We've had a busy week here in the news department, but nothing compared to Wednesday night and the Xbox Developer Direct, where five major works got their time to shine. Only one of those games released immediately after the stream, however, and that was Hi-Fi RUSH, the cel-shaded rhythm action game from Tango Gameworks. It may be the best-kept secret in gaming, starting development six years ago and sneaking onto the scene immediately after its announcement.
That's not all Xbox had in store for us, though, as we also got a sneak peek at Arkane Austin's suburban vampire hunter Redfall and learned its release date of May 2. The action-strategy Minecraft Legends from Mojang is coming even earlier, with a release date of April 18. Forza Motorsport 8 showed off some of its collection of more than 500 cars, although it won't be released until later in the year, and we even got a sneak peek at what's going on in the next update of The Elder Scrolls Online.
All Good Things Come To An End ...
... and that includes Naughty Dog's Uncharted series, it would seem. Neil Druckmann confirmed this week that Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is the last we should expect to see from the series, but the studio is focussing its efforts on other big projects, which may or may not include The Last of Us: Part III.
Naughty Dog isn't the only studio that may be looking to move on, as GameFreak, one of the driving forces behind Pokemon since its first pair of entries, wants to build a new franchise to rival the popularity of its monster battler. Ubisoft, on the other hand, is sticking with a tried-and-true formula, announcing this week that it plans to develop Far Cry 7 with a standalone multiplayer mode.
Trouble On The Online Homefront
Online gaming's been an even hotter topic than usual lately, and Destiny 2's long downtime and loss of player progression this week turned a lot of heads in the wrong way. At least its players can comfort themselves with the unlocking of formerly-discontinued cosmetic items and new armor coming in Festival of the Lost.
Riot Games has had its share of troubles too, and the bad times may be continuing, as the theft of source codes in recent cyber attacks could lead to a spike in cheating in League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. But there's been good publicity too, as the company has just made $6 million in charitable donations to 83 non-profits around the world through its Social Impact Fund.
By comparison, Epic Games' delay of Fortnite Creative 2.0 to March seems like small potatoes, and the crossover skin with Dead Space's Isaac should provide at least a brief distraction while we wait.
What's On TV?
At the time of publishing, the third episode of HBO's The Last of Us will be airing in just about an hour, but we've already got conformation on a second season of the ultra-popular television adaptation of Naughty Dog's apocalyptic tale.
Elsewhere in the world of streaming television, Disney+'s Loki was recently cited as inspiration for another precocious Norse lad, as The Game Awards best actor nominee Sunny Suljic, the voice of Atreus in God of War Ragnarok, revealed in an interview.