1.1: That's Toxic
Sony objects to Microsoft's Activision acquisition, a Tomb Raider script has leaked, toxic gamers spoil the fun + What's Releasing This Week
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Welcome to Volume 1, Issue 1 of Early Access for Wednesday, August 3, 2022. In this issue: Destiny 2’s toxic community makes Bungie go radio silent, Sony objects to Microsoft’s Activision acquisition, there’s a big Tomb Raider leak, EA signs a multi-year agreement with La Liga, and much more.
“You were almost a Jill sandwich!” - Barry Burton (Resident Evil)
REMINDER: As announced on VSG’s Instagram, both editions of Early Access (weekly + monthly) will be delivered to all subscribers for the first two months of the newsletter (August + September). You can still subscribe to the Premium Tier if you want to support VSG, but don’t feel like you need to. You’ll have until October to determine if Early Access is something worth valuing.
The Big Picture
1. THAT’S TOXIC
Bungie: The Destiny 2 developer said it made the decision to reduce the amount of communication with its community due to some developers receiving harassment and death threats. Reacting to a Reddit post noting that Bungie was responding less frequently to community posts, Bungie community manager Dmg04 wrote that “the harassment we’ve spoken to isn’t just rude replies on Twitter or vague comments . . . [but] real threats towards our people and our study.” He added: “We’re taking them seriously, which is leading to an amount of reduced communications as the team plans future protections / strategies to help avoid these sorts of things.”
+ Served: Earlier in July, Bungie filed a lawsuit against Destiny 2 streamer Luca Leone, who it accused of being a serial cheater and having made “threats targeting Bungie and its employees, tweeting about his desire to ‘burn down’ Bungie’s office building and declaring that specific Bungie employees were ‘not safe.’”
+ Sea of Toxicity: All fandoms have their darker side, but the Destiny community has proven itself especially vicious at times. Sure, most of the community is decent. But this is far from an isolated incident or a problem with a “few bad apples”, and Bungie is right to retreat into the shadows for the safety of its staff.
2. OBJECTION!
VGC: The video game industry has providing feedback on the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard to the Brazilian government, which is scrutinizing the deal. Most companies seem perfectly fine with the deal - Ubisoft, Amazon, Google, etc. - except, unsurprisingly, for Sony. In its response, translated by VGC, Sony highlighted the importance of Call of Duty to PlayStation, describing it as "an essential game . . . that has no rival" and a franchise that Sony says "influences users' console choice."
+ Multiplatform Pledge: After announcing the deal, Microsoft pledged to keep Call of Duty multiplatform. But the company later walked that commitment back, stating that it was contractually committed to releasing only the next three versions of Call of Duty on PlayStation platforms, including Modern Warfare 2.
+ Antitrust Implications: There are some questions whether the US government will stop Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision over antitrust grounds, but that’s unlikely to happen. The US has rarely applied restrictive antitrust principles to vertical transactions like this one, and you should expect it to conclude prior to June 30, 2023.
3. TOMB RAIDERS
Sacred Symbols: An alleged script for the in-development Tomb Raider was obtained and shared by Sacred Symbols. According to the script, the game is internally known as “Project Jawbreaker” and is described as an “action adventure game set in a modern-day world rocked by a mysterious cataclysm.” The script contains “casting notes” for Lara, and also describes what appears to be an ensemble cast for the new Tomb Raider. Multiple “tomb raiders” have speaking roles in the alleged script - including characters Devendra and Tanvi.
+ Embracer: Tomb Raider was recently acquired by Embracer Group along with a handful of studios (including Crystal Dynamics) from Square Enix. The Swedish holding company has quietly become one of the biggest names in video games, and now has over 120 internal studios, 230 games in development, and 850 IPs.
+ Legitimate Leak: On Tuesday, Crystal Dynamics issued a DMCA takedown request via Patreon to Last Stand Media (Sacred Symbols). “They DMCA’d Patreon, to have them ask us to take down the offending audio of us talking about the new Tomb Raider game,” host Colin Moriarty said in a video.
4. FALL OF DUTY
Activision: Activision’s monthly active users (MAUs) dropped below 100 million for the first time in nearly three years, the publisher announced. According to the company, its second quarter revenue and operating income declined year-over-year due to “lower engagement for the Call of Duty franchise.” Engagement is expected to rise, however, with the release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on October 28, 2022, and Warzone 2.0 later this year. Activision: “Across the Call of Duty ecosystem, the teams are well positioned to support these launches with substantial live operations while also continuing development of new premium content planned for 2023 and beyond.”
+ Modern Warfare 2: Developer Infinity Ward will share fresh information about Modern Warfare 2 during the Call of Duty League Championship on August 7. Activision is also planning to give away beta codes during the event.
5. EA + LA LIGA
Electronic Arts: EA has announced a “one of a kind, multi-year partnership” with La Liga, Spain’s top football division and home to some of the biggest football clubs in the world (e.g., Real Madrid, Barcelona). The sponsorship deal will cost EA roughly $30 million per year and includes “title-naming rights for all La Liga competitions” and a “complete re-brand of La Liga with EA Sports including all logos, graphics, fonts and other visual elements.”
