In The News
Congratulations to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on hitting 2 million concurrent players on Steam.
Friends? No? Oh … OK. Microsoft’s apparently insistent badgering of Sony to consider cross-platform play isn’t paying off. “Xbox boss Phil Spencer has provided an update on where things stand with Sony,” GameSpot’s Eddie Makuch writes. “‘I’m never going to call anything a lost cause but I think some of the fundamental reasons and certain scenarios, they’re not really going away. So I don’t know what would change.’”
Razer’s gaming smartphone debuts Nov. 1. Engadget’s Jon Fingas writes that “Razer is teasing an event on November 1st with a preview image that shows a man holding a conspicuously phone-sized device … It describes the event as its ‘biggest unveiling.’”
The Entertainment Software Rating Board’s logic for not considering loot boxes gambling is because it’s not about getting what you want to get, it’s the fact that you do get something every time you open one.
According to PC Gamer’s Andy Chalk: “‘While there’s an element of chance in these mechanics, the player is always guaranteed to receive in-game content (even if the player unfortunately receives something they don’t want),’ an ESRB rep told the site. ‘We think of it as a similar principle to collectible card games: Sometimes you’ll open a pack and get a brand new holographic card you’ve had your eye on for a while. But other times you’ll end up with a pack of cards you already have.’”
If you don’t want to spend a lot of time grinding (*dramatic eye roll*) you can watch the “true” ending of Middle-earth: Shadow of War before you win.
New stats are coming out showing Fortnite: Battle Royale “has garnered over 10 million players since its launch two weeks ago,” Eurogamer’s Matt Wales reports. “This Monday alone saw a total of 3.7 million challengers taking up arms for some last-man-standing-style mayhem.” Epic Games also created an infographic to go over the numbers.
NeIgGhHH! Imagine Yoshi as a horse. It makes you cringe, right? According to Super Mario World director Takashi Tezuka, “‘Shigeru Miyamoto said he wanted Mario to ride a horse! When we were making Super Mario Bros. 3, he had drawn a picture of Mario on a horse and hung it on a wall near where he used to sit.’”
IGN’s Jordan Oloman explains that “The interview was conducted as part of the Nintendo Classic Mini: SNES developer series, looking behind the scenes at some of the classic titles available on the retro console.”
Facebook’s new virtual reality headset, Oculus Go, “will launch in early 2018 for $200,” VentureBeat’s Stephanie Chan reports. “Head of Oculus VR Hugo Barra noted that it designed the Oculus Go to be lightweight and comfortable, with a new mesh fabric on the facial interface.”
Ain’t no thang. World of Warcraft player Mionee posted a solo kill video of Gul’dan that took “an hour and nine minutes,” Kotaku’s Nathan Grayson writes.
Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen bowed out of his job for today and is letting Sonja Korpelainen, 15, take the reigns. “Sonja was one of 600 girls involved in the #Girlstakeover campaign as part of International Day of the Girl,” GamesIndustry.biz’s Haydn Taylor reports.
More games heading to Nintendo Switch in the future could include Injustice 2, GameSpot’s Chris Pereira reports. “NetherRealm Studios creative director Ed Boon … was enthusiastic about the prospect of bringing Injustice 2 or future games to the system. According to Boon, it would be possible to get Injustice 2 running on the system–though he suggested that there could be some shortcomings.”