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The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman
Image: Syfy Wire
··4 min read

Doublejump Digest: October 7, 2018

This week in gaming: Telltale “saves” The Walking Dead, Nintendo might be working on a new Switch, PSN name changes may be around the corner, 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:

  • Emily entered the Mayan jungle as Lara Croft and found Shadow of the Tomb Raider to be a “fantastic” end to the adventurer’s rebooted trilogy.
  • F1 2018 is the latest in Codemasters’ licensed racing series, and Kristian very much liked how “incredibly authentic” it represents the finest motorsport.

Major news:

Telltale Games fires remaining staff, gets external studio to finish The Walking Dead:

According to former Narrative Designer Rachel Noel, the embattled adventure game developer has let go of the “skeleton crew” of 25 employees that it kept behind to finish its Minecraft Netflix project. While the company has yet to confirm the news as of this writing, it has contracted Skybound Games to finish The Walking Dead: The Final Season. The Walking Dead creator and Skybound founder Robert Kirkman announced the news at New York Comic-Con.

“We’ve successfully negotiated with Telltale Games for our company Skybound to come in and see Season 4 of the Telltale game to completion,” Kirkman told attendees at the event (via Variety). “We can’t lose Andrew Lincoln and Clementine in the same year.”

Report: Nintendo is working on an update Switch:

The Wall Street Journal Japan has reported (via IGN) that Nintendo is developing a revision of its hybrid console with a replacement for its “low-end” display in addition to other software and hardware changes. The outlet cited parts suppliers and “others with direct knowledge of the plan” as sources for its report, but Nintendo has yet to comment on this speculation.

Report: Developers are getting ready for PSN name changes:

“Three people at three different game studios” have reportedly told Kotaku that they have been updating their code to support the ability for PlayStation Network members to rename their accounts soon. The outlet also claimed that a fourth source provided a photo of an “edit username” option on a user profile screen. Sony has yet to comment on this development as of this writing.

Fortnite’s next event supports content creators:

Earlier today, Epic Games announced that it will pay out a portion of V-Buck sales from Fortnite’s upcoming “Support-A-Creator” event to community members who create items for the game. From “next week’s Fortnite update” until December 31, players can select to support creators by entering their Epic tags in chat when in Battle Royale’s Item Shop or Save the World’s Loot tab.

Google is testing game streaming through its Chrome browser:

It looks like Google’s game streaming efforts have started to take shape sooner than expected with the company announcing that it has begun testing 1080p/60 frames-per-second streams of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey through its Chrome browser on laptops and desktops. A “limited number of participants” have been invited to take part in the US-only “technical test” from this weekend, which requires a minimum 25 megabit-per-second connection to work.

Mike Morhaime is stepping down as Blizzard CEO:

Morhaime, who co-founded Blizzard 27 years ago, made the announcement via the company’s official blog and introduced his successor, J. Allen Brack.

“After many years of working with some of the industry’s most talented people to create games and worlds for you to play in, I’ve decided it’s time for someone else to lead Blizzard Entertainment,” he wrote. “I will now serve as an advisor to the company I so love and admire.”

Beck headed World of Warcaft development since joining the company 12 years ago and used the same blog post to announce that Diablo III and Overwatch developer Ray Gresko is stepping up as Chief Development Officer and will be joined on “the executive team” by World of Warcraft Lead Designer Allen Aldham.

Notable game releases:

  • Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (PC, PS4, and Xbox One)
  • Mega Man 11 (PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One)

Videos and trailer releases:

Red Dead Redemption 2 – Official Gameplay Video Part 2:

This game looks incredible!

Forza Horizon 4 – Official Launch Trailer:

Britain never looked so good.

JUMP Force – Yugi Gameplay:

Everyone’s favourite boy-possessing Dark Magician is ready for some cross-over fun!

SOULCALIBUR VI – Inferno Character Reveal:

The lava person itself wants in on the action.

Other news:

  • The Witcher’s author wants more money from CD Projekt RED: Eurogamer
  • Ubisoft claims that DDoS attacks have hampered Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s online experience: PC Gamer
  • The Seattle Police Department has taken a major step towards combating “swatting”: Eurogamer
  • Waze is getting a Forza Horizon 4 voice pack: Xbox Wire
  • Black Ops 4’s Blackout mode on PC will be capped to 120 fps at launch: Eurogamer
  • EA has chosen to take a “wait and see” approach regarding keeping Christiano Ronaldo as FIFA 19’s cover athlete: GamesIndustry.biz
  • Muthead is hosting a livestream for victims of The Jacksonville shooting: Muthead
  • Some PUBG players have ended up in regions outside of their own after an update: Eurogamer

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