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Daily Briefing: Friday 26th February
🕑 Added 2021-02-26 11:34:41 +0000 UTCEA have reportedly canned Dragon Age 4's multiplayer elements
Fresh off the back of Anthem Next's cancellation, a new report from Bloomberg has suggested that EA have allowed BioWare to drop all planned multiplayer elements for Dragon Age 4. The game will reportedly now be an exclusively singleplayer RPG, rather than the live service title as was previously anticipated.
- This week was rough for Anthem fans but things are looking up for Dragon Age 4. A team of around 30 people were working on the Anthem reboot and will now be supporting the upcoming fantasy RPG instead and, with BioWare showing that they maybe don't handle multiplayer the best, it being stripped out of Dragon Age 4 can only be good news for fans.
PlayStation winding down Sony Japan Studio
Initial reports that Sony's iconic Japan Studio would be winding down came courtesy of various sources talking to VGC, before being officially confirmed by Sony. The venerable Ape Escape/Gravity Rush/Knack developer will now be re-centred to Team Asobi to "focus on a single vision and build on the success of Astro's Playroom."
- Sony Interactive Entertainment's statement also confirmed that duties like external production, software localisation, and IP management of Japan Studio titles will now be "concentrated within the global function of PlayStation Studios." A lot of high-profile creatives, like Bloodborne producer Masaaki Yamagiwa, have already announced their departure.
Final Fantasy VII Remake is getting a PS5 upgrade and some new DLC
Final Fantasy VII Remake is set to release on PS5 in June and will come with all the graphical and technical improvements you would expect, like vastly decreased load times, but Square Enix also announced the Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade - a beefed up version of the original release that includes some new content.
- That new content centres around Yuffie and, while the character will likely play a large role in the next proper instalment of the remake, this Intergrade content should clue players in on what she's been up to in the meantime. PS4 owners will be able to upgrade to the PS5 version of the game for free, but the Intergrade content will be a paid add-on.
Valve have been ordered to hand over that documentation that Apple want
While Valve had initially resisted Apple's attempts to subpoena historical Steam sales and pricing data in aid of their lawsuit with Epic Games, a magistrate judge this week ordered them to give up the goods - but also limited the reporting period cut-off to 2017, rather than the 2015 that Apple had requested.
- Valve had previously argued that producing this information would require a significant amount of time and effort, and that Apple had not shown a "substantial need" for the information. The judge apparently disagrees, but also stated that "Apple has salted the earth with subpoenas, so don't worry, it's not just you."
