This Week In Gaming #8 (June 23 – June 29) | Weekly News Summary

If you have ever desired a weekly filling of high-quality gaming news that retains leaks to important tidbits about future titles on the horizon, then you are in the right place. This summary/short youtube video is the weekly dose you need to keep up with current happenings in the gaming industry. This Week In Gaming is a notion by eXputer to shrink weekly gaming news into a short edifying youtube video. The eighth episode of This Week In Gaming is officially available on eXputer’s YouTube channel.

The former week was full of memorable moments and exciting news in the gaming industry. The events assorted from the disappointing release of Sonic Origins and low concurrency to Nier Automata reaching for the moon by hitting a new milestone in sales. Slouch against the couch, with snacks in your hand and device on your lap, and immerse yourself into the palliative 13-minute YouTube video. Or else, if you like treating your eyes to reading, then this summary will prove to be an ideal delight.

Sonic Origins failed to live up to expectations as it flopped on Steam upon release. The game experienced very low concurrency, featuring an all-time high of 2,268 only. Reasons behind failure are rampant bugs like stuttering, poor optimizations, and inadequate controls, to name a few. Furthermore, Sonic Origins is rated “mixed,” with only a 55.25% rating.

The players took to steam reviews to complain about the bugs and vented their disappointment. Even the developer, Simon Thomley, in a series of tweets, unveiled the details concerning the poor performance of Sonic Origins. According to Simon, most bugs came due to the mishandling of Sega and the rushed state of development.

Yuji Naka affirmed that Micheal Jackson wrote the Sonic 3 soundtrack in seemingly random tweets. Hours earlier, before the answer, Yuji Naka raised the question of whether the music in Sonic Origins’ Sonic 3 had been changed from the initially used soundtrack for the new collection, which appears to be the case. While answering a question, Yuji Naka snapped one of history’s ancient gaming myths.

The community took a huge sigh of relief after getting the confirmation. The compilation uses altered arrangements from a Composer, Jun Senoue. SEGA dropped association with Michael Jackson for Sonic 3 due to allegations of child abuse. The rumor had lasted for 28 years, and debates on the topic by fans can still be found on various old forums.

Square Enix has made the sad decision of shutting down the servers of Final Fantasy Record Keeper. The servers will go offline on September 29 this year after an in-game announcement. Square Enix and developers DeNA made this termination official by revealing a few notes in-game (via, Zero-ELEC). Only the global version, which came out on March 25, 2015, will cease to exist as the Japanese version stays online.

The developer behind Tenchu and Kamiwaza, Takuma Endo, alleged that Ghost of Tsushima made Japanese history a genre. He believes that the Ghost of Tsushima greatly influenced developers concerning Japanese culture. While in an interview with Metro, the developer talked about the game’s impact. According to Takuma, developers are more interested in making games based on Japanese culture and history after the release of the Ghost of Tsushima.

Takuma Endo cited, “There was this period where publishers kind of… maybe not refused, but weren’t interested in dealing with games that dealt with Japanese history.” He further elaborated, “Then you have Ghost Of Tsushima that comes along, and it kind of proves the opposite, that there is a market and that people are interested.”

Recently leaked Halo Infinite voice lines suggest that new weapons might emerge. Lines leaked for Iratus notes a new “bandit” weapon and more which is evidently releasing soon. A while ago, a data-miner uploaded a brief audio file in which the AI construct, Iratus, cites a certain new entity (via @Mr_Rebs_). By listening to the voice lines, it can be concluded that this could be a new weapon, likely to be a rifle.

Halo Infinite‘s player count has massively declined due to lack of content and many other reasons. Despite upwards of 20 million player count initially, the matchmaking now takes up to 4 minutes as cited on many forums like Reddit, which is very sad for such a big franchise. No sudden solution is on the horizon, but adding heaps of content may save Halo infinite from succumbing further into depths of despair.

The critically acclaimed Fall Guys made headlines the former week. Fall Guys’ player count saw a massive rise in numbers despite being removed from Steam. Fall Guys concurrent players spiked around 51,000 beans fighting for the crown. The giant peak of 59,920 players happened on June 21 after an extended period of static player count. Those who own the game on Steam will continue to receive updates and benefits.

Fall Guys recently went free-to-play; that, plus the significant updates, has brought in a new batch of players. Fall Guys hit 20 million active players on the Epic Games Store in the first 48 hours of free-to-play. This milestone was commemorated by Epic Games themselves, tweeting out the event to congratulate Devolver Digital.

