🕹 Most trending games of 2023

Good Morning. Award season is upon us, with the Golden Globe nominations being announced today. Unsurprisingly cultural-phenomenon Barbenheimer leads the way with 17 nominations between the 2 films (9 for Barbie, 8 for Oppenhiemer). Game adaptations are also well represented, with The Mario Bros. Movie and The Last of Us leading the way. Jack Black’s hit song Peaches secured its well-deserved Best Original Song nomination.

— Derek Neville, Tim Rhyne, Jason Liu

MAIN QUEST: Fortnite Yearns for Mario

Epic Games, renowned for introducing a wide array of crossover characters in Fortnite, is still keen on incorporating Nintendo's iconic figures into its game. According to Sax Persson, Epic's head of Fortnite's ecosystem, efforts to include popular Nintendo characters like Mario, Princess Peach, and Link have been challenging due to differing strategies between the two companies. Fortnite has already featured a diverse selection of characters from various realms, including Master Chief and celebrities like Naomi Osaka and Eminem. Adding to this, Epic Games recently launched LEGO Fortnite, an outcome of their collaboration with LEGO.

Nintendo's reluctance to allow its characters in Fortnite, a multiplatform game, has sparked much debate. Kit Ellis, a former Nintendo PR manager, suggests that Nintendo, with its long-established brand and successes like The Mario Movie and the Nintendo Switch, doesn't see the necessity in aligning with Fortnite, which fundamentally differs from Nintendo's brand identity. Despite the seeming improbability of this collaboration, Epic Games remains hopeful about eventually bringing Nintendo's beloved characters into Fortnite's expansive world.

Step back: Despite leveraging a significant amount of external IP in their own Super Smash series from the likes of Disney, Konami, Sega, Capcom, and Microsoft (just to name a few), Nintendo doesn’t seem interested in cozying up with Epic Games. Strategically, Nintendo may be seeing Epic as too much of a competitive threat in the vein way that Apple and Google have experienced.

HUD

• 🧟 Fntastic Studio, the team behind The Day Before, announced it is shutting down just 4 days after the extraction shooter's disastrous release, which went viral on Twitch for game-breaking bugs. The studio’s announcement pointed towards the financial failure of The Day Before as the reason for the shutdown.

• 🪄 While Baldur’s Gate 3 was recognized as the 2023 game of the year at The Game Awards, it was Hogwarts Legacy that was the top-trending game in the US in 2023, according to Google Trends. The New York Times Connections took the second spot, with Baldur’s Gate 3 rounding out the top 3.

• 📉 Free Radical Design was officially closed by Embracer Group today. This shutdown will affect more than 50 employees and is the latest in Embracer’s restructuring journey following May’s report of a $2 billion partnership falling through.

MAJOR W

• 👷‍♂️ Epic has confirmed via a post on X that the new game modes added to Fortnite, (LEGOFortnite, Rocket Racing, and Festival) are not limited-time modes and will receive regular updates, including Rock Band controller support for Fortnite Festival.

• 🗺️ Mark Wahlberg confirmed that a script for Uncharted 2, a sequel to the 2022 film starring him and Tom Holland, is already written. The first Uncharted film received mixed reviews from critics but was a financial success.

F IN THE CHAT

• 🤡 Lawrence Sullivan, aka the “Florida Joker”, is claiming he wants 1 or 2 million dollars from Rockstar for using his likeness in their GTA 6 trailer, comparing his viral mugshot to the tattoo-covered mugshot in the video.

• 👎 The team behind the popular Skyrim Together mod has quit working on their Starfield mod that would make the game co-op multiplayer stating: “this game is f***ing trash”

CAREER CORNER

• Paid Media Director — Epic Games (Cary, NC)

• Director, RMO and Demand Planning — Riot Games (Los Angeles, US)

• Casting Associate — Rockstar Games (Los Angeles, US)

HIVE MIND

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