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Daily Briefing: Monday 15th February
🕑 Added 2021-02-15 14:39:12 +0000 UTC"Over 100" games will reportedly release on Stadia this year, despite studio closures
A new community blog posted to the official Stadia website states that players can expect a stack of games from a wide variety of genres "over the next few weeks and months." A "sampling" of upcoming games confirms things like FIFA 21, Killer Queen Black, and Judgment are on the way which, considering they've already been out a while, is hardly exciting.
- Google's optimism regarding Stadia is perhaps surprising given that they recently closed all of the platform's internal development studios in a move that impacted around 150 developers - though Google did pledge to find many of them new roles elsewhere in the company. Are Stadia's days numbered?
Yooka-Laylee developer launches own publishing label
Playtonic Games are launching a new publishing label called Playtonic Friends, with a few key members of Playtonic's 29-person staff stepping up to fulfil publishing duties. The label's first signings are the next releases from BPM: Bullets Per Minute developer Awe Interactive, OK Golf studio okidokico, and Slime-san developer Fabraz.
- The goal of Playtonic Friends is, you guessed it, to create lasting friendships with their various development partners. The idea is for it to be a bespoke service whereby Playtonic will only offer help in areas where it is needed, so as not to mess with something that's already working.
Techland say that they haven't been acquired by "another publisher" just yet
According to the Dying Light developer's community manager, who goes by Uncy online, rumours that Techland have been taken over are categorically untrue. Responding follow a wave of inquisitive direct messages, Uncy confirmed that Techland will remain an "independent studio."
- To be honest, fans would probably feel a lot better about Dying Light's future if the studio were being acquired. Dying Light 2 was delayed indefinitely in January 2020 amid rumours of development hell and another potential acquisition, and the project's narrative designer left Techland late last year after 22 years with the studio.
First class action suit filed against Sony for DualSense controller drift
Complicatedly-named legal firm Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP, who were the first to bring a class action suit against Nintendo for controller drift, filed a similar lawsuit against Sony on Friday following a request for information from affected customers.
- The suit alleges that Sony's DualSense controller is knowingly defective, in that it experiences joystick drift which "compromises the DualSense Controller's core functionality." The suit also highlights that repair options are "slim" at the minute - and calls on Sony to account for their "deceptive" conduct.
