The Week in Gaming - Issue #7

Tidbits of the Week

• Since the worldwide release of Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, a tidal wave of new fans has been periodically crashing Japanese ryegrass gifting site Live Grass Bank, to send gifts to their favorite horses from the series (including best girl, Haru Urara). The site has confirmed orders are being received and these gifts will be sent out over time. Eurogamer

• Civilization 6 Platinum Edition is free on the Epic Games Store until July 24th Eurogamer

• Xbox Game Pass titles for the rest of July will include Grounded 2, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, Farming Simulator 25, RocoCop: Rogue City, and Abiotic Factor. For the full list, hit the link. Video Games Chronicle

Game News

• John Wick Hex has been delisted from digital storefronts this week, though existing owners will still be able to access the game via digital libraries or physical copies. Eurogamer

• Square Enix warns fans that the Nintendo Switch 1 version of Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake does not have a compatibility or upgrade path on Nintendo Switch 2. Video Games Chronicle

• The dev team behind Hitman: World of Assassination has announced they are working on performance issues for the Nintendo Switch release and will continue to address issues over the summer. Eurogamer

Upcoming

• Theorycraft Games has detailed updates and changes for Supervive’s 1.0 launch, which goes live on July 24. The incoming overhaul includes a new progression system with persistent loadouts and build-defining gear. GamesBeat

• Voya Games will be launching their dinosaur apocalypse Web3 game Craft World on July 29 through the Ronin blockchain network. GamesBeat

• The digital adaptation of popular table-top strategy game Frosthaven is launching into Early Access (Epic, Steam) on July 31st. Rock Paper Shotgun

• Surgent Studios’ psychological horror game, Dead Take, has confirmed its cast and release date of July 31 (Epic, Steam). Sam Lake (Alan Wake II, Max Payne) and Laura Bailey (The Last of Us: Part II, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2) will have cameo appearances. Video Games Chronicle

• Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War – Definitive Edition will be launching on August 14 with a 30% discount for owners of the Anniversary Edition. Rock Paper Shotgun

• Phantom Gamelabs has announced their upcoming looter shooter, Riftbusters, will launch globally on iOS and Android on September 3. Pocket Gamer

• NC America’s Blade & Soul Heroes will be launching on September 3 for iOS and Android. Pocket Gamer

• Talofa Games has unveiled their mobile walking game, Monster Walk. The title features an RPG adventure where players walk to journey into mysterious lands, collect creatures, base build, and participate in battles. The title will launch on September 30. GamesBeat

• Fantasy strategy game Endless Legend 2 has been delayed until September 22. Amplitude is expecting to launch a demo for the title in early August. PC Gamer

• ArenaNet has revealed Guild Wars 2’s sixth expansion, called Visions of Eternity. The expansion is set to launch on October 28 and will include beachside player housing, buildcrafting additions, and new elite specializations. PC Gamer

• Golf With Your Friends 2 has been delayed to 2026. With this change, the game will be fully releasing across all platforms in lieu of an Early Access phased launch. ComicBook Gaming

New Releases

• Cyberpunk 2077 launched for macOS this week. The launch includes cross progression across all platforms, the Phantom Liberty expansion, and all major game updates. The Verge Games

• Netflix has launched multiplayer mobile action game Blood Line. The title is based in Netflix’s Rebel Moon universe and features co-op top-down action combat. Polygon Gaming

• Void Interactive has launched Ready or Not for PlayStation and Xbox consoles. GamesBeat

• Robocop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business launched this week. The standalone title follows the storyline events of Robocop: Rogue City. ComicBook Gaming

• Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact released on Nintendo Switch. The anime fighting game features tag-team battles in the Hunter x Hunter universe. Nintendo Life

• Apple has launched Emoji Game, a new emoji-based word game meant to compete with Words with Friends and Wordle. The Verge Games

Game Updates

• Pokémon TCG Pocket is receiving a trading overhaul, where existing shine dust will be used for trading instead of trade tokens and players will no longer need to consume cards in order to trade. The update is expected on July 29. Eurogamer

• Free-to-play MOBA Predecessor is getting an update on July 22 that will recreate the Agora map from Paragon, a free to play MOBA from Epic Games that was shut down in 2018. GamesBeat

• Cyberpunk 2077’s 2.3 update was released this week and features new cars, auto-driving, a taxi-service, and technical updates for premium gaming hardware. Rock Paper Shotgun

• Mecha Break launched an update this week to combat its mixed reviews. The update includes optimizations for game modes and matchmaking and tweaks for monetized features. Refunds are being offered to anyone who paid to swap the gender of their Pilot, since this customization service is now free to all players. ComicBook Gaming

