Sony's ever-popular PlayStation Plus service announces over a dozen new games releasing this month. One of the year's most popular titles also hits a massive sales milestone in the UK as another survival-horror remake prepares to hit shelves. Today, Game Rant's weekly recap takes a look at some of the most notable headlines from the past week.
One indie developer is forced to remove assets that appear to be ripped straight out of FromSoftware games, meanwhile another announces upcoming new content following a recent PR disaster. All that and more in this week's roundup of games industry news.
Bleak Faith: Forsaken Removes FromSoftware Assets it was Accused of Stealing
Bleak Faith: Forsaken is one of many FromSoftware-inspired Soulslikes hitting the market, but it may have taken its inspirations too literally. The indie game was recently accused of nabbing FromSoftware animations seen in games such as Elden Ring and Dark Souls 3, and developer Archangel Studios has removed content after claiming it believed the asset pack was ethically purchased from the Unreal Engine Marketplace.
How Long to Beat Dead Island 2 Revealed
Members of the gaming media were recently given the opportunity to preview Dambuster Studios' Dead Island 2, and it has generated a decent amount of buzz. Some players might expect the game to have a huge runtime given how long it spent in development hell, but art director Adam Olsson recently told Wccftech that Dead Island 2's main story will take around 20 hours - assuming some side quests and random activities are completed naturally.
Hogwarts Legacy Surpasses Elden Ring in UK Sales
Despite controversies surrounding Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling and the game's rebellion story, Hogwarts Legacy has proven to be one of the biggest blockbuster successes of the year. The game sold millions within its first two weeks, and GamesIndustry.biz reported that Hogwarts Legacy has passed the combined physical and digital sales of Elden Ring in the UK. Considering Hogwarts Legacy has only been out for a month, with more console ports in the works, there will no doubt be more to come.
March 2023 PS Plus Extra and Premium Games Revealed
As is the case with Microsoft and Xbox Game Pass, Sony makes headlines whenever the next set of games coming to PlayStation Plus is announced. In March 2023, 17 games are being added to PS Plus' Extra and Premium subscription tiers, three of which are exclusive to Premium: Ridge Racer Type 4, Ape Academy 2, and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. Acclaimed titles like Life is Strange: True Colors, Untitled Goose Game, and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot are also hitting the service, with Tchia set to be a day-one release.
High on Life Teasing DLC or Update
Adult Swim cut ties with Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland this year following a series of domestic abuse allegations and felony charges, and he has similarly been dropped from ventures like Squanch Games. The studio expressed it would be continuing to release updates for its latest venture, High on Life, and on Friday the game's official Twitter account teased something called "High on Knife." Fans have to wait and see what this potential DLC or update will entail.
Features
While delays are not uncommon in the video game industry, COVID-19 seems to have impacted a number of developers in ways that are still being seen. After Bethesda's Starfield announced a release date beyond expectations, AAA titles like Grand Theft Auto 6 and indies such as Hollow Knight: Silksong seem like more unsure bets.
- Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 6 Should be Taking Notes From Bethesda's Starfield Launch
- Hollow Knight: Silksong's Release Date is Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Movies & TV
HBO's prestige adaptation of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us came to an end last Sunday following a rollercoaster of emotions delivered by Pedro Pascal as Joel, Bella Ramsey as Ellie, and a strong supporting cast. While fans of the original game already knew what to expect, new viewers are finally getting their chance to debate Joel's actions at the end of season 1.
Guides
The first open beta weekend for Blizzard's Diablo 4 is officially live, set to end on March 20 at 3:00 p.m. EDT. Some players have experienced error codes while trying to get their limited taste of the action-RPG, but there are some solutions to attempt when coming across Error Codes 30008, 316719, and 34202.
Game Rant Exclusives
This year has been packed with remakes of acclaimed survival-horror games. Now that EA Motive's Dead Space had its time in the spotlight, Capcom is coming out swinging with a remake of Resident Evil 4. Game Rant's review says, "After playing the Resident Evil 4 remake for themselves, fans will find that Capcom has somehow made a near-perfect game even better."