Hey there everyone. I hope you're all staying cool out there. Again, I've been busy and I was unable to get a WRUP down last week. But, here I am now and hopefully I have something interesting to discuss. Let's just go to it.
Bethesda is not the first place I would expect to unionize, but that's just what has happened to Bethesda Game Studios. The decision covers everyone and isn't limited to specific parts of the studios. A quote given to PC Gamer says it covers "...artists, engineers, programmers, and designers". Bethesda's parent company, Microsoft claims to be union friendly and we'll see how good that claim is as negotiations take place for a contract. Overall unionizing a studio is a pretty big deal as game development and generally the entire sector seems to be pretty fickle often leaving employees stranded and without protections. Hopefully this will help set a precedent and we'll see more studios unionize.
If you're a Fallout fan then you're probably already aware of Fallout London and it's lengthy time spent in development. Well, rejoice wastelanders across the pond, because there appears to be news on the front. Sort of... Okay so the mod apparently had some updating issues that delayed it's completion but now things are back on track and a release date is right around the corner. What date is that? We don't know. They don't say. More here from GamesRadar.
In September we crush the xenos. Space Marine 2 has been getting a lot of attention with new game play teasers and developer vlogs. Now the news is that there's a fully playable leak of the entire game online. At first this may seem exciting, but be aware this is likely a pretty old build and it may contain unsafe files depending on where you're getting it. I for one would not recommend downloading it. And for those who believe they're getting and edge on the competition by playing it early, keep in mind that according to Focus the leaked version is around a year old now. Not to mention game play will not only change but there won't be a carry over for player stats once the full version is released in September.
One of the biggest and most anticipated ARPGs has a closed beta test incoming, and there's still time to sign up for a slot. Just go to the official website here and click the register email tab. You'll be emailed info when the time comes if you're chosen to participate. Easy as that. POE2 claims to have twelve playable classes, a six act campaign and more than a hundred end game maps with each containing its own boss. Early access to POE2 is slated for some time this year.
What are we all playing? Some kind of game or other?
Greywolfe: i've done something dumb. but first! the current game i'm playing is pokemon: the trading card game for the gbc. that's going. i'm two medals in and sort of collecting cards as i go, so i can make assorted decks as needed. it has quite a lot of onramp. [but once the onramp is over, i expect the game to go quickly.] - as for the dumb thing. i...bought balatro. this was a mistake. lol. i played a little to learn it and looked up and it was four and a half hours later. balatro is pretty good. just be wary of buying it if you're inclined towards roguelite games like that, because it might eat your soul for a while.
AJ: I recently opened a Limited Run collector's edition of Shantae: Risky's Revenge for PS5, so I'll probably play that a bit. Also possibly some Sonic Colors.
Scrooloose: I've been playing Sunless Skies and I reinstalled Man Eater to go along with Shark Week while it was still on. I picked up Nobody Wants to Die as well and it's been really good.