+ TTYL FIFA: The partnership between EA and La Liga comes after EA and FIFA parted ways after collaborating for 30 years. According to a New York Times report, FIFA demanded “more than double” the amount of money it currently got from EA - amounting to over $1bn for each four-year World Cup cycle. The new football game from EA will be called EA Sports FC.
6. BOTTOM OF THE NEWS
+ Gotham Knights: Warner Bros. Games revealed the first 16 minutes of gameplay for Gotham Knights. Playable either solo or in two-player co-op, the game has players controlling one of four characters (Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing or Red Hood) in an open-world Gotham City following the death of Bruce Wayne. Gotham Knights releases October 25, 2022, for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
+ Level Up: Apex Legends will receive its second level cap increase since launch on August 9, to 2,000. Respawn experience design director Aaron Rutledge: “This will add an additional 345 Apex Packs to what you can earn by account, progression, and that raises the total number of Apex Packs you can earn by playing to 544.”
+ In Space: Outer Wilds is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on September 15. It’ll be available as a free upgrade to existing owners, and include enhancements like 60fps visuals. A Nintendo Switch version is still in development.
+ What Remains of Edith Finch: In a surprise announcement, publisher Annapurna Interactive announced that the game is now available on both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. What Remains of Edith Finch is a phenomenal experience - it was nominated for VSG’s award for Best Adventure Game (2017), and sits at an impressive 93% recommended score on 91 aggregated critic reviews.
Extra, Extra
Here are some highlights from the past week in review aggregation. Check out…
Azure Striker GUNVOLT 3 (Release: July 28, 2022; Platforms: Xbox, PC, Switch; Developer: Intl Creates). With 10 critic reviews, Azure Striker GUNVOLT 3 is currently at 90% recommended. VSG's Verdict: Waiting on Reviews (the MetaMeter requires a minimum of 15 professional critic reviews before issuing an official MetaMeter Score and Recommendation.)
Bear & Breakfast (Release: July 28, 2022; Platforms: PC, Switch; Developer: Gummy Cat). With 10 critic reviews, Bear & Breakfast is currently at 80% recommended. VSG’s Verdict: Waiting on Reviews.
Since launching in 2018, VSG has covered over 560 games and aggregated almost 40,000 critic reviews. Read more stats about VSG, and how the aggregator works.
New Free + Subscription Games - 8/3 to 8/10
Free is the freest form of free.
PlayStation Plus:
Little Nightmares [PS4] - August 2 to September 5
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 [PS5, PS4] - August 2 to September 5
Yakuza: Like a Dragon [PS5, PS4] - August 2 to September 5
Yakuza 0 [PS4] - August 2 to September 5
Yakuza Kiwami [PS4] - August 2 to September 5
Xbox Games with Gold:
Calico [XBO] - August 1 to August 31
Saints Row 2 [X360] - August 1 to August 15
Relicta [XBO] - July 16 to August 15
Xbox Game Pass (PC + console):
Two Point Campus [PC, XSX, XBO] - August 9 to (tbd)
Epic Games Store:
Lawn Mowing Simulator [PC] - July 28 to August 3
Unralled! [PC] - August 4 to August 10
Prime Gaming:
Beasts of Maravilla Island [PC] - August 1 to (tbd)
Family Mysteries: Poisonous Promises [PC] - August 1 to (tbd)
Recompile [PC] - August 1 to (tbd)
ScourgeBringer [PC] - August 1 to (tbd)
StarCraft: Remastered [PC] - August 1 to (tbd)
Zak McKracken and the Allen Mindbenders [PC] - August 1 to (tbd)
New Premium Releases - 8/3 to 8/10
Now . . . bring me that horizon. Upcoming games calendar:
South of the Circle [PC, PS5, PS4, XSX, XBO, Switch] - August 3
Mario Kart 8: Wave 2 Deluxe DLC [Switch] - August 4
Hard West 2 [PC] - August 4
Turbo Golf Racing [PC, XSX, XBO] - August 4
Sea of Thieves: Season Seven [PC, XSX, XBO] - August 4
Diablo Immortal: Season 3 [PC, Mobile] - August 4
Thymesia [PC, PS5, XSX] - August 9
Two Point Campus [PC, PS5, PS4, XSX, XBO, Game Pass, Switch] - August 9
Apex Legends: Season 14 [PC, PS5, PS4, XSX, XBO] - August 9
Lost in Play [PC, Switch] - August 10
Notable release announcements:
Minecraft Steve and Alex amibo figures [Nintendo] - September 9
Outer Wilds [PS5, XSX] - September 15
Notable game delays:
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide [PC, XSX] - PC delayed to Nov 2022, Xbox tba
View all of the upcoming video game release dates (including DLC) for PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, Nintendo Switch, and more, over at VSG.