🎮 2 new CEOs for PS, Assassins Creed Shadows, Halo and PS...
2 new PS CEOs, Assassins Creed Shadows reveal, Halo is potentially coming to PlayStation, The Finals are not doing so good, The Last of Us Season 2 shots and a new Tomb Raider series
Hello friends,
Today is May 16th 2024 and I hope you’ve had a great week 🙌
In today’s news:
🎮 2 new PlayStation CEOs
🎮 Assassins Creed Shadows reveal
🎮 Halo is coming to PlayStation?
🎮 The Finals are not doing so good
🎞️ The Last of Us Season Two shots and concerns
🎞️ New Live-Action Tomb Raider series
All of this is brought to you in a 5 min format ⏲️
Let’s dig in!
🎮 2 CEOs are better than 1?
I think almost every news outlet has already covered it, but this week PlayStation released 2 new names that will replace Jim Ryan as CEO starting from June 1, 2024. Also, PS will be split into 2 business units.
Hermen Hulst will be managing the PlayStation Studio Business Group. This group is responsible for PlayStation’s first-party games as well as PlayStation IP in TV and other media.
Hideaki Nishino is going to lead Platform Business Group. This is about hardware, technology, accessories, network and third-party relations.
Both guys already reacted on X (Twitter) to this and of course, they are both very excited and honoured to be appointed and all that jazz. Both Nishino and Hulst will report directly to Sony Interactive Entertainment chairman Hiroki Totoki.
Almost every other company is going through some sort of restructuring right now. But I’m wondering if things are going to be different in any way, shape or form for the regular people on the ground. We’ve already heard outrageous news about inflated CEO and executive bonuses after multiple rounds of layoffs (not necessarily about PlayStation) and the general notion of higher-ups protecting their own instead of people.
I am wondering if things are going to be any different this time around 🤔
🎮 Assassins Creed Shadows reveal
Yesterday we finally got a reveal for the newest AC game and the title speaks for itself.
The description says: “In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you will live the intertwined stories of Naoe, an adept shinobi Assassin from Iga Province, and Yasuke, the powerful African samurai of historical legend. Against the backdrop of the turbulent late Sengoku period, this remarkable duo will discover their common destiny as they usher in a new era for Japan.”
The full gameplay reveal will be available in June 2024 and the release date is set to be on November 15.
I remember that back in the days when Ubisoft was just thinking about expanding their universe, fans were begging for them to go to the samurai and shinobi direction. It’s a real pleasure to see it’s finally happening, even after so many years 😅
🎮 Halo is coming to PlayStation?
This is another rumour from Insider Gaming, it seems like more and more titles are allegedly coming to the PlayStation platform.
According to recent reports from Windows Central, a bunch of different Microsoft titles are currently in development to be ported to PS under the codename “Latitude.” The report behind the original article didn’t specify what games he was talking about, but he did say “They’re potentially obvious games you’d most likely expect.” So, naturally, there is a lot of speculation about the Halo and the Gears of War franchise. But everybody is banking on the former, as Halo has been on a roll for the past few years a lot more than Gears.
Again, it all revolves around the fact that the top management of Microsoft has been given a mandate to increase every department’s margins.
It’s kind of funny to see that happening now, considering the holy wars that have been waged for years between Xbox and PS users. But money is the ultimate motivator and with both companies going through restructuring and layoffs, it seems like it’s time to forget the old grudges 🤑
If you are enjoying the journey so far, you might as well subscribe to start getting all of this goodness right to your mailbox ✉️
🎮 The Finals are not doing so good
Do you remember the game The Finals? It came out of nowhere at the end of last year and took the world by storm! From a game that nobody had heard of before to dominating Steam charts for a couple of months.
But it looks like it’s not doing so well anymore. According to the recent financial report from Nexon (publisher and developer), “The launch of Season 2 in March created a short-lived increase in player metrics but delivered lower-than-expected retention and revenue. The Embark team is working with our Korea-based Live Operations team to understand and address the key issues.”
Steam charts are also quite interesting. From almost 250,000 players, the game was steadily declining and now it sits at around 15,000 players.
It’s a good example of the case where overnight success doesn’t necessarily mean long-term benefits. But it’s not all bad, the dev team is working closely with their LiveOps to understand and address the issues. And they expect the game to get some traction with its 3rd season launching in June.
I have played this game for a bit, but competitive shooters are not my cup of tea anymore. But I’m eager to hear from you guys, have you played this game? Do you it’s worth it to give it another shot?
🎞️ The Last of Us Season Two shots and concerns
Thanks to Kotaku, we now get a chance to see some of the shots from the upcoming continuation of one of the best series ever produced in the history of television.
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Both of these photos seem to represent the first episodes of season 2. Ellie is in her winter coat, probably during a patrol sequence with Dina during the first moments of The Last of Us 2 and Joel is in the middle of a confrontation with Ellie during the town party when she first kissed Dina.
There is a concern however, that’s brewing around the community right now regarding Bella Ramsey’s age. From the game perspective, it’s been 5 years since the end of TLOU 1 and 2, but in the real world, Bella still looks like the same teenage girl we’ve seen in the first season.
Even after her amazing performance as Ellie, some fans say that HBO needed to recast her because “she’s no longer right for the character”. This is probably going to be the first time that I’m advocating for a deviation from the source material, but I think a recast would’ve been a mistake. Just because the actress really did a great job with the character and to bring someone new… I don’t know, it would’ve been really big shoes to fill.
After all, it’s an adaptation and I’m sure HBO will do everything to adapt the script as close to the game as possible.
🎞️ New Live-Action Tomb Raider series
It’s in the works and it’s coming to Amazon Prime.
It’s been quite some time since Amazon purchased the right to the IP and now the new series has a writer and executive producer, Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag.
“If I could tell my teenage self that this was happening, I think she’d explode. Tomb Raider has been a huge part of my life and I feel incredibly privileged to be bringing it to television with such passionate collaborators. Lara means a lot to me, as she does to many, and I can’t wait to go on this adventure. Bats ‘n all," said Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Of course, it’s too early to tell any sort of timeline, but it’s probably going to be an Amazon Exclusive. I’m for one looking forward to any new details about the series.
What do you think about a new series? Are you excited to see Lara Croft on a big (or almost big) screen again?
This is all the news I have for you folks today.
Thanks for making it this far! 🙌
If you are enjoying the journey, you might as well subscribe to start getting all of this goodness right to your mailbox ✉️
Have a great week!
Alex from Gamedev Relay.
From a story teller's perspective it would be better if The Last of Us season 2 picked up right after the first season and fill in the blanks or tell an apocryphic side story. No point in sticking exactly to the games.