Gamescom 2021 Award Nominees hints at Elden Ring

Gamescom 2021 Award Nominees listed,

This year's nominees for the Gamescom 2021 Award have been announced, with From Software's Elden Ring appearing in several categories for most platforms.

Elden Ring is nominated for Best Microsoft Xbox Game, Best PC Game, Best Sony PlayStation Game, Best Action-Adventure Game, and Best Role Playing Game.

• Gamescom 2021 opens on August 25th
• Sony is notably absent from Gamescom this year
• Microsoft and Bethesda will be in attendance
• New parkour showcase for Dying Light 2
• Saints Row reboot expected to premiere

All work and no PlayStation: Other notable games at the show include Halo Infinite, Age of Empires 4, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Company of Heroes 3, FIFA 22, Death Stranding Director's Cut, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and Far Cry 6.

Bandai bonanza: Bandai Namco dominates the awards with the highest number of nominations thanks to Elden Ring, which means we'll probably see some fresh gameplay footage during Wednesday nights showcase. 

What year was Roblox released in?

a) 2003
b) 2006
c) 2012
d) 2015

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.

Pokémon Go’s final Ultra Unlock is here

The third and final Pokémon Ultra Unlock event lasts until August 31st, with Zacian and Zamazenta from Pokémon Sword & Shield leading the pack of Pokémon visiting from the Galar region.

5 star Sabrina & Alakazam and 5 star Phoebe & Dusclops are now available in Pokémon Masters EX, and you can grab a special Porygon-Z in Pokémon Sword & Shield using a code.

Pokémon GO

• Ultra Unlock Part 3: Sword and Shield Event (August 20th until 31st)
  • Field Research and Timed Research exclusive encounters
  • 7 km Eggs: Galarian variants of Meowth, Ponyta, Slowpoke, Farfetch'd, Zigzagoon, Darumaka, and Stunfisk.
  • Galar region themed items available in shop
    • Gym Challenger Uniform
    • Dragon-Type Sport Uniform
    • Dark-Type Sport Uniform
    • Event-exclusive Gift stickers
• Raids (August 26th until September 1st)
  • One-star: Galarian Meowth, Galarian Ponyta, Unown U, and Galarian Darumaka
  • Three-star: Snorlax, Galarian Stunfisk, and Falinks
  • Five-star: Zamazenta (Hero of Many Battles)
  • Mega: Mega Pidgeot

Pokémon Masters EX

• Spotlight Scout (August 22nd until September 3rd)
  • 5 star Sabrina & Alakazam
  • 5 star Phoebe & Dusclops
  • Can be raised to 6 star EX

Fan begins recreating RE1 in Minecraft

A Resident Evil fan has started an ambitious project: Turning the environments from the original Resident Evil into a Minecraft adventure map.

Work on the Spencer mansion foyer is already underway, and pictures reveal moody lighting, marble flooring, red carpet, a huge chandelier and paintings along the majestic staircase.

Builder in residence: The plan is to build the entire Spencer mansion including the guardhouse, but let's hope they decide to do the secret laboratory as well.

RPG Summer Sale at Humble Store

Go on an epic adventure with the RPG Summer Sale at Humble Store, featuring up to 85% discount on big names like Mass Effect Legendary Edition and The Witcher 3 Game of the Year Edition.

You can also get great deals on Ni No Kuni, Cyberpunk 2077, Crusader Kings 3, Mount & Blade 2, the Borderlands series, Persona 4 Golden, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, the Yakuza series and much more!

First-person photography in Jurassic Snap

Dreamirl has opened a Kickstarter campaign for Jurassic Snap, a VR game about photographing dinosaurs. Similar to New Pokémon Snap, the gameplay footage shows on-rails routes through dinosaur habitats complete with stylized visuals. Jurassic Snap is planned for Oculus Rift, Quest 2, SteamVR and PlayStation VR.

Myst remake will support VR

Myst is back and the reimagined experience will support VR at launch on August 26th. The game was built from the ground up with VR support and includes both free and teleport movement for VR.

VR City builder Spacefolk City announced

Funky city building game Spacefolk City is coming to Oculus Rift, Quest, and SteamVR. Build a space city full of weird and quirky places and buildings, all in VR. Developer Moon Mode hopes it will be out sometime this Autumn.

• Streamers take #ADayOffTwitch on September 1st to bring attention to persistent ‘hate raiding’ on Twitch
• James McAvoy had to burn Oblivion to stop playing, but rediscovered the joy of gaming by playing FIFA with his son
• Crusader Kings 3 is rated for consoles in Taiwan, which means Paradox Interactive is taking the popular series multiplatform, but it refused to comment when we requested confirmation
• Free Call of Duty: Vanguard multiplayer preview coming to PlayStation between August 27th and 29th for both next-gen and last-gen consoles
• Grab a free 7-day Switch Online trial before September 17th to find out what you're missing

What year was Roblox released in?

ANSWER: 2006!

Roblox has become spectacularly popular, but it's not actually a new game at all. It was first released in 2004 as Dynablocks, before officially launching as Roblox in 2006. It grew slowly and steadily, eventually exploding in the 2010s.

With great popularity comes great scrutiny, however: The game's monetization design has attracted criticism and while Roblox insists that it is possible to make money making content in the game, creators receive an embarrassingly small cut and are actually paid with in-game currency which must be converted to a real currency at pretty exorbitant rates.

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