Tilted Towers return

If you spent the weekend playing Fortnite (like a record number of people did), you might have missed the latest from Blizzcon or other gaming news. Not to fear, we have you covered.

Biggest Buzz from BlizzCon

BlizzCon is an annual convention celebrating Blizzard games like Diablo, Warcraft and more. The conference was held this past weekend, and was live for the first time since before the pandemic. Activision Blizzard uses the convention to announce their latest games and expansions, and 2023 was no exception. Here is the latest.

Diablo IV is getting an expansion in 2024. The Vessel of Hatred paid expansion will add the Torajan Jungles from Diablo 2, as well as a new class that is completely new to the Diablo universe.

World of Warcraft changes were also announced. World of Warcraft Classic will see the addition of the 2010 expansion Cataclysm, while the next three expansions for the main game were announced. 

The War Within is the first, and is set to release in 2024. 

Finally, after a three year hiatus due to COVID, the Overwatch League World Cup is returning in 2023. The esports tournament begins next month. 

Fortnite kicks it old school

Fortnite launched its latest season by going back in time. 

The game played on nostalgia for its latest season, going back to its 2018 origins. Fortnite OG only lasts a month, but each week brings back different aspects from the game’s past. The biggest change was the return of the Tilted Towers, which were destroyed in-game by a volcano in 2019.

The blast from the past appears to be a huge success for the game. With 44.7 million players and 102 million hours of gameplay, Fortnite had its biggest day ever. 

Are you jumping into Fortnite OG? Here is what you can expect.

Bungie’s Destiny

Bungie recently announced they were cutting about eight percent of their staff, or about 100 positions within the company. A report says the cuts are part of a “wider restructuring” of Sony’s gaming operation. One of those let go was Bungie’s famed composer, Michael Salvatori. Sony purchased Bungie in July of 2022 for $3.6 billion. 

The layoffs are accompanied with delays to the latest Destiny 2 expansion and Bungie’s new game, Marathon. Destiny has recently seen lower engagement among its player base, and missed revenue goals by 45 percent. According to a statement released by the Destiny development team, “we know we have lost a lot of your trust. Destiny needs to surprise and delight. We haven’t done this enough and that’s going to change.”

Destiny 2 launched in 2017, and expansions have arrived on a yearly-ish basis. During that time the game has changed. Old expansions were removed due to issues keeping everything active. Players who purchased these expansions were no longer able to use them. The original story of the game is no longer available, making it more difficult for new players to get into it. 

Is the answer Destiny 3? Some think it's time for a new game.

Side quests (more stories worth reading)

💸 Extra Life Game Day took place this past week, raising nearly $8.3 million for children’s hospitals across the country. Our founder and editor did his part, raising $500. 

🔫 Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 file size is huge, potentially topping 200 gigabytes. Meanwhile, the Xbox startup screen is currently a full-page ad for the game.

🚫 Capcom says adding mods to PC games is "no different than cheating," unless they are officially supported. 

🖥️ Ubisoft is shutting down servers for some games in January 2024, including some Assassin's Creed games. 

👺 The director of Lies of P confirmed a sequel is in the works, as is DLC for the game. 

🐉 Wizard of the Coast announced delays for The Deck of Many Things and The Lost Caverns of Ixalan due to production and defect issues. 

🏈 Publisher Midwest Games Raises $3 Million in funding, including investments from Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers. 

📺 Twitch is pulling its Switch app, which many people didn’t realize even existed. 

😱 The interactive streaming series Silent Hill: Ascension launched last week, and consumers are upset with the plethora of microtransactions. 

🧛🏼 Vampire Survivors is adding a story mode. 

🎰 Some streamers who sign with Kick have gambling streams included as part of their contract. 

🃏 A Disney Lorcana card featuring Frozen's Elsa sold for over $7,000.

🏠 You can now be a slumlord in The Sims. Or, if you’d rather, be a tenant who dies from mold.

🤖 Ubisoft is using AI generated Assassin's Creed art for social media posts. Meanwhile, others are creating Angry Birds clones using AI. 

💰 Publisher Devolver Digital purchased System Era for $40 million, while Atari acquired Digital Eclipse for $20 million.  

📰 Great read: Video game preservation: Is the industry torching its own legacy?

🧸 The Five Nights At Freddy's movie had the second-largest box office opening for a video game movie.

New Releases this week:

Check out our piece on 11 new games to play in November.

11/6: Football Manager 2024 (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
11/6: The Invincible (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
11/7: Tintin Reporter: Cigars of the Pharaoh (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
11/9: Gatekeeper: Infinity (PC)
11/9: Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
11/10: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)

Thanks for reading. If you enjoy our newsletter, tell a friend to subscribe!