Welcome to the Primal Newscast where Gaming Instincts goes over the hottest and most interesting news of the week that took place in the gaming industry.
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Death Stranding Official PC Release Date Revealed
The PC version of acclaimed game designer Hideo Kojima’s upcoming action title Death Stranding will release in the summer of 2020, published by 505 Games.
“We are extremely excited and honored to be working with the supremely talented team at Kojima Productions and to bring Death Stranding to PC gamers around the world,” said 505 Games co-founder and CEO Raffi Galante. “Death Stranding will take gamers through a completely original experience that will delight PC gamers everywhere.”
Sony Walks Back Claims on PlayStation 5 Being World’s Fastest Console
After taking some time to think about the future when it comes to console gaming and what competitors have in the works, Sony has walked back claims that the PlayStation 5 will be the fastest console in the world.
Originally, the company implied in a job listing that the PS5 would be the fastest console in the world, though the listing has been edited since its original posting to walk back that implication. In the wake of Microsoft’s Project Scarlett press releases and the buzz surrounding Google Stadia, Sony has taken a more conservative approach to marketing the next generation of PlayStation, going so far as to remove any mention of the PS5 from the aforementioned job listing.
Sony Shutting Down PlayStation Vue in Early 2020
According to a recent Sony blog post, the company behind the PlayStation will be shutting down PlayStation Vue on January 30, 2020.
Rumors had been circulating that Sony has been shopping around to see if any other media companies were interested in purchasing the streaming service, but nothing seems to have come to fruition on that front. Regardless, the Japanese media entity will be discontinuing its streaming service early next year.
The decision to shut down PlayStation Vue came about as Sony “decided to remain focused on [their] core gaming business.”
In their statement, Sony speaks of the “ambitious goals for how [their] service could change how people watch TV, showcasing PlayStations’ ability to innovate in a brand-new category within the Pay TV industry.”
Sony bases the decision to shut the service down on the Pay TV industry being ultra competitive and slower to change “than expected… with expensive content and network deals.”
With Sony shifting their focus to the PlayStation 5 for its presumable release in holiday 2020, shutting down its TV streaming service allows the company to hammer in the powerful gaming capabilities for its upcoming system as it gears up to compete with Microsoft’s Project Scarlett.
For the foreseeable future, PlayStation fans will have to access their movies and TV through the PlayStation 4 and other streaming apps.
No New Battlefield Until Fiscal Year 2022
During a fiscal year earnings call, EA confirmed that there will be no new Battlefield entry until fiscal year 2022 (April 2021-March 2022).
The information was originally released by Daniel Ahmad, a games industry analyst under Niko Partners alongside information that Apex Legends will serve as the publisher’s primary shooter. The company plans to bring the game to “mobile, new platforms, China and [the] esports scene” next year.
Moreover, EA also has “two unannounced partner titles from third-party developers next year as well as unannounced internal titles.”
EA Financial Officer Hints at Dragon Age 4 Release Window
During a recent earnings call, EA chief financial officer, Blake Jorgensen, hinted that Dragon Age 4 “probably comes after fiscal ’22.”
The bad news is it’s unlikely that fans of BioWare’s RPG series will be able to acquire the full game before April 2022.
The good news, however, is that BioWare has time to buckle down and make Dragon Age 4 a polished game so the developer (and the publisher, EA, by extension) can avoid the Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem disasters. This is time the company could use given the recent exit of Dragon Age 4’s lead developer, Fernando Melo, from BioWare and the multiple interruptions that have occurred in the game’s development process.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Confirmed at Blizzcon
On the first day of BlizzCon, Blizzard formally revealed World of Warcraft: Shadowlands as the next expansion coming to the widely-popular MMORPG.
The announcement of Shadowlands broke to thunderous applause from fans, following the reveal of the expansion’s cinematic trailer. The trailer answered fans questions of just what Sylvanas Windrunner is up to, but also leaves many questions—as there must always be a Lich King… but now there is none.
Announcement Key Points:
- The Shadowlands – an ancient, mysterious realm which predates the Titans.
- Source of the power of the Scourge, Death knights, and Val’kyrs.
- Where spirits of nature go to begin a cycle of rest and rebirth.
- New Zones – Revendreth, Ardenweald, Maldraxxus, Bastion.
- Choose a covenant – Allying with different factions to gain unique abilities and cosmetic items.
- New dungeons and raids – one known as The Tower of the Damned.
- Coming 2020, available for pre-order as of today (Nov 1, 2019).
- Expansion built around the idea of choice, agency, and expression.
- Playable demo on BlizzCon floor.
Hearthstone Descent of Dragons Expansion Gets Announced
During Blizzcon 2019, the developers of Hearthstone took the stage to announce their new expansion for the popular digital card game and it’s called Descent of Dragons.
According to the description:
“In Rise of Shadows the League of E.V.I.L. set a master plan into motion: a daring theft of the floating city of Dalaran. That plot further thickened in swirling sands and dusty tombs when ancient plagues were unleashed and the Saviors of Uldum stood up to take down the forces of evil. Now, it’s time for this epic story to reach its conclusion. And it’s time… for some dragons. Introducing Hearthstone’s newest expansion: Descent of Dragons!”
The dragons will bring their own set of abilities through invocations which you can activate if an invocatable card is on the field or in you hand. Around 135 new cards will be introduced with this expansion and it will be pre-orderable along with the new Battlegrounds gamemode coming in November 5th.
Diablo 4 Officially gets Revealed
The wait is now over. Diablo 4 is, indeed, on its way, and it looks as if this week’s earlier leaks were correct after all, and the franchise will be returning to a darker version of its gothic-horror atmosphere. Also, there will be druids!
Announcement Key Points:
- Diablo 4 is dark, a return to the franchises roots.
- Sanctuary is central to the game, more so than in past titles.
- Descend beneath Sanctuary to find a dark, gothic-horror, medieval Hell.
- Central hub to find other players to group or trade with
- PVP zones!
- “We want you to feel like we did when we first played Diablo”
- “If you’re a long-time fan, we think this is the game you’ve been waiting for.”
- Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
- First three classes: Barbarian, Sorceress, and Druid
- Early playable demo on the floor at BlizzCon
Overwatch 2 Officially Unveiled At BlizzCon
Unveiled with the cinematic trailer “Zero Hour“, Overwatch 2 will feature different PvE modes for players to enjoy, as well as the first new game mode introduced since the game’s original inception. In addition, players who are attached to their cosmetics in Overwatch 1 need not worry, for all cosmetics and heroes will carry over into Overwatch 2, as the development team stated they have no desire to separate the Overwatch community into two entities.
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