Spotlight: Leaks and Rumors

• Rockstar’s Social Club Service may be shutting down. Players have noticed that Rockstar has begun removing features for the Social Club and the main URL for the service now redirects to the Rockstar home page. ComicBook Gaming

• Arc System Works’ newest title in fighting game series Guilty Gear has been reportedly cancelled. Anonymous sources say the title was cancelled with no specific reason provided. Nintendo Life

• The launch date of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has been, potentially, leaked by Call of Duty insider Ghost of Hope. The rumor has the title launching on November 13. ComicBook Gaming

• Sony Santa Monica is working on a new game, reportedly not a new IP, though “it might feel like one”, according to Jason Schreier of Bloomberg. Eurogamer

• Dragon Quest 7 has been rumored to be in development at Square Enix. The report claims the title is a full remake and slated to launch in early 2026. Eurogamer

Game Tech

• Final Fantasy 14 is ending support for Windows 10 on October 14 to coincide with Microsoft’s end of support for the OS version. Eurogamer

• Xbox Insiders with Game Pass Ultimate can test out a new feature that lets players stream the games they own from their TVs and browsers to their smartphone, PC, tablet, or Meta Quest devices. The Verge Games

• A new Nintendo Switch 2 update fixes some issues with settings transfer for parental controls, overall stability, and backwards compatibility issues. ComicBook Gaming

• Applications will open on July 21 to take part in the next Nintendo Switch Online playtest. Nintendo expects to accept as many as 40,000 participants worldwide for this playtest, which is slated to run from July 28 to August 10. The Verge Games

Spotlight: Steamy Updates

• Steam is introducing a new feature called Trade Protection for Counter-Strike 2. If a player finds themselves victim of CS2 hijacking, the player can reverse the last seven days of trades on the account. PC Gamer

• Valve has updated Steam’s rules and regulations to prohibit games that “may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers. In layman’s terms: banks, ISPs, and credit card companies can reject “adult” and/or pornographic games on the platform. Rock Paper Shotgun

• Following this change, a number of games have been removed from Steam without warning. According to SteamDB, games that put an emphasis on nudity and incest were targeted for the removal. ComicBook Gaming

Spotlight: Roblox Levels Up

• Roblox has announced the launch of its new, self-servicing licensing platform that enables game creators to team up with intellectual property brands. The launch of the platform catalog offers the following initial IPs for creators: Stranger Things, Squid Game, Twilight, Saw, Divergent, Now You See Me, Like a Dragon (Yakuza), Blue Lock, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. GamesBeat

• Roblox is adding new safety features for the platform, including an age-estimation tool using video selfies, a new tier called Trusted connections to allow players to communicate via text chat and voice calls with built-in censor filters, and new tools for parents to monitor their child’s activity (incl. spending notifications, data on Connections, and screen time management). Jason Schreier (Bloomberg)

Social Impacts

• British video game composer and sound designer Peter Connelly has been jailed for 16 months after being found guilty of fraudulently claiming a second COVID loan of £37,500 in 2020. Eurogamer

• Summer Games Done Quick 2025 has raised $2.4M for Doctors Without Borders. The next event for Games Done Quick is the all-women and femmes speedrunning showcase Flame Fatales, taking place September 7 thru September 14. Eurogamer

• GirlCodeHack 2025 is set to take place on October 11 and 12 and has expanded its reach across seven African cities. Organized by GirlCode, the event invites women aged 18 to 35 to participate in a 30-hour hackathon designed to challenge, inspire, and unlock new career possibilities. NAG

• Rainbow Six Siege pro Sho “BlackRay” Hasegawa has been arrested along with six others for allegedly kidnapping and confining a man for 3 months, during which time they tortured him and extorted around 2 million yen ($13,000 USD). PC Gamer

Spotlight: Fetch the Popcorn

• The Street Fighter move adds Indian action star Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim. ComicBook Gaming

• The Mortal Kombat 2 movie trailer has been released and features Karl Urban as Johnny Cage. The movie will in cinemas starting October 24. Video Games Chronicle

• Nintendo has announced 16-year-old British actor Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Pinocchio) will play Link and 21-year-old English actor Bo Bragason (Three Girls and The Jetty) will play Zelda in its upcoming movie, produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad. Video Games Chronicle

• Nintendo and Universal Pictures have registered the copyright for a Donkey Kong film, which will likely be prioritized as the next project after the sequel to The Super Mario Bros Movie and the Zelda film. Eurogamer

• Netflix has announced that it has officially greenlit a new Assassin’s Creed series that will be showrun and executive produced by Robert Patino (Westworld, Sons of Anarchy) and David Wiener (Halo, Brave New World). The Verge Games

Till next week,

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