The past week continued with a healthy mix of gaming news, both good and bad. Although we have plenty to look forward to considering E3 and Summer Game Fest are just around the corner, we are once again faced with delays for upcoming games as well as new issues in games that have been on the market for quite some time. At least the movie industry is set to make a comeback in theaters while Netflix is looking to grab a piece of the gaming industry for itself.
Summer Game Fest 2021 Schedule Announced
Summer Game Fest starting before E3
E3 is just around the corner, but Summer Game Fest 2021 has just announced that its global opening event will start before that. To be more precise, Geoff Keighley will do The Kick-Off Live event two days before the beginning of E3, on June 10th at 2:00 pm ET (11:00 am PT). In the days after the kick-off, several big events will take place, including Ubisoft Forward, Steam Next, and EA Play events. After that, and over the course of the summer season, many other notable developers and publishers will have their own digital events and presentations.
Geoff Keighley had several things to say about the event. While he can’t organize it due to the pandemic, he said he’d love to go back to having some parts of the show be physical again. Second, having seen all the delays and disappointments of 2020. – he noted people on the internet should keep their expectations in check. Probably alluding to the possibility of further delays of anything new showcased during Summer Game Fest. For more information on the dates and schedule, check out our original news coverage.
Starfield reportedly won’t release in 2021.
It’s reportedly nowhere near done
Despite rumors of Besthesda’s space RPG Starfield being close to finished, multiple sources claim a 2021 release is still too early. Industry insider Jason Schreier and others on Twitter backed up the statement that Starfield is not ready just yet. The game is definitely going to be showcased during E3 2021 but again, people should keep their expectations in check in terms of the release date.
This news comes on the back of some HD images of the game’s 2018 build being leaked. The said images were the first thing that suggested the possibility of 2021. release, but once again, according to Schreier, the more probable release window is the tail end of 2022. For more information on Starfield and its possible release date, check out our original news coverage.
Netflix is looking to expand into the video game business
The question is will we download games or stream them?
An anonymous source reported that Netflix is currently is on its way to break into the video games industry, eyeing veteran executives from the field to oversee this massive expansion. The report indicates that Netflix is looking to offer its customers a bundle of games in an online subscription, not unlike Apple Arcade. There’s still a couple of open questions like if the games would be offered as a part of an existing subscription or something completely separate. What’s known is that the company has decided that its games will not feature any advertising.
Then there’s the question of tech that’s going to be used. Netflix is all about streaming, so having games being downloadable would go against that principle. On the other hand, game streaming is still very niche considering the fact that fast-speed and stable internet connection is an absolute requirement for it to work properly. Even the possibility of this had a positive effect on the company stock so it will be exciting to see how they handle the foray into the world of gaming. For more information, be sure to check out our original news coverage.
Titanfall games under yet another DDoS attack
Titanfall can’t catch a break
Titanfall games have long been suffering attacks from either a single hacker or by a well-coordinated group of hackers. The issue and the fact that EA has done nothing to solve it has gone under the radar up until recently when the player base for Titanfall 2 soared to new heights. A little over a month ago, Respawn acknowledged through a tweet that both games in the series were negatively impacted by hackers and also promised that a fix was inbound.
Unfortunately, the issue still hasn’t been solved and it even got worse over the past couple of days. Hopefully, Respawn manages to find a way to fix all the vulnerabilities as Titanfall 2 is still one of the best multiplayer games out there, despite releasing way back in 2016. For more information on how DDoS attacks are affecting the game, check out our original news coverage.
Overwatch 2 is changing the game with 5v5 PvP teams
The news recieved mixed reception
Upcoming Overwatch 2 is bringing some changes to the core PvP game. The first one is a set of changes for the tank class which usually played a supporting role – damage mitigation, protecting teammates and enabling ranged combat from a safe distance. While there are still no details on the specifics, the tanks in Overwatch 2 will be far more aggressive and attack-focused.
This also ties into the fact that PvP modes will no longer be 6v6 but 5v5. Rather than having two of each class, the famed Tank class will only be played by one person. According to the game director, this was done in order to make combat easy and understandable. In other words, more appealing for new fans to jump on board the Overwatch train. For more information on the changes, check out our original news coverage.
Eternals are finally coming to the MCU
The long-awaited Eternals movie is intended to be one of the first movies of Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to the plot synopsis, Eternals—an immortal alien race created by the Celestials reunite to protect humanity from their evil counterparts, the Deviants. The teaser trailer leaves much of the synopsis aside and takes its time simply showcasing the characters and locations they’ll be visiting.
The trailer is mostly devoid of action or any groundbreaking reveal of either the villains or fights against them. The teaser also sparked fierce debate over the fact that the Eternals didn’t interfere when Thanos wiped out half the galaxy despite them being aware of and name-dropping Stever Rogers and Tony Stark. It will be interesting to see how the story unfolds and how these characters will fit into the MCU going forward. Hopefully, they expand on Marvel’s cosmology and bring in the Celestials full force. For more information and the full trailer, check out our original news coverage.
Valve potentially working on a Steam handheld console
If true, the Steam portable console could be wildly successful
The latest update to Steam’s beta client reveals that Valve may be working on a Steam-based handheld console. This information was publicized by Pavel Djundik, the creator of SteamDB, who discovered that the beta update to Steam has a potential teaser for the hypothetical handheld. Currently known as “SteamPal” and internally codenamed “Neptune,” the update adds references to console-related settings.
This would be in line with comments made by Gabe Newell in which he said that we’d get a better idea of what Valve is doing in terms of gaming hardware by the end of the year. There are some predictions, based on the huge success of the Nintendo Switch, that a portable Steam console could be an absolute hit in the gaming community. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. For more info on these rumors and speculations, check out our original news coverage.
