Game Delays Incoming
Japanese Rating Organisation closed
Japan’s video game rating agency Computer Entertainment Rating Organisation – or CERO – is closing down until May 6th.
This could impact games scheduled for release in Q3 and Q4 as the agency will not be able to test and rate new games while it is closed.
Games are typically rated months before they launch, so games scheduled to go on sale in the next few months will likely be unaffected, but games scheduled for launch after summer could easily miss their street dates. Since Japan is a major territory, publishers might choose to delay games rather than release them in Japan months after other territories.
- CERO is closed for a month, although it could be extended depending on how the COVID-19 pandemic develops
- Japanese companies are traditionally averse to employees working from home, unlike for example Germany’s USK rating board which has not been affected by the on-going pandemic
CERO’s official statement: “All work including screening (including those under review) will be entirely suspended from April 8th to May 6th. We will be closed during that time, so we will not be able to receive examination materials such as mail or courier. The resumption of operations after May 7th will be announced on the website in the future.”
Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?
Who plays the mayor of Steelport in Saints Row: The Third?
- Josh Birk
- Monica Hughes
- Burt Reynolds
- Some Random Head in a Jar
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.
Daily Fact
A hearty helping of sin on Saints Row
Volition started development on Saints Row: The Third before Saints Row 2 shipped in 2008. It is still considered the best in the series, and received massive support from publisher THQ who promised to fund 40 weeks worth of content updates after launch.
In the end, Volition released a ton of little additions and three full expansion packs, but the most notable one was Enter the Dominatrix. Originally announced on April Fool’s day in 2012 and slated as the final DLC pack for Saints Row: The Third, the expansion grew into Saints Row IV and what material didn’t make it into the fourth game was eventually released as DLC.
The Saints Row series has quite a colorful history: It started out as a rather tone-deaf Grand Theft Auto 3 clone, and after perhaps unexpectedly finding success, turned into an increasingly weird, chaotic and high-budget joke about videogames. Volition is currently developing another Saints Row game. What could possibly be next?
Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today’s fact.
Broken Sword in VR?
New Broken Sword VR game in 2021?
The European Commission may have accidentally leaked Broken Sword 6. Univrcity.fr managed to save a summary revealing that Parzival’s Stone VR is actually Broken Sword 6: Parzival’s Stone.
According to the project’s listing on the European Commission website, the game should appear before March 2021.
From the project description: “The player will be there in VR with their loyal heroes George and Nico as they travel on their last epic quest in Europe: unravelling mysterious intrigue, facing sinister villains and solving devilish puzzles in a tale based on history, conspiracy, myths, power, greed… and particle physics.”
- Broken Sword developer Revolution Software received €150,000 in funding from the European Commission
- Judging by the European Commission page, Parzival’s Stone VR has been in development for just over two years at this point
Too good to be true? As always, rumours should be taken with a pinch of salt: No-one but univrcity.fr seems to have actually seen the listing.
Resident Evil 8 Heads to Europe
Fresh batch of Resident Evil rumours
Following last week’s rumours, Biohazardcast has published more claims from a source who has playtested the game.
Resident Evil 8 will apparently be called Resident Evil: Village with the VILL part of the name highlighted to spell the roman numeral for 8. The most interesting part of the rumour says that Chris Redfield will play an important part, though not in the ways fans might expect. Perhaps Chris is a villain this time around?
- The game is set somewhere in Europe, presumably in or around a village
- Returning characters: Ethan, Mia and Chris Redfield
- Release date is supposedly Q1 2021, though the on-going COVID-19 pandemic could change that
- Inventory management is still being tweaked. Capcom is testing solutions inspired by both Resident Evil 4 and 7
Trustworthy? Dusk Golem, who posted the first rumours last week, has given this latest batch a thumbs-up on ResetERA. He explained that “literally hundreds of random people have played the RE8 demo at this point … these tests did make the game leaking a lot more likely.”