So, game announcement season (or not-E3, or Game Fest, or Geoff Fest, or whatever we're calling it these days) came and went with a bit of a whimper. There was some good stuff announced, and a few nice little surprises (there was a great turnout from indies, in particular), but where was all the big stuff? The games that cause the industry to draw a collective breath like in the best E3s of old? The games that set social media and gaming forums ablaze with shock and excitement?

I've been trying to think about the big games I'm most looking forward to in the not too distant future, and unless I venture into 'TBC 2023' territory, I've got nothing. Now I know there are plenty of mid-tier and indie games to get excited about this year, but there's nothing quite like a blockbuster to get the industry talking, and this year seems strangely devoid of them.

We had Elden Ring, Gran Turismo 7, and Horizon: Forbidden West this year, of course - three huge games by any standard - but it didn’t help that they were released so early, and all within a couple of weeks of each other.

Sony's silence is probably the most concerning. The company has an enviable line-up of first-party devs who do nothing better than put out big-budget blockbusters, but its studios seem eerily quiet at the moment. Put The Last of Us Remake to one side and God of War is the only big first-party PlayStation game announced with a 2022 release date. Put aside Spider-Man 2, and it's the only big first-party PlayStation title announced at all.

PlayStation's top dogs are never shy to talk about big games ahead of time, even when the game schedule is full. So the current silence around God of War and its release date is deafening. Especially when PlayStation's line-up is far from stacked this year. There are rumours that an announcement is imminent, but it seems pretty clear that Sony has waited until the very last minute before confirming a date. Or indeed a delay.

Similarly, Microsoft have spent Dr Evil levels of money vacuuming up studios known for blockbuster games ($7.5 billion for Bethesda, and $68 billion for Activision Blizzard), yet the two getting everyone most excited were quickly shifted into 2023.

The world spent the best (worst?) part of two years in lockdown, and although working from home is undoubtedly viable in most cases it would seem this year we’re really feeling the effects of that disruption within the games industry. Everything sort of feels like it's on pause at the moment, and it would seem that the big games in the initial stages of development when lockdown arrived were the ones hit hardest. The ones we should have been playing over the next few months.

It's a shame we're going through a bit of a slow year for games, but the point of this newsletter is to try and stay positive and to share the good things in gaming... So at least we can look forward to a bumper 2023! And at least Game Pass and the new PlayStation Plus (alongside Switch Online and never-ending PC deals) mean we can experience a drought of new games whilst simultaneously drowning in old ones.

Let’s see this sort-of gap year as an opportunity to revisit some classics we've missed, to really make a dent in those backlogs we’ve complained about for so long, and to get our money's worth from those subscription services we really should be using more.

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I'd just like to say a quick hello to the new subscribers this week, and thanks those who have supported The Week in Games with a membership, by sharing it online, or just by reading this right now. This newsletter is completely reliant on shares and word of mouth, so your help and support is crucial, and hugely appreciated.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Take care everybody!

NEWS

• The ID@Xbox Summer Game Fest Demo Event is currently underway, offering over 30 demos of upcoming Xbox games. See here for full details of the games on offer.

• Doom enthusiast James Brown has managed to get the game running inside a Lego brick.

• After years of rumours, Sonic creator Yuji Naka has confirmed that Michael Jackson did indeed write music for Sonic 3.

• Developer Creative Assembly has revealed multiplayer sci-fi heist shooter Hyenas. You can sign up for the upcoming Alpha test here.

• An unreleased NES arcade port has been found and dumped online.

• Microsoft has revealed more games coming to Game Pass between now and July 1st.

• A hacker has reportedly stolen $2 million worth of digital Counter Strike: Global Offensive items.

• A Plague Tale: Requiem gets an October release date and a 10-Minute gameplay demo.

• Nintendo has confirmed that the Switch Online app will soon be incompatible with older iPhones.

• Xbox has won a Daytime Emmy award for 20th anniversary documentary Power On.

• Atari Celebrates its 50th Anniversary with a new logo.

• PlayStation will not attend Gamescom 2022, Sony has confirmed.

• Microsoft confirms Xbox controllers are currently in short supply.

• The Smash Bros-like Lego Brawls will be coming to consoles in September, it has been announced.

• Developer Striking Distance have talked about how they are using ‘Horror Engineering’ to make The Callisto Protocol’s scares unpredictable.

• Lego and Nintendo have teamed up for more Super Mario-themed character packs, due in August.

• A YouTuber has built a 2cm-thick "PS5 Slim" with a custom copper cooling system.

• N64 classic Pokémon Snap will be added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack library next week.

