PlayStation planning 10 live service games by 2026

Bungie is working on a new IP and will assist Sony’s live service game strategy

Sony just raised some eyebrows by acquiring Bungie for $3.6 billion, but it's all part of a grand strategy: Sony has around 10 live service game projects in the works, scheduled to hit the market by 2026.

Bungie is working on a “major new IP” according to Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki, and PlayStation will be harnessing Bungie's experience developing and operating live service games for other projects.

• Bungie “remains independent” under PlayStation
• Future games will not be exclusive to Sony platforms
• Acquired as part of Sony's new live service game strategy
• These are meant to “complement” Sony's cinematic narrative games

Dev assist: Bungie will be working closely with Sony's other first-party teams to help everyone figure out what works and what doesn't in the live service game market. Destiny has racked up its fair share of controversies after all, especially around vaulted content.

Multiplatform: Sony already announced its intentions to invest in live service games and diversify its games across multiple platforms, such as PC and mobile. Bungie will be one of the keystones of this strategy.

What is the name of the aria that plays during Portal 2’s ending?

a) Cara Mia Addio
b) Nessun dorma
c) Cara Mio Ben
d) Che gelida manina

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.

Yacht Club Games raises £230,000 for its new game Mina the Hollower

Yacht Club Games has launched a Kickstarter campaign for Mina the Hollower, which promises to be a “bone-chilling love letter” to handheld games.

The campaign has already breezed past its £230,000 goal and there are still 28 days left to go. The Los Angeles-based indie studio behind Shovel Knight is in a very different situation now compared to the “dire straits” it found itself in when it launched the crowdfunding campaign for Shovel Knight in 2013.

2D Gothic: The studio is funding most of the project itself, but wants to establish a community for its gothic Game Boy adventure.

Late 2023: Pledge $20 or more to secure a digital copy on the platform of your choice when the game is ready, estimated to be around Christmas 2023.

Dying Light 2 Staying Human reviews

Techland's ambitious Dying Light 2 Staying Human is finally out, and it attempts to improve on the original in every way. The review embargoes have been lifted, and the critics have stumbled gnashing and clawing out of their shallow graves to deliver their verdicts.

Reviews

• Game Informer (Score 9.5/10) – ”Techland has crafted a monster of a sequel that is bigger and better in almost every way.”
• CGMagazine (Score 9/10) – ”…a bold, doubling-down of all the elements that made the first game great, …"
• PC Gamer (Score 84/100) – ”An underwhelming story but a massive, exciting sandbox of parkour and kinetic combat.”
• Destructoid (Score 7.5/10) – ”Dying Light 2 is safe in some respects, and bold in others: like its propensity to lean into some arcadey notions.”
• IGN (Score 7/10) – ”…packed with top-notch parkour, an awesome open world, and every painful bug in the book.”
• GamesRadar~ (Score 3.5/5) – ”…a great open world playground for zombie survival, but lacks an impactful story or meaningful choices.”

Top saving picks from IndieGala

Great deals from the IndieGala sales: DRAGON BALL FighterZ – FighterZ Edition £11.24 (-85%), SOULCALIBUR VI Deluxe Edition £7.49 (-85%) and Age of Wonders: Planetfall Deluxe Edition £7.64 (-85%).

Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom £7.49 (-85%), Imperator: Rome Deluxe Edition £6.89 (-85%), Tyranny – Gold Edition £6.29 (-85%), CODE VEIN £9.99 (-75%) and BATTLETECH £5.24 (-85%).

• Pre-order a Heal Ball from Pokémon Center to secure your very own die-cast Poké Ball replica
• Geoff Keighley says there are “a few other” big deals coming up in the games industry, and that some of them are in the “final stages”
• Valheim is celebrating its one year anniversary and the developers are working on lots of new content including a Steam Deck version
• Newly founded Gardens studio will be making online games focusing on “meaningful multiplayer moments”
• Pokémon DP Sound Library opens its doors and offers up the official game soundtrack for Pokémon Diamond & Pearl

What is the name of the aria that plays during Portal 2’s ending?

ANSWER: Cara Mia Addio!

Portal 2 was a pretty wild ride, and its ending was conclusive enough that there didn't really seem to be any need for a third game to round things off. What can offer a greater sense of finality than a choir of turrets performing an aria in Italian as you ascend through Aperture Labs?

The song number is commonly referred to as the Turret Opera, but its official title is “Cara Mia Addio” or “My Darling Beauty”. Ellen McLain, who voiced GLaDOS, is actually a classically trained opera singer and she contributed to the lyrics. More games should end with a proper operatic flourish.

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!