Concord DOA, Humble games “transitioning”, COD on Game Pass, Star Wars Outlaws leaks, Fallout 4 gets a massive new mod, voice actors go on strike and Elden Ring is too easy now. All in this edition of This Week in Gaming
The leaked Star Wars Outlaws gameplay footage reveals an opening sequence for protagonist Kay Vess. After surviving a crash landing on a moon, Kay must immediately defend herself against attacking bandits. A local resident offers to assist with repairing her damaged spacecraft, but Kay needs to venture into a nearby town to find work from a crime boss to fund the repairs.
The gameplay showcases various elements of the game, including third-person shooter combat, open-world exploration using a landspeeder, and navigation through a town filled with Stormtroopers conducting identification checks. Kay’s initial attempt to meet with the crime boss proves unsuccessful, resulting in her being ejected from the meeting. However, another local resident presents Kay with an opportunity for a job, which could potentially boost her reputation and earn the crime boss’s respect.
So far so droll and nothing here does anything to dispell our concerns with this game. The story from what little we have seen in contrived however we understand they have to start us off somewhere. The combat and the “open” world seem very on rails or “push button to proceed”. On the bright side the worlds themselves seem to be beautifully realised and the sense of “Star Warsiness” has definitely been captured. We live in hope of course (there is nothing like a good Star Wars game) but so far from all of the gameplay revealed in the previews we have some concerns.
The Concord, a free-to-play extraction shooter developed by Nexon, recently held an open beta test on Steam which received overwhelmingly negative feedback from players. The game’s beta period ran from July 14 to July 17, 2024, but it failed to impress the Steam community.
Insider gaming ran with the news and noted that –
the beta for Concord has a peak player count of just 2,388 players, which happened on Thursday, July 18. Since then, the numbers have continued to drop from an already disappointing level. July 19th saw a max of just 1,654 players; July 20th, 1447; and July 21st, 1,117 players.
As a result, the game received mostly negative reviews on Steam, with only 22% of the 3,716 user reviews being positive. This poor reception has raised concerns about the game’s future success and its ability to compete in the crowded extraction shooter market.
The developers at Nexon now face the challenge of addressing these issues and improving the game before its full release if they hope to attract and retain players in this competitive genre. The has since confirmed the game will not have a battlepass which is welcome news, however we dont see the $40 entrance fee being enough to sustain the game over the long term. Not without a marked uptick in popularity to provide the scale needed for microtransactions to make business sense.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is coming to Xbox Game Pass on July 24, 2024. This addition to the Game Pass library will allow subscribers to access the popular first-person shooter game without an additional purchase. The inclusion of Modern Warfare 3 in Game Pass is part of Microsoft’s strategy to expand the value of their subscription service by offering high-profile titles. This move follows Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which was completed earlier this year, and demonstrates the company’s commitment to bringing major franchises to their gaming platform.
Humble Games, a publisher under the Humble Bundle umbrella owned by IGN, has reportedly laid off its entire team. This news was first shared by Senior QA Emilee Kieffer, stating that it was her and her team’s last day at Humble Games. In response to the leak Humble released a statement, denying the total closure but instead describing it as a restructuring.
“In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects. Additionally, the restructuring of operations at Humble Games will have no impact on operations at Humble Bundle.
We are acutely aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and deeply empathize with everyone affected. Our team’s contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we started publishing in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with as much empathy and understanding as possible.
The impact of this closure/restructuring on Humble Bundle’s future remains unclear. Although what is clear is that the impact of the downturn in the games industry continues to
In what can only be described as a monumental achievment the team behind the much anticipated mod for Fallout 4, Fallout London, has released. The mod is incredibly ambitious and has taken the work of hundreds of modders, voice actors, programmers and other creatives to recreate London in the Fallout universe. Find all the details here – https://fallout4london.com/
In a move which is seen largely as a protest against the use of gnereative AI in video games SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) has announced that video game performers will go on strike starting July 26, 2024, at 12:01 a.m. This strike affects over 2,500 individuals involved in video game performance, including voice actors and motion capture artists.
The strike comes after nearly two years of negotiations with major gaming companies with a primary issue is the unrestricted use of artificial intelligence in the industry. Performers are also seeking protections regarding the use of their images and vocal performances.
We can only hope this issue is resolved soon and that proper protections are put in place for voice actors who must be nervously looking over their shoulders at the advance of generative AI and see the future of their profession in serious jeopardy.
Elden Rings difficulty is legendary. Players will spend hours trying to defeat one boss often dying hundreds of times. But streamer MissMikkaa has decided the game isnt hard enough so beat the game using only a dance mat for a controller. And as if that wasnt hard enough she decided to “spice up” the challenge by also playing with a traditional controller, on a different version of the game, AT THE SAME TIME. Check out the madness in the tweet below.
