2.6: Grand Theft Trailer
Grand Theft Auto 6 grabs the spotlight; BG3 and sentient wheels of cheese; record profits, but it's been a tough year for workers in the game industry; and more
This is Volume 2, Issue 6 of Early Access for Wednesday, December 6, 2023. If you enjoy Early Access, please hit the “heart” button at the very top or very bottom of this post, or on the bottom-left corner of the Substack app. It helps more people find the newsletter, which helps VSG grow! Let’s get right into the news.
The Big Picture
1. GRAND THEFT TRAILER
Rockstar Games was due to release its first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 on Tuesday. But on Monday night, an anonymous X (Twitter) user uploaded a watermarked, poor quality version to the site. Rockstar, clearly frustrated, posted the official version shortly thereafter, writing, “Our trailer has leaked so please watch the real thing on YouTube.” Rockstar developers were also frustrated. Senior gameplay animator Javier Altman blasted the leaker on X, for example, writing that it robbed the development team of the opportunity to watch the live reaction and relish the moment. “This fucking sucks,” Altman wrote. “I was hoping to watch this for the first time tomorrow along with my fellow teammates and coworkers. I feel we deserved that moment.”
+ A Momentous Occasion: Even if you don’t like GTA or Rockstar Games, there’s no denying that the GTA 6 trailer is one of the biggest reveals in the history of gaming. The numbers don’t lie: the trailer amassed nearly 100 million views (and counting) on YouTube in its first 24 hours. That’s more than the Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom reveals combined.
+ Release Date: Rockstar confirmed a 2025 release window for Grand Theft Auto 6 and indicated that it will launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S initially. When in 2025? It’s not clear. But Take-Two executives, as recently as August 2023, have signaled in its earning projections that it expects there to be a “significant inflection point” in fiscal 2025, the obvious catalyst being the release of GTA 6. Be warned, however, that Rockstar has a long history of delays.
+ PC Version: Rockstar did not announce a PC version for GTA 6, but it’s really not a question of “if” as “when.” And the bad news for PC gamers is that the answer is very unlikely to be 2025 (even assuming a March 2025 console launch). GTA 5, for example, was released on PS3 and Xbox 360 in September 2013, and then in November 2014 on PS4 and Xbox One. The PC version didn’t arrive until April 2015 - 19 months after the console debut. Red Dead Redemption 2 was a little kinder - arriving a mere 13 months after its October 2018 console release, in November 2019. Given its history, then, its probably fair to assume that GTA 6 will come to PC in either 2026 or 2027.
+ Netflix Collab: Last week, Netflix announced that it is adding Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition on December 14 for Netflix members on the App Store, Google Play, and in the Netflix mobile app.
2. SENTIENT WHEELS OF CHEESE
Larian Studios revealed a number of interesting statistics about how people have been playing Baldur’s Gate 3, one of which being that a lot of players transformed their characters into sentient wheels of cheese at one certain point in Act 3.
Other stats of note:
players have collectively logged 452,556,984 hours, or over 51,662 years, in-game;
of that time, 71.6 million hours (or 8,196 years) were spent in character creation;
Paladin is the most popular class;
Shadowheart is the most popular romantic interest;
1.3 million people have beaten the game.
+ Critical Acclaim: Baldur’s Gate 3 has been nominated for Best RPG in the 2023 VSG Game Awards. And heading into The Game Awards, BG3 has a whopping eight nominations, making it tied with Alan Wake II for the most nominations in the show.
3. LEGO FORTNITE
The collaboration between Epic Games and the Lego Group is finally coming to fruition with the announcement of Lego Fortnite, a new free game that will play something like Minecraft or Lego Worlds and will live inside Fortnite starting on December 7. That’s not the only new game coming to Fortnite - as teased in the Big Bang finale event, Rocket Racing (an arcade racing game) and Fortnite Festival (the rebirth or Rock Band) are coming on December 8 and 9.
+ Return: Fortnite is experiencing a bit of a resurgence lately, thanks to the return of its original map. According to Epic Games, the free-to-play juggernaut enjoyed its biggest 24-hour period in early November following the release of Season OG. And earlier this month, the publisher announced that the game broke its own record by surpassing 100 million players in November.
4. GAME PASS ON EVERY SCREEN
Last week, Xbox’s chief financial officer, Tim Stuart, told attendees at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit that Microsoft’s ultimate goal is to bring all of its content and services “to every screen that can play a game.” Some of Stuart’s comments were misconstrued to suggest that Microsoft wants to bring Game Pass to PlayStation and Nintendo platforms. Xbox boss Phil Spencer was quick to provide clarification, however, noting that Microsoft currently has “no plans to bring Game Pass to PlayStation or Nintendo” and said that Xbox spends “over a billion dollars a year supporting third-party games coming into Game Pass” and to maintain the subscription service.
