Mysterious KOTOR Studio, Xbox Live Price Increase Ditched

Microsoft scraps Xbox Live price hike

Microsoft has decided not to increase the price of Xbox Live Gold following a monumental backlash from the Xbox community.

Last week, Microsoft announced plans to increase one-month subscription price by $1, and three-month subscriptions by $5. That would raise the price of 6-month subscriptions to $59.99, which used to be the price for a whole year. Some suggested it was a ploy to convince users to get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions instead.

No price change: “We messed up today and you were right to let us know. Connecting and playing with friends is a vital part of gaming and we failed to meet the expectations of players who count on it every day. As a result, we have decided not to change Xbox Live Gold pricing,” stated Microsoft in a bid to justify the U-turn.

Free free-to-play: The price hike was criticized for its timing, following hot on the heels of the Xbox Series X/S launch – which may have strained already pandemic-ridden wallets. Microsoft also announced that free-to-play games will no longer require Xbox Live Gold.

Which game was used to beta test Xbox Live?

a) Re-Volt
b) Unreal Tournament
c) Half Life 
d) Dark Sector

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.

Troubled youth can’t do Nintendo justice

Young Justice: Legacy was based on an animated show which saw its cast change between the first two seasons, which ended up delaying the game. Due to production and quality control issues, the Nintendo DS, Wii and Wii U versions were scrapped before the game finally launched in late 2013.

The project was already in trouble during pre-production, drifting between different teams who never really took ownership of the game: Developer Little Orbit, a contracting studio in Madrid and a satellite studio in Melbourne.

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

A week of crime, horror and min-maxing

Plenty of hot games this week, like Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny, supernatural horror game The Medium and the criminally insane Yakuza Remastered Collection.

Tuesday – January 26

• Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy for PC, NS, PS4, PS5
• Cyber Shadow for PC, NS, PS4, PS5, XBO

Thursday – January 28

• Disgaea 6: Defiance of Destiny for NS, PS4
• Gal*Gun Returns for NS
• Märchen Forest: Mylne and the Forest Gift for PC, NS, PS4
• The Medium for PC, XSX
• Olija for PC, NS, PS4, XBO
• Sword of the Necromancer for PC, NS, PS4, XBO
• The Yakuza Remastered Collection for PC, XBO

Friday – January 29

• Bonkies for PC, NS, PS4, XBO
• Buddy Mission: Bond for NS
• Gods Will Fall for PC, NS, PS4, XBO, Stadia
• The Pedestrian for PS4, PS5
• Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World: The Prophecy of the Throne for PC, NS, PS4

New Knights of the Republic on the way

The latest hot Star Wars rumour claims that The Knights of the Old Republic is set for a comeback – but not from EA and BioWare.

The series has been dormant for 15 years, and unsurprisingly there have been lots of speculation about its future. The first game was developed by BioWare and was a bold step away from the company's fairly conservative Dungeons & Dragons adaptations, into more cinematic territory.

Obsidian Entertainment, with Chris Avellone at the helm, developed the second game in the series, which featured a more ambitious and ambiguous story — but also crippling bugs.

Unknown studio: “I talked to a couple of people, and I also found out that Jason Schreier said that it’s not with EA, and we’ll ‘never guess’ who the studio is that’s making this game,” according to Bespin Bulletin, corroborated by Shinobi602 who claims the studio is “just not a household name most people are aware of.”

Star Wars Forever: With the Lucasfilm Games brand back on the map, there will most likely be a lot more Star Wars games once EA's exclusivity deal lapses in two years. Ubisoft has already announced a new open-world Star Wars title scheduled to launch in 2023.

• Neighbour is a Game Boy-styled horror game for browsers from indie studio Horatiu.nyc featuring a Deluxe Edition ROM
• Tekken director wants Pokken to return but it is up to The Pokémon Company to pull the trigger
• The Takemura holocall bug in Cyberpunk 2077 has been investigated and a “potential workaround” has been supplied
• Pokémon Go error rockets player ahead in race to be the first oreach level 50 while Niantic slows down challenges
• Take-Two shuts down LunaCheats and proceeds from the Grand Theft Auto Online cheats website goes to charity

Which game was used to beta test Xbox Live?

ANSWER: Re-Volt!

Xbox Live started out as a somewhat risky bet but turned out to be the future. If you were one of the chosen few who tested Xbox Live before it launched, you were also one of the few to play the Xbox Re-Volt port.

The RC racer was originally developed for PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast and was going to be ported to Xbox with multiplayer support as Re-Volt Live. Unfortunately, the port was cancelled just before launch so the only players who ever got to see it were the Xbox Live beta testers. Quite an unusual debut for an online service!

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