Valve announces its Nintendo Switch competitor this week, while Netflix prepares an unexpected entry into the video game industry with a new initiative and executive hire. Game ZXC has compiled some of the biggest gaming news stories from this past week together into a concise post for fans and enthusiasts to stay up to date on the most important events in the industry per week. Highlighting the most relevant stories, this list is not inherently and totally objective, and will not contain every news story this week. Rather, this is intended for gaming fans who want a quick rundown on the largest/most impactful stories that occurred in the last week in games.
In this week's roundup of gaming news, Valve announces the Steam Deck, a Switch-like handheld PC for Steam. Netflix is apparently entering the games industry with a new game streaming option. Atlus is preparing seven announcements in the name of Persona's 25th anniversary this fall, potentially including Persona 6. Respawn Entertainment continues to do damage control for Titanfall 2, which is under duress from attacks by hackers. The next Judgment game may be in jeopardy due to a contract dispute with the protagonist's talent agency. All that and more in this week's roundup of the biggest games industry news.
Valve Announces Steam Deck, its Switch-like Handheld PC
This week, among other independent efforts on creating handheld gaming PCs, Steam has unveiled its own proprietary effort in handheld hardware. Called the Steam Deck, Valve's powerful handheld gaming PC could be the first example of proper Nintendo Switch competition in the handheld gaming market. Comparatively speaking, the Steam Deck has much more powerful hardware: 16GB RAM, a brand new AMD APU based on Zen 2 and RDNA 2, and a faster NVMe storage device on the mid and high-end level.
Additionally, the Steam Deck has a seven-inch screen, multiple options for price flexibility, and will also function as an open platform that can be modified to run things like Windows or another version of Linux instead of Steam OS. There are a few differences, mainly the pricing: The Steam Deck starts at $50 more expensive than the newer Nintendo Switch OLED model. Additionally, the Steam Deck's monitor/TV dock is sold separately, potentially costing even more. However, for those who want to play Steam games from a more mobile form factor, the Steam Deck may be ideal.
Netflix Entering Game Streaming, Hires Former EA Executive
Both PlayStation and Xbox have their own offerings for streaming games, alongside dedicated services like Google Stadia and Amazon Luna. Now it seems Netflix is preparing to offer a similar option, as the company recently hired former EA veteran Mike Verdu as Netflix's "VP of game development," carrying an obvious implication. According to a report by Bloomberg, apparently Netflix does not intend to charge extra for game streaming, rather this will be an extra baked-in service for Netflix subscriptions.
Seven Announcements Prepared for Persona 25th Anniversary
On the 25th anniversary for the series, Atlus has confirmed seven separate Persona announcements technically from now until fall of next year. Being the anniversary, these announcements could range form new game announcements, to multimedia projects based on the franchise, as well as anything Persona-related. Chief among these is rumored to be Persona 6, which is confirmed to be in development at this time.
Atlus’ director Naoto Hiraoka mentioned the desire to reach and surpass Persona 5 in a job posting at Atlus, emphasizing how the explosion in the franchise's popularity brings mounting expectations. It's unclear at this time how far in development Persona 6 is, but considering the project is still hiring, it's likely the game is still in the earliest of stages. However, that doesn't disprove the possibility of Persona 6 being one of seven announcements the developer is planning.
Titanfall 2 Has Skeleton Crew Working to Fix DDOS Attack
On consoles, Titanfall 2 continues to be rendered unplayable due to a DDOS attack from hackers taking the game offline. Unfortunately, Respawn Entertainment does not have the bandwidth or manpower to remedy the server issues quickly. According to Respawn, much of the development and support teams are working on its current working live service game Apex Legends, with only "one or two people on it." It's unclear when the online services for Titanfall 2 will be stabilized.
Judgment Sequel May Not Be Possible Due to Actor's Agency Restrictions
Yakuza spin-off Judgment may not see another PC release, or sequel in general, based on a contractual restriction with the actor. Takuya Kimura, the Japanese actor and likeness for Takayuki Yagami, has a contractual restriction that prevents his likeness from appearing on the PC platform. According to reports, this same agency had reportedly barred a Judgment PC release for the original game previously.
The game was noticeably absent among other Sega titles, especially with the company "aggressively" pursuing PC ports after Persona 4 Golden's success.
Several AAA Titles Delayed Indefinitely Into 2022
This week also saw the unfortunate delay of several big releases planned for later this year. As of this week, Resident Evil Re:Verse, Ghostwire Tokyo, and Rainbow Six Extraction have all been delayed indefinitely to 2022. Re:Verse was initially planned to release alongside Resident Evil Village, but was delayed after the game's beta test. Ghostwire: Tokyo developer Tango Gameworks cited the staff's health as the reason for the game's delay. As for Rainbow Six Extraction, Ubisoft cited a similar issue, and chose to delay the game as well.
Final Fantasy 10-3 Still Possible, According to Final Fantasy Developers
According to Final Fantasy character designer Tetsuya Nomura, there is still a possibility that Final Fantasy 10 could receive another sequel at some point. According to Nomura, the plot outline for a "Final Fantasy 10-3" exists in some fashion, written by scenario writer Kazushige Nojima. Nomura also mentioned that series designer Motomu Toriyama says that the potential sequel is a possibility, but would have to come after Final Fantasy 7 Remake.