Ubisoft announces a new plan shifting towards a new live-service game development initiative, while Sony sets grim expectations for PS5 supply throughout 2021 in this week's news. Game Rant 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 gaming news, a refocusing on free-to-play games by Ubisoft has caused some fan concerns, but the publisher has since clarified what that means. Call of Duty Warzone has announced an 80s action movie crossover event featuring some arguably questionable designs, according to fans. Sony continues to warn that PS5 stock may be limited throughout the rest of the year thanks to the worldwide chip shortage. That being said, Sony also announced two new color variants for the DualSense controller. The ESA has also announced new ways to interact with E3 2021's digital show this year. All that and more in this week's recap of the biggest video game news.
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During a financial call for investors, Ubisoft made a few comments regarding free-to-play games that many fans latched on to as concerning. Many thought that Ubisoft re-focusing on "high-end free-to-play" games mean that the publisher would be moving away from its traditional AAA offering. Instead, Ubisoft's revised is strategy is more in service of bringing its "expectation" for free-to-play games to a higher standard similar to that of its AAA franchises like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry.
Ubisoft clarified that this new approach does not act as a sort-of replacement to the publisher's existing franchises, rather it will be a reformed initiative. This does not indicate franchises like Assassin's Creed or Far Cry will take on any additional live-service elements from now on.
After leaked skins showed up on the Call of Duty store, Activision confirmed that Rambo and John McClane are coming to Warzone on May 20. Both iconic movie heroes are coming to the game following an "80s Action Heroes" event, though it's unclear if they will be the only licensed characters appearing for this event. Rambo and McClane follow the recent bombing and transformation of Verdansk into the 1980s version it is now.
Fan response has been mixed to say the least, with many commenting on the leaked Call of Duty skin images with jokes about unusual body proportions and other criticisms of uncanny valley. The official skins or renders have not been confirmed or shown by Activision yet.
Contrary to the continued success with Sony and PS5 sales, supply of the console continues to dwindle fast, and may stay that way until next year. According to a report by Bloomberg, Sony has reportedly warned financial analysts that PS5 consoles will continue to remain in short supply until 2022. Sony had sold around 7.8 million units through March, but in response to the potential rising of sales goals, Sony retained its original goal of at least 14.8 million units in this fiscal year.
For context, that's not far off from the rate of sale for the PS4, which has sold over 115 million units as of 2021. However, due to continued component shortages affecting the tech industry at large, PS5 production and sale may slow down substantially as the year goes on.
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However, despite supply difficulties with the console itself, the DualSense is receiving a few additional color palettes in the form of "Cosmic Red" and "Midnight Black." While Midnight Black is reminiscent of the many fan artists who envisioned an all-black PS5, the Cosmic Red DualSense is a relatively unique color for the controller's first run of secondary colors. Currently, there are no announced plans for special edition PS5 consoles of the same color. Both controllers will release on June 11, 2021.
After a trademark filing by Sony and Insomniac Games, many fans got excited at the potential for a Sunset Overdrive return. Of course, Insomniac Games has not officially confirmed any new Sunset Overdrive projects in development currently, but evidently the studio is still up to it. In an interview with GQ, Sunset Overdrive creative director Marcus Smith mentioned that they "would love to return to" the Sunset Overdrive universe at some point.
As E3 2021 comes ever so closer, the ESA has now confirmed several new details on how to follow and interact with the all-digital trade show this year. Besides livestreams, the organization has confirmed E3 2021 will have an app portal for attendees of all kinds: Featuring digital versions of E3 booths and lounges, forums, "leaderboards" or otherwise "gamified show elements," along with user profiles and more. E3 2021 is scheduled for June 12-15, 2021.
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