A relatively quiet week but still some good gems in here.
Before I begin…
Can a written series be labeled as “episodes”?
and…
I hope you’re doing well homies!
That’s what I’ve been sitting on all week, and this is what I need answered. This has been a quiet week so this one might be a bit on the shorter side so my apologies.
As I mentioned last week, this will be a constantly evolving series as I look to include different topics and mess around with the structure. Any and all feedback is appreciated!
Also, I am working on my Dying Light 2 playthrough so I can get a review together. My co-op homie left me to go play Lost Ark though so I’m down bad.
Rockstar finally acknowledges Grand Theft Auto 6
Possibly the most demanded video game for the past several years has been the next entry in Rockstar Games’ titular open world series: Grand Theft Auto. Rockstar finally broke their silence on Grand Theft Auto 6 in a low-key manner via a blog post released last Friday telling gamers worldwide that work on the next entry is well underway.
With the unprecedented longevity of GTA V, we know many of you have been asking us about a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. With every new project we embark on, our goal is always to significantly move beyond what we have previously delivered — and we are pleased to confirm that active development for the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is well underway.
Rockstar Games
Now, this broke the internet, and of course it was well deserved. Fans having been begging for it, rightfully so as we’ve seen Grand Theft Auto V be released on almost three generations of consoles which equates to about 9 years of Michael, Trevor and Franklin. That’s almost half of their average players’ life span (just jokes). I was 18 when GTA V came out, and I’m now 27 almost 28.
While this is good news, let’s just slow our carjacking, step back and give my take on the news:
- Rockstar has been villainous as of late with its milking of Grand Theft Auto V (three dang generations worth) and Grand Theft Auto Online. Not to mention, Red Dead Online fans are drowning in lack of content, and the Grand Theft Auto Remaster launched abysmally but still brought in huge money which is really bad news (lazy work rewarded). While they are most certainly going to make a good game, keep your eyes peeled as we get more information to see what type of stunt they try to pull.
- We probably won’t see this game until 2023/2024 or even 2025. This last isn’t that big a deal, but it does bring to point a lot of concerns gamers have regarding teasers/announcements and far off release dates.
Pleas don’t get me wrong; this is incredible news for fans of the series. My takes are coming from a guy who still hasn’t finished Grand Theft Auto V in its 9 year life cycle.
Ubisoft is lost in the NFT sauce
Ubisoft just can’t help themselves.
The Ghost Recon franchise is set to hit its 20th anniversary this year which is a pretty big achievement. Per Kotaku, to celebrate the achievement, they’re giving the hard working developers of Ghost Recon Breakpoint a special gift which shows how much they love the game: a Ghost Recon 20th anniversary cap NFT.
I think I’ve mentioned it before, but if I haven’t, the developers don’t even understand why Ubisoft is so hellbent on including these. This “gift” is such a slap in the face to those who make the games especially when the game this NFT is in isn’t a good game.
If you are a boss, please don’t take notes on how to treat your employees from Ubisoft.
Trailers
GhostWire: Tokyo
GhostWire: Tokyo got a hefty trailer last week during a PlayStation official showcase. The game looks like a mash up of Doctor Strange and Bleach (the anime), and I think it looks really good/unique. The game launches March 25, 2022 on PlayStation 5 and PC.
Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart, that Bioshock-esque game featuring killer robots in the Soviet Union like setting and a dash of Wolfenstein, finally has a release date, and I’m stoked. They dropped a hype trailer announcing the game will release sometime in 2022 in a month that ends with “BER” (either September, October, or November). Mick Gordon, the badass composer behind Doom/Doom Eternal will be composing the soundtrack, and it’s already looking good for us. It’ll be released on pretty much every current platform, minus the Nintendo Switch (sorry guys), and it will be on GamePass.
Massive W for those who have been waiting for this!
Esports News
TSM esports VP saw the damage the Call of Duty League would cause
In case you missed it or aren’t aware, back in 2019 Activision Blizzard announced they were going to be terminating the Call of Duty World League and the Call of Duty Pro League in order to franchise Call of Duty a la Overwatch League (also owned by Activision Blizzard).
