The Weekly Gaming Rundown Sept. 26

Welcome to this weeks Weekly Gaming Rundown for Sept 26, 2021. I am Sam, the Broke gamer, and I will be going over the biggest news from the last week as well as some quick opinions. Now, lets get to the news:

Activision Blizzard is now under investigation by the SEC for discrimination and poor workplace practices

          Late to a lawsuit party that seemingly has no end in sight, the Security and Exchange Commission (also known as the SEC, for us non-government types) has opened an investigation into Activision Blizzard over “disclosures regarding employment matters and related issues.”

A press officer for Activision said that the S.E.C. has issued subpoenas to the company and several current plus former employees but did not offer more details on the focus of the investigation. In a clear attempt to stop the hemorrhaging, Activision announced last week that it will be hiring two new executives along with a new head of human resources.

          Keeping with Activision Blizzard, like rats leaving a sinking ship, Claire Hart, chief legal officer for the company announced in a LinkedIn post this week that her last day at the company was Friday, September 17. She had been in the role for the last 3 years, saying that she felt honored to have worked with and met so many great people at the company. Hart mentioned she will be taking a short break before announcing any next moves for her career. Most likely she’ll be hiding out in South America until this whole thing blows over.

          Joining Hart on the mass exodus from Activision Blizzard is Chacko Sonny, Executive Producer for Overwatch 2 and the multi-billion-dollar Overwatch franchise, who had left the company as of Friday, September 24. He is joined by Chief People & Diversity Officer Claudine Naughton who left this past week as well. Being the chief people and diversity officer is like being the head chef at a restaurant, but they are curating a special menu for the sex offenders at their company.

343 industries expand test flight, will now be back-to-back weekends Sept. 23-26 and Sept. 30 – Oct. 3

          In the most recent post from the Inside Infinite blog on the Halo Waypoint website, 343 Industries detailed what the company will include in the next test flight for Halo Infinite, as well as their plans to expand the test flight to encompass back-to-back weekends. These two upcoming test flights will split up the modes 343 will be testing, with Arena Mode (4v4) being the primary focus of the first weekend, September 23 – 26, and Big Team battle (12 v 12), which will be the focus for the next weekend, September 30 – October 3.

Apple Informs Epic it will be blacklisted from the App Store until Appeals process ends

          Due to a breach of contract and proving that no one is pettier than the mac-daddy of them all, Apple has notified Epic that it will be banned from their ecosystem until a judge makes a final decision that is non-appealable, which may take up to 5 years. Epics developer program account was canceled last year by Apple due to the original breach of contract and initial lawsuit.

As this event unfolded, Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder of Epic Games, called out Apple for lying, stating that they were told they would be reinstated if Epic agreed to play by the same rules everyone else plays by. I hope the next time Epic gambles on anything, it would be on sports instead of taking on a company that essentially has more money than a medium size country. We would cut to a live feed of Steve Jobs laughing from his grave, but we don’t know where that is at the moment.

Perfect Dark

          The Initiative has announced that they are partnering up with Crystal Dynamics, the team behind the last few Tomb Raider games as well as the divisive Marvel: Avenger’s game, on their upcoming Perfect Dark project. No other details were given except that the game is early in its development, and that the teams couldn’t pass up the chance to work together on this project. This has caused quite the stir on social media, having one side excited that crystal dynamics was brought on in a supportive role while others are saying it’s a bad look for The Initiative, wondering why a AAAA studio who has almost a blank check to develop Perfect Dark is looking to another studio not owned by Microsoft for support, speculating that there may be problems at the studio. Either way, the move should help shave some time off development, which will hopefully allow gamers to see that finished product sooner rather than later. I am excited for this because Crystal Dynamics is great. What was the last bad game that studio released? For all of you thinking Marvel: Avengers, you still played it, plus it has a healthy life cycle in front of it.

Castlevania Advance Collection

          Castlevania Advance collection, a collection of Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, Aria of Sorrow, and Dracula X dropped out of nowhere Thursday on PlayStation, Xbox, Steam and Switch! Thanks, Konami. One minute, it doesn’t exist, the next it’s available on all my consoles. Santa does exist, and hes a Japanese company giving me old games I miss.

Nintendo Direct for Thursday, September 23

          Nintendo held a direct this past Thursday, September 23, highlighting some of their upcoming plans for games and even other forms of media.