+ Stealth Launches: Xbox recently added Remnant: From The Ashes (2019) and the critically-acclaimed Remnant II (2023) to Game Pass out of nowhere. A number of notable titles were also added/on their way: SteamWorld Build (12/1), Rise of the Tomb Raider (12/5) and Far Cry 6 (12/14).
+ Activision Deal: The impact of Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision was a central current in Stuart’s remarks. On that front, it’s worth noting that Microsoft is back in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today arguing with the FTC over the deal. Now, 37 venture capital firms have come out in opposition to the FTC’s appeal.
5. A TOUGH YEAR FOR WORKERS
2023 has been a phenomenal year for games, but a tough year for workers in the video game industry, despite record sales and revenue being reported. On Monday, EA announced a round of layoffs at Codemasters following the launch of racing games F1 23 and EA Sports WRC, which have reportedly struggled commercially. ““Our business is constantly changing as we strive to deliver amazing games and services that keep our players engaged, connected, and inspired,” an EA spokesperson told IGN. “At times, this requires the company to make small-scale organizational changes that align our teams and resources to meet evolving business needs and priorities.”
+ Reshuffle: EA has been restructuring its gaming subdivision for some time - particularly those working on racing games. Last year, for example, the Dirt 5 team at Codemasters was integrated into fellow EA-owned studio Criterion Games “to create the future of Need for Speed.”
+ Widespread Job Losses: The gaming industry is posting record profit, but industry workers continue to get hammered by layoffs. Other companies instituting layoffs in 2023 include: Embracer Group, Xbox Game Studios, Epic Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, CD Projekt, Unity, Ubisoft, Riot Games, Blizzard, Crystal Dynamics, BioWare, Striking Distance, Team17, Frontier Developments, Telltale Games, Digital Extremes, Amazon and Digital Bros. Brutal.
6. BOTTOM OF THE NEWS
+ Dragon Age: Dreadwolf: Developer Bioware had the extreme misfortune of releasing their latest Dragon Age: Dreadwolf trailer just moments before the leak of the GTA 6 trailer. What we got was just a teaser, with a full reveal coming in summer 2024. But it did hint at some story beats - you’ll be tasked with forging a “courageous fellowship to challenge the gathering storm” - and introduced one of the game’s antagonists - a character who sounds a lot like Patrick Stewart and who promises that "all the world will soon share the peace and comfort of my reign.”
+ Elden Ring DLC: FromSoftware producer Yasuhiro Kitao said that development on Elden Ring’s upcoming expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, “is going well.”
+ Outcast: A New Beginning: Expected to launch on March 15, 2024. The game is a direct sequel to the 1999 classic, one of the pioneers of the open-world format.
+ EA Sports College Football: EA Sports College Football is on track for a Summer 2024 release after Electronic Arts settled a lawsuit with The BrandR Group and OneTeam Partners, two agencies specializing in licensing deals for student-athletes. From EA: "We're pleased to move on from these claims and look forward to delivering EA Sports College Football in Summer 2024."
Read the Reviews
Here are some highlights from the past week in review aggregation. Check out…
Gangs of Sherwood - VSG is waiting on more reviews to provide a recommendation, but Gangs of Sherwood is currently at 30% recommended, with 10 critic reviews.
Last Train Home - VSG is waiting on more reviews to provide a recommendation, but Last Train Home is currently at 90% recommended, with 10 critic reviews.
A Highland Song - VSG is waiting on more reviews to provide a recommendation, but A Highland Song is currently at 69% recommended, with 13 critic reviews.
Plus a ton of updates to existing games in the database, including: Venba, LEGO 2K Drive, Viewfinder, El Paso, Elsewhere, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, and more.
Since launching in 2018, VSG has covered over 730 games and aggregated over 47,000 critic reviews. Read more stats about VSG, and how the aggregator works.
New Game Releases - 12/06 to 12/13
Now . . . bring me that horizon.
Upcoming games calendar:
PlayStation Access controller [PS5] – December 6
Arizona Sunshine 2 [PC VR, PSVR 2] – December 7
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora [PC, PS5, XSX] – December 7
The Day Before [PC] (Early Access) – December 7
Lego Bricktales VR [Quest] – December 7
Terminator: Dark Fate - Defiance [PC] – December 7
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader [PC, PS5, XSX] – December 7
Back Then [PC, PS4] – December 8
Stargate: Timekeepers [PC] – December 12
Pioneers of Pagonia [PC] – December 13
View all of the upcoming video game release dates (including DLC) for PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, Nintendo Switch, and more, over at VSG.
Early Access is written by Josh Lurie. Josh developed a deep love for video games playing Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt with his dad. He will unashamedly quote Dumb and Dumber in any conversation, and his favorite game is Sea of Thieves.
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