexpected news. It's unexpected, because last month Ubisoft ruled out Steam Deck support, pointing out—quite reasonably—that Valve's handheld is "below our minimum specs for PC".
So what's changed? Presumably the studio has done some testing, tweaked some knobs, and discovered that the game does actually run. "We are happy to say that we are supporting Steam Deck at launch and are currently awaiting the level of classification from Valve," the official Assassin's Creed X account wrote. "More info to come soon."
>> Will it run on the Deck? Yes. Will it run like crap? Probably also yes.
Spectre Divide and its studio are shutting down after just six months: 'The industry is in a tough spot right now'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/spectre-divide-and-its-studio-are-shutting-down-after-just-six-months-the-industry-is-in-a-tough-spot-right-now/
Free-to-play FPS Spectre Divide will close within 30 days, and developers Mountaintop Studios will be disbanded by the end of the week. The news comes only six months after the promising 3v3 shooter launched on Steam, and just a fortnight after its first season launched alongside a new PlayStation version.
In a letter signed by Mountaintop Studios CEO Nate Mitchell and the team, low uptake since the launch of that first season is one of the reasons for the closure. "Unfortunately, the Season 1 launch hasn't achieved the level of success we needed to sustain the game and keep Mountaintop afloat," the letter reads.
It also alludes to the game's player count trajectory: it debuted with around 400,000 players in its first week and a peak of 10,000 concurrents, but admits that these figures have steadily dropped since launch. On Steamcharts.com, the game has a peak of 1,083 players in February, with a 263.1 average.
WoW flexes its MMO player housing system in a new blog post, and it really might just beat FF14's dated furniture placement into the dirt
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wow-flexes-its-mmo-player-housing-system-in-a-new-blog-post-and-it-really-might-just-beat-ff14s-dated-furniture-placement-into-the-dirt/
World of Warcraft's getting its own player housing, which'll be dropping either on—or just a little before—the release of its next expansion, Midnight. Blizzard's been drip-feeding details over the past few months, mostly by subtly elbowing Final Fantasy 14 for the woes of its own system.
The styling-on-Square Enix is proceeding apace. In a blog titled A Look at Housing Interior Design, Blizzard shared some very exciting details—namely, how placing, rotating, and scaling furniture is all going to work. It's all subject to change, naturally, and there's "a lot of work-in-progress assets and UIs as well as using some terms that are not finalized", but it's all also looking super promising.
LocalThunk gave up making Balatro for 3 months but resumed because 'I was bored but the internet was out so I couldn't play Rocket League'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/localthunk-gave-up-making-balatro-for-3-months-but-resumed-because-i-was-bored-but-the-internet-was-out-so-i-couldnt-play-rocket-league/
Indie phenomenon Balatro beat off all-comers to be crowned PCG's 2024 GOTY, and developer LocalThunk recently marked just over a year since release by sharing the "Balatro timeline" of the game's development.
(...)
LocalThunk has now returned to flesh-out some parts of the timeline, including the moment in March 2022 when he abandoned development a few months in. Writing on Bluesky, the developer credits their return to working on the game to one thing: The Internet was out.
Crusader Kings 3 saddles up for a long-awaited return to the east with its first Asian DLC, Khans of the Steppe
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/crusader-kings-3-saddles-up-for-a-long-awaited-return-to-the-east-with-its-first-asian-dlc-khans-of-the-steppe/
Grand strategy RPG Crusader Kings 3 is finally headed eastward. Yesterday, Paradox Interactive announced the game's next expansion, beginning the fourth chapter of its long-term expansion plans. It's starting its ambitious map expansion across Asia with the Mongolian steppes, giving players the chance to start out as a nomadic Khan on April 28th.
'More evolution than revolution': PowerWash Simulator 2 is coming late 2025, and it's bringing online multiplayer and split-screen co-op with it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/more-evolution-than-revolution-powerwash-simulator-2-is-coming-late-2025-and-its-bringing-online-multiplayer-and-split-screen-co-op-with-it/
Three years after PowerWash Simulator first introduced us to the beauty of squeaky-clean brick walls and hardwood floors, FuturLab has now announced that a sequel is in the works and that we'll be getting a PowerWash Simulator 2 late this year.
'What do you mean real actors?': Astarion's VO, who shared an awards category with Idris Elba after Baldur's Gate 3, remembers the dark ages of mocap
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/what-do-you-mean-real-actors-astarions-vo-who-shared-an-awards-category-with-idris-elba-after-baldurs-gate-3-remembers-the-dark-ages-of-mocap/
Neil Newbon has made somewhat of a superstar debut after the runaway success of Baldur's Gate 3—and having spoken to the man myself in the past, it's all rather deserved. I remember being quite proud of the medium as a whole when I saw him run away with an award, while also sharing a building with known Hollywood superstar Idris Elba (who was on the docket for his role in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty).
(...)
It's been a steady climb for recognition, according to Newbon, who spoke to Entertainment Weekly in a group interview centred around the "Pixel Pack"—a vanguard of big-name voice actors joining fights such as the one SAG-AFTRA is currently embroiled in, to ensure their recognition and proper dues.