A leaker has tinkered with Hogwarts Legacy’s official website to discover the list of extras items gamers will receive by purchasing the game. Reddit user u/opalelement is liable for this finding, and they posted the results on r/HarryPotterGame. Moreover, the leak has also been affirmed by the moderators of the sub-Reddit to be genuine.

The findings incorporate a flying mount from the Harry Potter lore, Threstal Mount. Cosmetics like Dark Arts Cosmetic Pack, a Dark Arts Battle Arena, and a Dark Arts Garrison Hat are also included. Although it is not confirmed, these extras will likely be available if Hogwarts Legacy is preordered.

Scorn is slating closer to release, but we had not seen the character model before in full light. Most of the game reveals have only featured the level designs and terrifying creatures. The latest leak (via @Mr_Rebs_.) reveals images of Scorn’s main character looks. It is worth noting that these are the main character early prototypes, so the final design may have a disparity between night and day.

A recent youtube video by TriangleCity showcases all the primary cut content from the main questline in Fallout 3. The highlights of this video are many. The detailed video discusses everything in lavish detail, from new events in vaults to never-before-seen features. It also includes side missions as big as main quests. One of the big highlights is the Tranquility Lane, where the player enters a new simulation of a different world.

Other discussions include the questline altered amid development, including cut characters, quests, items, and dialogue alongside inaccessible areas, forgotten notes, and new maps from early development. A sub-topic also talks about over 240 endings. In an interview on OXMPodcast, Todd Howard had something to say about the endings, “Being that we are Bethesda, everything gets a bit big. So as of last week, we’re over 200 endings.”

Tencent’s LIGHTSPEED STUDIOS announced their new project dubbed Code: To Jin Yong. The announcement unveiled a thrilling new trailer revealing fluid movement, combat, and wuxia-inspired adventure. The teaser starts with the message, “Every Man Is A Piece Of The World.” 

The official description reads, “Code: To Jin Yong is a tribute to well-known wuxia writer Jin Yong. The new game is based on the world created in his wuxia novel series.” The game utilizes Unreal Engine 5, and no set release date has been announced yet.

The day before developer called for volunteers to help with its project. Fntastic added a new page to its website, asking for volunteers to help with its projects. The game was delayed to 2023 following a shift to Unreal Engine 5. The developers are seeking help from the community to finish the project on time. 

July is appearing to be very eventful. According to Tom Henderson and his reliable sources, EA is going to disclose FIFA, Need for Speed, and Skate 4 in July. It’s not evident when each game will be unveiled, but it’s understood that the Need for Speed and FIFA announcements are likely to take place in the second half of the month.

On the topic of Need for speed (2022), images of the game have leaked ahead of release. Even though the images don’t reveal much about the gameplay, the graphics are definitely an advancement, as formerly cited by Jeff Grubb that the upcoming Need for Speed (2022) will “adopt a stylized aesthetic combing photorealistic graphics with anime elements.”

Deafened footage of Saints Row (2022) reboot was also leaked last week which revealed the campaign introduction without any audio. The video incorporates the night-life glamour of Santo Ileso and the setting from inside, what appears to be a nightclub. It also includes interactions between the gang members and the character. 

Slating towards some canceled projects in this episode of This Week In Gaming, pictures from canceled Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II leaked online. Recent images—now deleted—from the canceled version of the sequel developed by Hardsuit Labs have emerged online. Viktor Blanke, the designer, has given us a more in-depth insight into his work from this time period. Based on some of the screenshots shared, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II seemed quite promising.

Images from the canceled Scarface 2 (2008) were also leaked online, revealing the amazing state of the dumped project. YouTuber Mafia Game Videos revealed that the cause for the revocation was Activision after it acquired Radical Entertainment, the parent company for the franchise. The gameplay footage for Scarface 2 had also surfaced. The general plot dictates that Tony Montana was forced out of Miami and went to make his new empire in Las Vegas.  

This Week In Gaming episode also discussed sales, NieR: Automata has reportedly sold a staggering amount of 6.5 million-plus copies after half a decade since its inception. NieR:Automata garnered a flattering reception besides some bugs after immediate release, achieving global triumph. The nostalgic title is still high in demand with copies of the game still being sold after half a decade.

Apple earned more in gaming than Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo Combined without making any games. The goliath earned a staggering $13.5 billion in gaming revenue, in the year 2020. As compared to the trio of companies, along with Activision Blizzard (the proprietor of the Call of Duty franchise) accumulated just $6.5 billion in gaming revenue in 2020.

The primary cause for this gaming revenue for Apple is the fee it charges developers. The company will get 30% of all the in-app purchases, subscriptions, and any other applicable fees from developers. This alone has caused the company to surpass the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo combined.