Epic Games VS Apple Day 1, May’s Game Pass

Borderlands 3 cost Epic Games $146m

The on-going legal battle between Epic Games and Apple has revealed a load of documents, including some which should have stayed secret – like the price tags on various Epic Game Store exclusivity deals.

If you ever wondered how much it cost Epic to secure Borderlands 3 as an exclusive, then wonder no more: The price was $146 million. The full terms of the deal was $115 million for the game itself, and $80 million as a sales guarantee. Additionally, Epic committed to spending $15 million on marketing, and on top of that there were $20 million worth of “non-recoupable fees”.

Cost of doing business: Epic also spent $11 million to give away Borderlands: The Handsome Collection and $20 million giving away Sid Meier's Civilization VI. Those were by far the most expensive games Epic gave away, so Take-Two is clearly a strong negotiator.

Profitable? Not yet: Borderlands 3 made $100 million in its first two weeks on sale, and $77 million were made through Epic Game Store while the rest came from other retailers and resellers. Since Epic takes 12% of sales revenue, it made $9.2 million in that period. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney expects Epic Game Store to be profitable “within 3 or 4 years.”

Which Resident Evil game first featured first-person perspective?

a) Resident Evil: Survivor 
b) Resident Evil: Dead Aim
c) Resident Evil: Gaiden
d) Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles

The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today's issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.

Non-accidental death & dismemberment

Atlus’ demon-summoning saga Shin Megami Tensei started life on Super Nintendo in 1992, and opens with the main character dreaming of a gruesome murder in Inokashira Park in Tokyo. Not long after, the dream comes true.

Disturbingly, an actual and similar murder took place in Inokashira park in 1994, when a dismembered corpse was discovered in a trash can. The murder was never solved, and although a connection to Shin Megami Tensei was considered, the case eventually went cold and the statute of limitations expired in 2009.

Join our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today's fact.

Time for a nice village retreat

The giant vampire lady is nearly upon us! First, Dragon Quest Builders 2 blobs onto Xbox Game Pass while Wreckless flips and topples towards PlayStation 5 but on Friday Resident Evil Village is finally out.

Tuesday – May 4th

• Dragon Quest Builders 2 for XBO
• Wreckfest for PS5

Thursday – May 6th

• Skate City for PC, NS, PS4, XBO

Friday – May 7th

• Resident Evil Village for PC, PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX, Stadia

Microsoft stans sad dad zombie game

Court documents have revealed that Microsoft's GGPD portfolio team performed an internal review of The Last of Us Part II.

Their glowering verdict stated that the game is “moving forward the art of narrative storytelling” and that these achievements “ultimately outweighs whether or not everyone ‘likes’ it or even if everyone has ‘fun’ playing it,”.

A feast for the eyes: “We loved it, had a great time playing it, and find ourselves still thinking about its characters and stories even after finishing the playthrough,” the report says. It underlined that The Last of Us Part II is “absolutely best-in-class” visually and that its presentation was “significantly ahead of anything” else.

Boring battles: Videogame storytelling does not need to be about ‘roleplaying’ a character through choices according to the review, since it is possible to deliver an incredible narrative as an “active ‘observer’.” There was only one part of the game that didn't send the GGPD reviewers into paroxysms of ecstasy: Naughty Dog “can’t seem to make decent gun combat in any of their games, and this one is no exception.”

• Grab yourself a gnome for free on Steam while supplies last: Nubarron: The adventure of an unlucky gnome is free until May 9th
• PlayStation teams up with Discord for chat and integration will roll out in early 2022
• 97 Xbox games now support FPS Boost feature, many of them included in Xbox Game Pass and EA Play
• Red Dead Online, FIFA 21 and Final Fantasy X/X-2 on the way to Xbox Game Pass this month
• Enjoy 13 minutes of Baldo: The Guardian Owls gameplay in a spoiler-free walkthrough of the game's opening

Which Resident Evil game first featured first-person perspective?

ANSWER: Resident Evil: Survivor!

Resident Evil VII is famous for bringing the series into first-person, but it was nowhere near the first to do it. That dubious honour goes to Resident Evil: Survivor, a light gun game for PlayStation. It’s one of the series’ odder entries and puts you behind the eyes of an amnesiac protagonist trying to figure out what happened in Raccoon City.

The North American release wasn’t even a light gun game. Thanks to the moral panic following the school shootings at Columbine, Resident Evil: Survivor became an awkward first-person shooter instead. As a result, the game was panned for slow-paced and awkward combat. Good thing Resident Evil VII didn’t take too many cues from it.

Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Nick Akerman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey. If you have any feedback or news tips for the team, please email us!