Plus ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM launches to critical acclaim and Game Freak announces a new non-POKÉMON AAA game
NEWS THIS WEEK
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SIFTER is produced by FIONA Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Daniel Ang & Adam Christou. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Omny Studio for their support of SIFTER.
FIONA: Hi I’m Fiona Bartholomaeus
KYLE: and I’m Kyle Pauletto
FIONA: Welcome to Walkthrough, SIFTER’s weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
KYLE: This week Hollow Knight Silksong is officially delayed, Pokemon developers Game Freak announce a new samurai game and Fortnite becomes an Olympic sport.
Here is the news for Sunday 14th of May. Let’s go!
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PROMO: Join the SIFTER community on Discord at sifter.com.au/discord
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FIONA: It’s been a really long time since we’ve had an official Hollow Knight: Silksong update, and here it is… the game is delayed.
Matthew Griffin, who’s involved with the marketing and publishing of the game revealed it was originally planned for release in the first half of 2023 but unfortunately has been pushed back.
He said they want to make the game as best they can and they’re excited with how it’s looking at the moment.
More details will be revealed closer to release so hopefully because it was originally pencilled in for the beginning of 2023, we might see it towards the end.
KYLE: Silksong was originally planned to be DLC for the first game, and it’s clear that it’s become more than Team Cherry first expected. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, take as much time as you need!
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KYLE: Zelda Tears of the Kingdom launched this week to massive critical acclaim, to the relief of I’d say almost everyone who has been waiting patiently for this sequel.
In fact it’s the highest rated game on Open Critic, with a 100% recommendation rate just beating the previous Switch record holder Super Mario Odyssey, with Breath of the Wild sitting in third.
It’s a point ahead of Red Dead Redemption II and two ahead of last year’s smash Elden Ring.
FIONA: We’ve been playing Tears of the Kingdom since launch and wow what an impressive and fun follow up that recaptures that feeling of exploring Hyrule for the first time. Definitely keep an eye out on sifter.com.au for our review this week!
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FIONA: Game Freak is working on a new game and this time you won’t be catching monsters.
The studio is teaming up with publisher Private Division for their first attempt at an action-adventure AAA title.
It’s called Project Bloom and seems to be a samurai inspired game, going off from what we’ve seen in the concept art.
It’s confirmed to be in early development and is expected to launch sometime between 2025 and 2026 so there’s a few more years until then.
KYLE: Game Freak might be mostly known as the Pokemon developer, but over the years they’ve made some great games like platformer “Tembo the Badass Elephant”, seriously look up some gameplay for this one, and the card based horse racing game “Pocket Card Jockey” which you can play on Apple Arcade.
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KYLE: This week we learnt more about the long-running gender discrimination cases at Activision and Riot Games.
More than 1500 women at these companies will receive a settlement, which is a huge number of people to be impacted.
Hundreds of staff opted into the Activision Blizzard class-action dispute, which covered incidents from as early as September 2016.
FIONA: Activision will distribute almost all of the $18 million to claimants with the remaining funds donated to non-profit organisation "Reboot Representation", which aims to close the gender gap for underrepresented women of colour in tech.
Hopefully this prompts an industry wide change with better, safer conditions for everyone to make the games we love.
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FIONA: The 2023 Olympic Esports Series has officially welcomed Fortnite into its lineup, but it’s not the standard battle royale millions of players enjoy.
The International Olympic Committee announced Fortnite will be the game of choice for the new sport shooting category.
Twelve pro players from the Fortnite Champion Series will compete on a specially designed Fortnite Creative Island that mirrors sport shooting competitions, testing their target-aiming accuracy.
KYLE: Despite that pretty major shake-up, especially when compared to how esports tend to run things, it’s an interesting insight into how the IOC is integrating traditional sports with digital entertainment.
If you want to check out the competition, the Olympic Esports Series runs from June 22nd-25th, with the Fortnite event scheduled for June 24th.
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FIONA: That’s it for the big headlines, here’s what’s coming out this week.
KYLE: Step into the role of an ethereal dog in Humanity, a puzzle-action game where you guide massive crowds of humans through a mix of brain teasers, fight sequences and boss fights. This game looks super weird and really fun, and also has a user-generated content and stage creation feature. That’s out on PC and PlayStation on the 16th.
FIONA: Another interesting puzzle game out on the 16th is Tin Hearts. Developed by some of the team behind Fable, this beautifully animated narrative-driven puzzle adventure has you guiding tin soldiers through a magical toy world. With over 50 levels, you'll solve puzzles, manipulate objects and control time. Tin Hearts is coming to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox this Tuesday.
KYLE: Out on the 17th is a game I'm super excited to try out, Starship Troopers: Extermination, a co-op shooter where up to 16 players do their part for humanity by squashing insectoid alien scum. It looks awesome, and those movies are awesome, and I really hope this is good. We’ll find out when it comes to PC on Wednesday.
FIONA: I am Future is a post apocalyptic survival sim where you carve out a place in the end of the world on top of a flooded skyscraper. It’s described as a cosy post apocalypse so it’s the end of the world as you know it, but you feel fine. That’s in Early Access on PC from the 18th.
KYLE: Looking to build a career on the track? LEGO 2K Drive arrives this week, where you’ll build cars and race across a massive land with all that signature LEGO humour. That’s out on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC on the 19th.
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PROMO: Articles to read, videos to watch and podcasts to listen to on sifter.com.au
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FIONA: This has been Walkthrough by Sifter, my name is Fiona Bartholomaeus.
KYLE: And my name is Kyle Pauletto. Thank you so much for listening.
FIONA: We know you love our podcasts, so why not become a monthly backer on Ko-Fi? Your support lets us keep making our shows so why not show the love and sign up to be a monthly backer. It’s easy, head to sifter.com.au/support where support starts from just $1 a month that address again is sifter.com.au/support.
KYLE: SIFTER is produced by Fiona Bartholomaeus, myself, Daniel Ang & Adam Christou. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer who edited this episode and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer.
FIONA: Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Salty Dog Sounds for composing the Walkthrough theme tune.
Thanks to both Audio Technica Australia and Omny Studio for their support of SIFTER’s three podcasts.
KYLE: Thanks again for listening, we’ll be back with more news next Sunday.
