What "Exclusive Partner" means

Good Morning. Gamescom 2023 kicks off today in Cologne. This gaming industry convention is #1 when it comes to attendance, as it consistently attracts over 300,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibitors.

There are quite a few heavy hitters featured this year, including MW3, Assassins Creed: Mirage, and Mortal Kombat 1.

You can catch the opening night events live on YouTube at 2 pm ET / 11 am PT. Let’s have a watch party 🍿— we’ll be tuning in.

— Jason Liu, Derek Neville, Tim Rhyne

HEADLINES

Is supporting one GFX card over another anti-competitive? Data-mined Starfield leaks suggest that NVIDIA DLSS will not be available despite the availability of AMD’s FSR. Both are upscaling technologies for their respective GPUs. This sheds light on what the previously announced “exclusive PC partnership” between AMD and Bethesda actually means. Given the profile of Starfield, this news will be sure to stir up some anti-competition discussion in the industry.

Judge: AI art cannot be copyrighted. A judge in the US patent office declared that a piece of art generated by AI cannot be subject to copyright protection, citing that human authorship is fundamental to copyright legislation. This will certainly pique the interest of many media execs and will likely not be the end of the matter.

Ubisoft canceled project Oxygen: details leaked. Two unnamed sources close to the development of the Immortals sequel described the project as a mix between Elden Ring and Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. It’s reported that the game was canceled due to conflicting with the company’s focus on “proven franchises”.

HUD

• 🍅 The man behind “It’s-a-me, Mario” is retiring from voice acting.

• 💭 Snapchat launches “Dreams” — generative AI that places you in imagined scenarios.

• 📱Ukrainian soldiers are passing their time at the front by (virtually) playing World of Tanks.

MAJOR W

• 🦾 A16z backed Azra Games CEO Mark Otero goes into mobile RPGs and openly welcomes AI use as a “force multiplier” across Project Legends’ development.

• 🎙 Game Maker’s Notebook podcast interview with Max “Larry” Fink, one of the 3 devs behind BattleBit Remastered, is worth a listen for aspiring developers.

• 🤝 Prestiged — New partnership between a game company collective and an investment firm with over €800 million under management.

F IN THE CHAT

• 🤥 Almost 50% of all competitive Pokémon teams in last two years were likely “illegally modified”.

• 🤼‍♀️ WrestleQuest releases today, but the game’s review copies reportedly had serious bugs and the game itself wasn’t too great either.

• 📉 Diablo 4 falls to number 2 behind Gearbox’s Remnant II in newly released July sales figures.

• 💀 RIP to the once-beloved game series discussed by these gamers.

THIS DAY IN GAMING HISTORY

• 🐶 Nintendogs: Lab & Friends was released for the Nintendo DS in 2005, along with Dachshund & Friends, and Chihuahua & Friends.

• 🖥️ In 1985 IBM and Microsoft announced a joint development agreement to work together on future software and operating systems for personal computers.

• 💇‍♀️ Barbie Beauty Boutique was released on Windows in 2003, giving players the opportunity to do the “ultimate makeover”, including nails, hair, makeup, and style. And you thought players were spending too much time designing their BG3 characters.

DEEP DIVE

The Witch Queen Must Rise: What we know about Destiny 2 Season 22

Today marks the end of Destiny 2’s Season 21, and with the weekly reset, the beginning of Season 22. While we don’t know everything planned for Season 22, Bungie will be hosting a Destiny 2 Showcase live later today at 12pm ET. We can expect more details on the upcoming season during the showcase, but in the meantime, here’s a breakdown of what’s already been confirmed:

Artifacts

Seasonal Artifacts will have a different feel for season 22, as developers will introduce “Elemental Orbs”. Players will be able to create these orbs when defeating enemies with certain weapons. These orbs can then be picked up and thrown by any player, creating an elementally aligned explosion.

Gambit

Starting with Season 22, weekly challenges can be completed in any ritual, making Gambit a somewhat optional mode. There will supposedly be updates coming with the launch of The Final Shape expansion but in the meantime, players may be inclined to skip over the PvPvE mode altogether, especially with bigger changes on the radar for PvP.

Crucible

In the recent State of the Game address, Bungie highlighted updates coming to PvP. In Season 22 players can expect to see a new map, as well as a new Relic mode. The Relic mode will bring back weapons from previous seasons, which players will be able to wield against other Guardians in this 6v6 mode.

Weapons

Glavies, including the class Exotics, are expected to get some major tuning in Season 22. Additionally, players can expect a Hand Cannon buff in PvE, and of course new seasonal weapons.

PATCH NOTES

• ⚔️ Crypt of the NecroDancer Update v3.7.2 comes with dozens of positive changes across the board. Brace Yourself Games also announced the upcoming Rift of the NecroDancer will have a new demo at PAX West 2023.

• 🛠 WoW’s Class tuning goes live with today’s normal weekly maintenance.

HIVE MIND

Relevant

Xbox Series X Console Wraps with Starfield Design go on preorder.

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