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Daily Briefing: Thursday 17th June
🕑 Added 2021-06-17 13:01:02 +0000 UTCBethesda say they understand backlash over Starfield Xbox exclusivity
Starfield was finally confirmed to be an Xbox exclusive at E3 after months of speculation and, while it was obviously expected given the fact that Microsoft literally own Bethesda these days, the decision hasn't gone over too well in certain circles. Bethesda understand this, with SVP of global marketing saying that he understands if some PlayStation players are "pissed" about the decision.
- Hines isn't the only senior figure to have expressed some concern, either - even Todd Howard revealed some reservations about excluding the PlayStation playerbase. Nonetheless, the duo say that focusing on fewer platforms will make for stronger games overall, and that Xbox's continued goal to expand gaming to other devices will mean that more people will get to play Bethesda games in the long run.
Nintendo are holding back Breath of the Wild 2's actual title for plot reasons
Breath of the Wild 2's appearance during Nintendo's E3 Direct was a welcome surprise, but it still only referred to the game as "the sequel to Breath of the Wild." So, while we got a tentative release date of 2022, we still don't know what the game is actually called. This is a deliberate strategy from Nintendo, as the true title contains "hints" about the story.
- This confirmation came courtesy of Nintendo of America marketing manager Bill Trinen, who outlined that "Zelda names are kind of important" and so Nintendo will be careful about revealing the game's actual title. It seems like a weird line to draw whenever we also got a decent bit of new gameplay footage, but if nothing else it adds to the ongoing mystique surrounding the sequel.
Five Nights at Freddy's creator retires amid controversy
Scott Cawthon is retiring from professional games development. His retirement, which was announced via a statement on his official website, comes in the midst of an ongoing controversy over some political donations. Without going too into it, the recipients of the bulk of these donations advocate against groups that Cawthon has been purported to support throughout his career.
- Cawthon doesn't seem to be expressing any regret over his retirement or the reasons for it - the statement on his website tellingly doesn't include anything amounting to an apology. Going forward, Cawthon will be handing control of the Five Nights at Freddy's franchise over to "someone of [his] choosing, and someone that [he trusts]." Presumably the money will keep coming in, too.
Demon's Souls remake could be headed to PS4
That's according to Twitter account PlayStation Game Size, who recently discovered an entry for Bluepoint's Demon's Souls remake in the PS4 store database. While the account emphasised that it may well just be a test version, the very notion that one of the PS5's most technically impressive launch exclusives could be making the jump is intriguing in itself.
- Demon's Souls obviously wouldn't be the first game to launch on across both PlayStation generations. Spider-Man: Miles Morales did it at launch and Horizon Forbidden West is confirmed to be getting a cross-generational release later this year. It's a bit of a hot topic at the minute, with Sony receiving a lot of criticism for essentially going back on their "we believe in generations" party line after convincing everyone to buy a PS5. If Demon's Souls releases on PS4, then how many next-gen exclusives are left?
