Put Em' Up
Edition 47 - October 25th to October 31st
Good morning gamers. We promise not to talk about the metaverse.
Warner Bros. seems to have an awesome platform fighting game on the way featuring their different IPs. Last week the PlayStation State of Play updated fans on the status of their third party games, while Call of Duty revealed the dates for the destruction of Verdansk. You’re going to want to keep scrolling.
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Warner Bros - A New Fighter Has Entered
Platform fighting games are a subgenre of the fighting category popularized by the Super Smash Bros. franchise. It differs from mainstream fighting games like Mortal Kombat through the use of various stages, bigger battles, unique items and unconventional point systems. Last week we learned that WB Games is developing their own platform fighter called “Multiversus” (registered trademark) featuring characters across their IPs such as Batman, Shaggy/Scooby Doo, Gandalf, Mad Max, Fred Flintstone, Johnny Bravo, Tom & Jerry, and some Harry Potter characters. The game is rumoured to be similar in style to the Super Smash Bros. games but will have an extra emphasis on tag-team battles.
The rumour originated on Reddit but was later corroborated by Jeff Grubb saying that “This WB platform fighter is real, but it is not a Netherrealm game”. He also added that the game could be free-to-play with future characters being sold as DLC, one of which might be LeBron James. The leak also claimed that the game was inspired by fan art that designed Shaggy (from Scooby-Doo) to look like he was from Dragon Ball. Warner Bros. liked the idea so much that they added Ultra Instinct Shaggy to the opening animation scene of the Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms movie.
Super Smash Bros. pro player Hungrybox randomly chimed in to the conversation and claimed to know that the project was real. His claims were quickly dismissed by the fanbase but he later released an image from the character selection menu. It was quickly taken down through a DMCA strike by WB Games, essentially confirming its legitimacy. Then, a few days later, screengrabs from the game's battle sequences with additional game details surfaced online. Needless to say, it seems like the game is real.
PlayStation - State of Play
On Wednesday, PlayStation held a State of Play event which showcased first looks and updates on upcoming third party releases for the PS4 and PS5. The PlayStation workforce has grown by 20% this Fiscal Year and the company plans to continue to “aggressively invest” in new developers. Let’s take a look at the third party games coming to PlayStation.
Star Ocean The Divine Force is a new sci-fi fantasy RPG that will be coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and Steam in 2022. The game is being developed by Tri-Ace and published by Square-Enix.
Little Devil Inside is an action-adventure game where explorers search for monsters and supernatural events in a 19th century inspired world. The game is designed to be slow and to allow the player to feel emotions and to “take-in” different atmospheres.
Death’s Door was originally released on Xbox Series X/S on July 20, 2021. The game is now coming to PS4 and PS5 with additional enhancements on November 23rd.
First Class Trouble is a multiplayer game where you’re trying to complete tasks while a rogue AI is trying to kill you. The game is launching on PlayStation Plus for PS4 and PS5 on November 2nd.
King of Fighters XV is a classic 3-on-3 team battle system game with a large roster of fighters. The Open Beta test for PS4 and PS5 starts on November 19th.
Deathverse: Let it Die is the sequel to the 2016 game but it is now a multiplayer survival action game. It is being developed as a free-to-play title and coming to PS4 and PS5 in 2022.
We Are OFK is the story of how the indie band became friends and started releasing music. The game is set to be released on the PS4 and PS5 in 2022, alongside OFK’s debut E.P.
Call of Duty - Goodbye Verdansk
Successful battle royale games often struggle to keep their communities engaged. Fortnite has mastered the ability to continuously change their original map and add new content. Call of Duty will now be destroying Verdansk, their original Warzone map released in March 2020.
Call of Duty: Vanguard is launching on November 5th which will offer players a new multiplayer, campaign and zombies experience. Players who pre ordered the game can already preload it to their consoles.
Verdansk is set to be destroyed by a bomb but that doesn’t mean the fun is over. From November 18th to December 1st, the celebration of Verdansk will be taking place with flashbacks to different events that players experienced over the last 18 months. After December 1st players will not be able to play Verdansk ever again.
