Plus FALLOUT LONDON now requires a downgrade to play and APEX LEGENDS fans are mad over the new cash only battle pass
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SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Courtney Smith, Adam Christou and Chris Button. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Audio Technica Australia and Apple for their support of SIFTER.
COURTNEY: Hi I’m Courtney Smith
KYLE: and I’m Kyle Pauletto
COURTNEY: Welcome to Walkthrough, SIFTER’s weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
KYLE: This week, Xbox Game Pass gets another price hike, massive mod Fallout London will rollback a patch to work on PC, and Respawn angers Apex fans with a cash only battlepass.
Here is the news for Sunday 14th of July. Let’s go!
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PROMO: Join the SIFTER community on Discord at sifter.com.au/discord
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KYLE: It seems all good things must come to an end, Xbox Game Pass could be heading in the Netflix direction after announcing a new tier system and price hikes.
Let’s be straight, Game Pass when it launched was incredible value.
You had Xbox Game Pass for $10, and Game Pass Ultimate, which included Xbox Live, for $16. It was a good, clean system, offering a stack of old and new games, indie gems and more.
But you know the old saying, if something ain’t broke, get in there and rattle things around until it’s not as good and makes more money.
COURTNEY: So here’s how the new tiered system will work.
The cheapest tier is Game Pass Core. For $11 a month you get the privilege of online multiplayer plus 25 pre-selected Game Pass titles.
The former middle tier titled Xbox Game Pass for Console will no longer be available, and will be replaced with Game Pass Standard, which will include a larger selection of Game Pass games than Core, plus online multiplayer. No word yet on how much this will cost in Australia, that runs at $14.99 USD which we’d put around $17-19 Australian but that hasn’t been officially confirmed yet
And finally is the new Game Pass Ultimate, which will cost $23 a month, and include the entire Game Pass library, online multiplayer, cloud gaming, EA Play, and new games on day one.
KYLE: Now you might be saying to yourself, hang on, I thought new games on day one was the norm for all of Game Pass subscribers. Microsoft has certainly been marketing it that way.
Well not anymore. They’re now locked behind a paywall.
For years now Xbox has been patting themselves on the back over their day one on Game Pass releases, and roping in customers with promises of major games coming day one in the future, the biggest of which being the upcoming Call of Duty Black ops 6.
COURTNEY: Black Ops 6 out day one on Game Pass was a huge deal when it was announced. A major franchise being available to everyone with a subscription on the same day that it hits the shelves.
But for Microsoft to come out just a few months from launch and announce that it will actually be locked behind a premium paywall, is not a vibe.
It’s the subscription model equivalent of pre-ordering or paying for ultimate editions in order to play early, which are the exact kinds of tactics that drove gamers away from stores and towards Game Pass in the first place.
Realistically you absolutely should just subscribe and cancel when you finish playing, if you do that, once or twice a year you’ll still be ahead.
The set and forget subscription for Xbox Game Pass makes less sense during cozzie livs anyway but you might decide it’s worth it.
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COURTNEY: Fallout London is back on the cards after some hurdles, but the game now requires a bit of downgrading to play.
Earlier this year Bethesda decided to give Fallout 4 a next gen update, which meant Team Folon, the group behind the massive Fallout London mod, had to put a massive pause on their release as the update made many mods incompatible and broke a lot of their work.
The team have fixed most things but they discovered during the process that the next-gen version of Fallout 4 just isn’t stable enough for the mod. So they’ve decided to release the old version.
KYLE: Right now the mod is with GOG for QA testing, but when it releases Fallout London will come with its own installer and downgrader.
It may be worth it though with all the effort that has been put in. The map is reportedly around the same size as the main game’s Commonwealth map and Far Harbor DLC combined, and you get to fight super-mutants and other creatures across iconic London locations.
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KYLE: Respawn has announced an ‘improved’ battle pass structure for Apex Legends, and fans are not having it.
There are lots of changes as part of the announcement but the two biggest ones are that there will now be two 60-tier battle passes per season instead of one 110-tier pass, and now premium battle pass tracks can only be purchased with real money. Yikes.
With the two changes it’ll mean that instead of spending 950 Apex coins on a season’s premium battle pass track, now you’ll have to pay $9.99 per ‘half season’ premium battle pass track. Plus of course the option to buy the new Premium+ track pass for $19.99, again just for a half season.
