All eyes are currently focused on the upcoming E3 and the Summer Game Fest but that doesn’t mean that nothing is happening outside of that. In fact, the past week was filled with both exciting and sad news from across the gaming industry. Another publisher is trying to expand its success by gunning for the huge mobile market, a beloved childhood activity went digital and got insanely popular, and we got an exciting new announcement that blends popular games to create something truly unique. Besides that, we got some sad news from Ubisoft and Sony so read on to find out more.
E3 will have its own Game Awards Show
E3 is having its own little Game Awards show
The full schedule for E3 2021 has finally been revealed. E3 will officially run June 12-15 with many developers and publishers making an appearance during the show. Most notable, Ubisoft is holding their event on June 12th where most fans are looking forward to seeing the progress on Beyond Good and Evil 2. June 13th is jam-packed with showcases but the joint Microsoft and Bethesda event is the most anticipated. Fans are hoping to see Starfield in action as well as more details on the setting and the release for the next big Elder Scrolls game. Another notable event is the joint PC Gamer and Games Radar show that will hopefully give us a few surprise announcements and games to look forward to. You can check the full E3 and Summer Games schedule here.
Another thing worth a mention is that going forward, E3 is going to have its own award show. The new E3 2021 Awards Show will cap off the event by crowning its most anticipated games and to this end, the organizers are collaborating with several big names from across the gaming media landscape to select this year’s cream of the crop. The ceremony won’t just focus on the most anticipated game of E3 2021 but it will also shine a light on the most anticipated titles from each publisher. Even though it’s a good opportunity for some titles to generate further hype, many remain cautious of accolades given to unreleased games, as gamers are still feeling the negative effects of the latest overhype case that is Cyberpunk 2077. For more details on the E3 awards, check out our original news coverage.
Valorant is coming to mobile
Following in the footsteps of Call of Duty, Fortnite and Apex Legends.
Valorant has proven to be a great success for Riot Games so it was only a matter of time before also transitions to mobile like Call of Duty and Fortnite. And sure enough, as part of its 1 year anniversary, Riot Games has announced Valorant Mobile is now in development. The company is hoping the at least some of the 14 million monthly players of the PC version will find the portable, mobile version appealing to try. The release of the mobile version of Valorant in China could make the game even more popular overall as mobile gaming is booming over there.
There aren’t many details on the mobile version but what is known is that there are no plans to allow cross-play between the different versions of the game. Riot also assured that Valorant Mobile won’t divert attention from the PC version that is still the main priority for the developer. No concrete release date has been given but 2022. seems to be the most logical. For more information on Valorant Mobile, check out our original news coverage.
Knockout City reached a 5 million player milestone
Who knew dodgeball could be so much fun again?
Who knew virtual dodgeball could be such good fun? The developers of Knockout City asked themselves this question and went ahead to make a game that reached a whopping 5 million players since launch. It’s a rare instance of EA handling a new IP with care and implementing a well-thought-out strategy to draw in new players. Before release, the game received an open beta and had a short free-to-play period after launch. Word of mouth took over after that which resulted in the game continually reaching new heights in terms of player count.
It also helps that game features cross-platform multiplayer as well as cross-platform progression across PC and consoles. This essentially means that matchmaking is insanely fast, and you can seamlessly switch between different platforms with all your unlockables intact. Currently, the game can be purchased for the highly accessible price of $30 USD or played through an EA Play subscription for just $5 USD a month. For more information on the game and its awesome milestone, check out our original news coverage.
The entire Total War franchise got review bombed
Creative Assembly is already making another game
Not so long ago, Creative Assembly informed the players that it would be ending support for Total War: Three Kingdoms. This was due to the commercial and critical failure of DLC that was released for that game, prompting the studio to move on to make a new game that’s based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel. This sparked a huge outrage and fans voiced their protest in the only viable way they could – by review bombing the entire series on Steam. Given that we are talking about a substantial player base, it didn’t take long for these negative reviews to completely change the overall score of some of the games.
The situation got so bad that Steam had to step in to make the Total War series another one that received the “*” next to the review score. This signifies that the game recently received a large number of off-topic review activity which has been excluded from the total review score. Creative Assembly has yet to reach to this overwhelmingly negative reaction which could spill over to how good their next game will sell. For more information, check out our original news coverage.
Zelda and Pokemon come together in the newly announced Palworld
Zelda meets Pokemon meets third-person shooter
The Legend of Zelda world seems like it would be a perfect match for some sort of Pokemon-like critter hunting mechanic. That’s at least what the good people from Pocketpair thought when they came up with Palworld. The official description states that the game will be a multiplayer open-world survival and crafting game. Underneath, the game seems to have gameplay similar to Legend of Zelda with the addition of cute (and not so cute) creatures named Pals which you’ll be able to befriend and use for a variety of purposes.
But that’s not all, the game also features some serious weaponry like machine guns with real shooting mechanics. This makes the game one really insane hybrid that could prove to be a huge hit once it releases sometime in 2022. It also helps that the game looks absolutely beautiful, even in this stage of development. Be sure to check the official announcement trailer to see it in action – it’s absolute madness of the best kind.
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake won’t come out in 2021.
Ubisoft will hopefully make the game worthy of being called a remake
Ubisoft wants to surprise and wow us during this year’s E3 but it also wants us to know what we most definitely won’t be seeing during the event. After announcing that The Division won’t be making an appearance, hopes of seeing the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake were also crushed by the publisher. While the decision disappointed many, it’s really not all that surprising given the reactions to the game’s first reveal back in 2020. Many criticisms were aimed at the remake’s visuals which fans considered thematically appropriate as they also seemed to have gone back in time to the PlayStation 3 era. The most liked comment on the announcement trailer sums the feelings of most of the fans by saying that “We need a remake of this remake”.
Well, it seems like Ubisoft is doing just that – buying themselves time to really come out with something that’s worthy of being called a remake, especially of such a well-known game that’s still fresh in the memories of many players. While we wait for another appearance from the Prince, you can find solace that we finally might be seeing Good and Evil 2 and Skull & Bones.
God of War: Ragnarok has been delayed to 2022.
Some bittersweet news surrounding presumed PS5 exclusives
When God of War Ragnarok was originally announced, the announcement came with 2021. release year attached. For the past 6 months, we haven’t seen anything to suggest that this is really going to happen and instead got plenty of rumors that the game’s going to be pushed back to 2022. Well, the rumors were right and the delay is now official – God of War Ragnarok has been delayed to 2022. Sony didn’t have much to say besides the fact that GoW began development after Horizon Forbidden West which prompted the company to delay it to 2022. in order to let Santa Monica realize their vision of a phenomenal game that we all want to play.
Something that was a bit surprising was the announcement that Ragnarok won’t be a PS5 exclusive but that it will also touch down on the PS4. Even though many players who want it, still can’t get a PS5 due to the shortage, the decision was met with much criticism. The main talking point is the fact that the last-gen consoles could hamper the true next-gen potential of the game. The decision also tramples all over Sony’s previous statements of them believing in console generations which made many players jump the PS4 ship early, anticipating that Sony’s biggest titles will be playable only on the PS5.
