Various Video Game Stories and More from the Week of August 2, 2021

Category: Gaming
Posted: August 6, 2021 12:04PM
Author: Guest_Jim_*

I hope everyone's week has gone well and this Friday ends it well as it is time to go through the different press releases that have collected. The first one is actually not video game related as it is time sensitive. EK has begun its Summer 2021 sale so you can find discounts across the company's variety of custom liquid cooling products. IT does not appear its AIOs are on sale, but for a limited time customers in the US and EU will receive free shipping on those. I do not see when the free shipping expires but the Summer sale runs until August 31 so you do have time to decide on what parts you need.

Source: EK Water Blocks (Summer Sale Page)

Embracer Group has continued its strategy of acquiring various developers with the announcement of eight acquisitions this week. The highlight of that list is almost certainly 3D Realms, a company once known as Apogee Software before rebranding and since 2014 it has taken on a publisher role with six games in the pipeline. This acquisition actually closed on July and is under Saber Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of Embracer Group. The other seven acquisitions are of CrazyLabs, Digixart, Easy Trigger, Force Field, Ghost Ship Games, Grimfrost, and Slipgate Ironworks. The total value of these acquisitions is about SEK 2.7 billion on a cash and debt-free basis, according to a regulatory press release.

Source: Embracer Group [1] (Regulatory Press Release) , [2] (3D Realms), [3] (CrazyLabs), [4] (Digixart), [5] (Easy Trigger), [6] (Force Field), [7] (Ghost Ship Games), [8] (Grimfrost), and [9] (Slipgate Ironworks)

Embracer Group is not the only video game company making acquisitions as Focus Home Interactive announced its agreement to purchase 77.5% of Dotemu, a developer and publisher known for retro games on PC, console, and mobile platforms. This also means The Arcade Crew, a publishing label under Dotemu for independent games has been acquired as well. Focus Home Interactive is interested in growing is ability to develop indie games, such as Dark Devotion and The Last Spell (Early Access), both published by The Arcade Crew.

With all of these acquisitions, it will be interesting to see what comes in the future as these various teams have access to new resources and talent, thanks to joining the larger families.

Source: Focus Home Interactive (Dotemu Acquisition)

Rebellion has announced the finale of Zombie Army 4's Season 3 storyline is Return to Hell, bringing Alpha Squad back to the underworld. The mission is to recover the manifestation of Schweiger's mind to free him from Baron Umbra. This campaign mission is part of the Season Pass 3 but can also be purchased separately for $6.99.

The new mission is not the only thing that has arrived for Zombie Army 4 as the Left 4 Dead 2 survivors, Coach, Ellis, Nick, and Rochelle are now also available to play as in the game. Unlike the mission, this DLC character pack is free for all players.

Source: Rebellion (Zombie Army 4)

Square Enix has released a cinematic for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy featuring an encounter with the titular team and Lady Hellbender, the leader of the Hellraisers, queen of Seknarf Nine, and a notorious monster collector. The team has come to offer her a new item for her collection, but they are not the first to do so that day as they watch another try to sell her a creature called a Tara-tara. That deal goes a little differently than might have been planned by the seller and showed Lady Hellbender in a different light than the Guardians probably expected as well, but you can watch the video to see all of that. It also demonstrates the humor written into the game's original story as Drax draws the queen's attention.

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is to release on October 26.

Source: Square Enix (Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy)

Galactic Civilizations III has received its v4.2 update this week, which focuses on balancing many of the space-based 4X game's elements, including planet classes, requirements for Starbase modules, and more. Part of what made this update possible was the sharing of feedback and save files from the community with the developers. This made it possible to track down some of the more specific balance issues that can be hard to find otherwise. You can follow the source link for the patch notes, which are relatively long. In addition to the tweaks already mentioned, the player counts for the different map sizes has increased along with the number of habitable planets for those sizes, and AI has been tweaked to be more generous with tech trading.

Source: Stardock (Galactic Civilizations III)

Lastly, Ubisoft has announced the open beta for Riders Republic will be from August 23 to the 25. You can register for it now for a chance to play the game on PC through Ubisoft Connect or Epic Games Store, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, or PlayStation 5. The title features an open world of outdoor sports from biking and skiing to wing and even rocket wing suiting. For the beta players will get to play alone or with friends through the Bike Races, Snow Tricks, and Air Sports campaigns, or take part in various multiplayer modes such as Mass Races, Tricks Battle and Free for All.

The full game releases on October 28 for the same platforms the beta will be on as well as Google Stadia and Amazon Luna.