In this week's gaming news recap, big news for Lucasfilm Games and Star Wars, CES 2021, more Game Pass rumors, and Cyberpunk controversy. 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.
For this week's roundup of gaming news, the reformation of Lucasfilm Games finally opens up Star Wars and other Lucasfilm IPs to any and all game publishers. Among the lion's share of CES hardware news, there was plenty of gaming-related announcements made as well. More evidence of the ambition of Game Pass has come out, also potentially hinting at more announcements coming in 2021. More potential "leaks" for Grand Theft Auto 6 have come out, though they're not the most credible. A vexing Cyberpunk 2077 update lays out a vague content roadmap. All that and more, here's a recap of the biggest gaming news of the week.
The Reformation of Lucasfilm Games Frees Star Wars from EA-Exclusivity
Releasing the Star Wars franchise's exclusivity deal with EA, Lucasfilm Games has been reformed as a licensing brand for gaming. What this means is that huge Lucasfilm IPs like Star Wars and Indiana Jones are now able to work with various developers and publishers to make games. Previously, EA and Disney had struck a deal in 2013 to exclusively publish Star Wars games.
Clearly that's no longer the case, as both Ubisoft and Bethesda have announced Star Wars and Indiana Jones games in development. Ubisoft Massive is working on a "story-driven, open world" Star Wars game, while Machine Games (Wolfenstein) is developing an adventure in the Indiana Jones franchise.
A Quick Review of Gaming News from CES 2021
While CES is not a gaming-centric trade show, companies like Sony, Nvidia, and Razer typically show up with a few relatively big announcements each year. This year, there were updates on upcoming PS5 release dates, updates for Stadia's compatibility, Razer announcing some interesting concepts, as well as Nvidia revealing a new graphics card. Here's all the biggest announcements from CES 2021:
- Sony quickly revealed some target dates for upcoming PS5 releases (which have since been taken down)
- Nvidia revealed the RTX 3060 graphics card, alongside innovations with the Nvidia Reflex latency management tech
- Google announced a round of LG smart TVs will be receiving a native Stadia app
- Razer had quite a few announcements, including a new round of RTX 30 series Blade laptops, a gaming PC chair with retractable screen, and even an RGB face mask
Alongside CD Projekt's Apology, Significant Revelations Revealed From Cyberpunk 2077
Additional controversy surrounding Cyberpunk 2077 has surfaced in the wake of CD Projekt Red's co-founder issuing a public apology. Alongside the vague roadmap of when to expect updates and DLC, a Bloomberg in-depth report has revealed some significant revelations on the game's troubled development.
Over 20 different employees from CD Projeckt staff shed light on the over-ambitious development cycle, citing issues of a hastened development cycle, extensive overtime for employees, and an imbalanced focus on heavy marketing over long-haul game development. Examples like the E3 2018 demo were allegedly "fake," or at least not representative of what the full game would become, show how rushed development was. Additional revelations, like how the game's sudden camera perspective change was not initially intended for the game, show how deeply troubled Cyberpunk 2077's development cycle truly was.
Microsoft Allegedly Seeking Additional Partnerships for Xbox Game Pass
Among rumors of Microsoft approaching Ubisoft to add Ubisoft+ to Game Pass, apparently Xbox has unsurprisingly taken things a few step further. According to Windows Central's senior editor Jez Corden, Microsoft has allegedly approached "basically every major publisher" about partnering and adding to the Xbox Game Pass lineup.
Corden didn't delve any further than that, and of course, Microsoft has yet to confirm any of these details. However, it does follow the sentiment expressed by Phil Spencer just a few weeks ago, stating that 2021 would be a pretty big year for Xbox Game Pass. Obviously expanding the library of Xbox Game Pass, from any publisher possible, is the best way for the subscription's offering to continue its growing success.
Another Grand Theft Auto 6 Leak Alleging a Female Protagonist
The well-oiled rumor machine of Grand Theft Auto 6 continues chugging along, this time with potential information on the next game's protagonist. Earlier in the month, repeated leaker Tom Henderson stated that the next entry would be the first to feature a female protagonist in Grand Theft Auto. Piggybacking off that rumor, YouTuber LegacyKillaHD seemed to affirm this statement, noting that they have an inside source "in the know" who can verify this information.
Like practically every other Grand Theft Auto rumor and leak, this is one worth taking with a grain of salt. LegacyKillaHD is sourcing an anonymous insider from several years ago, related to another bigger "Project Americas" leak for Grand Theft Auto 6. A female protagonist for Grand Theft Auto 6 has been "leaked" and rumored since rumors of the next entry began, but nothing from this story even remotely confirms that.
Bungie and Riot Games Team Up to Deal With Cheaters
In an unlikely partnership, legal representation from Bungie and Riot Games have filed a joint-lawsuit against a known distributor of cheating software. Both Bungie's Destiny 2 and Riot Games' Valorant have been implementing different proactive measures to try and deal cheaters, but like any competitive shooter, there will always be cheating in some form.
The former cheat distributor in question is Gatorcheats.com, a site that was selling cheat software for both games. Both hacks were capable of wallhacks and aimbots, while the "Destiny 2 Cheats" software even had auto-revive and teleport commands. The site has since been shut down, but both companies are pushing forward with the lawsuit regardless of the cease and desist order.
Awesome Games Done Quick Ends with Over $2 Million Donated to Charity
Lastly this week, Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) concluded with a massive $2.7 million donated to charity. Much like every Games Done Quick event, hundreds of thousands of fans showed up in droves for the community speedrunning event, with over 40,000 donations made. AGDQ utilized that $2.7 million to fund the Prevent Cancer Foundation, despite taking place entirely online this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.