What's WHAT - the People Like Games News Drop - [3/15]
a weekly drop of the most important and interesting happenings in the world of gaming
whats up people and welcome back to the official weekly People Like Games newsletter, WHAT’S WHAT. Grab a seat and be prepared to be amazed and informed by a little curated aggregation of the most important and interesting stories happening around the gaming industry. Plus a few words on some topics from the squad who make up People Like Games
So, without prefacing much further, thank you for reading or subscribing to the newsletter and we hope you find some use of it. Now, let’s get into the top stories happening as of
Monday, March 15
.
MAJOR STORIES |
A New German Law Would Have Loot Boxes considered in the rating of games
A new German law has passed that would force game rating boards to consider Loot Boxes in its consideration of a rating. Given the country has also made a push to consider the practice gambling, it wouldn’t be a surprise if all games with loot boxes were soon slapped with a rated M for mature sign. Europe has often been ahead of the curve on data and internet policy, so expect this one to come stateside sooner than later.
The popular game RUST loses players save data as one of the data centers in Europe is lost in a fire
Rust
developer Facepunch Studios was in the news as one its European data centers was hit by a catastrophic fire. The company had to unfortunately confirm that a large number of players would lose their save files due to the fire. Thankfully all of the company and building’s staff were able to make it out safely. The game saw a major boost in popularity over the course of the last year as major streamers came over to it.
Phil Spencer stresses Exclusivity in Microsoft Xbox and Bethesda Event
It looks like Phil Spencer’s refusal to say future Bethesda titles would not be exclusive to Xbox has seemingly come to an end. In a Microsoft x Bethesda round-table event, the head of Xbox stressed the importance of keeping the game exclusive to platforms it supports. Namely, it’s own. It doesn’t come as a surprise following the acquisition, but the question remains whether the company can commit to it long-term.
EA launches investigation into an employee profiting off of Ultimate Team system
EA is under fire once again for its Fifa Ultimate Team system, but this time it’s worse than usual. A scandal has broken out that an EA employee has been selling Ultimate Team Icons, which represent players, that can only be received through the purchase of digital icon packs that are sort of like trading card packs, or, loot boxes. THe ability to sell the items individually is a pretty gross violation and sho
SQUAD RECOMMENDATIONS |
[Solo]
-
Putting Roblox’s incredible $45 billion IPO in context
| Though it didn’t go by unnoticed, Roblox had its official IPO this week, becoming the first video game platform to become listed on the Nasdaq. It’s pretty crazy that the company is already worth more than Take-Two and EA, both of which are larger publishers with a lot more franchises and titles under their belt. Curious as to why this platform is so highly valued, but the answer is probably its direct line to kids. I’m sure Fortnite would have IPO’d to the stratosphere had it had the opportunity. But, all in all, the continued larger scale merger of video games and the world continues.
[Zeemo] -
US Game Spending Jumped 35% in February, says NPD Group
|
Just continuing what we've been saying about how much of a boon the pandemic was to the gaming industry, NPD put out a report showing that as of February, the year-on-year growth of total US spending on games rose by 35% to $4.6 billion. With that, hardware sales saw a 121% growth. Spending just keeps going up and despite the vaccine being available, it'll be curious to see the kinds of growth numbers we see for the coming 12 months.
[Reggie] -
Ex-Activision veterans form Audacity Games to develop Atari 2600 Titles
| With the retro gaming scene blowing up it's no wonder people are turning to emulators for everything from casual gaming to speedrunning. Hell even a huge chunk of streamers are just playing emulators.
But what about people who want to play something a little more...authentic?
That’s where David Crane, co-founder of Activision, comes in. This week Crane announced the formation of Audacity Games with Dan and Garry Kitchen to create games built specifically for the Atari 2600. And yes, that means physicals. No, physical releases for old consoles are not new (thanks Limited Run Games) but the nostalgia over the last few years for retro games has been astounding. And it's clear, it's not just for the game of grading and trading. Mini consoles and the continued strength of emulation on platforms like twitch prove people are looking to play retro-styled games, not just look at them on the mantle to brag about. We can’t forget about the success of Celeste either. Created on a virtual game engine, it oozes the kind of retro-authenticity we’re dying for with the experience and ingenuity of 21st century game development. And don’t worry, if you don’t have an Atari lying around (are you really a gamer?) each release made by the team will include a digital download for the Stella emulator.
Playstation 5 is the fastest selling console in history
The console wars are over before they could even really start.
First things first: The Switch is still the king. But the news from this weekend that the PS5 is the fastest selling console in US history is still huge for the Sony v. Xbox rivalry (if you can still call it that). While Xbox fans were riding the high of the Bethesda acquisition, Sony continued crushing the market. Let me be clear, this has more to do with dollars earned than units sold. But with comparable prices to Microsoft’s S and X variants it’s definitely worth looking at, at least for these two.
Speaking of Bethesda, its going to be interesting to see what happens to them now. Will this change over PS5 fans? Or will Bethesda be biting their nails at a chance to get out of Xbox’s contract and back into America’s favorite consoles?
COMMUNITY |
👾 -
Apparently there’s a Dynasty Warriors movie that’s coming out
- [pcgamer]
👾 -
A player discovers a hidden first person mode glitch in Zelda Breath of the Wild
- [gamerant]
👾 -
Pokemon Go launches a referral system
- [gamesradar]
ORIGINAL CONTENT |
FIELD OF VIEW
|
hip-hop and gaming
| [
Tues - 3.16
]
Reggie Runs Up On
|
Team Fight Tactics
| [
Weds - 3.17
]
SQUAD BANTER
|
the weekcap
| [
Thurs - 3.18
]
STORY MODE |
gunpei yokoi
| [SAT - 3.20]
FIN |
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