Yeah, you read that right—we’re already seeing the benefits of developer Bungie’s split with publishing juggernaut Activision. During a livestream this week, Bungie announced their looter-shooter will no longer have platform exclusive content. If that wasn’t surprising enough, we learned the studio is working on cross-save support across all platforms—including Sony along with cross-platform play with the exception of PvP and Raids! Even crazier is that on September 17 with the release of the game’s latest update, Shadowkeep, the Destiny 2 base game, including its first year of content add-ons, will go free-to-play on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia. According to reports I’ve seen, it would appear the PlayStation platform holder only agreed to support cross-play and cross-save the day before Destiny’s stream, which isn’t at all surprising. I started out this generation as a very vocal PS4 supporter while shrugging off the Xbox One (to be fair, the system had a lot of performance and pricing issues at launch). It wasn’t until last year when I switched positions after seeing the incredible amount of work Phil Spencer and his team did to drastically improve all things Xbox. Remember the focus on TV? Gone. The unnecessary features that weighed the platform down like Kinect and app snapping? Dropped. The company’s commitment to players? It’s been shown through actions like the addition of backwards compatibility, supporting cross-platform play, and creating killer new services like Games Pass.
Anyway, in other news, Google held their own pre-E3 presser where they gave more details on their cloud streaming service, Stadia. Here’s what we learned:
● Initially available in the Founder’s Edition this November which includes a Chromecast Ultra, Stadia controller, 3 months of pro subscription, 3 months of pro subscription for a friend, and a Founder’s name. All this for $129.
● The pro subscription will cost $9.99/month, offer a selection of free games with the ability to purchase said games or other games at a discount, support 4K HDR @ 60fps (Google is working on 120fps) with 5.1 surround sound
● A free tier will be available next year that’s capped at 1080p with stereo sound and grants the ability to buy games without a discount
So yeah. That’s Stadia, and I’m not into it. You know what I am into though? Project xCloud—Microsoft’s game streaming offering that’s in the works and is being pitched as another way to enjoy your Xbox games, not the only way. If they bundle the cost of Live, Games Pass, and xCloud into a decent monthly cost, I just may bite. It’d be pretty fucking sweet to pick up where I left off in a game on my phone, tablet, or whatever, wherever. We also had a huge Pokémon Direct this week jam packed with new details on Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield. The latest proper pocket monster title will debut exclusively on Switch on November 11 and will include online raids, which is a series first and something players have been wanting for a long time. Nothing else this week has been major, but there were a bunch of other tiny announcements:
● Ubisoft confirmed Watch Dogs Legion, the next entry in the series that was 100% redeemed with Watch Dogs 2, will be shown off at E3
● Those playing Super Mario Run on Android will need to be on OS 4.4 when an update goes live June 11
● Uh, you can soon buy Xbox branded deodorant, body wash, and body spray. Yes, really. In a line from the press release
Lynx Xbox is a fresh scent of pulsing green citrus, featuring top notes of kaffir lime and winter lemon, aromatic herbal middle notes of mint and sage, and woody bottom notes of patchouli and clearwood. Containing a range of natural essential oils, the Xbox Lynx range comes with a sleek new look and features a body spray, deodorant, and shower gel.
If you were hoping to smell like Doritos and Mountain Dew, I’m sorry.
● Naughty Dog will take Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, and The Last of Us offline for PS3 in September.
● The next PlayStation Preview update will let players try out the company’s revamped chat system which will includes support for parties up to 16 people
● Shenmue III has been delayed again (lol) from August to November
● The Russo Brothers are working on a Netflix animated adaptation of Magic: The Gathering
● Borderlands 2 may be getting free DLC seven years after launch if a directory listing on the Steam Store ends up being true
● The murmurings of The Witcher III coming to Switch are intensifying and won’t die. If it is true, you can bet your ass I’ll be picking it up
So yeah. It’s been quiet the week for games. A pretty busy one before E3 too. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get back to playing Final Fantasy X on Switch while wrapping up A Plague’s Tale: Innocence which I can’t recommend enough. What about you? What are you playing and what do you hope to see at E3?
