This week in gaming: Sony finally opens up PSN name changes, Respawn unveils Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Tencent rolls out its own storefront, and more!
In the spirit of keeping our readers up to date with what’s happening in the video game industry, the Doublejump Digest is a brief collection of the major news stories from the past week. Keep an eye out for the Digest every Sunday night, and head on into the archive for news from weeks gone by!
FROM DOUBLEJUMP:
- John continued his look at Mortal Kombat’s film adaptations with the second, very-questionable movie.
- Matthew returned from his deployment in post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. to review Tom Clancy’s The Division 2.
- Resident indie stalwart Cai explained why Don’t Starve is the best Rogue-like of all time.
MAJOR NEWS:
PS4 players can finally change their PSN Online IDs:
Sony Interactive Entertainment America’s Sid Shuman has announced that all PlayStation 4 users can now change their PlayStation Network ID usernames but that, contrary to expectations, there are certain games that were published after April 1, 2018 that won’t support new names. Shuman asked players to keep checking Sony’s updated game compatibility list to see if their favourite games will support the feature.
Respawn finally unveils Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order:
Publisher EA and developer Respawn Entertainment have finally unveiled their last ditch effort to win over Star Wars game fans with a new story-focussed adventure later this year. Fallen Order stars a surviving Padawan named Cal Kestis as he eludes the Empire following the execution of Order 66 – a decree whereby all Jedi are to be exterminated as rebels to the newly-formed Galactic Empire – and completes his Jedi training. Respawn CEO Vince Zampella told attendees at today’s Fallen Order panel that his studio’s game is “a single-player story game” that will feature “no multiplayer, no microtransactions” – possibly in reference to the backlash that erupted in the wake of Star Wars Battlefront II’s launch.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is scheduled for a November 15 release on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Tencent is rolling out its games store worldwide:
Chinese media giant Tencent has launched its WeGame X digital storefront globally in “Early Access” with a selection of Chinese-made games.
“WeGame X is a product [that Tencent subsidiary] WeGame is testing to serve its global users,” a Tencent representative told Abacus News. “We hope [that], with the maturation of this product, we can bring more Chinese games overseas to cater to multiple gamer demographics.”
The company has not revealed any further details about its plans to expand WeGame X, but we hope to find out more at E3 in June.
Epic Games hires Infinity Ward and Respawn Entertainment co-founder:
According to industry insider Geoff Keighley, Epic has hired Call of Duty and Titanfall co-creator Jason West “to work on its game development efforts”. The Hollywood Reporter later reported it had confirmed Keighley’s revelation and reiterated that Epic Games has declined to provide any specific information about West’s new role.
Roblox now boasts more than 90 million active players:
Early this week, Roblox Corporation announced that its popular multiplayer block-building game has now amassed at least 90 million active players a month. The company made the announcement alongside the launch of the game’s French and German translations.
Nintendo accidentally reveals a stage builder for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate:
The Japanese publisher let the cat out of the bag in its latest advertisement for the game by showing footage featuring a menu option for a “Stage Builder” onscreen (at the 0:01 mark). While Nintendo has yet to confirm the mode as of this writing, the likelihood of an impending announcement is pretty high considering the fact that it has shown up in an official video and has been included in previous Super Smash Bros. games.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice sells more than two million copies:
Activision Publishing has announced (via Eurogamer) that From Software’s latest action title sold more than two million copies (across PC, PS4, and Xbox One combined) worldwide in its first ten days of release. This figure makes it the fastest-selling game for the developer since Dark Souls 3. Furthermore, Twitch viewers spent more than 631 million minutes watch Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice streams during the game’s launch weekend.
Vampyr studio and publisher Focus Home Interactive join forces for an “ambitious” game:
While announcing that Vampyr has sold more than one million copies worldwide, developer DONTNOD Entertainment has announced a partnership with the game’s publisher for a new game. While neither company provided specific details about the new project, given DONTNOD’s history with creating narrative-focussed games like Life Is Strange, we expect to see something similar once the game is properly unveiled.
NOTABLE GAME RELEASES:
- Dangerous Driving (PC, PS4, and Xbox One)
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Switch)
VIDEOS AND TRAILERS:
Mortal Kombat 11 – Official Cetrion Reveal Trailer:
Please seek the advice of your pharmacist before using Cetrion.
Mortal Kombat 11 – Official Kitana Reveal:
The deadly royal herself has returned for another fight.
Yakuza Kiwami 2 – PC Trailer:
Young Kiryu is back and more handsome than ever.
Assetto Corsa Competizione – Launch Date Announcement:
Just look at these graphics!
RAGE 2 – Everything vs. Me Official Trailer:
I think that we can all agree that we’ve all felt like this at one point or another.
OTHER NEWS:
- Nepal bans PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS due to fears of it being “addictive to children and teenagers”: Gamasutra
- Randy Pitchford says that it was Troy Baker’s decision to not play Rhys in Borderlands 3: Game Informer
- Ubisoft won’t make a new Splinter Cell game until it can do something new with it: GameSpot
- Game of Thrones Ascent and Star Trek Timelines’ developer is going to start selling its mobile engine toolset: Gamasutra
- Rocket League’s third content pass is launching next week: DualShockers
- Monster Hunter World and PREY are heading to Xbox Game Pass this month: Xbox Wire
- YouTube is following Netflix in making choose-your-own-adventure videos: Gamasutra
This article was originally published on Doublejump. If you enjoyed what you’ve read, you can support the site further by following us on social media, becoming a Patron, and/or purchasing some merchandise!