God of War Laufey gets snagged in the reactionary blowback
But some brands can’t help themselves from trying to draft off the latest anti-woke outrage du jour. “God of War game with no Kratos = Pepperoni Passion with no pepperoni,” wrote the Domino’s Pizza UK account on X. “ok thanks for the feedback, dominos pizza corporate account,” Sony Santa Monica wrote back in response.
Control dissonance
Remedy Entertainment’s next action game appeared at yesterday’s State of Play with a release date, but it wasn’t the one that appeared on the YouTube trailer’s description. While the game is officially releasing on September 24, Polygon notes that the YouTube video makes a reference to August 27. That discrepancy hints at a potential last-minute delay. The game is also getting a 48-hour early access period for premium buyers, but only on PlayStation 5. The good news is that the game is only $60, rather than the standard $70 premium price.
“The most important thing is to launch a great polished game,” communications director Thoma Puha wrote on X last night. “Instead of launching too early, I’m sure we all agree on that. We also took great consideration with the pricing of the game.” But as players complained about the lack of early access for PC and Xbox users, he issued a follow-up comment today. “We are working on addressing a few communication issues on a few topics, which always happen when its a global announce and suffice to say, that’s complicated to say the least,” he wrote.
Marvel’s Wolverine won’t get a collector’s edition
The Spider-Man 2 collector’s edition was the origin of the infamous 19 inches of Venom meme, but Insomniac Games’ latest release will stop at the Deluxe Edition. Some fans are disappointed. “The Spider-Man 2 Venom statue was so sick,” wrote one (via IGN). “A Wolverine in that vein would have been neat. Also no special DualSense announcement yet either? Dropping the ball here for sure.” Maybe the other collector’s editions, like last year’s $250 set for Ghost of Yotei, simply didn’t sell that well. That one is currently marked down to just $150.
PlayerUnknown Productions is facing layoffs
The original creator of PUBG, which currently works as an independent subsidiary under publisher Krafton, is being forced to scale back after recent survival games struggled to capture players’ attention. “Unfortunately I have reached the limits of how far I can continue to fund this journey in its current form. As a result, I have made the hard decision to restructure the studio,” founder Brendan Greene wrote in a statement. “We will continue developing our Melba technology with a smaller team, while halting further development of Go Wayback. Our immediate priority is to support our affected employees to the best of our abilities during this difficult transition.”
The creator of El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron joins forces with Vampire Survivors developer Poncle
Seriously, it’s happening. Crim CEO Sawaki Takeyasu wil head up a new team in Japan as part of Vampire Survivors creator Luca Galante’s company, Famitsu reports (via Gematsu). The two are reportedly big fans of each other’s work. Poncle was actually named after the Poncoles in Okami, a game Takeyasu worked on. “In his new role as head of Poncle’s Japan studio, Takeyasu will support the company’s broader goals while establishing a foundation in Japan,” Gematsu writes. “A long-term team size has yet to be determined, but Poncle intends to continue operating with relatively small development teams.”
For anyone interested, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron was one of the coolest cult hits of the late PS3 era.
ICYMI:
- God of War, Wolverine, and everything we saw at Sony’s big June PlayStation showcase
- One of the most hated video game publishers around wants your trust
- New Pokémon Lego sets were revealed and they won’t come cheap
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