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It’s been a weird week watching Microsoft. I’m no less tired of the Activision-Blizzard takeover, but I was a little animated by news this week that the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is blocking the takeover. This came just a few days after Microsoft revealed that the Xbox division isn’t doing great in terms of profits. Microsoft has said they will appeal the decision, of course. But I’m not sure I’m on their side on this one, as the situation is more complicated than it seems.
Sony released its latest today financial income report, showing that the company sells PlayStation 5 consoles by truck. Now that it appears to have resolved its supply chain issues, it sold 6.3 million units last quarter and 38 million in total. Still, it’s not all great news: sales of game software units are down slightly compared to last year, and the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers hasn’t increased. According to Bloombergthe company is worried about the recession and their outlook for the next fiscal year is not as optimistic as one might think.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor also launches this week, one of the major AAA releases of 2023. Let’s just say PC performance has been raked over the coals by fans – and for good reason. I have a decent PC less than a year old and I couldn’t run Jedi: Survivor on it if my life depended on it. I’d be lucky if the frame rate was in the double digits. But on my much older home gaming PC (which I admittedly built myself with better components) it works almost perfectly. We hope we get a patch before May 4 that makes it easier to work.
In more personal news, I’m trying to balance several games alongside Cal’s latest Jedi Tomb Raider outing. Benedict Fox’s The Last Case has been surprisingly fun so far, thanks in part to its beautiful art design. I also play a bit more of Dead Island 2, a bit less beautiful but a bit more whimsical. I’m also trying to finish the Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores DLC. As long as I can get all of that done before May 12, i should be gold.
What to play this week
What’s new:
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Benedict Fox’s latest case
- Omega attackers
- Stray lights
- Tape beasts
- Afterimage
- Shadows of doubt
- Roots of Pacha
- Bramble: The Mountain King
- Honkai: Starrail
- The Swordsmen X: Survival
New on subscription services:
- BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Special Edition (Xbox Game Pass)
- Poker Club (GeForce Now)
- Resident Evil 2 (GeForce Now)
- Resident Evil 3 (GeForce Now)
- Resident Evil 7 Biohazard (GeForce Now)
- Grand Mountain Adventure+ (Apple Arcade)
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