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Doublejump Digest: December 16, 2018

This week in gaming: Epic Games makes another big move, Discord opens its digital doors, MrDeadMoth gets charged, 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:

  • IO Interactive and Agent 47 are back for another round of silent slaying shenanigans in Hitman 2, with Cav finding it to be “a serious contender for one of the best stealth games of all time”.
  • In an informative Spotlight, John recapped the troubled timeline of Rockstar’s now-cancelled Agent action game.
  • Nomada Studio captivated audiences with GRIS’s beautiful announcement trailer a few months ago, and Kristian had the pleasure of playing the game’s compelling take on visual storytelling.

MAJOR NEWS:

Epic Games opens up its cross-platform software technology, sends cease-and-desist to Fortnite leak outlet:

The Fortnite and Unreal Engine creator has announced that it will begin sharing the cross-platform multiplayer technology that it made for Fortnite with other developers.

“Throughout 2019, we’ll be launching a large set of cross-platform game services originally built for Fortnite, and battle-tested with 200,000,000 players across 7 platforms,” the company wrote. “These services will be free for all developers, and will be open to all engines, all platforms, and all stores.”

Epic Games also noted that developers are “free to choose mix-and-match solutions” from both itself and other companies, with the veteran game studio offering open access to cross-platform friends, matchmaking, and voice communication features among others. The first feature, cross-platform profile support is due to rollout mid-2019 (Q2).

In related news, the company also issued a statement (via Eurogamer) explaining that it issued a cease-and-desist letter to the owner of FNBRLeaks over distributing modding tools and not for leaking Fortnite data. However, text from the original letter shows that Epic did, in fact, demand that FNBRLeaks stops “leaking” and “data mining” right away.

Discord increases revenue share for developers in its store:

The company has announced that it plans to one-up both Epic Games and Valve by offering game developers 90 percent of the sales revenue from games sold through the Discord Store. As part of this, from next year, Discord will begin allowing developers to publish their own games on its Store, thereby eliminating the need to share revenue with publishers.

Aussie streamer arrested for alleged domestic violence caught on stream:

The NSW Police Force has confirmed that it has charged Luke “MrDeadMoth” Munday with common assault after the Fortnite streamer was caught allegedly hitting his pregnant partner off-camera during a livestream last Sunday night.

Munday appeared in a local court on Thursday, with Magistrate Ian Cheetham police declining to change a police-issued apprehended violence order that barred him from going within 100 metres of his family home or partner’s workplace and residence (via Sydney Morning Herald). According to Munday’s bail documents, he has previously been charged common assault and malicious damage in 2011 but neither were related to domestic violence.

Munday is due to appear in court again early next year.

Charles Martinet enters the Guinness World Records book for voicing Mario:

The beloved voice actor took to Twitter to post a photo of him receiving a record certificate from Guinness World Records for “most video game voiceover performances as the same character” to mark his 100th appearance as Mario in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Deep Silver brings Metro Exodus’s release date forward:

In a relatively rare move for a AAA release, publisher Deep Silver has revealed that it has brought forward the release of 4A Games’s Metro Exodus to February 15 from February 22 through a new video for the game.

NOTABLE GAME RELEASES:

  • BELOW (PC and Xbox One)
  • HADES (Early Access – PC)

VIDEOS AND TRAILERS:

KINGDOM HEARTS III – Opening Movie Trailer:

This game is just over a month away now!

BELOW – Launch Trailer:

Capybara’s long-awaited dungeon-crawler is finally out after five years!

Fortnite – Creative Free Launch:

Creative Mode is now live for all players.

Overwatch – Winter Wonderland 2018:

Christmas is upon us!

Noclip – Unforeseen Consequences: A Half-Life Documentary:

These guys have knocked it out of the park with another lengthy development documentary.

OTHER NEWS:

  • Stardew Valley’s creator is recruting other developers to continue his work as he moves on to another project: Engadget
  • Sledgehammer Games co-founder Glenn Schofield is leaving Activision to rest and work on “something else exciting”: Game Informer
  • Geralt of Rivia is headed to Monster Hunter: World: YouTube
  • Amy Hennig will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at next year’s Game Developer’s Conference Awards: Game Informer
  • Super Meat Boy Forever is exclusive to the Epic Game Store for one year: DualShockers
  • Farming Simulator 19 enjoyed the franchise’s best-selling launch yet: GameSpot
  • A Silent Hill Art Director has shared some concept art for a cancelled project: Eurogamer

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