GameNama Weekly #9
Ali Hasan November 20, 2022
On this week’s GameNama we’ll go over some exciting updates for the next-gen version of the widely popular The Witcher 3 as well as new details on Insomniac’s next outing in the Spiderman universe, Spiderman 2. Also in this week’s coverage is delays relating to the long-awaited Dead Island 2 and the shelving of the long-rumored and leaked Xbox Game Pass streaming box. Keep on reading to find out more.
Spiderman 2 Casting News Offers Some Insight into the Game’s potential Storyline
Anticipation for Insomniac’s next outing in the Spiderman universe has been high, to say the least. First teased during Sony’s 2021 PlayStation showcase event alongside a new Wolverine game, the sequel is currently slated for a 2023 release. Information has been scarce but a former actor accidentally revealed potential details about what to expect from the game.
Scott Porter, the actor who voiced Harry Osborne in the first game recently revealed, through a now-deleted tweet that he will not be reprising his role for the sequel because Insomniac Games has chosen to go for a more realistic route and that the age difference between him and his character is too great. This definitely tells us that Harry will have a much bigger role in the sequel than he did in the first game, where he was mostly relegated to voice notes. Harry’s role in Spiderman 2 was teased at the end of the first game where he was shown to have been in an incubation pod, hinting that he might be this universe’s Venom.
NetEase and Activision Deal Falls Through
Popular Activision Blizzard games like Overwatch and World of Warcraft will go offline within the next few weeks in mainland China as the Chinese internet service provider and the gaming conglomerate were unable to continue their deal. The deal which was first struck in 2008 allows games from Activision Blizzard to be played in China.
Sources have said that this happened due to irreconcilable material differences between the two parties. While Activision Blizzard said they’d be willing to renegotiate a deal in the future, NetEase claimed that money made through this deal accounts for a minuscule amount of the total revenue for the company. NetEase’s Hong Kong-listed shares plunged 9% on Thursday, following this announcement.
Dead Island 2 Has Been Delayed Yet Again
Dead Island 2 is no stranger to delays. The game was first announced in 2014 and has been on the docket for nearly a decade now. The game finally received a firm release date of February 2023 alongside a brand-new reveal trailer in August but it has suffered yet another delay. Dead Island 2 will now arrive in April, facing a delay of just 14 weeks. The game’s Twitter account tweeted that the development is in the final stages but the team needs more to ship a product that they know they’ll be happy with. Dead Island 2 now arrives on April 28, 2023, on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass Streaming Box Has Been Shelved
Microsoft’s gaming subscription service has been making waves around the world, offering players incredible value for their money. The service recently hit another milestone when it reached 25 million subscribers worldwide. Microsoft has been actively trying to get Game Pass on every platform imaginable and rumors of a dedicated Xbox streaming box started to swell last year. The streaming box would essentially be just like any other streaming or multimedia device but with the added benefit of the Xbox branding and being able to stream Game Pass games without having to buy an expensive piece of hardware,
Phil Spencer, Xbox’s current boss however recently put these rumors to rest following months of leaks and speculations. Speaking in the latest episode of The Verge’s Decoder podcast he said “The console we built that now people have seen…was more expensive than we wanted it to be when we actually built it out with the hardware that we had inside.” The team was unable to hit the desired price point of $99-$120 and hence the product was shelved.
Also Read: God Of War Ragnarök Review
The Witcher 3’s Next-Gen Update is Nearly Here
The Witcher 3 has been widely regarded as one of the greatest games of the previous generation and in keeping with the industry’s practice of remasters and upgraded versions of previous games, CD Projekt Red announced a native next-gen version of the game shortly after the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X and S.
Details have been scarce up till now but recently the studio finally revealed the release date and it is set for December 14, 2022. A live stream scheduled for later this week will go into details of what to expect from this version of the game, but it’s safe to assume that it will feature faster loading times, haptic support, and a 60FPS option alongside raytracing and other quality of life changes.
That’s all for this week’s GameNama! Tune in next week to make sure you don’t miss the latest in the gaming world!
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