Another week of gaming is in the books, and we’ve hand-picked another few pieces of news to help keep you up to date with what’s going on in the industry! Keep an eye out for the Digest every Sunday night, and be sure to check the archive for news from weeks gone by!
Editor’s note: Some of the news included in this week’s Digest broke last week — we just wanted to catch you up as the Digest has just returned!
The latest from Doublejump:
- In Doublejump Radio Episode 061, John and Abir discussed Australia preserving Untitled Goose Game, ReedPop rescuing E3, the latest Apex Legends & GoldenEye 007 remake rumours, Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer, Thor: Love and Thunder, Spy x Family, and more.
No delay for God of War Ragnarök; it’s out in November:
Amid widespread speculation about a potential delay, Sony Santa Monica Studio’s Senior Community Manager, Grace Orlady, took to the official PlayStation Blog to release a new trailer that confirmed God of War Ragnarök’s actual release date: November 9.
The cinematic trailer follows Kratos and Atreus through a variety of horde battles, before revealing that the new game will feature Fenrir, the wolf-giant prophesied to play a significant part in the titular event, for the first time. Aside from that, however, the trailer doesn’t give a whole bunch away, but we’re sure to learn more as November 9 approaches.
Here’s our first look at the newest RoboCop game:
It’s been just over a year since Terminator: Resistance developer Teyon announced that it would be dipping into the treasure trove that is ‘80s action movies once again, and now we’ve officially got our first glimpse at what RoboCop: Rogue City is going to look like. Released alongside a handful of screenshots, the 92-second gameplay reveal comes off more like a cinematic trailer, but the real headline coming from it is the fact that Peter Weller has agreed to reprise his iconic role as Alex Murphy — just as he did when the character appeared in Mortal Kombat 11.
RoboCop: Rogue City is set to be released on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S in June 2023, which will make it the first RoboCop game to release on consoles in two decades.
Skate 4 gets a new name and goes free-to-play:
The subject of innumerable leaks over the past few months, we’ve finally got some official news about The Game Formerly Known as Skate 4. The information came courtesy of an 18-minute “Board Room” live-stream featuring Creative Director Chris “Cuz” Parry, Head of Product Management Isabelle Mocquard, Full Circle GM Dan McCulloch, and Twitch streamer and Player Council member Brandon “Avalanche” Thomas. Here’s what we learned:
- The game’s name will be skate., not Skate 4 or anything of the sort.
- Much like Skate and Skate 2’s San Vanelona and Skate 3’s Port Carverton, skate. will take place in the fictional, California-esque city of San Vansterdam.
- It’ll be available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S… with full cross-play and progression.
- It’s also coming to mobile, although McCullogh noted that “[Full Circle is] still pretty early on mobile, but [wants] to get the controls and everything to feel great.”
- It’s going to be free-to-play, and although it will have microtransactions, they won’t be the predatory “pay-to-win” type: nothing will be hidden behind a paywall, and there’s nothing you can purchase to gain an advantage.
- Finally, it’ll mark the series’ transition to the live-service model.
Unfortunately, Full Circle didn’t reveal a release date or even a window, but it’s safe to assume that we’re still a while away yet given that all the footage we’ve seen so far is “pre-pre-pre-alpha.” For those who just can’t wait, well… You can sign up to become a skate. insider and gain access to closed public playtests.
Bandai Namco hack reveals Elden Ring DLC, new Armored Core and Tekken games, and more:
According to malware tracker vx-underground, a “ransomware group” known alternatively as ALPHV and BlackCat has managed to get its hooks into Bandai Namco — and Bandai Namco wasn’t willing to pay up. Ergo, we now know everything the Japanese publisher is planning to release in the next financial year:
- Q1: Armored Core, Dragon Ball: The Breakers
- Q2: Little Nightmares 3, Dragon Ball FighterZ Super, Digimon Story Cybersleuth 2
- Q3: Elden Ring: Barbarians of the Badlands (DLC), Tales of Ascension, Tekken 8
- Q4: Code Vein 2, One Punch Man: Fighters Association, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3
Although Bandai Namco has since issued a statement to VGC confirming that the hack took place, it didn’t go so far as to confirm or deny any of the information released. In fairness, though, if the hack was real… the information most likely is too. Plenty to look forward to!
New single-player Aliens game announced:
Developer Survios has announced that it is “embarking on a new collaboration with 20th Century Games to develop an intense single-player, action horror game set in the iconic Alien universe.”
Developed for PC, (as-yet unspecified) consoles and VR using Unreal Engine 5, Survios says that the game will “take full advantage of [its] expertise in creating immersive and authentic gaming experiences,” and will feature “an original storyline, set between the Alien and Aliens films, where a battle hardened veteran has a vendetta against the Xenomorphs.”
There’s no other information about the as-yet untitled Aliens game, but we’re sure to find something out soon.
Quick bites:
ACMI and Friends acquire Untitled Goose Game: According to ACMI, the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) and the Powerhouse, “the acquisition ensures that as technologies, curatorial practices, and preservation methods change, Untitled Goose Game will remain a key part of Australia’s creative history.”
Yu-Gi-Oh! creator Kazuki Takahashi passes away: According to a spokesperson for the Japanese Coast Guard, the 60-year-old was snorkelling when he died of unknown causes. Doublejump sends its heartfelt condolences to Takahashi-san’s friends, family and colleagues.
Fall Guys brings in 50 million players in two weeks: A huge achievement for the “lockdown phenomenon”, which went free-to-play on June 21 and has welcomed a cool fifty million players.
Stranger Things creators working on live-action Death Note series, among others: On the back of Stranger Things Season 4’s success, Matt and Ross Duffer have launched Upside Down Pictures, which is working on the aforementioned Death Note series alongside a Stranger Things spin-off series and stage play, a “series adaptation” of Stephen King and Peter Straub’s novel The Talisman, and an original series from Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance producers Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews.
Unity acquires ad-tech firm Ironsource… Which wouldn’t be a big deal if it hadn’t laid off 4% of its workforce, or “263 employees across multiple orgs and 16 countries” just a couple of weeks ago.
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