Written by Mary Joaquin
Welcome to the Weekly Round-Up!
Every week, we cover the latest in the gaming world. Giving way to early spook-tober vibes were the weekend celebration of TLOU Day celebration and the surprise announcement of Resident Evil Infinite Darkness.
The weekday saw a gradual hype increase with Farmville’s closure and the launch date reveal of The Crown Tundra. Midweek things continued to pick up with an Overwatch giveaway gone wrong, Minecraft breaking the Internet to kick off October, ending on a high note with Fall Guys Season 2’s launch date.
Let’s get right into it!
On Saturday, Sep 26, Naughty Dog celebrated its annual “Outbreak Day” as “The Last of Us Day” due to COVID-19.
“...September 26 means so much more than lore. It’s about showing our appreciation for our fans,” said the announcement on Sep 22. The company released a preview a day before the celebration detailing a vinyl release with limited edition posters, new figures, Abby’s cosplay guide, board game, PS4 theme, sales on the PS Store and PS Gear Store, and a Photo Mode contest.
On TLOU Day itself, Naughty Dog released mobile and desktop wallpapers designed in collaboration with Kojima Productions and TLOU2 reaction gifs available on GIPHY.
On Sunday, Sep 27, Capcom announced Resident Evil Infinite Darkness during its 2020 Tokyo Games Show.
The upcoming CGI series will be coming to Netflix in 2021, starring RE2 protagonists Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Netflix Portugal almost blew the surprise with a now-deleted announcement tweet.
The show will feature eight one-hour episodes, according to PC Gamer. GameSpot reported that the series could possibly be more horror than action compared to its predecessors.
On Monday, Sep 28, Zynga will be closing FarmVille on Dec 31 as Adobe discontinues Flash support.
The former hit Facebook game boasted 30M players before according to The Verge, with the game’s popularity waning gradually. It remained impactful, however, as it spun a sequel and several -Ville iterations.
“We hope that the in-game experiences we’ve developed over the years have provided you with the highest level of entertainment that we strive to fulfill here at Zynga,” said the company’s announcement.
In-app purchases remain available until Nov 17, with updates and features continuing until its closure.
On Tuesday, Sep 29, Pokemon Sword and Shield expansion The Crown Tundra launches on Oct 22, following the announcement video from the official Pokemon YouTube channel.
The games’ second expansion features a snowy exploration with new story content. According to Polygon, the expansion reintroduces Legendary Pokemon from older titles that players will be able to catch in its Dynamax Adventures raids.
VG247 reported an all-in-one bundle for the games including its expansions will be released on Nov 6.
On Wednesday, Sep 30, Boston Uprising’s website hosted a free giveaway of Overwatch for a few hours before it abruptly closed.
Originally intended to run until Jan 15 2021 end date, the site currently cites the high demand for its closure. The submission form allowed US players to receive a code within 72 hours for their free copy of the game to keep available through Battlet.net.
The copy was also bundled with 200 Overwatch League tokens. According to Overwatch League VP Jon Spector, all its teams would host their own promotions and giveaways in due time.
On Thursday, Oct 1, Minecraft characters join the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lineup as revealed in an announcement video by Masahiro Sakurai.
As with earlier Challenger Packs, Steve, Alex, Zombie, and Enderman bring along a new stage and music tracks. Four more characters have yet to be revealed.
According to IGN, soon after the reveal Twitter experienced a brief outage, prompting viewers to believe the reveal caused it.
More info about the DLC will be announced on Oct 3.
On Friday, Oct 2, Mediatonic announced Fall Guys’ Season 2 is coming Oct 8.
First introduced during this year’s Gamescom featuring a medieval theme, the update is also introducing new customization options for nameplates and banners. According to PC Gamer, the new season will also be more lenient in allowing players to obtain crowns.
The system will award the long-coveted item through progression rewards and fame points, assuring crowns even without winning matches. The game is also doubling fame points up until the launch of the second season.
EGD’s Weekly Round-Up gives a quick look into the newest in the games industry. From triple-A games and indie titles to events and gamer tech, the Weekly Round-Up covers all and more every week. Join the EGD Community Server to discuss the latest news!