Warzone Pacific kicks off on December 2nd alongside the new RICOCHET Anti-Cheat system. Players who purchased CoD: Vanguard will be able to play the new battle royale map 24 hours prior to it becoming free-to-play.
Esports Corner
FaZe Hits $1B
FaZe Clan, one of the most recognized esport organizations in the world is becoming a publicly listed company on the NASDAQ with a proposed valuation of $1 billion. FaZe is merging with B. Riley Principal 150 Merger Corp (BRPM) and will be renaming itself to FaZe Holdings Inc. (with the ticker symbol FAZE). The merger has already been accepted by both sets of Board of Directors and once finalized, FaZe will be considered the very first “esports unicorn”. Some of FaZe's future growth plans include branching out more heavily into NFTs, branded peripherals, unique major partnerships and an expansion into new esports competitions outside of what they’re already competing in.
The Tempest Awards 2021
The Tempest Awards are the world’s only recognition program for excellence in the business of esports. With award season quickly approaching, we thought it would be appropriate to cover some of the 2021 winners and join them in their mission of shining a spotlight on the innovation driving the competitive gaming industry. You can see the full list of winners on The Tempest Awards website but here’s a select few that caught our eye.
Esports Event of the Year: 2020 League of Legends World Championships
Esports Team of the Year: 100 Thieves
Esports League/Series of the Year: Call of Duty League
Best Esports Activation on Twitch: Verizon “5G Wild Rift Invitational”
Brand of the Year: Gillette
Equality In Esports
Riot Games and HyperX have partnered for the remainder of Valorant’s VCT Game Changers EMEA inaugural season. The expansion of VCT Game Changers to Europe was only announced in September, with the first tournament of the series already concluded. The event propels women esports to the top of the competitive scene and gives them a stage to compete on at major scale. The HyperX Head of Global Partnerships Jessany Van’t Hoff said “at HyperX we celebrate and empower all gamers to be their best [...] We’re proud to support the VALORANT Game Changers series in EMEA and look forward to witnessing the next generation of a more gender-equal esport”.
Game Review - Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is everything that we wanted Marvel’s Avengers to be. Square Enix redeemed themselves with this single-player action-adventure game. The campaign offers players an in-depth and detailed story of the Guardians and it captures their movie and comic book characters perfectly. The gameplay is fun, but you’re limited to playing only as Starlord, which can be repetitive after a while. If you’re expecting to play as all the Guardians and you don’t like playing the leadership role of Starlord, then this game is not for you. The graphics and game performance were exceptional on the PS5. The soundtrack fits the game well but it fell short of the classics used in the movies. For the Marvel fans who are looking to learn more about the Guardians and live through comedy, action and teamwork, this game is definitely for you. We give Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy a score of B+.
Gaming Roundup
Sony is reportedly reviving the inFamous series with a brand-new Playstation exclusive game. This news comes from Xbox Era podcast host Nick Baker who shared the confirmation from his most trusted internal source at Sony.
Blizzard has officially announced that they’re taking a step back and cancelling the upcoming BlizzConline event. They will still be making announcements and updates for their games, but not as a traditional event.
Sony has officially created a new “PlayStation PC” label for their operation of adding PlayStation games to PC. The new label coincides with Sony’s plans to make PlayStation's IPs accessible to a wider audience.
Illogika and Ep1t0me are working on a new singleplayer and story-driven horror adventure set in the “A Quiet Place” Universe. The game is set to be released in 2022 and it will tell a new story that was not in the movies.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Snoop Dogg said Dr Dre is making great music and “some of his music is connected to the GTA game that’s coming out”. Unfortunately, it is not clear which Grand Theft Auto title Snoop Dogg is referring to.
Payday 3 has confirmed the return of the original four characters Dallas, Hoxton, Chains and Wolf. The characters will face new challenges in New York City as crime has evolved since their last job.
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