• The Super Mario Movie has a date – Nintendo’s favorite stereotype’s feature film finally received a release date: December 21, 2022, and will feature Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong and Jack Black as Bowser. I would have cast Jack Black as Mario and had him do the Nacho Libre voice, and brought back Johnny Legs as Luigi, giving him that solid Puerto Rican with a hint of little Italy edge from the live action film. Also, RIP Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper. All Star cast in that movie.
• N64 and Sega Genesis games are coming to the Switch Online subscription service. Not many details were given about the addition, just that it was a part of an “Expansion pack”, which some industry people are saying might cost a little more money per month on top of their dirt-cheap service already. Nintendo has promised that more details are coming soon.
• Hey Animal Crossing fans! Looking for a reason to head back to da island to do more than pick weeds and not get brow-beaten by the neighbors? Animal Crossings: New Horizons is getting a major update this upcoming November, so blow the dust off that cartridge and start making nice with all those damn animals on an island you founded and named… those ungrateful bastards.
• The King is back, baby! Those crazy guys at HAL laboratories are finally giving the real hero in the Nintendo Landscape, Kirby, a brand-new switch release (other than Star Allies, of course) called Kirby and the Forgotten Land, coming next spring to Switch. Go check out that video game footage if you want to see that pink bubble frolic all over a rundown city.
• Keep those pants buckled, gents, because Bayonetta is back. An action heavy trailer was revealed at the direct, showing every Nintendo Fans wet dream battling an even wetter dream, a huge monster. The game is scheduled for release in 2022.
• Monster Hunter Rise is getting an expansion in the form of paid DLC next summer called Sunbreak. Expect even more Monster Hunting when this gets released.
• Were you a hardcore Gamecube guy back in the early Oughts and missed out on a few Star Wars exclusives? Well, Nintendo has you covered with the original KOTOR this November, for all of you who haven’t played it yet, or just want to experience it on the go.
• Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito, the masterminds behind Nier, have been working on a card based role playing game called Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, coming to the Switch October 28.
• Last but not least, Chocobo GP is coming to Switch, coming in 2022. It’s Chocobo’s and Mario Kart.

Blossom Tales 2

          Developer Castle Pixel along with publisher Playtonic Friends just announced that they will be releasing a sequel to their successful Zelda Inspired game Blossom Tales, named Blossom Tales 2: The Minotaur Prince, coming to the Nintendo Switch sometime in 2022. The sequel will take place hundreds of years after the original game was released and is promising over 15 hours of gameplay.  

Arcane Trailer released

          Netlflix revealed the trailer for their upcoming animate show, Arcane, a story inside the world of League of Legends. I do not play League of Legends, but I am a fan of almost everything animated that Netflix has released, from Castlevania animated series to the latest Witcher animated movie, so I will definitely be watching this one. Check it out wherever you stream Netflix from on November 6, 2021.

Games released this week:

• Kena: Bridge of Spirits – Timed Exclusive adventure game on the PS5 on September 21.
• Sheltered 2 – Turn Based Survival Management Sim Sheltered 2 launced on PC Sept. 21.
• World War Z: Aftermath, a co-op zombie shooter was released on Sept 21 for PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
• Sable Sept 23 – Adventure through a mesmerizing landscape on a hover bike, available on PC, PS and Xbox Series X.
• Castlevania Advanced Collection – stated above, grab for every system out right now, except Ooya.
• Sea of Thieves Season 4 – Even more pirating in the next season of Sea of Thieves, out Sept 23.
• Embr, a multiplayer game where you play as a fireman trying to put out comically large fires, is out on Playstation, Switch, Xbox, and PC as of Sept 23.
• Death Stranding Directors Cut: Kojima gets out of Kojima’s way to release the game Kojima always wanted to, out on PS5 as of September 24
• Lost Judgement Sept 24 – The action-adventure video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega, was released September 24 for PlayStation and Xbox Systems.

That should do it this week for The Weekly Gaming Rundown, Thanks for reading. Want to listen to a version of this article? Find me anywhere you listen to your podcasts and hit that subscribe button. You can find me on Twitter @ thebr0keg4m3r, and sometimes I am here on theopentabnews.com.

Have a great week of gaming!