In The News
Any revenue Viveport VR apps generate “in the fourth quarter” will go entirely to developers, VentureBeat’s Dean Takahashi reports. HTC Viveport VR store president Rikard Steiber said that “‘The holiday is the most important time for developers, and we want to show our appreciation for them.’”
Bethesda has plans for more games on Nintendo Switch. It already has Doom and Wolfenstein II, but “‘We’re obviously excited about these two games, but it’s not as if we’re going to just do these two games and that’s it. We want this to be the start of a relationship that we build with Nintendo and Nintendo fans,’” Bethesda’s vice president of marketing and communications Pete Hines told Takahashi.
More Fallout! That’s what New Vegas director Josh Sawyer told IGN’s Alex Osborn. “Given the opportunity, the studio would love to work on another entry in Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic franchise … Sawyer said he gets ‘more questions about Fallout than anything else,’ noting the question as to whether or not Obsidian [Entertainment] will return to the franchise is something ‘people ask all the time.’”
Not strictly gaming, but awesome and important. University of Southern California’s Arno Hartholt explained all the ways virtual and augmented reality are helping improve medical care. Here’s a snippet, courtesy of Gamasutra’s Emma Kidwell: “Hartholt provided numerous examples as to how simulations were being used to determine everything from early signs of depression for young adults/adults to ADHD in children. ‘What they see and what they hear is in your control.’ He said. ‘This is why we use VR for exposure therapy.’”
If you have a cool $900 tucked under your bed in a sock and you really, really love Batman, there’s a statue for you. Kotaku’s Luke Plunkett reports that the statue is 33 inches “and is based on the Batman Beyond skin from the game. There are only 350 being made, which goes part of the way to explaining the $939 price tag.”
Sledgehammer Games’ Glen Schofield revealed some new playable characters for Call of Duty: WWII. He told GQ’s Sam White that “‘You won’t play as a German in the single player,’ Schofield explains after we watch the game’s first story trailer, ‘but you do play as other Allies. You play as a female French resistance soldier, as an RAF pilot, and as a tank commander.’”
Nier: Automata could become a franchise. Popularity “‘far in excess of our expectations’” means “‘significant potential for future franchise development,’” director Yoko Taro said, Game Informer’s Imran Khan writes.
On the topic of good sales, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle is doing great. It’s “the best-selling third-party game on Nintendo Switch,” Eurogamer’s Tim Phillips reports. “And that’s not to say Mario Rabbids hasn’t outsold at least one of Nintendo’s own games, which include 1-2 Switch and ARMS, as well as the console’s biggest launches Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2.”