The Maw - 18th-23rd December
Our weekly news liveblog
Live
It's the last week before the Xmas break, and the grapevine runneth dry. Soon, we will commence the annual Engluttification ceremony, a ritual of banishment in which we feed the Maw our entire Steam wishlists while singing an arcane carol of our own devising, Nth Days of Solstice, in which the famous partridge in the pear tree has Twice-Twenty Wings, and on each Wing I saw an Eye, verily, and a Mouth rejoicing for lo, the Great Catch-Up Period has come. But before that, there is still a little more News to cover.
Some games we're keeping under surveillance before we flee the premises: surreal turn-based RPG Entogious (18th Dec), construction-minded endless runner Project Bridge (18th Dec), 90s-style RPG Prophecy of the Shadow (19th Dec).
The cancelled TimeSplitters reboot in the works at recently closed studio Free Radical started life as a "Fortnite clone", before shifting to become an expanded remake of TimeSplitters 2 just earlier this year, it's been reported.
Elden Ring expansion Shadow of the Erdtree might see a release in February, right in time for the game's second anniversary, according to an apparent retailer leak.
Details for a set of tie-in accessories also made mention of a possible second expansion on the way for 2025.
The state of California has settled its sex discrimination lawsuit with Activision Blizzard, reaching a $55m agreement that will see former staff compensated and ActiBlizz commit to a number of efforts to "help ensure fair pay and promotion practices at the company” going forward.
The 2021 filing alleged that women were paid less than their colleagues and were offered fewer promotion opportunities.
A sad loss today, as actor James McCaffrey - best known for being the voice of Max Payne and Alex Casey in Alan Wake - has passed away.
As well as being the voice behind Sam Lake's likeness of the grizzled detective and FBI agent, McCaffrey appeared with his own likeness as Control's FBC director Zachariah Trench.
Shacklestein says: A quick reminder that **Vampire Survivors: Emergency Meeting** released today. --- Furthermore, I consider that notifications must be put in a fully functional state, and moderation policies and procedures made fit for purpose.
Shacklestein speaks truth. (Also, a belated heads-up that I actually have today off - this is just me teeing up the liveblog for the evening news shift.)
Here's another episode of Homeworld 3's Making Of doc, shedding a bit more light on the space sim's ship designs and audio.
Monster Hunter World is massively discounted on Steam this week. I mention this mostly because I had a terrible idea for a diary series called "Monster Flautist World", in which I try to solo the game with a hunting horn, but it turns out this isn't as hard as it may seem.
Unknown Worlds are teasing the early access launch of their next Subnautica game - we'll hear more in 2024.
Your recent excitement for the next game in the Subnautica universe has been infectious 😏
— Subnautica (@Subnautica) December 15, 2023
While we're not quite ready to surface more info, keep watching this space. We'll share more about our Early Access plans in 2024! 🚀
Here's one I should have put in the intro above: grid-based first-person dungeon crawler Path of the Abyss goes into early access on 22nd December (don't worry, there's English language support, though it's a machine translation so expect some rough bits).
Alleged images for Free Radical Design's untitled TimeSplitters project have popped up on Fandom. The company have suffered layoffs and are facing closure.
Art for the untitled TimeSplitters project that Free Radical Design had been working on has started to surface on the internet thanks to former employees.
— TimeSplitters News & Archives (@ts_archiv) December 16, 2023
Credits: Will Brown, Elmo La Mantia, Callum Summers pic.twitter.com/5WFBfiVLcH
Some music to get your motor running - Shooting Star by The Pillows, as immortalised by the FLCL outro.
IT IS MONDAY. Sharpen the mistletoe! Electrify the tinsel! FEED THE MAW.