Sony has commented on Microsoft’s Activsion Blizzard acquisition and Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga devs speak out over crunch at TT Games.
You may think the news would be slower after the past few days, but you'd be wrong. We have plenty of stories to jump into today, including Sony's comments on Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, devs from TT Games speaking out about crunch culture, and the seemingly accidental reveal of Ghostwire: Tokyo's new release date. Let's get right into it.
A lot of people expect Microsoft to squirrel away all of its brand-new IPs after the Activision Blizzard deal goes through, but Sony has reminded the company that it still has contractual obligations. In a statement from Sony, the publisher expects Activision games to keep releasing on PlayStation platforms due to already signed contracts. It's likely Sony is referring to games currently in development that are also being made for PS4 and PS5, similar to the situation with Bethesda and Deathloop. We don't know how long these contracts will run for, but it seems that Call of Duty fans are safe for now.
UK retailer Game made a slight slip-up earlier today, accidentally revealing the release date of Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, a date which Warner Bros. and TT Games went ahead and confirmed. We can now expect to get our hands on some new Lego Star Wars content on April 5, subject to any further delays. The game is expected to launch on PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
However, some have stated that Warner Bros. timing of this announcement is a little fishy. Interviews between employees from TT Games and Polygon have revealed that developers have been working under crunch conditions for quite some time. Details include 80-100 hour work weeks, feelings of guilt for not working overtime, and allegations that TT Games co-founder Jon Burton actually yelled at developers trying to leave on time.
Another game that has had its release date seemingly leaked is Ghostwire: Tokyo, Bethesda's upcoming horror/action title being developed by Tango Gameworks. According to a listing found on the PlayStation Network, Ghostwire: Tokyo is set to launch on March 24 just a couple of months away. The listing has now been removed, so it's not an official confirmation, but we'll likely be given an update pretty soon if the date is real.
Finally, we have the news that Aegislash is the next Pokemon coming to Pokemon Unite, as discovered by a datamine performed by ChicoEevee. Since Aegislash is the final form in its evolutionary line, we can also expect to see Honedge and Doublade added to the game as well. Neither Nintendo nor Timi Studio have acknowledged the leak yet, but it's likely we'll get official confirmation as well as a release date for Aegislash soon.
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Joshua Robertson is a News Writer for TheGamer, based in Barnsley, England. When not playing or writing about Pokemon, Yakuza, or Fallout, he can usually be found spending too much time on Twitter @JoshRobertson97.
