PUSH SQUARE GAME CLUB | April | Midnight Suns ☽ ☀︎

We're getting closer and closer to gaming's annual announcement season. Every summer sees the industry turn out for a few weeks of pre-recorded presentations and live broadcasts, all showcasing what's coming up in the near future. With E3 now sadly a thing of the past, the biggest of these events is now Summer Game Fest, created and hosted by Geoff Keighley. Whatever games you enjoy, it sounds like this will be worth watching — a lot of game developers and publishers are taking part.

The announcement that Jake Solomon, first amongst the legendary Sid Meier's pupils, had left Firaxis to start his studio, Midsummer Studios, comes as a surprise, especially with the switch from strategy to the life sim genre. Looking towards the opportunity to create something entirely different, Soloman reflected on where his last game, Marvel's Midnight Suns, went wrong.

Square Enix has confirmed in a new medium-term business plan that it intends to «aggressively» pursue a multiplatform strategy across PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and PC platforms. Instead of allowing select AAA games from its biggest series to be locked onto one system, the company will look to «build an environment where more customers can enjoy our titles».

Perhaps the most anticipated game of all time, and considering developer Rockstar's secretive nature, even the most minor GTA 6 morsels can send the series' legions of starving fans into a tizzy. Case in point: GTA 6 has been added to Rockstar's website database, with placeholders for four screenshots, cover art, and a release date appearing, and fans are frothing at the mouth. Apparently, it wasn't meant to go live just yet; Rockstar has since rolled these changes back.

Former developers of XCOM, Marvel's Midnight Suns, and The Sims have come together to form a new studio called Midsummer Games, all in the name of rivalling The Sims in the «life simulation» genre. Jake Solomon and Will Miller, best known for their work on Firaxis titles like Marvel's Midnight Suns and XCOM, founded the company after raising $6 million in investment. Now, the team will set out to build a next-gen life sim game.

@Mr_B021 That was a really great flashback, by the way! Thanks for doing that.

With the industry in a crisis and Square Enix's marquee titles Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth failing to meet sales expectations, the storied publisher/developer is restructuring to " aggressively" pursue a multiplatform strategy. Sadly, this will necessitate a round of layoffs, which has already begun in the US and Europe. On games industry Twitter, impacted staff are sharing the sad news as the sorry process gets underway.

Fallout games took three of the top 10 places on the European sales chart last month.

@Bundersvessel Change my vote to Dave, that should do it.

After the disappointment that was Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, wouldn't an entirely new entry in the Batman: Arkham series go over nicely? Well, that wish has come true, but you won't find it on any PlayStation hardware. Batman: Arkham Shadow is a VR title exclusive to Meta Quest 3, releasing at the end of 2024. Catch it in the teaser trailer above, with more details set to be shared next month at Summer Game Fest.

@sorteddan @CaptD You both have really made some nice progress. I’m ashamed to report that my own pace has been much slower. I have only played an hour or two since my last update. With this month flying by at breakneck speed (seriously, there’s just about a week left until May!) I certainly won’t get anywhere near completing the game by the end of month.

@sorteddan @CaptD You both have really made some nice progress. I’m ashamed to report that my own pace has been much slower. I have only played an hour or two since my last update. With this month flying by at breakneck speed (seriously, there’s just about a week left until May!) I certainly won’t get anywhere near completing the game by the end of month.