KeenGamer weekly news is a series of articles designed to bring you the hottest gaming and pop culture related news. Each news is presented in a bite-sized format and will lead you to the original source of the news if you want to find out more details.
Need for Speed going back to Criterion
And just as they were getting it right!
EA will move the development of the Need for Speed franchise away from current lead developer Ghost Games and return to the UK based studio, Criterion. The decision is somewhat baffling because the last game in the franchise – Need for Speed: Heat was a really solid entry that not only sold really well but also garnered some good reviews. It purportedly has to do with Criterion being located in a hotspot for game developers living in the UK which makes it easier to find and hire new talent. While this is a fairly valid reason, we think there’s something more going on behind the scenes. Hopefully, we’ll find out what exactly in the coming months. For more information on Need for Speed going back to Criterion, check out our original coverage of the news.
Netflix series massively boosts Witcher 3 game sales
Probably prepare for more video game adaptations
Think what you will about the Witcher series up on Netflix but it has definitely put more spotlight on the franchise as a whole. The Witcher 3 and CD Projekt Red, in particular, have benefited greatly from the adventures of Henry Cavill and friends. The game is concurrently being played by most players ever since its launch and physical sales skyrocketed by a whopping 554%. The Witcher books had a similar 562% spike in sales even before the series launched to the streaming platform. While these are impressive numbers, we’ll probably have a similar situation on our hands once season two of the show launches in a year or two. For more information on the figures as well as the franchise as a whole, check out our original coverage of the news.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare is soon getting its own battle royale mode
Warzone will be a free, stand-alone battle royale mode
No big-name multiplayer FPS would be complete without some sort of battle royale mode. So it’s no surprise that the biggest one – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is getting one at the beginning of next month. The mode will purportedly be called Warzone and will not only be completely free but will also be a stand-alone game through which you’ll be able to upgrade to a full Modern Warfare game. You’ll also be able to purchase the battle pass from the full game and earn its rewards through playing Warzone mode alone with everything carrying over to other modes should you choose to upgrade. According to rumors and leaks, the mode will support up to 200 players, will feature a pinging mechanic like in Apex: Legends and will offer players a chance to respawn during a match. Add all of that up and we can say with a high degree of certainty that Warzone will be a huge hit among fans and casual FPS players alike.
Overwatch and Diablo are getting animated shows
Non-hyper-sexualized Overwatch characters? Can it be?
The vice president of Activision – Nick van Dyk, has some interesting stuff written on his Linkedin profile. Two things stand out in particular – work on an animated Overwatch series and work on an anime style Diablo show. While we previously heard rumors of a Diablo series, the Overwatch one comes literally out of nowhere. It’s unsurprising though, given the popularity of the game and a ton of fan-made (and often kinky) films and artwork celebrating its characters. We can probably attribute the fact that these shows are being made to the success of Netflix’ Castlevania and we half expect them to feature a similar style of animation. All in all, good news!
Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 2 will be a real gold rush
Fortnite Chapter 2 will be all about the gold
Fortnite is about to enter Chapter 2 of Season 2 and the theme seems to be golden. No, seriously, objects in the game are already turning into gold. What this means is still unknown until the start of the chapter but we are probably looking at some sort of gold rush scenario or a collectathon mechanic. All we know is that it will heavily involve the ALTER organization which was presented as the main antagonist of Chapter 2. Anyhow, we won’t need to wait very long to find out since new content drops on the 20th of February.
