PlayStation State Of Play, Fantasy Game From Hitman Devs
Today: IO Interactive allegedly working on fantasy game for Xbox — No more Crash Bandicoot for Toys for Bob as Activision consolidates — Lots of great deals on Star Wars games in celebration of May 4th
Issue Contents
TOP STORY
Highlights from State of Play
The latest State of Play is live, and offers a closer look at Subnautica: Below Zero, Among Us and the upcoming and eagerly anticipated Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
The broadcast includes 15 minutes of gameplay footage from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which looks much like a playable Pixar movie. The footage includes developer commentary and shows off the explosive new arsenal.
What religious imagery was removed from Splatterhouse on TurboGrafx 16?
a) A Crescent Moon
b) An Inverted Cross
c) A Star of David
d) A Dharmachakra
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.
FACT OF THE DAY
When Keen gets idle he gets cheeky
id Software’s Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy consists of two episodes and in the Temple of the Moons level from Secret of the Oracle, Keen has a very cheeky idle animation.
He usually whips out a book and starts reading, but if you keep Keen standing for too long on top of one of the moon drawings on the floor in the temple, he’ll drop his pants and moon you instead.
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While there are literally no details, the game is codenamed Project Dragon and will be published by Xbox Game Studios. The project is just creaking into motion, and IO Interactive is busy building the team.
My word is my Bond: A fantasy game would be a considerable departure from IO Interactive's well-established brand of gritty yet glamorous contemporary realism. The studio is also working on a James Bond game featuring an original story.
All hands on deck for Call of Duty
Call of Duty is Activision’s biggest name with over 400 million games sold, and it has only grown more dominant after the success of Call of Duty: Warzone. Now all of its internal studios are dedicated entirely to providing a satisfactory man-shooting experience.
Toys for Bob, the developer behind Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, has been reassigned away from colorful mascot platformers to providing support to the grim goings-on in Call of Duty: Warzone.
Toys for COD:“Toys for Bob is proud to support development for Season 3 of Call of Duty #Warzone, and look forward to more to come,”the studio tweeted. There are also reports of downsizings at the studio.
Consolidation: Vicarious Visions, the venerable porting studio who released Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 last year is now part of Blizzard Entertainment, and is working on Diablo II: Resurrected.
Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom – Prince's Edition is coming to Switch judging by an ESRB listing
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout delayed for Xbox and Switch since Mediatonic needs more time to make sure crossplay works as smoothly as possible
Riot Games monitoring voice chat in Valorant to combat toxic players and might extend the new surveillance program to League of Legends
QUIZ ANSWER
What religious imagery was removed from Splatterhouse on TurboGrafx 16?
ANSWER: An Inverted Cross!
Splatterhouse and its violent horror was a pretty significant departure for Namco, who was most famous for colorful and adorable arcade games like Bubble Bobble. The game proved controversial enough that the Turbografx 16 version had to be toned down a bit for the North American release, most noticeable in the game’s fourth boss battle.
The arcade version featured an inverted cross surrounded by a shield of severed heads, but the Turbografx 16 version switched the cross for a mask – but kept the severed heads. In fact, any and all religious references such as altars and cathedral arches were culled as well. Splatterhouse might not be the most fondly remembered Namco classic, but at least it lives on in Namco Museum for Switch.
Today's issue of DailyBits was written by Gavin Herman, Nick Akerman, Erlend Grefsrud, Simon Priest, and Jamie Davey. If you have any feedback or news tips for the team, please email us!