This week, Corey and Stoy discuss the possibilities of Call of Duty and other Activision Blizzard games through the Xbox brand, what IP they’d like to see revived, E3 possibly being canceled all together, and hold their first annual Xbox Game Draft for games of 2022.
This Week’s Panelists:
Corey Dirrig: Twitter | Instagram
Stoy Jovic: Twitter | Instagram
Headlines
Phil Spencer stated in a recent tweet that Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation, but in what form?
Late in the week, Phil Spencer made a statement concerning this question, although the answer may not be as clear as fans were hoping for, most likely for legal reasons. He did state that Xbox would “honor all existing agreements” Activision Blizzard currently holds with Sony, and keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. “Had good calls this week with leaders at Sony. I confirmed our intent to honor all existing agreements upon acquisition of Activision Blizzard and our desire to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation. Sony is an important part of our industry, and we value our relationship.”
Microsoft will encourage Activision Blizzard studios to explore dormant IP.
In a recent interview with The Washington Post, CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer addressed many different aspects of the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, including how Microsoft would develop the IP owned by the mega publisher. In the interview, Spencer highlighted franchises such as HeXen, Spyro the Dragon, King’s Quest, Guitar Hero, and more, and that he’s “looking forward” to the discussions he’ll have with the teams as the deal closes.
“We’re hoping that we’ll be able to work with them when the deal closes to make sure we have resources to work on franchises that I love from my childhood and that the teams really want to get. I’m looking forward to these conversations. I really think it’s about adding resources and increasing capability.”
Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Interview with The Washington Post
E3 Rumored to be Cancelled Altogether
A few weeks ago, the news broke that E3 2022 was moving to an all digital event as the ESA stated they were concerned for the Omicron strand of COVID-19. Soon after, some reports were coming out that they had abandoned their dates at the Los Angeles Convention Center in early November, long before the new strand was a concern.
Now, a new report has surfaced stating the event has been cancelled all together. In a TikTok video from VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb, it seems the event is in even more trouble than initially reported.
Grubb stated “E3’s been cancelled. Well, physically it’s been cancelled, digitally probably also cancelled.”
The Wrap-Up
Xbox Game Pass hits 25 Million Subscribers
After an already busy Tuesday for Microsoft, they also released a statement about the number of gamers who subscribe to Game Pass. That number has officially hit 25 million subscriptions, which is impressive considering everything Xbox has been through over the last decade. Microsoft now owns thirty three developers and three publishing arms, including Bethesda and Activision Blizzard, to bolster their Game Pass library with some of the biggest IP in gaming. It will definitely be a challenge for anyone to say that Game Pass isn’t a great deal, especially for fans of western role playing games and first person shooters.
WWE 2K22 has been announced with a March release date.
After the abrupt cancellation of last year’s game and taking a year to regroup, 2K has announced WWE 2K22 with a brand new trailer, the reveal of Rey Mysterio as its cover star, and a release date of March 11, 2022. Using the tagline “it hits different,” Visual Concepts seems to have taken that time to really get back to what made the series popular in the first place. WWE 2K22 will include the fan-favorite GM Mode MyGM, the Showcase Mode, which focuses on Rey Mysterio and his career, MyFaction mode where players “collect and manage a dream faction of Superstars and compete in weekly events,” MyRISE mode which allows players to experience different stories for created male and female wrestlers, and an in-depth creative suite for players to create and share cross-platform.
The Cuphead Show is finally coming to Netflix in February.
In a recent press release, Netflix finally announced a release date for the show, simply titled The Cuphead Show. The twelve episode first season is coming to the streaming giant on February 18, 2022. Each episode will run about twelve minutes long and will follow the adventures of Cuphead and Mugman, the main protagonists of the game.
Hawkeye and Kate Bishop are coming to Fortnite.
When players logged into Fortnite today, they were granted with a nice surprise. An update to the storefront has brought both Clint Barton and Kate Bishop from Marvel’s Hawkeye to the island, building the massive roster of not only superheroes, but licensed crossover characters as well. Both Clint and Kate are costumed after their Disney+ counterparts, decked out in their iconic charcoal and violet colors from the show. In traditional fashion, each character skin costs 1,500 V-Bucks each or if you want both characters, they can be purchased together in a bundle for 2,400. If players purchase the bundle, however, there are extra goodies to be had, including a Hawkeye themed glider, harvesting tools, a back bling quiver, and a special loading screen when the skin is equipped. The glider will also be bought separately for 800 V-Bucks.
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