🎮 Resident Evil 9 Announcement, Switch 2 Plans, A Quiet Place Story Trailer...
Resident Evil 9 official announcement, Nintendo’s plans with Switch 2 resells, A Quiet Place - Story trailer, Japan wants to cancel AC: Shadows, Microsoft and Surgent Studios layoffs and more!
Hello friends,
Today is July 4th 2024 and I hope you’ve had a great week 🙌
In today’s news:
🎮 Resident Evil 9 official announcement
🎮 Nintendo’s plans with Switch 2 resells
🎮 A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead - Story trailer
🎮 Japan wants to cancel AC: Shadows
🎮 More layoffs at Microsoft and Surgent Studios
🎮 Robocop devs are working on a new ARPG
😄 Personal Update
All of this is brought to you in a 5 min format ⏲️
Let’s dig in!
🎮 Resident Evil 9 official announcement
We finally made it, folks. According to IGN, Capcom confirms the next Resident Evil is in Development with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard director Koshi Nakanishi at its helm.
Of course, there’s not much to add at this point, but Nakanishi seems to have the majority of stuff figured out. In his own words:
It was really difficult to figure out what to do after. But I found it, and to be honest it feels substantial. I can't share any details just yet, but I hope you're excited for the day I can.
I’m thrilled we are getting some titles and not just another sequence of remakes. Though there is that rumour that Code Veronica and Zero are in the works, I probably shouldn’t hold my breath. But I’m very curious as to the direction of the series because I’m not a fan of the 7 and Village. What I’m really hoping is that RE 4: Remake made enough splash for Capcom to realize that they had a winner all along.
And I’m still a little bit upset they’ve decided not to make Resident Evil 5 Remake…Grumble.
🎮 Nintendo’s plans with Switch 2 resells
So, with Switch 2 being a thing Nintendo decided to lay out some plans on how they will combat both the shortage of consoles and some individuals that capitalize on this opportunity.
Thanks to Insider Gaming, we know some of the things that will contribute to this plan, for example:
Nintendo will make sure that they provide an appropriate amount of stock so that the supply matches the demand
The President of Nintendo stated they will consider the “circumstances in each region”
Semiconductor shortage will not be an issue for the Switch 2
Well, we’ve definitely heard that before. But it’s good the company at least plans for these things and considering multiple scenarios.
But then again, I’m a bit biased with a Switch because I’ve never owned one and I probably would’ve waited if I were on the market for one.
🎮 A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead - Story trailer
Just a little bit after the official announcement of the game, thanks to the developer Stormind Games and publisher Saber Interactive, we have a first look at the story.
Based on the trailer, it looks like we are going to experience another flashback to Day 1 of the monsters’ arrival, the adaptation to this new threat and maybe even survival elements. You’ll be playing as Alex, an asthmatic college student trying to survive the end of the world with her boyfriend Martin. And I bet there would be a huge emphasis on her asthma.
There are a few gameplay shots there as well and it looks like you’d need to be really-really careful with everything you do out there.
I have to say, after diving into the movies once more over the past few weeks, I’m looking forward to this one. I’m especially interested to see any explanation as to who these monsters are, why are they here and what do they want. As far as the movies go, it doesn’t look like they are here for the food or resources. They just kill anything that moves makes noise.
If you haven’t subscribed yet, this button is just for you ⤵️
🎮 Japan wants to cancel AC: Shadows
The latest addition to AC roster faced quite a bit of controversy since its announcement and there is even a petition in Japan calling for a ban and/or cancellation of Shadows.
Despite the general majority of fans rooting for this setting for years now, Japanese fans said that Ubisoft went a bit too far. The general concerns are related to historical accuracy, cultural respect and even racism. The petition gathered more than 40k signatures at the time of the writing and more is coming in every day.
The text of the petition:
Recently, the lack of historical accuracy and cultural respect has been a serious issue regarding the upcoming game “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” by game developer Ubisoft. The game is based on Japanese samurai and ignores the fact that samurai were a higher class of warrior class and should have been “gokenin” or servants of nobles. In fact, the first European to receive the title of samurai, William Adams (Miura Anjin), served Tokugawa Ieyasu as a 250 koku hatamoto. In this history, Ubisoft continues to misunderstand the nature and role of samurai. This is a serious insult to Japanese culture and history, and may also be linked to Asian racism. We call on Ubisoft to immediately cancel the release of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” and show sincere research and respect for Japanese history and culture. We need your signature. Sign this petition to let Ubisoft know the importance of cultural respect and historical accuracy.
It’s a good example of the community trying to let their voices be heard. I’m looking forward to seeing how Ubisoft will respond to these comments and what they will do next. But I’m almost certain that the answer is nothing.
🎮 More layoffs at Microsoft and Surgent Studios
With Microsoft, it’s not really a huge surprise. Earlier this year the company announced a plan to cut approximately 1900 people from its video game workforce. So they are seeing this plan through, unfortunately.
The interesting case is Surgent Studios which announced laying off a dozen employees just a few months after their first game release - Tales Of Kenzera: Zau. What’s interesting is that at least according to reviews the game is quite good. It’s not a huge AAA release, but it’s still not a bad start.
The studio hasn’t offered any explanation as to why, but they’ve made this statement:
Unfortunately, Surgent has joined the growing number of games studios impacted by layoffs this year with just over a dozen people affected. It's a difficult time in the games industry, but we remain incredibly proud of our entire team's work on Zau, and of the praise it has received from critics and players alike. Our focus now is on supporting those affected, continuing our work on Zau, and looking to the future with our next creative projects.
And again, the company makes a public statement looking to the future with the next creative projects while letting people go. I’ll always be amazed by these corporate statements…
🎮 Robocop devs are working on a new ARPG
Thanks to Insider Gaming, there’s been a discovery that RoboCop: Rogue City developer Teyon is currently hiring a few key roles for an “unannounced action RPG project.”
Of course, currently, there are little to no details about the game itself. The only thing that’s confirmed is that it will be an Action RPG for PC and consoles. And they are currently looking for a few roles, like a C++ dev, game designer and cutscene designer. So it looks like the narrative part will be a big deal on this one.
Based on their latest title and the previous one, the team knows what it’s doing and Robocop is a great game, but a little bit too short for my taste. Still, it feels like they already have the experience and the capacity to produce something great. So, let’s wish them a good luck!
😄 Personal Update
The first week after a vacation is always the hardest, eh?
I’ve been quite busy at work, but all in all I’m very happy to be back. The following months are going to be quite busy, so I’m glad that I had this time to rest for a bit.
Also, after spending almost two weeks without any particular game to play, me and my friends decided to give Baldur’s Gate 3 another go and try the evil path for a change. Initially, we planned to wait for the mod support, but unfortunately, we are not going to get one for a few months.
But if you know a good coop game, let me know and I’m always happy to pitch something new to my party 😅
This is all the news I have for you folks today.
Thanks for making it this far! 🙌
If you feel like supporting me and my work, consider Powering-Up GameDev Relay 🎮
Have a great week!
Alex from Gamedev Relay.
Ah, the age of corporate fails...
Microsoft being Microsoft: buying brands, laying off employees, then waits decades to do something about a brand, and makes a semi interesting remake with a... Hmm... Female lead with a beauty of modern cannon (aka Perfect Dark).
Let's hope Japan succeeds in boycotting Ubisoft. This checklist-based creative work is getting boring.
Interesting about the complaints from Japan, though I suspect there is a lot of right-wing nationalism behind those sentiments. After all, I can think of tons of Japanese movies that are not very favourable towards the Samurai, either.