• Sony has thankfully confirmed that PlayStation Plus Premium games will get 60Hz NTSC options in PAL regions in the future.

• The fine folk over at Digital Foundry have put the Resident Evil 2 and 3 next-gen upgrades to the test.

• Chris Meledandri, boss of animation studio Illumination has said that criticism of Chris Pratt's casting as Mario in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. movie will evaporate once people hear his performance for themselves.

• Following Wednesday's Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Direct (recap here), you can now register your interest to be notified about the Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Collector's Edition, which will only be available from the Nintendo Store.

Heads-up:

• There are currently over 100 games at up to 85% off in Humble's The Plot Thickens Sale. Including Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, GhostWire Tokyo, and Deathloop.

NEW RELEASES:

This week saw the release of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes for Switch. It may not be the typical strategy RPG the series is known for, but Eurogamer and many others are calling it one of the strongest musou games yet.

This week also saw Sony's new PlayStation Plus service roll out worldwide. If you're still not sure whether it's for you (or if its convoluted tier system has you bamboozled) I'd recommend checking out CNN's in-depth review, or having a browse through VGC's list of every single game available.

If you signed up and you're unsure which games to start with, my PS5 Ultimate Game Guide features over 70 pages of PS5 exclusives, PS4 classics, and PlayStation VR and indie essentials. Week in Games readers can enter code TWIG20 at checkout for 20% off.

Fall Guys 

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch) – June 21 – Read review

Shadowrun Trilogy 

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch) – June 21

Wreckfest 

(Switch) – June 21 – Read review

Last Days of Lazarus 

(PC) – June 22

Deliver Us The Moon 

(PS5, Xbox Series X/S) – June 23 – Read review

Naraka: Bladepoint 

(Xbox Series X/S) – June 23

Sonic Origins 

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC) – June 23

Capcom Fighting Collection 

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC) – June 24

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes 

(Switch) – June 24

Madison 

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC) – June 24

UPCOMING RELEASES:

Disgaea 6 Complete 

(PS4, PS5, PC) – June 28

DNF Duel 

(PS4, PS5, PC) – June 28

Escape Academy 

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC) – June 28

Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel 

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC) – June 28

MX vs ATV Legends 

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC) – June 28

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak 

(Switch, PC) – June 30

Outriders Worldslayer 

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, Stadia, PC) – June 30

F1 22 

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC) – July 1

GAME OF THE WEEK

A randomly selected game each week! Any and all games are eligible for selection regardless of age, platform, popularity, or otherwise.

This week, the honour goes to…

Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (2018)

A true VR killer app, Astro Bot: Rescue Mission is a game of astounding creativity and polish. It took the tried and tested 3D platformer template and transported it into scenarios only possible within a virtual reality environment.

Sony’s Japan Studio created a game perfectly suited to its host hardware, with the kind of craft, care and ingenuity rarely found outside of top-tier Nintendo titles. A mini-masterpiece.

GAMING ANNIVERSARIES

Another round of gaming anniversaries to make you feel old… Sorry!

Click through the links to see what people had to say about them.

The Nintendo 64 was first released in Japan 26 years ago!

Quake celebrated its 26th birthday!

Sonic the Hedgehog turned 31!

RECOMMENDED READS

The old stereotype of games being for boys just doesn't exist anymore

Alan Wen - GamesIndustryBiz

Newzoo's Jay Uppal shares the results of the firm's latest gamer sentiment study and how diversity, equality and inclusion practices have been successfully implemented in games.

Streaming is the key to discovery

Sam Naji and Damian Abrahams - GamesIndustryBiz

Sam Naji and Damian Abrahams explain why livestreaming is crucial for understanding gamers and how it translates to sales.

CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS

Perfect Organism: An Alien: Isolation Companion

By Andy Kelly / Unbound

— unbound.com

Calling all Alien superfans! This is the ultimate unofficial guide to Alien: Isolation, considered to be part of the Alien franchise canon

50 Years of Text Games

By Aaron A Reed - Campaign ends July 7th

— www.kickstarter.com

50 Years of Text Games: From Oregon Trail to A.I. Dungeon! A definitive book about the first half-century of interactive fiction.

The Making of GoldenEye 007

By Gabe Durham - Campaign ends July 8th

— www.kickstarter.com

Based on exclusive interviews w/ the game's creators, Alyse Knorr's book covers the development & release of Rare's 1997 surprise hit.

UNITHOR - A Brand New Joystick For Retro Computers

By UNI-Joy - Campaign ends July 21st

— www.kickstarter.com

A new classic-styled game controller for Amiga, Commodore, Atari, PC with USB and an array of game consoles and emulators.

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...and that's it for this week!

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