Missed connections

Booting up. The New York Times released a new game (story below) and we think it’s pretty crack.

1/3 of us got a perfect score on today’s puzzle. We won’t say who’s having a rough morning.

— Jason Liu, Derek Neville, Tim Rhyne

HEADLINES

NYT expands mobile gaming. Looks like everyone wants a piece of the mobile gaming pie. You’re probably familiar with mini crosswords and Wordle (which was acquired from a solo dev for “low seven figures” last January) as extremely addicting yet casual games owned by the NYT. Now available everywhere, Connections, is a word-to-category matching game. It’s basically a variation of Codenames. The thing about all these games is that they’re built around 2 things: (1) shareability and (2) daily retention. Match made in heaven for the news biz.

$1 Game Pass gone again. Poof, just like that, Xbox pulled the 14 days of Ultimate for $1 promo. It’s no coincidence that the deal is no longer offered with the impending drop of Starfield early access this Friday, which will be a AAA day-one release on game pass. It doesn’t seem like a clear cut decision though — a promo for Game Pass + a can’t miss title like Starfield seems like the perfect combo to bring players into the subscription. Seems like Microsoft believes that the appeal of Starfield is so strong that they can cash in early on demand that’s bursting at the seams.

Step aside Moon Swatch. Players that splurged for the Constellation edition ($300) of Starfield are starting to receive their in-game replica of the Chronomark smartwatch. It’s more than just a showpiece as it features mobile notifications, accelerometer, and pedometer (among others). It’s refreshing to see collector’s edition swag be simultaneously functional and tied to the lore.

HUD

• 🥇 Early Sea of Stars reviews are already signaling yet another game with the potential for >90 Metacritic score for the year — the game is officially out today.

• 🐜 Genshin Impact has to restore player items after a major bug allowed bad actors to remove necessary interactable items needed to play the open-world game.

• 🕰 After 3 years, League of Legends announced it will be removing the Mythic item system in January 2024 — This will allow for more diverse builds once again.

MAJOR W

• 🏃‍♂️ Baldur’s Gate 3 not only had 248 voice actors, they also simultaneously ran motion capture at the point of recording. No wonder the interactions are so lifelike.

• 📷 Competitive Super Smash player takes selfie mid-match on way to a lopsided victory.

• ✌ Ben Affleck is a Valorant KAY/O main.

• 🪓 Diablo 4’s Mother Blessing weekend will give 25% experience and gold on all characters from September 1st to 5th.

F IN THE CHAT

• 💸 Supercell disputes Wikipedia claim that Clash Royale is “Pay-to-win”.

• 💀 Redfall is a complete dud — only 38 players at peak over the weekend on Steam.

• 🔨 19-year-old Fortnite streamer perma-banned from Twitch for “Youth Safety”.

THIS DAY IN GAMING HISTORY

• ❎ Microsoft and Pepsi launched the "Every 10 Minutes" promotion — There were 9222 Xbox 360 systems up for grabs (2005).

• 🚓 The first installment of the Saints Row franchise was released to consoles (2006).

PATCH NOTES

• 👿 Diablo 4 patch 1.1.3 releases today and brings changes to monster crowd control abilities as well as sorting affixes.

• 🦆 Eagleton Springs marks the 10th map released for Goose Goose Duck — a free game similar to Among Us that gained popularity, partially thanks to K-pop idols in 2022.

HIVE MIND

Here are 10 video games inspired by books — including Dune, Atlas Shrugged, and even the Bible.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Intel Gamer Days 2023 - Intel’s 11 days of deals, experiences, and sweepstakes - is currently live through September 3rd. Dozens of retailers have deals and giveaways right now, including Newegg’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage themed PC giveaway. Intel has also teamed up with creators to host sweepstakes along with experiences, such as playing with fans.

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