Xbox

It’s been a fairly quiet week for Xbox-related news and with the Activision Blizzard acquisition talk still swirling the internet, here are some tidbits that can distract us from the legal battle that is ongoing.

• According to several sources, there is an easter egg in Hi-Fi rush that hints towards The Evil Within 3
• Lightyear Frontier is confirmed to be coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC and console by the CEO of studio FRAME BREAK
• According to Jez Corden of Windows Central, he thinks that Starfield potentially could launch in June
• Alan Wake 2 is now playable from start to finish, could be closer to launch than many think
• Wo Long Fallen Dynasty is 4k/60FPS on Xbox Series X and 1440p/60FPS on Xbox Series S
• New Xbox Game Pass titles were revealed for February which includes Madden NFL 23, SD Gundam Battle Alliance, Mount & Blade Bannerlord 2, Cities: Skylines Remastered, Shadow Warrior 3: Definitive Edition and finally Atomic Heart
• Sword and Fairy 7 is confirmed to be coming to Xbox Game Pass this summer
• Everspace 2 is coming to PC Game Pass on 6th April 2023, the game also hits Xbox at a later date
• The Last Case Of Benedict Fox comes to Xbox & Xbox Game Pass on April 27th 2023, also available on PC

PlayStation

Not a great deal of PlayStation talk at all this week to be honest, but this is the calm before the storm. PlayStation has a lot of stuff in the back pocket to announce, I can feel it!

• According to Jeff Grubb, we may potentially see a “State of Play” in the next 4 weeks. This is expected to be a low-key event with the bigger stuff saved for the E3 window mid-year.
• Hot Wheels Rift Rally launches on PlayStation on March 14th 2023, similar to Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit but with Hot Wheels vehicles

Nintendo

Quite a big week for Nintendo as the surprise announcement of a Direct mid-week was announced with plenty of news dropped with a couple of surprises also! Sadly no intel on a new console just yet though. Some are a little miffed with the new Zelda game being announced at $70/£70, but at the end of the day millions will still flock to purchase it when it finally arrives.

• It was announced that Nintendo Switch lifetime sales had surpassed Playstation 4
• Metroid Prime received the remaster treatment and was dropped immediately 
• Pikmin 4 gets a release date of 21st July 2023
• Xenoblade 3 DLC is now available
• Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom launches May 12th 2023
• Advance Wars 1 &2 Reboot Camp arrives on April 21st 2023
• Gameboy games arrive on Nintendo Switch Online
• Gameboy Advance games land on Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pass
• Samba De Amigo: Party Central coming Summer 2023
• Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass, Wave 1 is titled Inkopolis and comes Spring 2023, Wave 2: Side Order coming in future
• Professor Layton & The World Of Steam is in production now
• Disney Illusion Island launching on 28th July 2023
• Octopath Traveler 2 demo is available, arrives on Switch on 24th February 2023 alongside PC and PlayStation
• Tron Identity comes April 2023
• Fire Emblem Engage Expansion Pass Wave 2 is now available
• Kirby Return To Dream Land Deluxe Edition coming on February 24th 2023
• Bayonetta Origins: Cereza & The Lost Demon lands on 17th March 2023

In Other News

Not a great deal to speak of here, but we do see a lot of statistics and sales figures as the financial year starts winding to a close.

•  Valve has announced a full-sized update coming to the classic title Team Fortress 2 in Summer 2023
• Hogwarts Legacy smashes Twitch’s record with 1.28 million concurrent viewers at launch, becoming the number 1 streamed single-player game
• Disney sadly laid off 7000 employees this week
• Chainawesome games studio closes down, responsible for titles such as Knight Squad & Aftercharge
• Sonic Frontiers has shifted 2.9 million copies worldwide, Persona 5 at 1.3 million
• GTAV has sold 175 million copies in its lifetime, 50 million for Red Dead Redemption 2
• Borderlands 3 has sold 16 million copies and brings the total to 78 million for the entire franchise
• NBA2K23 dunked 8 million copies since its launch
• Everspace 2 comes to PC on April 6th
• Vampire Survivors Chaos Update is now live, adding additional content