Axios Gaming: The "Starfield" question

Plus: PlayStation's boss wants more cross-play | Friday, June 18, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By OurCrowd   Axios Gaming By Megan Farokhmanesh and Stephen Totilo ·Jun 18, 2021 Welcome back to Axios Gaming. Just Stephen going solo today. In the U.S, it's Juneteenth, a day that commemorates when the last enslaved people in Texas learned about their freedom under the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865. Let's remember that before diving into the gaming news. Today's edition is 1,303 words, a 5-minute read. 🎁 Like the newsletter? Know people who don't read it? Refer Axios Gaming to your friends (or enemies) and get free swag. Follow the link here to get started.     1 big thing: The big "Starfield" question Image: Bethesda/Microsoft   PlayStation fans have fretted all week that they won't be able to play "Starfield" next year thanks to the big November 2022 game's recently confirmed exclusivity with Xbox and PC — but streaming options might give them an unexpected shot. Why it matters: Being a fan of video games has always involved figuring out 1) whether you want to play a new release and 2) whether you even have access to the right expensive device to do so. The answers to that second question are changing as the industry transforms, and as Microsoft in particular pushes a streaming model that isn't tied to any one or two platforms. Between the lines: In theory, "Starfield" is now a no-go for anyone who buys a PlayStation instead of an Xbox and doesn't have a gaming PC. That kind of limitation is expected if you buy a PlayStation but want to play Nintendo's "Mario" titles. Those big exclusives don't cross over. "Starfield," wasn't expected to be like that, to PlayStation nation's consternation. "If you're a big fan of stuff we make, and a game we're making is no longer available on your platform, I totally understand if you're unhappy or pissed or whatever," Bethesda head of marketing Pete Hines told GameSpot this week. But there's a big wrinkle: As Microsoft expands its streaming plans, many major Xbox-branded games will be readily accessible on any device that can stream them. Dozens of the company's biggest games, including its top "Halo" and "Forza" releases, are now available through Xbox Cloud Gaming's streaming app. That means people can play them, without an Xbox or PC, if they stream through an Android phone. That program is set to soon support iOS devices and PCs via a web browser and, later, smart TVs. What to watch for: Will "Starfield" be added to Xbox Cloud Gaming when it launches, or even afterward? If yes, then PlayStation owners in regions that have good internet and aren't constrained by data caps, will be able to stream the game through a phone or perhaps a TV app. They just won't be able to play the game at its highest technical quality, which will require running it off of local hardware, namely an Xbox or PC. The bottom line: November 2022 might as well be a target on everyone's calendar to determine just how much the game industry's basic rules have changed.     2. PlayStation's cross-play support "Fortnite." Image: Epic Games   Sony wants cross-platform multiplayer, or cross-play, in more games, PlayStation chief Jim Ryan told Axios in a recent interview. Why it matters: Times have changed. Market-leading PlayStation notoriously dragged its feet in allowing multiplayer games to connect PlayStation fans with players on other devices. "We support and encourage cross-play," Ryan told us, noting cross-play with PlayStation works on numerous big games such as "Fortnite," "Rocket League," "Call of Duty," "Minecraft," and, soon, "Destiny 2." "That number will continue to grow," he said. Flashback: PlayStation was the last to support cross-play with other consoles back in 2018, relenting a year later. Court documents revealed during the recent Epic-Apple trial indicated that Sony allowed cross-play for "Fortnite" in exchange for a cut of revenue from players who mostly play on PlayStation but buy in-game items on other platforms. Between the lines: Not all is rosy with PlayStation cross-play. Last month, Gearbox president Randy Pitchford tweeted that his studio's popular "Borderlands 3" would gain cross-play support on all platforms but PlayStation. "For certification, we have been required by the publisher to remove crossplay support for PlayStation consoles," he wrote. A rep for "Borderlands" publisher Take Two did not specify to Axios what the issue was, but said "our teams are exploring crossplay functionality that will enable fans to play with their friends across multiple platforms." Regarding "Borderlands," Ryan told Axios he didn't want to talk about a "live business issue with a long-standing partner," but noted "our policies are consistent across all of the publishers."     