Author: dpugh007

You’ve likely noticed the recent trend of high-budget games from big publishers getting special editions that include getting access to a game a few days early. Well, if the publishers and the stores that help promote those editions are any indication, you can expect that trend to stick around, as those editions seem to be doing quite well.

GamesIndustry.biz reports that both publishers and retailers say the early access perk has proved quite popular among buyers. UK and Spanish game retailer GAME, which often partners with game publishers to get exclusivity on early editions on some of their games, tells GamesIndustry.biz that it’s been a strong incentive for people to spend extra on certain games. “I don’t think it’s something that we want to see to widespread, because it creates uncertainty in terms of release dates,” GAME CEO Martyn Gibbs. “But the trials that we have done, and the ones that we’ve launched so far this year, have worked really well.”

Several games this year have offered early access with their special editions, including Forza Horizon 4, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Battlefield V, all of which involve paying extra.

[Source: GamesIndustry.biz]

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EA Sports is releasing a limited-time, digital version of NHL 19 (PS4/Xbox One) centering around The Great One, Wayne Gretzky called the 99 Edition.

This version lets players choose from one of five versions of Wayne Gretzky (Oilers, Kings, Blues, Rangers, or Team Canada) for use in the Hockey Ultimate Team mode as well as one of six other legends: Mark Messier, Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne, Mats Sundin, Peter Forsberg, or Brett Hull. The edition also comes with eight HUT gold packs.

The game’s 200+ legends can be used in HUT, Play Now, Online Versus, NHL Threes, and World of Chel Pro-Am but not Franchise mode. 

EA says The 99 Edition retails is being offered at 50 percent off – making it a great deal at $39.99 (down from $79.99), but it’s unknown at this time if this discount will last as long as the 99 Edition is on sale. The edition will appear in the PS4 marketplace later today and is already on the Xbox Marketplace.

This news comes at an interesting time for the fanbase, some of whom are angry that the title’s gameplay has changed since its well-received beta. For more on this issue, take a look at the recent Sports Desk column featuring a NHL 19 producer Ben Ross.

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A new and improved Ms. Splosion Man is releasing on Switch this Thanksgiving. Recalling the Pac-Man/Ms. Pac-Man naming formula, Ms. Splosion Man is a sequel to the 2009 hit Splosion Man. The game is set in the immediate aftermath of an accident that created a second being made entirely of explosive materials: Ms. Splosion Man. To win, players must “‘splode” to vault over obstacles, demolish traps, and defeat enemies. 

The game was originally released on the Xbox 360 in 2011, which is the same year the developers, Twisted Pixel Games, became part of Microsoft. Now that Twisted Pixel has struck out on its own, the critically acclaimed platformer is free to release on the Switch. This new Switch release will include 50 levels for single player as well as 50 levels for local and online co-op for up to four players. 

Ms. Splosion Man is set to launch November 22 on the Nintendo Switch. We had a lot of praise for the game back when it originally released and gave it an 8.75 in our review.

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Thronebreaker, the recently-released single-player expansion for Gwent, isn’t selling as well as developer/publisher CD Projekt Red had hoped, and part of that may be due to the storefront it chose to debut on.

The expansion, which takes the card-battling minigame from The Witcher 3 and builds a brand new game and storyline around it, didn’t release on Steam, as developer/publisher CD Projekt Red opted to make it exclusive to its own storefront, GoG. That may have caused it to underperform relative to expectations, according CD Projekt Red co-CEO Adam Kiciński.

“The initial period [of sales] may not have lived up to our initial expectations,” Kiciński told investors in a conference call yesterday. He then pivoted to talking to the main reason why that may have been the case: GoG simply is nowhere near as popular as Steam, the main PC storefront these days. “The game appeared on GoG first for fairly straightforward reasons,” he said. “GOG is our priority platform and we wanted to release the game there first to gamers who support us there. However, the reach of GOG is incomparably smaller than that of Steam.”

Kiciński then quickly mentioned that the game is now available on Steam, and will be hitting consoles next month. Because of this, and the continuing popularity of the Witcher brand, he expects it to sell “for many years to come.”

For our part, we thought Thronebreaker did a great job of combining the card game with the gritty storytelling fans have come to expect from the series, and you can find out why in our review.

[Source: CD Projekt Red via Gamesindustry.biz]

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