Fast forward to 2022, and both of the mentioned leagues are in flames: the Call of Duty League has been heavily criticized since it started for just about everything, the Overwatch League is MIA, and Activision Blizzard is in the middle of being acquired by Microsoft while dealing with Bobby Kotick and his regime of terror.
In an interview with Upcomer, Team Solo Mid’s (TSM) vice president of esports, Dominic Kallas had a lot to say about the org not being in either of the leagues because “it takes a lot of time and focus to be a member of one of those leagues”. He also goes to mentioned he joined TSM because they weren’t in either league and how the current state of Call of Duty: Warzone (cheaters galore) would’ve ruined the image of whatever team he joined.
Ouch.
Kallas was a former member of Gen.G which had a team in the Call of Duty World League prior to the change in franchising. He goes on to mention Gen.G and TSM would still be invested in CoD if there wasn’t a shift to franchising. The interview concludes with the hope that the Microsoft acquisition can change the course of both the leagues which I think a lot of fans are banking on.
Now, you’re probably wondering what any of this means. From my basic understanding, franchising is bad because orgs have to pay an exorbitant amount of money (rumored buy in for the CoD League was $25 million per team) just to participate with no guarantee the league will even succeed. On top of that, franchising reduces the amount of talent we get to see. Halo Infinite launched it’s first event in December 2021 that saw over 512 teams sign up. The Call of Duty League has 12 teams in total and that 12th spot got filled up like a month before the season started.
In my honest opinion, this is a really good take. Seeing the state of both titles, Overwatch 2 never releasing, Call of Duty Vanguard divisive as ever and the shift to Warzone seemingly becoming a main priority, makes me wonder what these big orgs who shelled out tons are feeling.
VALORANT NA Main Event and Yoru Rework
This Friday starts NA’s comeback tour in the VALORANT scene as 12 of NA’s best teams battle it out over the course of a month. I’ve been doing Watch Parties for any of the events that I am able to, and I’m stoked to be able to do one for this event over on my Twitch channel.
In other news, if you’re one of the five Yoru fans, Riot gave us more news on some of the reworks that are coming to the duelist.
A lot of his new abilities look good, and while I think his pick rate will rise, I don’t think it’ll do much to him in the pro scene. But then again, a lot of people said that about Neon until AKREW Kanpeki used her and dropped a meaty 27 piece on the Kansas City Pioneers on Fracture.
Other news
- Sifu, the martial arts game from developer Sloclap released on Feburary 8th. The game has received some high praise for it’s gameplay but criticism has been directed at its difficulty. I’m going to try it out at some point because it looks good, and I love getting beat in games.
- Ubisoft is looking to release a standalone Assassin’s Creed title starring AC Valhalla‘s Basim according to Jason Schreier. Also, Beyond & Good Evil 2 is in pre-production after all these years, but honestly I don’t even know if this game will ever see the light of day.
- On the flip side, Jade Raymond and Haven Studio are working on their first project coming for the PS5 and PC.
- Dying Light 2 Stay Human alpha footage has surfaced from 2020. It’s pretty cool how close it looks to the final product albeit some changes to the overall finished product. I’m currently going through the game on stream with my friends, and it’s quite the experience.
- Battlefield 2042 players are demanding a refund. Angry buyers have taken to creating a petition that has garnered over 85,000 signatures on Change.org. I don’t know how far it’ll get, but I’m hoping they can make something out of nothing.
- Going off of this, a former Battlefield developer has taken to Twitter to talk about his disappointment in the state of Battlefield 2042. It hurt to read his tweets as I imagine he’s pretty sad how EA and DICE have treated the game as of late.
- Tom Holland wants to star in a live action Jak & Daxter movie as he looks to become the Thanos of Naughty Dog titles. Yes you read that right, and if they make a movie before another game, I’m going to lose my mind. Oh and this tweet came out so there’s that.
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