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Death Stranding

Doublejump Digest: June 2, 2019


This week in gaming: the ACCC sues Sony, Death Stranding gets a release date, Activision unveils Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 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:


MAJOR NEWS:

The ACCC is suing Sony over its PSN refund practices:

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is suing Sony Europe (where PlayStation Australia is centred from) in the Federal Court for “making false or misleading representations to Australian consumers… and in dealings with Australian customers of its [online] store”. The ACCC alleges that Sony Europe said it didn’t need to offer refunds if games were downloaded to a console and/or after 14 days since purchase. The ACCC alleges that breaches Australian rights in a few ways, including Sony Europe telling consumers “that it did not have to provide refunds unless the game developer told the consumer the game was irreparably faulty or otherwise authorised a refund”. In addition, Sony Europe allegedly told customers “that it could provide refunds using virtual PlayStation currency instead of money”.

ACCC chair Rod Sims said that regardless of where a global business is based, any goods and services sold in Australia (digital or otherwise) are protected by the rights under the Australian Consumer Law. “Consumer guarantees do not expire after a digital product has been downloaded as we allege Sony Europe told consumers, and refunds must be given in the form of original payment unless a consumer chooses to receive it in store credit,” he said.

Kojima Productions announces a November release for Death Stranding:

The studio made the surprise announcement through a brand new gameplay trailer for its upcoming action title that showcases its impressive graphical and physics engine as well as its famous cast.

Activision confirms Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s existence:

Activision Publishing has finally confirmed that this year’s Call of Duty game will be a reimagining of Infinity Ward’s original magnum opus, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The name game, which is simply titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, will also mark the debut of cross-play for the shooter series. The game is slated to be released worldwide on October 25.

Valve is working on its “own version” of Dota Auto Chess:

The company announced that it has reached an agreement with Dota Auto Chess developer Drodo to create its own take on the popular Dota 2 mod while supporting developer Drodo with a mobile version of the original mod.

“We had great conversations, but we both came to the conclusion that Valve and Drodo could not work directly with each other for a variety of reasons,” the company wrote. “We ended up agreeing that we’ll each build our own stand-alone version of the game, and support each other to the fullest.”

Valve also added that it will assist Drodo in allowing existing players to “migrate their account progress” over to the new “non-Dota mobile game” and that it is “currently working on a standalone Dota version” of Auto Chess “with Drodo’s blessing”.

Microsoft confirms that Xbox Game Pass is coming to PC:

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer took to Xbox Wire earlier this week to reveal that Microsoft is finally planning to bring its Xbox Game Pass subscription service to Windows 10 devices. In addition to gaining access to more than one hundred games at launch, subscribers will also receive up to a 20 percent discount on Game Pass games and 10 percent off their DLC through the Microsoft Store on Windows 10.

Spencer also noted that Microsoft intends to bring more of its first-party titles to various digital storefronts on Windows 10 (starting with Halo: The Master Chief Collection) at launch and that the company also plans on “enabling full support support” for legacy, Win32-based games on the Microsoft Store.


NOTABLE GAME RELEASES:

  • Blood & Truth (PS4)
  • Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (Switch)
  • DayZ (PS4)
  • Gato Roboto (PC, PS4, and Switch)
  • Outer Wilds (PC)
  • Warhammer: Chaosbane (PC and PS4)

VIDEOS AND TRAILERS:

Elgato Gaming – Introducing Stream Deck XL:

More buttons and more fun. Hell yeah!

Elgato Gaming – Introducing Stream Deck Mobile:

Wait a minute, I’ve got a mobile phone!

Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered – Reveal Trailer:

Yes, the remaster that everyone’s been asking for…

Battlefield V – Mercury Map Official Reveal Trailer:

Damn, why did humans have to ruin such idyllic locations?

Judgment – Combat Trailer:

Who knew that former lawyers could be so adept at fighting?

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons – Nintendo Switch Launch Trailer:

One of the last generation’s best games has been reborn on the Switch.


OTHER NEWS:

  • AMD’s hoping to win over more PC gamers with its upcoming Ryzen 3000 series of processors: PC Gamer
  • Here’s our first look at Halo: Reach running on PC: Game Informer
  • Baldur’s Gate 3 might become a reality very soon: Kotaku
  • Sea of Thieves fans can look forward to playing a board game based on it: Eurogamer
  • Square Enix is going to show off Dying Light 2 at E3: GameSpot
  • Minecraft: Story Mode owners will only have until June 25 to download the series’s episodes: Official

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