HBO’s The Last Of Us trailer, Google Stadia shuts down, and all the other biggest stories from the past seven days in video games.
The past week in the video game industry has been a real mix of good and bad news. Encouraging revelations about the near future thanks to HBO and EA were met with delays and shutdowns thanks to Google and Ubisoft. Plus, of course, more news on the GTA 6 leaks as Rockstar and the FBI try to sort this all out. Everything you need to know about this and a little more as we round up all the biggest gaming stories from the past seven days.
HBO’s The Last Of Us Trailer
September 26 is The Last Of Us Day, and this year fans were treated to the first in-depth look at HBO’s TV adaptation of the series. The trailer was teeming with references that those who played the games would have instantly recognized, with some scenes clearly pulled straight from the first game. There’s obviously a huge audience for the show too, as the trailer got 2.5 million views in its first hour and 12.5 million views in less than 24 hours. The series will be released on HBO and HBO Max in 2023.
Stadia is closing
Google’s ambitious Stadia cloud streaming service would always be an ambitious leap into the still somewhat unknown. It turned out that it was even more ambitious than anyone could have expected, and after failing to make an impact on the video game world, Google has announced that the service will be discontinued. The good news is that any Stadia hardware and games you’ve purchased will be refunded by Google. The bad news is that the storefront has already closed and developers working on Stadia games learned about the closure at the same time as everyone else.
EA reveals wild hearts
EA and Koei Temco have been teasing a new game together for a while now. This week was considered the right time to unveil that game to the world. The very first trailer for Wild Hearts was shown on Wednesday and the game clearly takes inspiration from a number of places. A little Monster Hunter, a little Fortnite, and pop all those elements in an environment designed to look like the player is in feudal Japan. Wild Hearts launches on February 27, 2023, so don’t wait too long if you like it.
Skull & Bones has been delayed
There was a time when we hadn’t heard from Ubisoft’s Skull & Bones for so long that many thought the project had been scrapped. It wasn’t, and the studio has finally confirmed that the pirate game will be out in November. Well, that would be it. Skull & Bones won’t launch until March 2023 now, and while that might be frustrating for those of you who’ve been waiting for the game for years, it’s a blessing in disguise for others. That means a ten-day period where Sonic Frontiers, God of War Ragnarok, and Pokemon Scarlet & Violet are all hitting the market is now a little less crowded.
Potential GTA Hacker Sued
While it is still unconfirmed as the arrested party is under the age of 18, it is believed that the hacker brought in last week is the person responsible for the leaking of the GTA 6 videos and screenshots. Whoever they are, they have appeared in court this week and have been charged with computer abuse. Shortly afterwards, it was revealed that the suspected Uber and GTA hacker has pleaded not guilty to the crimes they have been accused of. No word yet on how severely they will be punished if they are the hacker they would be, and whether Rockstar will take additional action against them.
Pokemon introduces Wiglett
Pokemon Scarlet & Violet launches on November 18, and when it does, Generation Nine will officially launch. Some of the new Pokemon coming to the series via gen nine have already been revealed, and that list got a little longer this week when Wiglett was first shown. A tall white Diglett in appearance that actually has no connection to the gene one soil type at all. Instead of a Paldean form of Diglett, Wiglett has its own Pokedex entry because it and Diglett are not descendants of the same kind of ancient Pokemon. If you’re as confused as I am about all this, check out how one trainer used convergent evolution to explain what it all means.
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