Written by Mary Joaquin
Welcome to the Weekly Round-Up!
Every week, we cover the latest in the gaming world. Problem-solving news filled the weekend with RDR2’s too-good-to-be-true-and-it-actually-was bundle, and Bugsnax’s update.
The weekdays were chock-full of reveals with the formation of Yellow Brick Games and CK3 bringing back Ruler Designer. And future hype for December onward with FFXIV’s Futures Rewritten, Kingpin: Reloaded’s 2021 release, and Metro’s multiplayer future.
Let’s get right into it!
On Saturday, Nov 21, Twitter account Gaming Leaks & Rumors posted a “leaked” Red Dead Redemption The Outlaws Collection from Amazon.
Supposedly featuring a remastered RDR and an enhanced RDR2, the bundle is available to PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X and Xbox One platforms. However, upon close inspection by debunkers, the bundle is most likely fake.
“This is an edited HTML with a photoshop photo,” said a debunker in a reply tweet. “Unless there’s a link to prove [it’s] real, this is absolutely fake.”
According to GamesRadar+, several others also noted the artwork inconsistency and have noted the skeptical “placeholder” Dec 31 release.
On Sunday, Nov 22, Bugsnax released an update that patches its progression problems.
According to VG247, key fixes involve “leaving a Boss Bugsnak no longer permanently [breaking] progression of that quest” and “improvements to character eyelid behavior while sleeping”.
The latter has also been noted by Eurogamer to be as highly important.
Developer Young Horses have also improved upon the increased frequency in respawn of quest-relevant Bugsnax and incorporated a weather forecast in the Journal. Character lines have also been fixed among other performance enhancements.
On Monday, Nov 23, Games industry veterans Mike Laidlaw, Thomas Giroux, Jeff Skalski, and Frédéric St-Laurent B, formed Yellow Brick Games.
Led by Giroux as CEO, with Laidlaw as CCO, Skalski as COO, and St-Laurent B as game director, the new studio is currently a team of fifteen, already working on its first game.
“Leveraging a smaller talented team, we will create amazing worlds and experiences for all others to enjoy,” said Skalski, former Senior Producer at EA and Ubisoft.
Yellow Brick Games is aiming to go “back to basics” in its game development where “people come first”, according to PC Gamer.
On Tuesday, Nov 24, Crusader Kings 3 brought back CK2’s Ruler Designer for player customization of their monarch character.
According to PC Gamer, customization of the character goes as far as choosing their traits of any gender, in-game culture, religion, and sexual orientation. Eurogamer also reported on a choice of coat of arms and name choices that depend on the chosen culture.
The extensive list of patch notes that Paradox posted in its CK3 forum also included a Kill List, Dynasty UI, and Military Improvements.
Also in the list are enhancements to uglier ugly characters and a plethora of other hilarious bugfixes.
On Wednesday, Nov 25, 4A Games announced plans for next-gen Metro Exodus and a new Metro game that would feature multiplayer.
In a tenth anniversary studio update post, the studio shared that the current and would-be owners of Metro Exodus would receive free next-gen upgrades and a future release on Linux and Mac platforms.
It also detailed that the next Metro title would have “a complete overhaul of [their] engine and renderer to take advantage of the [capabilities of] the new consoles”.
Included in the game would be a first for the studio: multiplayer, made possible through their partnership with Saber Interactive.
On Thursday, Nov 26, 3D Realms announced that Kingpin: Reloaded will be delayed to a 2021 release.
The studio pointed to decisions to reverse engineer the original and its engine rather than to recreate it with a modern engine.
“We've been hard at work on this for the majority of 2020, and are finally at a stage where we're almost done,” the update reads. “In January we're entering the next stage of development...”
Kingpin: Life of Crime originally released in 1999, with PC Gamer noting that its memorability over its lackluster success. The studio announced Reloaded back in January and gave an update in September that it was “close to the finishing line”.
On Friday, Nov 27, Final Fantasy VIV updated its Futures Rewritten patch 5.4 site, detailing the new quests, dungeons, and trials coming Dec 8.
Futures Rewritten is the direct continuation of the main campaign that brings with it the dungeons Eden’s Promise and Matoya’s Relict and a new Unreal trial alongside Castrum Marinum.
In addition are the Delubrum Reginae large-scale battle and Explorer Mode that allows for combatless exploration, ideal for photo mode. According to PC Gamer, smaller scale updates include balance adjustments to jobs (Blue Mage, Triple Triad, and Doman Mahjong).
FFXIV is playable on PS4, PC and Mac.
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!