3. The state of Samus Image: Nintendo   Nintendo's iconic bounty hunter Samus Aran will be presented in October's "Metroid Dread" as "the consummate professional warrior," franchise producer Yoshio Sakamoto said in a group E3 interview earlier this week. Why it matters: Nintendo's depiction of Samus has been noteworthy since 1986, when her debut game made her one of the medium's first notable female characters. But moments in some newer games raised some questions about how she is meant to be perceived. Between the lines: A 2010 "Metroid" game includes flashback scenes in which the normally independent-minded Samus displays surprising subservience to a male commander who restricts what she — and by extension, the player — can do in the game. In the upcoming "Dread," that commander is presented in the form of a computer called Adam (don't ask us). That Adam, a Nintendo rep noted this week "is just a point for lore [and] does not give any direction to Samus." As Polygon's Maddy Myers put it, such statements will "likely come as a relief" to player concerns about Samus' portrayal.     A message from OurCrowd AI tech is forever altering the $1T drug development landscape     The average drug costs millions and can take decades to develop. CytoReason dramatically cuts costs and timelines with its AI platform. Already, five of the ten largest pharma companies use CytoReason. Now, you can invest in this groundbreaking tech. See the possibility of CytoReason.     4. Ask Us Anything here, too We did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit yesterday and answered a lot of questions about gaming and how we cover it. For example: Question: I've noticed a sizable shift in "gaming culture" at work (for context I'm a low 30's male who has been gaming since 1994!), where people are more open with talking about playing games in a corporate environment. What do you think caused this shift and where do you think it's headed in the future? Answer (from Stephen): People getting older. And all of us slowly gaining a collective vocabulary and grammar for talking about games. But, games are such a diffuse medium that I don't think they'll ever have the same social role that major sporting events or appointment TV has. Even when a huge game comes out, we don't all experience the same two hours of it at the same time on the same evening to then have a shared explosion of tweets or a big talk about it the next day in work or school. Not the way people do when a big movie comes out, you know? Gaming will always be a little more like playing an instrument or playing a sport. Fewer people do that, and the conversations about it will always be less specific, if that makes sense. Not a bad thing, Just a difference. Let's not let Reddit have all the fun. Send us some questions, Axios Gaming readers, and we'll answer them in future newsletters. Just reply to today's newsletter with an email.     5. Games to play right now Image: Flight School Studio "Stonefly" (PC and console) — In a microscopic world played out on the branches of trees, you're a girl who fights bugs in an upgradeable insect-shaped mech suit. This one's an otherworldly surprise that plays a little awkwardly at first but is full of great spirit. Image: Inkle Studios "Overboard!" (PC, Switch, iOS) — Plugged once in this newsletter already, this is a dialogue-driven game about tossing your husband overboard to his death during a transatlantic voyage and trying to get away with it. Image: Finji "Chicory: A Colorful Tale" (PC, PlayStation) — It's a black-and-white adventure game that you color in as you play, basically a "Zelda" crossed with a coloring book.     6. Worthy of your attention 🎮 Four games that resonate (and one I hate) as I celebrate Juneteenth (Ash Parrish, Kotaku, republished from 2020) 🚀 I spent a day with the founders of "Among Us" (Anthony Padilla, YouTube)     7. Maybe Kojima, maybe not Image: Blue Box Game Studios   For the past month, some gaming fans have become convinced that Blue Box Game Studios, makers of an upcoming horror game called "Abandoned," are secretly a front for legendary game designer Hideo Kojima. Just note those initials of Big Box director Hasan Kahraman, among many more esoteric connections detailed in a subreddit dedicated to proving the Kojima theory. Blue Box denies it's tied to Kojima, but that hasn't shaken those who want to believe. The studio is teasing more info ... today.     A message from OurCrowd AI tech could save pharma industry billions     CytoReason dramatically cuts costs and timelines with its AI platform. What this means: Already, five of the ten largest pharma companies use CytoReason. Now, you can invest in this groundbreaking tech. See the possibility of CytoReason.   Got a tip? A story you want us to cover? Email us at megan.farokhmanesh@axios.com or stephen.totilo@axios.com. 🐦 Find us on Twitter: @megan_nicolett / @stephentotilo Like this style and format? Request access to Axios HQ The tool and templates you need for more engaging team updates.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. 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