In this week’s gaming news, a new Nintendo Direct brought reveals for already-announced games like Kirby and the Forgotten Land, as well as brand-new announcements for upcoming titles like Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes and Xenoblade Chronicles 3. PlatinumGames makes a public plea to Microsoft in an effort to potentially revive Scalebound. Meanwhile, Microsoft reaffirmed its multiplatform promise in the wake of the Activision Blizzard acquisition, all while Activision has confirmed details about 2022’s Call of Duty title. All this and more in this week’s roundup of the biggest news in the gaming industry.
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Highlights From February’s Nintendo Direct Showcase
This week brought February’s big Nintendo Direct showcase, bringing with it several reveals for Switch games coming in the first half of 2022. While some things were leaked beforehand, there were certainly plenty of surprises as well. Whether it was the additional Kirby and the Forgotten Land gameplay, the announcement of new DLC coming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, or the reveal of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, there were some big announcements from the latest Nintendo Direct. Some of the highlights from February’s Direct include:
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is receiving its own musou/Dynasty Warriors spin-off in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, releasing on June 24, 2022 No Man’s Sky is coming to Nintendo Switch at some point this summer. Mario and crew are holding a new soccer tournament this summer with Mario Strikers: Battle League, releasing on June 10, 2022. The Salmon Run co-op mode is coming to Splatoon 3 when it releases this summer. The cult-classic JRPG Chrono Cross is being remastered, releasing on April 7, 2022. Kirby and the Forgotten Land showed off new gameplay, as well as inspired several memes with Mouthful Mode transformations. Live A Live is coming west for the first time with a HD-2D remake similar to Octopath Traveler, releasing on July 22, 2022. Both Earthbound and Earthbound Beginnings are available now via Nintendo Switch Online. New DLC is coming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe by way of the “Booster Course Pass” expansion, coming in waves, starting on March 18, 2022. The next entry in Monolith Soft’s JRPG series, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, is coming September of this year.
PlatinumGames Wants To Bring Back Scalebound With Xbox
A little over a year after the Xbox One was revealed, PlatinumGames had announced a partnership with Microsoft to produce Scalebound, the studio’s first action-RPG. However, as the years past, fans would eventually learn that the Scalebound project had been canceled in 2017 after it had been delayed from a 2016 release window. Both Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and PlatinumGames president Atsushi Inaba have lamented the game’s cancellation publicly, but Inaba and PlatinumGames vice president Hideki Kamiya have recently expressed a desire to return to the fantasy ARPG.
In an interview with IGN Japan, both Inaba and Kamiya expressed a sincere desire to revisit the game, imploring Microsoft to open conversation about bringing back Scalebound. “Kamiya has always wanted to do Scalebound. So we’d like to have a proper discussion with Microsoft,” stated Inaba. Kamiya also jumped in enthusiastically, stating “Phil! Let’s do it together!” It’s unclear what state of development Scalebound was in prior to its cancellation.
Microsoft Reaffirms Multiplatform Promise With ABK, MW2 and New Warzone Coming In 2022
While there were some initial fears among fans after Microsoft announced the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer helped quell those concerns. In a statement by Microsoft president and vice chair Brad Smith, the company would honor existing content exclusivity and release plans for franchises on PlayStation. Additionally, Microsoft “will also make them available on PlayStation beyond the existing agreement and into the future so that Sony fans can continue to enjoy the games they love.” Microsoft also made a similar comment in relation to Nintendo, though the platform difference Switch vs. Xbox/PlayStation is more defined.
That being said, Activision was surprisingly candid with announcing the upcoming plans for the next Call of Duty game, as well as Call of Duty: Warzone’s future. In a blog post, Activision confirmed that the next entry in the Call of Duty franchise would be a sequel to 2019’s Modern Warfare. Additionally, “a new Warzone experience,” as well as the upcoming sequel, will be designed on a new game engined by Infinity Ward. No release date/window was provided yet.
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Grand Theft Auto Sales Exceeded Expectations For Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive’s most recent investor presentation remarked on the continued success of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto franchise. Lifetime sales for the entire GTA series has sold over 370 million units, while Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition sold around 160 million and 10 million units, respectively. Exact sales of the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy were not provided, but did note that around 10 million units of non-GTAV sales were accounted for in the sales numbers.
Nintendo Hacker Sentenced To Over Three Years In Prison
Notable hacker and ironically named Gary Bowser was sentenced to 40 months in prison after they pled guilty to piracy-related charges last Friday. Bowser was a key member of Team Xecuter, a group of hackers that produced and sold modded hardware that allowed players to play pirated Nintendo Switch games (among other devices the group supported). Nintendo openly thanked the U.S. government’s efforts in sentencing Bowser and others in the hacking group, as they “curb illegal activities on a global scale that cause serious harm to Nintendo and the video game industry.”
Battlefield 2042 Refund Petition Reaching Nearly 200,000 Signatures
Almost 200,000 disgruntled Battlefield fans have signed a Change.org petition demanding refunds for the struggling release of Battlefield 2042. The latest entry in EA’s military simulation shooter has dealt with a notoriously controversial launch; from major server and performance issues, to missing features from other Battlefield titles. Paired with a $70 price tag, thousands of fans have supported the petition which alleges Battlefield 2042 is an example of “abuse and bullying from multi-billion dollar corporations who make unfinished games and false advertisements.”
Halo Composers Suing Microsoft For Unpaid Royalties
Composers of the Halo series, Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori, are alleging that Microsoft has neglected to pay adequate royalties to them both. Both composers and their joint company (O’Donnell Salvatori Inc.) enacted a lawsuit in June of last year, and will move to mediation with Microsoft at some point in February, according to an interview with Eurogamer. O’Donnell and Salvatori are alleging the royalties date back 20 years, when the two were composing for Bungie as freelance employees, prior to Microsoft acquiring the studio and O’Donnell becoming a full-time Bungie employee.
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