One of the biggest games set to launch this year may have had its release window narrowed down, a publisher’s new AI tool is both exciting and concerning for the gaming industry, and a character made popular through memes has arrived in Marvel’s latest tactical action RPG. Today, Game Rant’s weekly recap takes a look at some of the most notable headlines from the past week.
Dark and Darker is delisted from Steam following a heap of legal trouble, Resident Evil 4’s modern remake was released this weekend to critical acclaim as a faithful reimagining, and what is next for Counter-Strike has been suddenly revealed with more to look forward to this summer. All that and more in this week’s roundup of games industry news.
Tony Todd Allegedly Leaks Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Release Window
Little has been shared about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 since its official announcement at the last PlayStation State of Play, but its actors have since been rousing discourse about it on social media. In one particularly revealing instance of social media presence, Venom actor Tony Todd claimed that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be launching in September with marketing behind it in August. Todd has recently tried to jokingly backstep from this statement, and it will be interesting to see if his claims end up having any truth to them.
Ubisoft AI Tool Revealed That Ghostwrites NPC Dialogue
In news that has surely outraged developers, Ubisoft has unveiled an AI tool dubbed Ubisoft Ghostwriter that is intended to generate NPC dialogue. This is meant to help cut down on the time it would otherwise take for real scriptwriters to come up with thousands of NPC barks, but the transition from real writers to a script-generating AI may be too alarming or disingenuous for some developers, such as God of War’s Cory Barlog, who have already expressed their averse opinions toward it.
Dark and Darker Delisted from Steam
Upcoming fantasy action RPG Dark and Darker was highly popular in its playtests, but has been recently hit with some troubling legal issues. Indeed, Dark and Darker was removed from Steam following a cease-and-desist from Nexon, a Korean publisher. This was only the latest in the game’s line of legal issues, which apparently stem from stolen assets and code allegations.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns Shadow-Launches Morbius DLC
Marvel’s Midnight Suns has doled out its post-launch DLC chapters at a gradual pace with seemingly no pattern between them, and its latest is certainly true of being unpredictable. Morbius shadow-dropped into Marvel’s Midnight Suns this week with his entire chapter and suite of upgradeable ability cards available, leaving only one final DLC character left to arrive at some point in the future.
Valve Announces Counter-Strike 2
More than a decade has gone by since Valve’s launch of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and fans have now suddenly learned that the previously leaked and rumored Counter-Strike 2 is officially releasing this summer. This reveal was subdued in a way, unveiling all of its information via a website launch, but fans are still elated nonetheless with a lot of content coming their way soon.
Features
This week’s gaming news rounded up with some other startling announcements and revelations. On one hand, the reveal of a God of War-style Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game was completely out of left field but is sure to entice action RPG fans, while the knowledge that Redfall could have previously come to PS5 as well as PC and Xbox Series X/S is a tough pill to swallow.
- TMNT: The Last Ronin Already Has One Huge Advantage Over Every Other Ninja Turtles Game
- Redfall’s PS5 Cancellation May Be Felt by PlayStation Fans for Years to Come
Movies & TV
High on Life and Rick and Morty’s Justin Roiland seems to have evaded the charges that were alleged against him, but that does not clear his name in good faith with regard to other controversies that have been shared.
Guides
The Resident Evil 4 remake launched this weekend, and while it is a faithful remake of the original, it still has its own approach to gameplay at large. There will be a lot that fans can telegraph or anticipate if they have played the original before, and the village’s farm is memorable for the blue medallions strewn about that players can find and destroy. The remake does not disappoint in this regard, making the farm’s blue medallions its first blue note request.
Game Rant Exclusives
Game Rant’s review of Storyteller praises its puzzle-driven adventure, which is at times challenging and at other times leisurely for the average player but laments about how short it is for the price ascribed to it.