This Week In Gaming – July 23

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The next couple of months are gearing up to be filled with news thus, we are still in limbo status. This is a good time to get through the backlog or just make a list of stuff you want to get/play. Here’s a few news bits to cover and then a conversation points to follow.

News Roundup

• Ubisoft is looking less and less stable with multiple delays and a couple cancellations.
• There’s a lot of new job listings and a few new studios being formed by industry veterans.
• The Last of Us Part 1 is seeing some slight controversy.
• The Activision acquisition deal could be approved as soon as next month.
• Digital Extremes (Warframe devs) announced their new game and the next Warframe expansion.

Ubisoft has been losing popularity among the public over the last few years but I think it’s indicative of the games they’ve been making and the culture in their workplace. A few months ago there was talk about a potential acquisition. It seems they’ve been going down that road as of late. The Ghost Recon battle royal, Ghost Recon Frontlines has been canceled as well as a few other games. Assassins Creed Rift was delayed among other titles such as Avatar Frontiers of Pandora. Ubisoft has a lot of good IP under their umbrella. It sucks to see them in this position when I could think of a few games that could get a sequel, reboot or remaster and they’d be back in the conversation. There’s a Ubisoft show coming up soon and I’m hoping they show some stuff to get the community excited.

Not too much to say here. This is more so to put people on notice that new game studios are being made (which is always exciting). Also new job listings are being posted too, which can sometimes indicate what games are in development.

• Sucker Punch (the devs behind Ghost of Tsushima and Infamous) have posted job listings for a “stealth action game” which could very well be a follow up to Ghost of Tsushima.
• The Coalition (Gears of War devs) posted a job listing for a Gears of War level designer. This is interesting because before, there’d been listing and posts for a new IP. I hope they’re being worked on in unison.
• Bruce Straley (Developer on The Last of Us and Uncharted) has founded a new studio called “Wildflower Interactive”. I’m interested to see what’s going to be made as I’m very fond of his previous works.
• A group of industry veterans who worked on games like Halo and the Batman Arkham games, have formed a new studio as well and theirs is called “Jar of Sparks”.

Like I said there’s not much to say here. Just a lot of pieces moving which is always good. More devs and job listings means more development which means more games. More games means a happier more diverse gaming community.

The Last of Us has been deemed a PlayStation staple and videogame all-time classic. I’m glad this game has accumulated such a following to the point that it’s getting a streaming show adaptation. The most recent entry was a technical wonder in a lot of aspects and the development team wanted to give the same treatment to the original Last of Us, thus, “The Last of Us: Part 1” is born. This upcoming title is controversial because people think it’s a cash grab or another anti-consumer practice because it’s the same game with some “upgrades” but it costs $70. Personally I’m not in agreement with the $70 price point because the game has been out since 2013. They’re not changing the story or the game sequences. As far as I know they’re just changing the graphic quality, animations of characters, and mechanical gameplay. I will never know how to do what the devs are doing so I don’t want to belittle or criticize their work. We will just have to see when the game comes out. With all that being said I do think it’s a good idea that it’s being rereleased. It’ll gain a lot of traction with the popularity of the show and it’s a chance for new gamers to experience it for the first time and that’s always a good thing. All in all, I’m intrigued with how this is going to pan out.

Without knowing all the minute details, this week it was reported that the Activision Blizzard and XBOX deal could get approved as early as next month. Once again not much to say because I’m pretty sure no joint plans can/will be announced until the merger is complete. So there’s only space for conjecture and speculation until a statement addressing the future roadmap, is made.

Tennocon took place last weekend where they showed their next Warframe DLC and their next game, Soulframe. There’s not too many details out about it but I’m happy to know there’s another game from this amazing team on the way. I love Warframe. It’s one of the few MMOs that I can play consistently so I’m exciting to see this new high fantasy game from Digital Extremes.

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Conversation of the Week

This is a new section that I want to incorporate every week (because I just figured out how to turn on comments). I’m hoping to get some good feedback and some good conversations going.

This week I just want to ask what’s your favorite time in gaming. Whatever the specific game you remember is, or what was your favorite console ? Also what are you playing and what do you like about it ? Let me know in the comments below.