COURTNEY: Respawn says the new structure is better because it’ll make it easier to get the desired item in each smaller half-season.
They’ve said their 60 tiers will still include the same number of legendary skins as the old season-long passes but items that weren’t being used much will appear less.
There’s lots of mixed thoughts and feelings on the new structure but it does mean those Apex Coins you’ve been saving up won’t be useable for future premier battle pass tracks soon.
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COURTNEY: Sim fans have a new theme park simulator to look forward to, as Planet Coaster 2 has just been announced.
Build your favourite parks, visit your friends or even build together online this new entry will be making it to consoles as well as PC at launch
KYLE: You’ll be able to add water slides and lazy rivers in this edition too.
Courtney, what would your dream theme park be?
Courtney: An anime theme park with delicious food and no rides.
That’ll be out later this year.
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COURTNEY: Sony’s Overwatch-like hero shooter Concord will be in early access this weekend, like right now, for PlayStation Plus subscribers.
There will be sixteen characters at launch with more to come along the way and if you miss this one there will be another open beta,
more like closed really because you have to pre-order to get in next week.
KYLE: While Overwatch looks like the obvious comparison, Video Games Chronicle who got hands on with the game already said it’s not exactly as close as you might think.
Are you going to give it a go? Jump into the SIFTER discord and i’m sure you’ll find some players to join you sifter.com.au/discord
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COURTNEY: That’s it for the big headlines, here are the games coming out this week and DAMN there are a lot.
KYLE: That’s right Courtney It’s a huge week of releases, so let's kick it off with EvilVEvil. It’s a fast-paced, super violent co-op shooter where you play as a vampire taking out evil enemies in bloodthirsty fashion. Grab it on PC, PS5 and Xbox on the 16th.
COURTNEY: Also out on the 16th is Cataclismo, an RTS tower defence hybrid that has you collecting resources by day and defending your keep from hordes of enemies by night. Out Tuesday exclusive to PC.
KYLE: Out Wednesday is the super cute Flock. Fly through the open world on the back of your pet bird, collecting weird and wonderful creatures to join your flock. Flock is coming to PC, Xbox, and PlayStation on the 17th.
COURTNEY: If you have a need for speed be sure to check out the super stylish arcade racer Asphalt Legends Unite. It’s an updated version of Asphalt Legends 9, with improved UI and a bunch of upgraded features, and is the first entry in the series to be available on Playstation. That’s coming to all platforms, including android and iOS, this Wednesday.
KYLE: Now one for all the nostalgic gamers out there, it’s Nintendo World Champions: NES Edition. It’s a collection of 13 classic NES games packaged together specifically for speed running. It’s a really creative take on a retro re-release, and we love to see it. Pick it up exclusively to Switch on the 18th.
COURTNEY: Next we have Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus, the latest title published by Humble Games. It’s an action adventure platformer with a gorgeous 2.5D art style inspired by Japanese folklore. Out on PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch and Mac this Thursday.
KYLE: Also out Thursday is Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, a third-person action RPG that blends magic and melee combat in a mediaeval fantasy setting with wild west gunslinging. Out on PC, PS5, and Xbox on the 18th.
COURTNEY: Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is out on the 19th. It’s another hybrid, this time between third person action adventure and real time strategy. Pick it up on PC, Xbox and PlayStation this Friday.
KYLE: And finally we have EA Sports College Football 25. It’s for all you gamers out there who love both American football, and the highly lucrative corporate exploitation of young athletes. That’s out on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox 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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COURTNEY: This has been Walkthrough by SIFTER, my name is Courtney Smith.
KYLE: And my name is Kyle Pauletto, thank you so much for listening.
COURTNEY: We know you love our podcasts, so why not become a monthly backer on Ko-Fi? Your support lets us keep making our shows and It’s easy to do, head to sifter.com.au/support where support starts from just $1 a month that link again is sifter.com.au/support or check the shownotes
KYLE: SIFTER is produced by myself, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Adam Christou, Courtney Smith and Chris Button. The episode is edited by both Senior Producer Mitch Loh and Executive Producer Gianni Di Giovanni, who is also Walkthrough’s script editor.
COURTNEY: Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Salty Dog Sounds for composing the Walkthrough theme tune, and Audio Technica Australia and Apple for their support of SIFTER’s podcasts.
KYLE: We’ll be back with more news next Sunday. See you then.
