The Doctor Called

Edition 36 - August 9th to August 15th

Aug 16, 2021

Good morning gamers. We hope that you’re enjoying the Summer.

Last week, one of the gaming industries top personalties decided to form his own gaming studio. Battlefield 2042 had much of its technical beta details leaked on social media, and Power Rangers fans are left wondering what could have been. You’re not going to want to miss any of this editions gaming and esport news.

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Dr Disrespect - Game Studio

Dr Disrespect has built one of the most well known brands in the gaming world. The two-time Blockbuster video game champion has accomplished everything there is as an influencer in the gaming space. However, prior to being this larger than life internet personality, Herschel "Guy" Beahm IV worked in the gaming industry. The Doc has now set his sights on forming a new AA/AAA gaming studio with BoomTV.

The vision for the studio is to partner with popular content creators and help them launch their dream gaming title. The concept is interesting if they are involved in the process from start to finish. Oftentimes, content creators are brought in to consult for games at the Alpha and Beta testing phases. The job posting for a Studio Head goes on to say that the ideas from content creators will be thought out and developed by indie game developers and launched as mega titles.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare saw him work as a level designer contributing to maps such as Solar, Horizon, Instinct, Ascend, Recovery, Slideshow, Site 244 and Quarantine. At this point he was no longer the community manager at Sledgehammer Games and his new role caused him to put a pause on the Dr Disrespect persona in 2012.

Rogue Company teamed up with the Doc to design a map for their free-to-play third person shooter. After an exchange with Hi-Rez Studios on twitter, both sides worked together to make a distinct new map. The studio even added a Dr Disrespect character skin in-game as part of their agreement.

Battlefield 2042 Update

The Battlefield 2042 release is still a few months away but that didn’t stop the myriad of information circulating social media last week. The events that lead to Battlefield 2042’s all-out warfare were revealed with the premiere of the standalone ‘Exodus’ short film, and those part of the technical beta were leaking game information (despite being under NDA).

*Spoilers ahead*

EA has no traditional campaign planned for Battlefield 2042 so they’re telling the game's narrative in other ways. Battlefield 2042 takes place after the events of Battlefield 4 where a satellite is falling to earth and it’s a race to extract it. Battlefield 4’s Kimble “Irish” Graves returns - no longer a Marine, but the commander of the No-Pat vessel Exodus, is forced to choose between the lives of the 200 refugees on his boat and the future of all the Non-Patriated. You can watch the ‘Exodus’ short film on Battlefield’s official YouTube channel.

What’s new?

The technical beta is using a version of the game 3-4 months old meaning that it is not the current internal build, nor is it fully optimized. Xbox Series X|S seems to offer the smoothest performance, followed by PC. The PlayStation 5 test was cancelled due to performance issues.
Kimble “Irish” Graves is the newest specialist sporting a “Fortification System” specialty where you can set a DCS Deployable Cover to block incoming fire and use a APS-36 Shootdown Sentinel to eliminate explosive projectiles.
Four game-modes have been seemingly confirmed; Conquest, Hazard Zone, Breakthrough and Rush.
User r/MrNomNom9 on Reddit posted a very elaborate set of notes from his technical beta experience on a shared Google Doc. You can also watch a few minutes of HD gameplay here.

Power Rangers - What Could Have Been

Batman: Arkham is a fantastic action-adventure series developed by Rocksteady Studios and Warner Bros. Games Montreal. The popularity of the series led to four instalments and an upcoming spinoff co-op game called “Gotham Knights,” where you’ll be able to play as Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin and Red Hood.

According to Jason Biscoff, a former Saban Interactive employee, in 2016 they wanted to create a Power Rangers co-op game styled after the Batman: Arkham series. The idea was to present Power Rangers in a new lens, while providing players with an amazing open world co-op experience. Biscoff states that they had the concepts for a co-op game five years prior to the Gotham Knights announcement.

Why not? Unfortunately, the studio did not have enough budget or support at the time to see the project through. Therefore, Bischoff was given permission to create a pitch package for the game to present. The pitch resulted in some favourable talks with developers and publishers, however, a shift in the business saw interest in the project fizzle out.

What now? Power Rangers continues to be a popular franchise with episodes of the show available on Netflix. The 2017 Power Rangers movie received mediocre reviews but it grossed $142.3 million USD worldwide at the box office. Fans are still hopeful that one day Power Rangers will get a AAA game the franchise deserves.

Esports Corner

Overwatch League is Taking a Break?

Last week there was a reputable rumour circulating that the start of the Overwatch League season 5 was going to be delayed past their usual starting date, possibly leading towards a year-long hiatus. The reason for such a delay is reportedly due to Activision Blizzard's commitment towards starting the next competitive season with Overwatch 2. Within 30 minutes of the report being published, Jon Spector, the Overwatch League VP directly addressed the rumour saying “ We have not set nor communicated dates about our 2022 season yet but do not plan to take a 'year-long hiatus' in any scenario we are considering currently”.

Ninjas in Pyjamas Return to LoL

Sweden-based esports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP) has completed their merger with Chinese esports company eStar Gaming Victory Five (ESV5). The new company will be called ‘NIP Group’ and it will allow NIP to join Riot’s Chinese League of Legends Pro League. The Victory Five team, who went 0-16 in the 2021 LCL Summer Split, will be rebranded to NIP for the 2022 season. This is one of the biggest moves that NIP has ever made, and it aligns with their ultimate goal of becoming a “truly global esports organization”.

Rocket League vs. Smurfs

Psyonix and Epic Games have announced new party queue changes coming to Rocket League in Season 4. In an effort to eliminate smurfing and upholding its gameplay integrity, players 3 ranks (or more) apart can no longer queue together in 3v3 ranked playlists or scheduled tournaments. This change makes it so that when two players queue into a match, their third player will be at a similar rank to them. According to the press release, these changes are creating a “better experience for those solo queuing”.

Game Review - Tribes of Midgard

Tribes of Midgard is a resource gathering, action-RPG that puts survival and co-op elements at the forefront of the game. As a Viking living in a Norse open-world, you’re trying to prevent Ragnarok by defending your village from deadly spirits and gigantic brutes. The game offers a streamlined approach to the survival genre with action that never really slows down. It features a decent selection of modes to keep players entertained but has a gaping need for consistent content expansions to ensure longer-term playability. Our favourite aspect of the game was definitely the art style. It may not have the bruteness you’d come to expect from Norse Mythology but it’s magical and extremely pleasant to the eye. Tribes of Midgard is an enjoyable experience with lots of potential especially if you can gather some friends to play with. We give it a score of B.

Gaming Roundup

According to industry insider Tom Henderson, 343 Industries has spent years developing a Halo Battle Royale. Henderson also states that it is unclear if the mode has been scrapped or when/if it will be released.
Idris Elba will be voicing Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. According to leaks Knuckles will be teaming up with villain Dr. Robotnik (Hedgehog, 2020) to build and destroy civilizations.
According to Kotaku, Rockstar Games may be remastering Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City and San Andreas for all platforms including the Nintendo Switch. GTA V Expanded and Enhanced edition for next generation consoles is releasing this November.
The rumoured Marvel XCOM game is supposedly set in the Marvel Universe but will not feature any of the existing heroes. According to Jeff Grubb, the game will focus on the supernatural elements of the Marvel Universe.
In their recent investor relations announcement, Remedy Entertainment said that ‘Control’ has now surpassed 10 million players. They also confirmed that a larger budget, AAA Control sequel is in full development.

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