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Noctis in Final Fantasy XV

Doublejump Digest: November 11, 2018

This week in gaming: Red Dead Redemption 2 makes more headlines, FFXV’s director leaves Square Enix, Microsoft acquires new studios, 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!


MAJOR NEWS:

Red Dead Redemption 2 outsells original game, GTAV ships 100M copies:

In an earnings call earlier this week (via Polygon), publisher Take-Two Interactive announced that Rockstar Games’ latest open-world adventure has already outsold its predecessor and has shipped approximately 17 million units worldwide. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick also revealed that the company has shipped more than 100 million copies of Grand Theft Auto V to retailers worldwide and sits behind Minecraft and Tetris in terms of lifetime sales.

FFXV director leaves Square Enix, company cancels unreleased DLC:

During its own earnings report (via GameSpot), Square Enix revealed that Final Fantasy XV Director Hajime Tabata left the company at the end of last month, with Tabata later revealing that he is going to start his own company. Unfortunately, the Japanese publisher also announced that it has cancelled three different DLC episodes – Aranea, Lunafreye, and Noctis – for FFXV with Ardyn still slated for a March 2019 release. Luminous – the internal studio tasked with developing the episodes – is now working on an unannounced project.

Microsoft acquires Obsidian Entertainment, announces new Crackdown 3 release date:

Head of Microsoft Studios Matt Booty took to the stage at the company’s XO18 fan event in Mexico City yesterday to announce that it has acquired Pillars of Eternity developer Obsidian Entertainment and Wasteland 2 studio inXile Entertainment. Microsoft plans to allow both studios to operate independently while providing them with support to work “on both existing franchises and new RPG projects.”

As for Crackdown 3, Microsoft announced that the oft-delayed open-world action game is now scheduled to be released globally on February 15 on PC and Xbox One.

Employees sue Riot Games over alleged mistreatment:

Former employee Jessica Negron and current employee Melanie McCracken have filed a class-action lawsuit against League of Legends developer over allegations of sexist employment practices and sexual harassment to both themselves and other women at the company. The suit comes almost three months after Kotaku published an exposé into the alleged toxic sexist culture at the MOBA developer.

Prima Games is shutting down:

According to a report by Publishers Weekly, parent company DK is planning to shut down veteran strategy guide publisher Prima Games next year. The move appears to be the result of declining sales for the company’s various official strategy guides in the wake of websites offering similar content for free and closer to a game release dates.


NOTABLE GAME RELEASES:

  • Battlefield V (PC, PS4, and Xbox One)
  • HITMAN 2 (PC, PS4, and Xbox One)
  • OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead (PC)
  • Tetris Effect (PS4)

VIDEOS AND TRAILERS:

KINGDOM HEARTS III – Winnie the Pooh Trailer

Everyone’s favourite half-clothed bear is bringing his friends along for the ride!

Devil Man Cry 5 – First Look at ‘The Void’:

Here’s a look at the special training area found in the game.

Just Cause 4 – Eye of The Storm Cinematic Trailer:

Rico Rodriguez means business!

Battlefield V – Official Launch Trailer:

Return to the hellscapes of World War II for the second time in two years in DICE’s latest take on virtual twentieth century warfare.

OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead – Gameplay Launch Trailer:

The other Walking Dead game adaption is out now on PC.

Metro Exodus – Spartan Collector’s Edition Revealed:

This is a neat looking package.


INDIE SPOTLIGHT:

GRIS is headed to PC and Switch next month:

Publisher Digital has announced that Nomada Studio’s beautiful animated platformer is scheduled for an official PC and Switch release on December 13. The publisher announced the news with a new trailer for the game that shows of its beautiful art style.


INTERESTING READS FROM OTHER OUTLETS:

  • With all the recent hubbub surround Rockstar Games and the crunch that took place during its development, Kotaku followed up its excellent reporting with an exploration of how Blizzard Entertainment avoids the bane of developers’ existence.

OTHER NEWS:

  • Sony has quietly revised the PS4 Pro: Digital Foundry
  • Overwatch’s next update will require a full reinstall: Kotaku Australia
  • Destiny 2: Forsaken’s sales fell short of Activision Blizzard’s expectations: GameSpot
  • Fortnite Battle Royale boasted 8.3 million concurrent players: GamesIndustry.biz
  • Here’s another report about PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS coming to PS4: Eurogamer
  • PUBG Corp. has organised a global PUBG championship series: Official
  • Warframe’s fans have urged the game’s developer to avoid crunch: Kotaku Australia
  • 8BitDo has unveiled a wireless GameCube controller-Switch adaptor: DualShockers
  • Square Enix has pulled three mobile games due to Belgium’s strict loot box laws: GamesIndustry.biz
  • This War of Mine is coming to Switch really soon: Eurogamer
  • Nintendo will remove offensive Native American imagery from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Gamasutra

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