Kaser Focus: Keigh3 aftermath

Why does it feel like it’s been at least a month since I last wrote one of these columns? Oh right, because so much stuff happened! One of the downsides of writing on a Friday is that I wasn’t able to cover the weekend’s news in last week’s column. Let me tell you: It went down this weekend. It went down this week. My head is still spinning.

Here’s a quick recap of the biggest announcements at the various shows (except the Summer Game Fest, which I covered last week):

• Hollow Knight: Silksong is real and actually coming out
• Overwatch 2 is going free-to-play without lootboxes
• Diablo IV launches in 2023 with five character classes
• Persona is coming to Xbox (and not Switch)
• Hideo Kojima is working with Xbox on . . . something
• Starfield‘s gameplay looks very Bethesda, for better or worse
• System Shock‘s remake is also real and coming out eventually
• Resident Evil Village is getting a Rose-centric DLC
• Stalker 2: Hearts of Chornobyl is delayed as GSC Game World weathers the war
• Dragon’s Dogma 2 is also real and in the works
• Final Fantasy VII Remake is now a trilogy, with the second game being Rebirth
• Crisis Core is finally releasing on non-PSP platforms

I think that about covers the big stuff, but needless to say lots of other stories are in there. In non-show news, Activision Blizzard has apparently closed its own internal investigation into its own problems with harassment. One choice part of their report says: “While the board and management have implemented the above steps to continue to improve the workplace, it must be said that the company has been subject to an unrelenting barrage of media criticism that attempts to paint the entire company (and many innocent employees) with the stain of a very small portion of our employee population who engaged in bad behavior and were disciplined for it”

By the way, on a completely related note, the company has a shareholders’ meeting coming up, where it’s encouraging shareholders to vote against compiling a report about its efforts to prevent just such abuse from happening. It’s also encouraging them to vote in favor of its executive compensation package, that would raise CEO Bobby Kotick’s salary.

Since it’s been such a big week, I confess I haven’t had as much time for games (except more of the Three Hopes demo, which I’m still excited about). But now that I have a three-day weekend ahead of me, I might give Neon White a try. But after Xbox revealed a new gameplay trailer for Slime Rancher 2, the sequel to the wiggly sim title that I love with my entire heart, I decided to reinstall the original and played a lot of it the last few days. If anything can keep me from burning out, it’s my adorable, jiggly children.

What to play this week

What’s new:

• Neon White
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
• Lumbearjack
• Redout 2
• Zorro: The Chronicles
• Starship Troopers: Terran Command

New on subscription services:

• Project Highrise: Architect’s Edition (Xbox Games with Gold)
• Raskulls (Xbox Games with Gold)
• Kirby Super Star (Nintendo Switch Online*)
• Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (Nintendo Switch Online*)
• Kirby’s Dream Course (Nintendo Switch Online*)
• Chivalry 2 (GeForce Now)
• Builder Simulator (GeForce Now)
• Supraland (GeForce Now)
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (GeForce Now)
• Postal: Brain Damaged (GeForce Now)

*These games actually launched on NSO last week, but I forgot to note it in last week’s column.