Episode 25 – Metro Exodus to forego Steam, Launching on Epic Game Store

recorded on 2019-02-01

Headliners
Metro Exodus is second big AAA title to forego steam to launch on the Epic Games Store (The Verge)
Pre-orders on Steam will still be honored as with updates and any post launch content
The price will be $50 on the Epic Games Store instead of the normal $60 on Steam
The exclusivity will end after a year and the game will retail on Steam in February of 2020
Gamers are review bombing Metro Last Light Redux on Steam 2.5 weeks before Exodus launch

Little Bits

EA will halt the sale of FIFA Points for real money for FIFA Ultimate Team Packs in Belgium (BBC News)
EA provided some statements below clarifying their stance on the matter

“After further discussions with the Belgian authorities, we have decided to stop offering Fifa Points for sale in Belgium. “We’re working to make these changes effective in our Fifa console and PC games by 31 January 2019. “While we are taking this action, we do not agree with Belgian authorities’ interpretation of the law, and we will continue to seek more clarity on the matter as we go forward.”

Anthem VIP demo had a bad start due to connection issues so BioWare is gifting those played (Engadget)
BioWare giving away free vinyl to everyone who played the VIP demo at launch

Anthem open demo starts today at 12pm on all systems and runs until 9pm Sunday, February 3 (VG24/7)
BioWare says they have been working on fixes from the VIP demo and this should be smoother
BioWare says to stick around for Sunday afternoon for something special (endgame content?)

EA releases chart to help decipher when people can play Anthem; instead of just releasing it in one day
Origin Access Premier = Early Access of full game on February 15
Origin Access Basic and EA Access (Xbox One) = Play first trial (10 hours of game)
Everyone else plays it on the release day February 22
This is so stupid, this is just a cash grab to get people to sign up for EA Access and Origin tiers

Insomniac adds Fantastic Four suits to Marvel’s Spider-Man via most recent patch 1.14 (IGN)
The Bombastic Bag-Man and Future Foundation suits have been added for free

The Division 2 private beta starts February 7 at 4am ET and ends February 11 at 4am ET (GameSpot)
2 ways to access the private beta: pre-order or register on game’s main site and win an invite
Content included= couple main missions, several world activities, 1 PVP mode, 1 of 3 dark zones
Sea of Thieves future update will enable cross-play between Xbox One and PC (GameSpot)
Can choose to matchmake with controller only or both
Can cross-play in free-play and in the Arena when it comes out

Playstation Plus subscribers cloud storage expanded from 10GB to 100GB starting this month (Sony)
Is this Sony gearing up to enhance PS Now even further? Maybe turn it into their Game Pass?
Would this incentivise people to buy PS Plus and PS Now? Anger them cuz its paywalled?

Jump Force adds 2 new characters to roster, Jotaro Kujo and Dio from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (Gematsu)

Darksiders Warmastered edition coming to Nintendo Switch sometime in 2019 (Vooks.net)

Final Fantasy VII is coming to Switch very soon according to developer Square-Enix (GameSpot)

RE2 Remake to get free DLC this on February 15 called Ghost Survivors (GameSpot)

NetherRealm studio, team behind MK11, is teasing Shaggy in the game in various ways

Deals

Xbox Games with Gold for February are listed below (Kotaku)
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (February 1-20)
Super Bomberman R (February 16-March 15)

Xbox Live Gold Members can play Gears of War 4 free with Free Play Days from Jan 31-Feb 3 (Xbox)

Playstation Plus free games for February are listed below and go live February 5th (Playstation Access)
For Honor and Hitman 1 The Complete First Season

Playstation Essentials (No PS Plus required) and PS Plus sales still live and end February 5 (GameSpot)
Gives 3 new perspectives of 3 unfortunate souls that never made it out of Raccoon City

Rumor Mill

Anthem and The Division 2 bundles for Xbox One S have surfaced online (Windows Central)
No world on One X bundles for these games but I am sure there will be some

Sony patented a backward compatibility system that could run all past Playstation software (PushSquare)
Mark Cerny, the architect of the PS4, has authored a system to do this
A patent does not mean it will come to fruition; however, the timing is interesting cuz of PS5

A refreshed Switch model report gaining traction; it would be a smaller kid focused version (Ars Technica)
Possible refresh of the Switch Online Service to be more gaming focused w/ core gamer features

Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation Collection on switch listed for a Feb 15, 2019 release (GameSpot)

Apple is investing in a subscription Netflix style model (USA Today)

Sony is working on a portable device coinciding with PS5 and is to rival the Switch (Foxy Games UK)