Gamers want Diversity, but also Cyber Teeth and Nails?

Most US and UK gamers ‘want diversity’ but not ‘societal issues’ from publishers

Newzoo has produced a consumer sentiment study after asking US and UK gamers about diversity and inclusion in videogames.

Few of the respondents felt it is important that games tackle “societal issues” – only 17 and 11 per cent of the US and UK respondents felt it was “very important”.

Newzoo’s “key findings”

• 45 percent of all respondents were women
• 33% of the UK respondents were Black, Hispanic or Asian
• 13% of the UK respondents were part of an ethnic minority group
• 30% of the US and 20% of the UK respondents had a disability
• 54% of the US and 47% of the UK respondents felt that diverse characters are “important”
• 26% of the US and 38% of the UK LGBQ+ respondents felt underrepresented

Online study: 2,054 US and 2,103 UK respondents aged 10 to 50 participated in the online survey, and overall the study found that half the respondents felt game characters could be more diverse, but the majority have no strong feelings about games ‘taking a stance’ on issues.

What key part of Doom’s story was left out of the 2005 movie?

a) The BFG
b) The UAC
c) Mars
d) Demons

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.

Thirteen not so unlucky for Lightning

The heroine Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII was supposed to be more flirtatious and sexy, but as her role in the story grew more and more serious, she became a more taciturn hero similar to Cloud Strife and Squall Leonheart.

The number 13 is important in the game: There are 13 chapters, the flashbacks are set 13 days before the game begins, there are 13 shops, 13 Analog mission rewards, 13 submenus in the datalog – oh, and you need 13,000 battle points for a 5-star rating.

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

DriveClub won’t be updated for next-gen

DriveClub director Paul Rustchynsky says fans should not expect any PlayStation 5 enhancements, or indeed any sequel.

The game's servers shut down on 31st of March this year, and Rustchynsky felt compelled to “set some records straight” after receiving lots of questions about the game's future. “There will be no meaningful upgrades as is,” he stated.

No tune up: “The frame rate is capped at 30fps & the resolution at 1080p. Even the loading times were already amazing,” he continued. Don't expect any remaster or new game – Rustchynsky said it was “extremely unlikely” to happen.

Big money: “Sony have GT as their key racing franchise & the cost to bring even a remaster back would cost a fortune in licensing,” he explained. He’s also not aware of any plans for a MotorStorm revival.

Get your nails done in Night City

The character creation and customization tools in Cyberpunk 2077 are bafflingly extensive, and includes options for teeth as well as the length of nails.

The latest information stems from the game's German Facebook page, and exemplifies CD Projekt RED's dedication to customization and personalization. They have also gotten rid of the gender binary.

Looking good: Customization options are not restricted to male or female bodies, allowing you to mix and match masculine and feminine traits freely. There won't be any particular distinction between playing as a male or female character, which reflects how little the biological body matters in the world of Cyberpunk 2077.

No more delay: Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled to launch on PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 on December 10th, and an upgrade scheduled for next year will bring the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 versions closer to the PC version.

Oculus Quest 2 not jailbroken after all

There is speculation that the Oculus Quest 2 jailbreak announced on October 26th might have been fake or at least misreported. The XR Safety Initiative reported that a hacker had managed to gain root access to the Oculus Quest 2 – but that doesn't mean the device has been freed from the Facebook account requirements.

The bootloader remains locked, and there is no patch for modifying the operating system kernel to allow bypassing the online authentication. There is a $10,000 bounty for anyone who produces a working jailbreak method, provided by Mozilla engineer Robert Long and Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey.

Phasmophobia going in the slammer

There's a prison level on the way to spooky VR success Phasmophobia judging by a snapshot of the developers' Trello board. The developers decided to keep the game in Early Access after it became very popular with streamers and expectations started getting higher. That means development will focus on bug fixes rather than content updates for now.

• DOOM Eternal will be updated for next-gen consoles and id Software promises free upgrades for Xbox and PlayStation
• Dada Zarude trailer for Pokémon Sword & Shield featuring creatures from Pokémon the Movie Coco
• Arkane announces Deathloop release date, so prepare for time loop assassination action on May 21st next year
• HDD and DualShock bugs in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War reported by users claiming the game turns off your hardware
• The Nioh Collection announced for PlayStation 5 featuring remastered Sengoku-era ninja action

To celebrate the start of a new generation of console gaming we are giving away a new PlayStation 5 to one lucky DailyBits reader. You can find out more about this giveaway on our dedicated page.

Here’s the Giveaway Code for Week 46: 5577

What key part of Doom’s story was left out of the 2005 movie?

ANSWER: ANSWER: Demons!

The 2005 Doom movie is remembered for two things: A surprisingly cool first-person sequence, and for cutting out the demons in favour of mutants. For whatever reason, the monsters are victims of a Martian virus rather than diabolic creatures from hell. Disappointing!

The virus turns bad people into demons, and good people into … angels! It’s a pretty unnecessary complication of a nice and simple idea, and a textbook example of how not to adapt a game into a movie. If the game is about demons from hell invading Mars, then make a movie about demons from hell invading Mars, goddammit!

Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey.

We hope you've enjoyed today's issue DailyBits! Please feel free to send any feedback over to [email protected]. Thank You!