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Doublejump Digest: August 11, 2019


This week in gaming: Gaming’s biggest names come down hard on loot boxes, Walmart stops promoting violent games, Nintendo might be working on yet another Switch, and more!


FROM DOUBLEJUMP: 

  • In his latest Press X to Adapt piece, John wrote about how Hitman: Agent 47 presents as a more faithful-yet-worse adaptation of the action video game series.

MAJOR NEWS: 

All three console companies have agreed on requiring companies to disclose loot box odds:

Michael Warnecke, chief counsel of tech policy to the Electronic Software Association, told the US Federal Trade Commission during its loot box workshop (via Polygon) that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have all agreed to make it compulsory for publishers and developers surface the odds of in-game loot boxes.

In a separate blog post, the ESA also revealed that publishers including Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, and EA have agreed to meet this new requirement “no later than the end of 2020”.

In related news, Rocket League developer Psyonix announced that it is dropping randomised loot boxes from its widely-popular multiplayer title altogether in favour of keeping options for directly purchasing in-game content. The company plans on revealing more information about its “timeline” for the removal “in the coming months”.

Walmart asks employees to take down promotional signs for violent video games:

The US retail giant confirmed to VICE that it had asked employees to temporarily take down signage and demonstration kiosks for violent video games “out of respect for the incidents of the past week” and that this measure “does not reflect a long-term change” in the company’s “video game assortment”.

On a similar note, ESPN told its affiliate networks that it has rescheduled its highlights show of the recent Apex Legends EXP Invitational tournament to October “out of respect for the victims and all those impacted” by the two Walmart shootings.

Report: Nintendo is developing multiple new Switch versions:

According to the Wall Street Journal (via Engadget), sources inside Nintendo have revealed that the company is planning to manufacture at least one new Switch system that will use Sharp’s IGZO panel technology. Early this year, the WSJ also reported that Sharp VP Katsuaki Nomura noted that it had secured a videogame client for its high quality displays. Nintendo has not commented on this latest rumour as of this writing.

Here are the results of EVO 2019, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s grand final broke EVO’s viewership record:

Eventhubs has published the final results for this past weekend’s Evolution Championship Series (EVO) where Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s grand final broke the fighting game tournament’s viewership record with 279,000 concurrent viewers.

FOX|MKLeo (Joker) beat TSM|Tweek (Pokémon Trainer) in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s grand final, Red Bull|Bonchan (Karin, Sagat) defeated NASR|BigBird (Rashid) in the Super Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition final, VS|Arslan Ash (Kazumi, Geese) emerged victorious against ROX|Knee (Steve, Paul, Kazuya, Geese, Devil Jin) in TEKKEN 7, Infiltration (Genjuro) won out against BC|Kazunoko (Haohmaru) in Samurai Shodown, FOX|SonicFox (Cassie Cage) overcame BC|Dragon (Cetrion) in Mortal Kombat 11, while CO|Go1 (Bardock, Kid Goku, Goku) defeated FOX|SonicFox (Bardock, Kid Buu, Kid Goku) in Dragon Ball FighterZ.


NOTABLE GAME RELEASES: 

  • Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PC, PS4, and Xbox One)

VIDEOS AND TRAILERS:

FIFA 20 – Official VOLTA Gameplay Trailer:

Street soccer never looked so cool!

Borderlands 3 – Amara Character Trailer:

We get it, you love fighting, lady.

Borderlands 3 – FL4K Character Trailer:

Who knew that Pathfinder had a mean streak?

Destiny 2: Shadowkeep – Destiny 2 on Steam:

We’re just over a week away, folks!

TEKKEN 7 – Season Pass 3 Reveal Trailer:

Leeeeeerooooy Smiiiiiithh!!


INDIE SPOTLIGHT:

GRIS is coming to iOS next week: 

Nomada Studio has announced that its beautiful platformer is heading to iPhone and iPad on August 22.


OTHER NEWS:

  • Trine 4 is slated for an October release: YouTube
  • Streamers have criticised Microsoft for its female clothing guidelines on Mixer: GamesIndustry.biz
  • Ninja’s already passed one million Mixer subscribers: Engadget
  • Kojima Productions may have just hinted at Death Stranding no longer being a PS4 exclusive: GamesRadar
  • Annapurna Interactive’s parent company is considering seeking bankruptcy protection: GamesIndustry.biz
  • Australia has effectively banned DayZ’s physical version: Eurogamer
  • Check out these latest Person 5 Royal screenshots: DualShockers
  • Yuke’s is no longer developing the official WWE games: Polygon
  • NBA 2K20 will feature the entire WNBA roster: DualShockers
  • Microsoft isn’t opposed to Double Fine continuing to bring its games on non-Microsoft platforms: Game Informer

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