New Games On The Horizon
New Games On The Horizon
E112: Embracer Group has 224 game projects in the pipeline.
Good morning gamers! Embracer Group’s Q3 financial outlook showcased extremely positive results but aside from all of the dollar signs and growth percentages, their pipeline of games and planned release schedules drew the most attention. According to Embracer, they have 224 projects in the pipeline, 94 of which are scheduled to release by Fiscal year 2024 (58 are still unannounced).
Out of their 224 total projects, 31 of them (28 from internal studios and 3 from external studios) are AAA games scheduled to release by Fiscal year 2028, and 19 of them by Fiscal year 2026. Embracer defines a AAA game as one that has,
More than 100 full-time game developers at peak development phase.
Notable or significant marketing budgets and expected to sell a minimum of 2 million units.
If development work is paid by an external partner, Embracer has a notable economic upside.
Digging deeper into some of the details we already knew about Embracer’s development plans,
Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics are expected to release five AAA games by Fiscal year 2028. Perfect Dark, Tomb Raider and Fable are already in development, while the Deus Ex reboot and a new Eidos Montreal IP are only rumors right now.
Middle-Earth Enterprises said that five video games based on “The Lord of The Rings” IP are in development and will be released by March 2024 (the only confirmed game is Lord of the Rings: Gollum by Daedalic Entertainment).
The Last of Us & I Am Legend
The Last of Us directors banned the word “zombie” during filming. According to cinematographer Eben Bolter, The Last of Us isn’t a zombie show and on set they were to be referred to as the “Infected”. Bolter was a fan of the games when they first released and often recommended them to friends. Bolter said that even though there are jump scares and tension building, the “show is really about our characters”.
I Am Legend screenwriter Akiva Goldsman said he’s “obsessed with The Last of Us, where we see the world just post-apocalypse but also after a 20-30-year lapse”. Goldsman went on to indicate that New York will be the featured location of I Am Legend 2 starring Michael B. Jordan and Will Smith (who is returning as his original character). Despite Will Smith’s character dying in the movies original ending, they will use the alternate ending.
Esports Corner
🥇Congratulations to G2 Esports for winning IEM Katowice 2023 and to (once again) G2 Esports for winning the 2023 Rainbow Six Invitational.
The Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) is officially returning to Rio (Brazil) from April 17th to April 23rd featuring 16 teams and a total prize pool of $250,000, with the winner also receiving a direct invite to IEM Cologne 2023. Six partnered teams received direct invites to the event (Na’Vi, FaZe, Vitality, NIP, MOUZ and Fnatic) while the other teams qualified through various regional events (FURIA, Heroic, Outsiders, Cloud9, OG, 9INE, BIG, IHC Esports, 9z Team and MIBR).
The Global Head of Valorant esports Leo Faria has confirmed that Riot Games is working on bringing a professional Valorant league to China. This was revealed during a VCT LOCK//IN press conference after Riot Games received their license to launch the game in China. There are no timeline or structure details just yet, but two Chinese teams, Edward Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix, are competing in the VCT LOCK//IN.
Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group has invested $265 million into Chinese esports startup VSPO who specializes in running and promoting competitive events. This investment is said to support and “develop the rapidly growing global esports sector for the benefit of the global esports community”. Savvy now has the opportunity to expand more significantly into the Asia region, while their ownership of the ESL (+ DreamHack and FACEIT) keeps them strong in the West.
Riot Games have partnered with GRID to release the Valorant Data Portal, a platform that gives professional and casual Valorant players access to comprehensive in-game data for both private and public games. It is currently available to all 30 partnered VCT teams competing in the VCT LOCK//IN, and public rollout details will be announced at a later date.
Gaming Roundup
Respawn Entertainment wants Apex Legends to last 20 years. Similar to Counter-Strike, they want it to be self-sufficient and to stand on its own.
Valheim, the viking survival and exploration game set in a Norse inspired world is coming to Xbox and Steam on March 14th with full cross-play compatibility.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor game director Stig Asmussen says the game won’t be on PS4 or Xbox One to allow for larger maps, more detail and greater density.
Dead Island 2 has officially gone gold with a release date set one week earlier than initially intended - April 21, 2023.
Wildlight Entertainment is a brand-new studio by Titanfall, Apex Legends and Call of Duty veterans working on a AAA “Epic Shooter”. The game is already fully funded.
Metro Exodus sequel is deep into development at 4A Games and is reportedly already fully playable. A 2024 release window is looking very feasible.
Firaxis Games head Steve Martin and Marvel’s Midnight Sons/XCOM director Jake Solomon are leaving the studio.
Lies of P, the upcoming soulslike action RPG by Round8 Studio is releasing on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (via Steam), old-gen consoles and Game Pass in August 2023.
Diablo IV is having an early access and open beta over the last two weeks of March. The level cap is 25 and progress does not carry over to the full game.
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