Good morning gamers! In March, Netflix announced that they’ve released 55 games, with 40 more releasing later this year and 70 others in development by their various video game partners. Although many of us haven’t yet ventured into the games section of our Netflix catalogs, we might be soon since they’re developing an exciting new game.
The former Studio Art Director of God of War, Raf Grassetti announced that he has joined Netflix to work on an original IP AAA game. Grassetti says that he’s excited to join a talented team featuring industry veterans such as Joseph Staten (343 Industries), Jerry Edsall (Overwatch) and Chacko Sonny (Gears of War 4 & 5). The game will reportedly be multi-platform and will take players to a new world “with deep mysteries and endless adventures”.
Video Game industry reporter Benji-Sales suggests that the game might be some sort of cross between an MMO and an online connected world game.
The Red-FALL
Redfall should have been Xbox’s first major first-party exclusive since Halo Infinite but it was instead met with disappointment and below average reviews. It was riddled with glitches and an overall lack of identity, often referred to as unfinished and confusing. So, what went wrong? Jason Schreier of Bloomberg dug into the development process at Arkane. Here’s the TL;DR.
Development on Redfall started in 2018, more than 2 years before Microsoft acquired Arkane’s parent company ZeniMax.
ZeniMax was encouraging their studios to focus on games that could generate revenue in perpetuity, essentially leaning on the "games-as-a-service" bandwagon and games that were more widely applicable.
Arkane’s management team described and pitched Redfall as a "Multiplayer Arkane game" which was not part of the studio's identity or expertise.
The developers were often confused by management's “vision” and often cited misalignment and confusion amongst the different teams bringing the game to life.
Microsoft acquired ZeniMax in 2021 and Arkane devs were hoping that Microsoft would either cancel Redfall or reboot it as a single-player game. Instead, Microsoft took a hands-off approach allowing them to continue to operate autonomously (but still canceled the PlayStation 5 version).
Redfall had significant microtransaction plans for the first 3 years of development, but pivoted once that system became controversial amongst gamers.
Arkane’s lack of expertise, and extreme attrition rate resulted in them needing external support from Roadhouse Studios (delaying the game past its initial 2022 release date).
Esports Corner
🥇Congratulations to Nigma Galaxy for winning the ESL Impact event and to all the winners of the DreamHack Fighters competition.
Last week the LCSPA (North American League of Legends Player Association) voted in favour of a walkout to protest Riots change in policy for the NACL. In response, Riot Games has delayed the start of the LCS by two weeks and is threatening to cancel the entire LCS summer season if a resolution is not found (which would also eliminate LCS teams from qualifying for 2023 Worlds). Both Riot and the LCSPA are in active discussions to resolve the issue in a way that’s beneficial to the players, fans and esports as a whole.
According to sources, Activision is considering hosting the World Series of Warzone LAN Finals in London this September. The Global Finals will feature a $600,000 prize pool between the trios tournament and the solo tournament, and will showcase the worlds best Warzone players.
The Esports Awards are officially going back to Las Vegas to host their 2023 ceremony. The event will take place on November 29th and 30th, and will be broadcast live across the world. The nomination format for the 2023 ceremony will allow organizations, brands and individuals (regardless of size or popularity) to submit nominations through the new self-nomination format. The Esports Awards will have a total of 31 categories.
Riot is taking their League of Legends spinoff Teamfight Tactics to new heights in the esports world. In December, they will be hosting a 512 player open-bracket tournament in Las Vegas (anybody can participate but priority will be reserved for top ranked players and content creators). This will be the games first ever in-person event of this magnitude, and it will be held close to the release of the S10 set. No others details have been announced just yet.
Gaming Roundup
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will feature an open world that is twice the size of the previous game and you can instantly switch between Peter and Miles.
Ubisoft Forward will take place on June 12th at 10am PT. The showcase will feature Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and more.
ZeniMax is reportedly working on a new MMO IP that is a third-person multi-platform open-world action RPG built in Unreal Engine.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater developer Konami has confirmed in a new interview that Hideo Kojima will not be involved in the remake.
Activision Blizzard King was ready to buy Time Warner a few years ago according to CEO Bobby Kotick in his first extensive interview since 2012.
Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree will reportedly be a massive DLC because FromSoftware is putting all their post-launch content plans into one expansion.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart will launch for PC on July 26th. The game was ported in collaboration between Insomniac Games and Nixxes.
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