Checkpoint #10: A Day of Doom
Wolfenstein: Youngblood launches, Overwatch’s 31st hero confirmed, old Doom games on new platforms, a Joy-Con class action suit, and more
Welcome back to Checkpoint!
The latest Wolfenstein title has arrived, Overwatch’s next hero will be a barefoot astrophysicist, not every can get access to Grand Theft Auto Online’s new casino, old Doom games are available on consoles, and a class action lawsuit has been filed over Joy-Con drift.
Let's get into it.
A Rush of Blood
PC gaming and cross-platform titles
Wolfenstein: Youngblood has continued the recent trend of surprise early launches, kicking off 24 hours early on PC. Initial reports suggest that it’s fun, about as content-rich as an expansion, and priced accordingly (US$29.99).
Star Citizen’s latest update means that pilots will be more aggressively pursued by AI the worse their crime stat is. Smuggling missions and a better black market economy make this is an update focused on the game’s seedy underbelly.
Overwatch’s next and 31st hero has been confirmed. Sigma is an astrophysicist who seems able to warp gravity, and has made waves for his choice of footwear (which is to say, not wearing any footwear at all).
The Steam economy has gone awry as a Team Fortress 2 glitch began to pump out rare items. The sudden influx of Unusual quality items has caused their prices to plummet on the marketplace.
Grand Theft Auto Online players in over 50 countries have been barred from participating in the new casino’s activities. They’re still able to enter, but they can’t purchase chips, owing to gambling laws in affected countries.
Nuclear Winter — Fallout 76’s battle royale mode — may not be out of beta yet, but it’s already getting a second map. Quality of life improvements for the mode, a new Vault raid, and NPCs will also arrive with the update.
The Epic Games Store is hustling to catch up on features with Steam, and we’re starting to see cloud saves appear — for selected games. Moonlighter, which is currently free on Epic, appears to have been the first to use the feature.
Fortnite’s latest patch adds a Storm Cout sniper rifle, and a bunch of birthday items to celebrate the second year of the game. Meanwhile, a controller player managed to take second place in Fortnite World Cup duos, and the arena cheered as a former cheater was eliminated from play.
Day of Doom
Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch news
Doom, Doom 2 and Doom 3 released on Switch, PS4 and Xbox One this week. The release was initially embroiled in controversy due to the requirement to log in via one’s Bethesda account, but the company now says it will patch out the requirement.
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Nintendo in the US, taking the company to task over the infamous Joy-Con drift issue. Nintendo released a statement encouraging affected users to contact support. Reports suggest that the company is now telling customer service agents to believe customers and help customers sort the issue out more effectively.
The Xbox One homepage has been redesigned, axing Cortana and making Game Pass more prominent.
Well-received hospital sim Two Point Hospital is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch towards the end of this year.
Running out of room for your Super Mario Maker 2 courses? Good news: the upload limit has been increased from 32 to 64.
EA Access has gone live for PlayStation 4 users, and you can check out the full list of available games.
Finally, in Switch port news: Pillars of Eternity is coming to the device this August.
In the Current Climate
Gaming culture, industry, and miscellanea
Respected streamer, esports commentator and StarCraft player Geoff Robinson (iNControL) passed away last week. He was just 33, and died of a sudden illness.
Video games need to start addressing climate change, says JR Burgmann.
Discord now allows you to sort your endless list of servers into folders, giving you the illusion of control that you need in your gaming life.
The rise of the battle royale format could have a dramatic effect on esports.
Safety Valve
VR, AR, streaming, and other emerging tech
The Valve Index’s stock shortages are over — it’s once again shipping, at least in the US. Meanwhile, Telefrag VR could be worth a look, bringing the fast pace of arena shooters to VR.
Google is trying to deflect very real concerns about the longevity of game purchases made for cloud streaming platforms. Meanwhile, we can expect plenty of Ubisoft games on Stadia, with the company saying that the porting process is not costly.
Continental Drift
Mobile gaming news
Retro-futuristic RPG Hyper Light Drifter is now available on iOS.
And finally, the Pokémon Company and Tencent have announced a partnership to create a new Pokémon game, presumably for mobile.
That’s it for this edition.
Thanks for reading Checkpoint. If you enjoyed reading, please let your gamer friends know about it — you’ll be helping me keep this newsletter going. And don’t forget to follow us on social media to receive interesting gaming updates throughout the week:
Hit reply on this email to send me feedback about Checkpoint, or just say hello. I’m always happy to hear from subscribers.
Thanks for your support. See you next time,
- Flob
P.S. Get this in your email from a friend, or reading along on the web? Let us help you spend more time gaming. Get Checkpoint every weekend and catch up on the news in under 20 minutes. No fluff, no fake controversy, and no banner ads: just the gaming content you need to know about.