Based on credit listings at videogame documentation site MobyGames, action RPG Dragon's Dogma 2 may have had around a quarter of the headcount compared to other AAA Capcom releases in recent years.
MobyGames list just 392 people with 402 roles as having worked on the popular RPG game. That’s in comparison to 1,516 people for Resident Evil 4, 1,847 people for Street Fighter 6, and 1,252 people for Devil May Cry 5.
Time for another sorry week of heaving news-fuel into the Maw's thousand-and-one gullets and urgh, what's that brooding stench? It reeks of embargoes in here. The air is foul with it. This week is the week of the inaugural Triple-I Initiative showcase, aka the IIIIs, aka a 45-minute dollop of trailers and announcements from such studios as Slay The Spire creators MegaCrit and Darkest Dungeon developers Red Hook. We know of a couple of the announcements in advance; others, we'll learn about alongside you on 10th April.
Sundays are for trying to get into yoga again, since alongside inheriting Edder’s column, I’ve also somehow inherited his dodgy back. Before trying to track down the warlock Edders no doubt lavished several trinkets and a plump goat upon to gleefully transfer his ailment to me, let’s read this week’s best writing about games (and game related things!)
I like close combat tactics, directing troop actions on a timeline, and breaching and clearing, but a recent revisit to Door Kickers revealed I no longer had the patience for its fiddly UI and grim scenarios.
No Plan B looks intriguing, then, for featuring all of the things mentioned above that I like, an unknown quantity of the things I don't, and for having released on Steam this week.
Chilly survival citybuilder Frostpunk 2 is due to release on July 25th, but you technically don't have to wait that long to get your fingers cold. There's a beta coming later this month, playable between April 15th and the 22nd, if only you're willing to pre-order the digital deluxe edition.
Palia, a cosy, free-to-play life sim, arrived on Steam just a couple of weeks ago. This week, developers Singularity 6 laid off 35% of their staff, thought to be around 49 people.
I'd like to apologise, everyone. I believe I am responsible for this temporary return to winter. I watched a Christmas movie this week and soon thereafter, snow began to fall. I'm sorry. It wasn't even a good Christmas movie. I caused this for nothing. Sorry. But since you might be cuddled up at home this weekend, what are you playing? Here's what we're clicking on!
Behind its DLC microtransactions, Dragon’s Dogma 2’s most divisive element is arguably Dragonsplague, the pawn-infecting sickness that your AI companions can catch while questing online and may eventually drive them to murder entire settlements’ worth of NPCs.
Helldivers 2 is getting a new premium warbond next week, offering some explosive new options to take into battle, aim at an enemy bug or robot, and then accidentally kill your entire squad by mistake. Or maybe that’ll just be me.
