In this week’s recap of gaming news, both of Activision Blizzard’s biggest releases for 2022 (Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4) were both delayed indefinitely. On the flip side, FromSoftware showed off 15 minutes of brand new gameplay from Elden Ring ahead of the game’s network test. Hangar 13’s in-development project, once described as “Cthulhu meets Saints Row,” was recently shutdown by Take-Two Interactive despite a huge investment made by the publisher. Production of Nintendo Switch consoles will begin to slow down for the rest of the year due to the ongoing chip shortage. All that and more in this week’s roundup of the biggest video game news.
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Blizzard Delays Overwatch 2, Diablo 4 Indefinitely
Among the ongoing story of Activision Blizzard’s controversy and lawsuit involving workplace harassment, the company also announced two major delays in its upcoming game lineup. Blizzard has delayed the release of both Diablo 4 and Overwatch 2, both to unknown future dates, as no release date or release window was provided at this time. During an investor presentation, the company indicated that development would require more time on both titles to finish development and support post-launch.
Additionally, Blizzard’s co-leader Jen Oneal has announced they are stepping down from the company as well, with Mike Ybarra acting as the sole leader of Blizzard. On top of BlizzCon 2022 being cancelled, and Activision Blizzard’s stock prices dropping rapidly as a result of these announcements, the company continues to reckon with fan backlash and controversy.
FromSoftware Shows Off New Elden Ring Gameplay
This week, FromSoftware took the opportunity to show off some substantial gameplay from Elden Ring. Various snippets of open-world gameplay was shown off from Elden Ring, providing another glimpse at several of the playable character classes that new Tarnished can spec into, alongside the game’s beautiful and mysterious world. Elden Ring’s gameplay trailer explored a few regions, showcased a few bosses, various weapons and movesets, among other minute details in the trailer as well.
This is all in preparation of Elden Ring’s upcoming network test, where selected players will get a chance to check out the game early and test out the multiplayer functionality. From November 12-15, at various times, various players will be able to Elden Ring jump in and test invasions, as well as co-op play.
Take-Two Cancels $53 Million Hangar 13 Project In Development
Mafia 3 developer Hangar 13 was previously working on a “Cthulhu meets Saints Row” project, otherwise known as Codename Volt. However, it seems Take-Two Interactive has made the decision to cancel development on Hanger 13’s upcoming unannounced project. Hangar 13 has assured that no layoffs are expected from the game’s cancellation, but one interesting fact was that Take-Two Interactive had evidently invested $53 million into Hangar 13’s unnamed project in development.
RELATED: Imagining What the ‘Cthulhu Meet Saints Row’ Game Looks Like
Nintendo Reducing Switch Production By 20% Until March 2022
Nintendo Switch console production is once again slowing down as a result of the ongoing worldwide chip shortage. Nintendo announced Switch production will be reduced by 20%, meaning 24 million units will be developed between this fall and March 2022. That being said, Nintendo Switch sales have not slowed down: The Switch has reached a lifetime sales record of almost 93 million units sold, as of September of 2021.
Grand Theft Auto 5 Breaks 155 Million Units Sold
Similarly Grand Theft Auto reached another insane sales milestone this week, thanks to a surprising boost in sales in the last quarter. Grand Theft Auto 5 sold five million units in the last quarter, bringing total sales to 155 million units sold in lifetime sales. Take-Two Interactive also reported that total profit from GTA 5 has since exceeded $6 billion from unit sales and microtransactions since the game’s release in 2013. Grand Theft Auto 5 is also planned to release on PS5/Xbox Series X in March 2022.
Marvel’s Avengers Ends Paid Consumables After Fan Backlash
Paid resources in Avengers, specifically Hero’s Catalysts and Fragment Extractors, were recently taken off the game’s marketplace after backlash from the game’s community. These were essentially XP boosting items that many believed had considerably reduced grind time that non-paying players would have to earn through gameplay. Any previously purchased items still remained in players’ inventories, but future items can now only be acquired through gameplay methods.
Entire Truck Shipment of EVGA RTX 30-Series Graphics Cards Stolen
This week, in a Grand Theft Auto 5-style heist in real life, criminals apparently made off with several EVGA graphics cards. According to a post on the EVGA forums (as reported by Videocardz and PC Gamer), an entire truck was stolen in California somewhere during the delivery route on October 29 between San Francisco and Southern California. It’s estimated that an entire shipment of EVGA GeForce RTX 30-Series graphics cards, valuing between $329.99 - $1959.99, was stolen from the truck.
MORE: Rumor Suggests Supplies of Nvidia Graphics Cards May Drop by a Third
