In today’s gaming news Phil Spencer has announced a commitment to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo, Elden Ring is getting a new update, while David Harbour has let it slip that he will be starring in a horror game that might be released in 2023, and the launch of Cyberpunk 2077 killed a standalone multiplayer game that CD Projekt Red was working on.
Read about all of this news and more in today’s gaming news roundup.
Microsoft is bringing ‘Call of Duty’ to Nintendo
Phil Spencer has announced on Twitter that Microsoft will be committed to bringing Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles if the Activision Blizzard acquisition goes through. Hardcore Call of Duty fans might recall that the series did come to Nintendo consoles in the past, back in the days of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty: Ghosts. Titles were released on the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, and the Nintendo DS. These games were usually reviewed poorly compared to the other consoles, and we shudder to think about how bad the frame rate might get on the Nintendo Switch.
Of course, this news comes after Phil Spencer offered the same deal to Sony, which they find unacceptable because the franchise will then come to Microsoft’s Gamepass service, which will most likely undercut sales of the games on PlayStation consoles. It is unlikely that the battle against the upcoming acquisition will end any time soon.
Elden Ring is getting a new Colosseum update
A new update, which was announced in the tweet above, will be coming today to Elden Ring. The Colosseum update will be free for all players, and it will open up the Colosseums for some epic PVP battles, so feel free to go all out in your battles against your fellow tarnished. The update is the only DLC to be released for the game, even though it has been extremely popular since the release of the game earlier this year, and it is unknown whether there will be any paid DLC in the future. This new update comes right before The Game Awards, where it will undoubtedly pick up an award or two.
David Harbour is coming to a horror game next year
In an interview with Video Games FN, David Harbour let it slip that he will be starring in a horror game that should be released in 2023. He was being asked about his role in the upcoming Gran Turismo movie, loosely based on the PlayStation franchise of video games when he was asked if he wanted to star in a video game, to which he replied, “I actually have one coming out. Me and Jodie Comer did a video game.”
So the Stranger Things and Violent Night star will be appearing in a video game alongside Comer who you probably know from Killing Eve or Free Guy. It’s unknown when the game will actually be released or if it is a part of an existing franchise. Fans seem to think that they could be the stars of the next installment of The Dark Pictures Anthology. Honestly, it would be good to see him come to Dead by Daylight with his Stranger Things character, but it does not seem like that is what he was referring to. We will just have to wait and see; who knows, the game might be announced at The Game Awards.
CD Projekt Red canceled their multiplayer game because of the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077
You might remember the horrific launch of Cyberpunk 2077 and how it led to PlayStation taking the game off of its store after players bombarded them with refund requests. For most of the players who attempted to play it on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, the game was a buggy mess and for those who requested refunds, it was unplayable. Well, it turns out that this led CD Projekt Red to cancel their standalone multiplayer game based on the Cyberpunk franchise.
In an interview with Eurogamer, Philipp Weber, the acting narrative director on one of their upcoming games in The Witcher franchise, detailed how a pivot to focus on improving the game led to the cancellation of the multiplayer title. This is not surprising in the least, but it has to make you wonder if CD Projekt Red spreading themselves too thin might be why Cyberpunk 2077 was released in that state, to begin with, but we should know more about that when they release their next game.
There is a ToeJam & Earl movie currently in the works
According to The Hollywood Reporter, in what might be one of the most bizarre collaborations of all time, a ToeJam & Earl movie is coming to screens, by Amazon Studios, Story Kitchen, and Unanimous Media, Stephen Curry’s production company. Interestingly, Sega seems to be on a mission to sign away the rights to their popular franchises, having found success at the box office with Sonic the Hedgehog. They also recently announced that a Streets of Rage movie is in the works.
Although it is unclear as to whether Sega owns the rights to the franchise or if they belong to co-creator Greg Johnson, as Sega had no involvement with the last game in the franchise, ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove which was released in 2019. As it is in early development we have no word as to when the ToeJam & Earl movie will be coming to theaters.
A release date has been announced for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
THQ Nordic has announced a release date for SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake and it will be released much sooner than anyone might have expected. In the trailer above, which showed off SpongeBob’s boarding skills, the release date for the game was announced to be Jan. 31, 2023, which is just over a month from now. The trailer also showed off some of the costumes you can get for SpongeBob in the free pre-order costume pack, including his ‘Sweet Victory’ outfit.
The game is the spiritual sequel to SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated which was released in 2020 and both games were developed by Purple Lamp Studios. The remake was based on the original SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom which was released in 2003. Pre-orders are open now and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake will be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on Jan. 31, 2023.
Dead Island 2 will let you fight zombies with Alexa
In what might be the most bonkers gaming news story of the day, Dead Island 2 will let you take out zombies with Amazon’s Alexa. The upcoming zombie game will incorporate Alexa Game Control according to Deep Silver, the developer of Dead Island 2. You will seemingly be able to order Alexa to complete certain tasks in the game, like supplying you with weapons or drawing the attention of nearby zombies.
If you are interested in reading more about the new technology or more specific examples as to how it will be incorporated into Dead Island 2, you can read all about it in our article here. Dead Island 2 is set to be released on April 28, 2023, on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X. Xbox Series S, Xbox One, and PC.
Come back tomorrow for our next gaming news roundup.