We have a mixed bag in the Wayward Roundup this week. An Atlus legend is returning with a suspiciously familiar concept, and it appears that the AI bubble might just be starting to burst. And then, amidst all the seriousness, someone slaps three consoles together into a Cerberus of awesomeness. What a week.
Kouji Okada is working on a new game after 18 years
One of my favourite Developers is Altus. Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, Tokyo Mirage Sessions; I could go on. They make some incredible games. And soon there shall be one more, in a way, anyway. That is because co-founder Koji Okada, who left the company, tried to start his own and then went AWOL for 18 years, is back.
And he is back working with Compile Heart, who have announced a new horror-tinged school life sim with other Atlus veterans. At least that is what the trailer suggests. The website and video are all in Japanese; there will be a proper reveal on January 29th that will hopefully be easier to translate. I am very excited; more Atlus in any form is great, and Compile Heart made Fairy Fencer F, which I adore.
Modder creates unholy trinity that is the Ningtendo PXBOX 5
Whenever I buy a laptop, I like to crack it open and see what I can upgrade. I find it very fun, and I do successfully make it better, but my modding skills have absolutely nothing on XNZ. This genius-come-crazy person, they go hand in hand, has created a console that combines the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Switch 2.
It lets you, or probably only her cause I can just hear the lawyers if she tries to market this, seamlessly switch between consoles. There are some caveats, like games can’t be suspended if you swap consoles. However, the specifics are less important than the product. I am just in awe at the ingenuity. I love seeing things like this. And I do kind of want one. She did release a guide, after all…….
Krafton releases a spin-off to its hit battle royale named PUBG Blindspot
PUBG all but invented the battle royale genre before Fortnite took the concept and blew up with it. Since then, PUBG hasn’t exactly been languishing, but it feels like Krafton definitely just rolled over and let it get away. Well, they seem to have perked up a bit lately, with that really basic asymmetric horror mode the other month, and now a new spin-off.
It is called PUBG: Blindspot, with an early access build scheduled for February 5th. It will be a top-down 5v5 shooter that equips you with a fairly narrow cone of vision. You will need to be incredibly careful with your positioning, cause you have about a 315-degree blind spot, hence the name. It looks like it could be a very interesting mode.
Rumours of ads on Xbox Game Pass continue to grow
It appears that Xbox Game Pass will be getting ads, as some players, such as Tom Warren, have received a worrying message. It says “1 hour of ad-supported playtime per session.” The rumours of an ad-supported Game Pass tier aren’t new; they have been circling for a while, but this message is.
Depending on how it is delivered, I would support it. If it were a free tier with some of the Game Pass catalogue, why not? YouTube is free with ads. They are annoying, but it is free, so you can’t really complain. Honestly, as long as they don’t do it the way that Nvidia is with their horrific cloud services, then I am fine with most of what Microsoft can do. Just no ads in Premium, I am already paying enough for that, you can shove your ads for that tier.
OpenAI may face bankruptcy as soon as 2027
This one is not strictly gaming-related right now, but it is the best news I have heard in a while. There have been multiple reports that OpenAI, those behind ChatGPT, may be going bankrupt as early as next year. As a result, they might be adding ads to their product, which will probably turn a lot of people off.
I see this going two ways. Either another company will step in to fill the ad-free hole, exacerbating the problem and causing even more issues. Or the AI bubble is finally popping, and we will be free, including all the generative slop in gaming. I sincerely hope it is the second option.
Ubisoft’s share price plummets amidst studio closures
And now for the downer ending! Ubisoft have taken a bulldozer to their company, shutting at least two studios and cancelling multiple projects. It has tanked their share prices by 33%, but more importantly, it has cost over 100 jobs in the name of restructuring. This suspiciously includes the Ubisoft Halifax office employees, who only recently unionised. I am getting shades of Rockstars’ alleged union busting.
Whilst this is a sadly common sight in gaming nowadays, it is still shocking when it happens to one of the big publishers to this degree. However, they cancelled the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, which was a guaranteed money maker. So who knows what’s going on right now?
