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Daily Briefing: Tuesday 9th November
🕑 Added 2021-11-09 17:00:43 +0000 UTCBack 4 Blood gets a solo campaign next month
One of the biggest complaints about Back 4 Blood, Turtle Rock's new cooperative zombie shooting successor to Left 4 Dead, was that it had absolutely no solo campaign. Any player opting to play the game offline was met with a warning window describing all the features their game wouldn't have, like progression mechanics or fun. It was a bit of a baffling deficiency for a modern game, but this week Turtle Rock Studios confirmed that their upcoming content roadmap includes a fully-featured offline mode.
- This offline mode will introduce solo campaign progression as part of a free update scheduled to launch before the end of the year. Also included in the update are new supply lines, cards, and some more things we don't know about yet. There is also a patch on the way between now and then that promises everything from "quality of life improvements" to "major bug fixes." Turtle Rock's roadmap also accounts for new free content running into 2022, with a new difficulty setting, co-op modes, and more heading to the game.
Deathloop's director just got promoted
Dinga Bakaba joined Arkane Lyon way back in November 2010 and has credits across Dishonoured and its sequels, as well as Wolfenstein Youngblood. He served most recently as co-director on well-received PlayStation-exclusive time-loop shooter Deathloop, and it was confirmed this week that he assumed the role of studio director in October following the departure of previous head Romuald Capron.
- Bakaba will also remain in his role as Arkane Lyon's co-creative director alongside counterpart and studio art director Sebastien Mitton. Bakaba's appointment isn't really a surprise given the experience he has and the amount of time he's been with the studio. What was a surprise was his predecessor's departure, as Capron left the position shortly after Deathloop released to critical and commercial acclaim, and seven months after parent company ZeniMax Media were acquired by Microsoft. Curious.
Nintendo Switch Online has surpassed 30m subscribers
That confirmation comes courtesy of a recent Nintendo management briefing, in which the company confirmed that their Nintendo Switch Online has topped 32m active subscribers. This a 6m increase over the same period last year, and news of the bump comes shortly after Nintendo launched their new Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack - a new membership plan that gives subscribers access to a small selection of N64 and Sega Mega Drive games, as well as other features.
- While the expanded membership sounded like a decent enough deal when it was first announced, sentiment quickly soured at release when the lofty $50 a year price tag yielded games with dodgy framerates and inconsistent online connections. While Nintendo have never really been a company that listens to fans even when they're saying something good, the recent management briefing did say that they plan to "continue to improve and expand both Nintendo Switch Online and Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, striving to provide services that satisfy customers" Whatever that means, only time will tell.
