Over the past week, Xbox fans have been thrown into turmoil by rumors that indicated everything from Starfield, to Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, to the Gears of War franchise may jump to PlayStation and other platforms. Some leakers have since walked those rumors back, saying Starfield making the jump is unlikely, but the horse is already out of the barn and speculation about the future of Xbox is running wild. Microsoft itself hasn’t exactly doused those flames, as they haven’t stepped into deny anything, but instead promised a “business update event” for this week.
Esports are messy in 2024 | This week's gaming news
24.01.2024 - 19:53 / engadget.com / Jessica Conditt
With the news that Blizzard and ESL FACEIT are preparing to launch a new esports circuit for Overwatch 2, mere months after the death of the Overwatch League, it's a good time to take stock of the entire esports scene. Things are looking slightly frantic, at least in North America. League of Legends and Rocket League are particularly messy, entering their 2024 seasons with lean budgets and major shakeups. Meanwhile, an expansion of the open-qualifiers model should provide more opportunities for everyday players to compete in Valorant, Overwatch 2, Rocket League and all manner of fighting games. Get those fingers ready, folks.
This week's stories
Xbox lineup in 2024
Xbox held its first showcase of 2024 last week, highlighting a handful of games that have been in development for years. Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is due out later in 2024, and it comes from Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus studio MachineGames. The new footage showcased lots of whipping, quipping and Nazi punching, just like Indy would want.
Next, Obsidian’s big fantasy RPG, Avowed, will hit PC and Xbox in the fall. Obsidian is the studio that made Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, and Avowed looks like its spin on an Elder Scrolls game.
Finally, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will come out on May 21, nearly five years after it was announced alongside the reveal of the Xbox Series X.
Esports are back and smaller than ever
2024 is a moment of reckoning for esports, especially in North America. Blizzard killed the Overwatch League last year and it’s trying to start a new series with the ESL, viewership of North American League of Legends is on the decline, and Rocket League’s RLCS tournament is in a state of upheaval.
League of Legends is the king of esports, and in 2023, its World Championship tournament broke viewership records, driven by legendary performances from Korean and Chinese teams — OK, mostly Faker. But no matter how hard I cheer for them, North American League of Legends teams are still kind of a joke on the world stage. Last year, the Korean summer split attracted 1.5 million concurrent viewers, while the LCS summer tournament peaked at 223,000 viewers, and that was down from 370,000 in 2022. The 2024 season kicked off this month with regional tournaments, and the North American LCS looks like a brand new beast. The number of teams competing in the LCS has been cut from 10 to 8, meaning Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians are gone, and the league is using a faster-paced best-of-one format in the regular season. We’ll see how this all pays off at MSI in May.
In the Rocket League Championship Series, budgets are tight and teams are scattered. There will be two major tournaments this year instead of three, plus the
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gamerant.com
12.02.2024 / 22:28
Xbox Event Where Multiplatform Rumors Will Be Addressed Gets Official Date and Time for Later This Week
Xbox has announced that a special edition of the Official Xbox Podcast will air on Thursday, February 15 at 3 PM Eastern Time. During the podcast, Xbox will address recent rumors that many of its exclusive titles will be going cross-platform in the future.
digitaltrends.com
12.02.2024 / 20:01
Xbox will reveal its future in a podcast this week. Here’s how to tune in
The Official Xbox Podcast episode dropping later this week is going to be a big one. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, President of Game Content and Studios Matt Booty, and Xbox President Sarah Bond will finally address rumors that have been tearing the Xbox community apart for the past week. After leaks and rumors indicating that titles like Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Starfield, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would come to Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 5 began to circulate, people got very confused about what this all means for Xbox as a platform going forward.
gamesradar.com
12.02.2024 / 19:33
The Xbox news everybody's desperate for is apparently coming in a podcast with Phil Spencer this week
After promising an update on "the future of Xbox" in the wake of multiplatform rumors about games like Starfield and Indiana Jones, Microsoft has confirmed that a podcast with several top gaming executives is set to land this Thursday.
gematsu.com
11.02.2024 / 19:33
This Week’s Japanese Game Releases: Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Skull and Bones, more
Mario vs. Donkey Kong for Switch and Skull and Bones for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC are the highlights of this week’s Japanese video game releases.
polygon.com
10.02.2024 / 01:23
American Fiction, The Marvels, and every new movie to watch at home this weekend
Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.
gamesindustry.biz
09.02.2024 / 16:54
Are unions actually growing? | This Week in Business
This Week in Business is our weekly recap column, a collection of stats and quotes from recent stories presented with a dash of opinion (sometimes more than a dash) and intended to shed light on various trends. Check every Friday for a new entry.
videogameschronicle.com
09.02.2024 / 13:51
From Software owner Kadokawa has bought Octopath Traveler studio Acquire
From Software owner Kadokawa has purchased Japanese development studio Acquire for an undisclosed sum.
polygon.com
09.02.2024 / 11:08
Not sure what movie to watch this weekend? Let us help
We love movie recommendations here at Polygon. Whether it’s horror, sci-fi, action, comedy, thrillers, or just the best of the year, we’re always trying to introduce readers to new and exciting movies they’ll love. But now we want to find the perfect movie for you. (That’s you.)
thesixthaxis.com
09.02.2024 / 09:36
Xbox “business update” will explain rumoured PlayStation port plans next week
Following a weekend of reports and rumours about Xbox going cross-platform with PS5 ports, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has posted to Twitter to announce a “business update” that will reveal Microsoft’s “vision for the future of Xbox.”
eurogamer.net
29.01.2024 / 11:23
PlayStation State of Play coming this week, reports suggest
Sony will step up to the spotlight this week with a PlayStation State of Play broadcast, it's been reported.
gematsu.com
29.01.2024 / 00:41
This Week’s Japanese Game Releases: Granblue Fantasy: Relink, Persona 3 Reload, Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash, more
Granblue Fantasy: Relink for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC, and Persona 3 Reload for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC are the highlights of this week’s Japanese video game releases.