The Biggest News in Gaming (Week Beginning 27/01/20)
The Witcher Animated Movie To Tell Vesemir’s Origin Story
The Witcher: Nightmare of The Wolf, Netflix’s recently confirmed animated spin-off movie will tell the origin story of Vessemir, Geralt’s father figure, and fellow Witcher.
The news comes by way of an official plot synopsis for the anime film published by Netflix, reading “Long before mentoring Geralt, Vesemir begins his own journey as a witcher after the mysterious Deglan claims him through the Law of Surprise.”
Vesemir did not appear in the first season of Netflix’s highly popular new series but was teased in the final episode through a flashback.
A short line by the character could be heard saying “I’ve been waiting for you” to a younger Geralt of Rivia presumably arriving at Kear Morhen. The line was voiced by Divergent star Theo James, despite cries from fans for Mark Hamill to play Geralt’s mentor.
No official casting has been announced for the film, but it is set to release before the arrival of Netflix’s second season of the Witcher in 2021.
Xbox Games With Gold and PlayStation Plus Free Games For February Revealed
The free games PlayStation Plus and Xbox Games With Gold subscribers will have access to for the month of February have been unveiled.
PlayStation Plus members will be able to download Bioshock: The Collection, The Sims 4, and Firewall Zero Hour from the 4th of the month until the 2nd of March.
Bioshock: The Collection bundles together Bioshock, Bioshock 2, and Bioshock Infinite, a truly worshipped series of video games by Irrational games, now known as Ghost Story Games.
Sims 4 ports the very popular PC version of the title along with all its updates to the PlayStation 4, while Firewall Zero Hour is a 4v4 first-person shooter for the PlayStation VR.
Games with Gold subscribers will have free access to TT Isle of Man, Call of Cthulhu, Fable Heroes, and 2004’s Star Wars: Battlefront. As usual, the dates that these will be available are slightly more complex, so a full rundown can be found here.
Uncharted Movie Delayed After Losing its Sixth Director
As stated by The Hollywood Reporter, Sony’s upcoming Uncharted movie will now release on March 5th, 2021.
The most recent release date is three months after the December 2020 date Sony had been hoping for.
The delay comes within a month of the project losing its sixth director, as Travis Knight left the film due to scheduling troubles.
Supposedly, these troubles involved the film’s star Tom Holland’s busy Spider-Man schedule forcing them to “crunch” the film.
A new director has not yet been found, but talks are reportedly underway to make Venom’s Ruben Fleischer the film’s seventh director.
Nintendo Switch Sales Pass 50 Million as Pokemon Sword and Shield reaches 16 Million
According to Nintendo’s most recent earnings report, sales for their portable home console have reached 52.48 million units.
The sales of the console have seen a resurgence since the release of the Nintendo Switch Lite, a portable only version of the device.
Meanwhile, the earnings report also confirmed that Pokemon Sword and Shield have sold 16.06 million as of December 31st, 2019, despite only being released in November of 2019.
In terms of how these figures compare to other Pokemon games, this puts the latest instalments close behind Pokemon Sun and Moon at 16.18 million units sold, and Pokemon X and Y with 16.44 million.
Additionally, Nintendo has reported that Luigi’s Mansion 3 has shipped 5.37 million units since its October release.
Untitled Goose Game Developer Promises 1% of Future Revenue Will Go To Australian Indigenous Groups
In a surprising act of philanthropy, House House, the Australian developer behind 2019’s breakout hit Untitled Goose Game, has said it will donate 1% of its future profits to indigenous groups.
“Our video games are made on stolen Wurundjeri land,” the studio announced via Twitter.
“We at House House will be paying at least 1% of our income to Indigenous groups, in perpetuity, as part of the Pay the Rent movement. We encourage others to do the same.”
The Pay The Rent movement is a product of years of calls for reform in the way indigenous Australians are treated. House House is just the latest in a growing number of companies trying to set things right.
Problems originally arose because of colonists from Britain and Europe forcing indigenous peoples from their land.
The developer will begin by donating to the Wurundjeri Tribe Council, Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance, and Indigenous youth network Seed.
Sky Season of Rhythm Available Now
After being awarded the title of Apple’s ‘iPhone Game of the Year’ and winning Mobile Game Awards’s ‘People’s Choice Award’, thatgamecompany is kicking off 2020 by unveiling a new adventure season in their game, Sky.
The release of the ‘Season of Rhythm’ narrative arc and mini in-game special events will dovetail the Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day.
The ice-themed season sees a traveling troupe of performers accidentally disbanded across the kingdom. The adventure will see players team up with one another to bring the troupe back together during this ten-week bumper season.
Based on a previous season arc, this refreshed adventure will also bring a mix of new and improved returning collectibles. Players will also be able to receive and learn six new expression emotes from the performers, such as: Welcome, Dance, Kiss, Juggle, Respect and Think.
Sky is free-to-start and currently available on the App Store as well as on global pre-registration for Google Play.
For an exclusive interview with thatgamecompany’s creative director, click here
