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Judgment
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Doublejump Digest: March 10, 2019

This week in gaming: A discless Xbox One seems inevitable, EA ditches its E3 conference, Valve relents against community pressure, 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:

  • Our triumphant Multiplayer featured returned with a discussion about Our Favourite Rivalries in Gaming. It was a lot of fun to put together, and we can’t wait to show you next month’s instalment!
  • Luke marked his debut for Doublejump with a review of Astroneer and found the game to be a brilliant time… if you’re ready to lose yourself in exploration.

MAJOR NEWS:

Report: Microsoft to announce discless Xbox One next month:

Windows Central has reported that Microsoft is set to open up preorders for its all-digital Xbox console, which is allegedly named the “Xbox One S All-Digital Edition”, from next month. A worldwide launch is expected to take place in May, however, Microsoft has yet to comment on this latest console rumour.

EA ditches its E3 press conference this year:

Late this week, the publisher announced that it will not be hosting a press conference at this year’s E3 and will instead focus exclusively on its EA Play fan events.

“It all starts this year on Friday night, June 7, 2019, with an all-new EA PLAY kickoff event,” the company wrote. “We’re skipping the press conference this year and are replacing it with multiple live streams that will air during the first two days of the event, bringing you more of what you’ve told us you want – more gameplay and insights from the teams making the games.”

This year, EA PLAY will go live from June 8 Australian time for press and June 9-10 for the public attending the event in Los Angeles.

Valve relents, won’t release Rape Day on Steam; Richard Garfield let go from Artefact team:

Following extensive public backlash, Valve has announced that it will not sell Desk Plant’s serial rapist simulator Rain Day on Steam due to the potential negative impact that it may have on the publisher’s bottom line.

“Much of our policy around what we distribute is, and must be, reactionary—we simply have to wait and see what comes to us via Steam Direct. We then have to make a judgement call about any risk it puts to Valve, our developer partners, or our customers,” Valve executive Erik Johnson wrote in his statement. “After significant fact-finding and discussion, we think ‘Rape Day‘ poses unknown costs and risks and therefore won’t be on Steam.”

In related news, Artifact and Magic the Gathering creator Richard Garfield confirmed to fan site Artibuff that he was among the thirteen employees and additional contractors who Valve laid off last month.

PS4’s latest firmware adds iOS Remote Play functionality:

Almost five years since it brought the feature to Android, Sony Interactive Entertainment has added iOS support for the PlayStation 4’s Remote Play feature with this week’s 6.50 firmware update. While the iOS Remote Play app defaults to on-screen controls, players can use a compatible bluetooth controllers (including the DualShock 4 with a workaround) if they prefer tactical controls.

Apex Legends boasts 50 million players in its first month:

It appears as if Respawn Entertainment’s surprise release has gone from strength-to-strength with publisher EA announcing that the game has now amassed more 50 million players in its first month. Furthermore, Respawn released a new balance patch this week that reduced the Wingman revolver and Peacekeeper shotgun’s effectiveness.

Nintendo is using Labo to bring VR to Switch:

In a surprise move, Nintendo announced a new Labo kit that will allow Switch users to create a basic virtual reality headset using cardboard and lenses. The Nintendo Labo: VR Kit will be released in two versions: a regular one (with goggles, software, and five designs) and a starter one (with goggles and a blaster design). The two versions are priced at US$80 and US$40 (via Kotaku) with Nintendo yet to announce Australian pricing and release details as of this writing.

NOTABLE GAME RELEASES:

  • Devil May Cry 5 (PC, PS4, and Xbox One)
  • Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn (3DS)

VIDEOS AND TRAILERS:

Cyberpunk 2077 – Creating Cyberpunk 2077:

Let Geralt of Rivia guide you through this game’s lengthy development story.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege – Year 4 Dev Diary:

Here’s what’s in-store for the next twelve months.

Mortal Kombat 11 – Official Story Trailer:

Let’s do the time warp again!

Judgment – Gameplay Trailer:

April can’t come soon enough!

Mortal Kombat 11 – Official Cassie Cage Reveal Trailer:

You can dab over people’s corpses. ‘Nuff said.

RAGE 2 – Wasteland Superhero Trailer:

Will you be the hero that the Wasteland needs?

OTHER NEWS:

  • PUBG Corp. is remastering PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS’ original map: Polygon
  • It looks like The Messenger is coming to PlayStation 4: DualShockers
  • Just Cause 4 is now part of Xbox Game Pass: Eurogamer
  • BioWare veteran Aaryn Flynn has started a new game studio: Game Informer
  • Sond Bend’s Days Gone has finally gone gold: DualShockers
  • Octopath Traveler is getting a mobile prequel game: Eurogamer
  • H1Z1’s PC version is Z1 Battle Royale: GameSpot
  • Carlton, Backpack Kid, and 2 Milly have dropped their respective Fortnite dance lawsuits: GamesIndustry.biz

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