Video game news in review: The biggest news from the week of August 9, 2024
Video game news feels like it exploded this week, and we have plenty to cover across the board!
Game Informer shutting down
We missed this last week, but Game Informer is shuttering its doors after 33 years. Earlier this year, the gaming news company relaunched its infamous magazine (that I immediately subscribed to), and the news of its sudden closure last week shocked the gaming world.
Including the staff at Game Informer. It sounds like this was very much unexpected and feels very off. You can read a quick article at PC Gamer about an updated "goodbye" tweet from their Twitter account that was quietly deleted (but that's what screenshots are for).
Meta closing Ready at Dawn Studios
Okay, let's get all the bummer news out of the way. Meta announced earlier this week that it's closing Ready at Dawn Studios, which falls under Oculus Studios. If they sound familiar, it's because they've made fantastic VR games like Lone Echo, Lone Echo 2, and Echo VR, as well as God of War and Daxter on the PSP.
It's never fun to hear about studio closures, especially with all the layoffs across the industry at the moment, but here's hoping those at Ready at Dawn can find even better opportunities.
Teaser trailer for HBO's The Last of Us season 2
We got a taste of what's to come with The Last of Us season 2 from HBO. It's a twenty-ish second thing at the end of the below trailer, headlining all of the shows coming to Max in 2025:
It really doesn't give much away. Part of me is a little bummed they seem to be jumping right in to The Last of Us Part II instead of padding out with some world-building of their own, but the first season was so good and so faithful to the game that I'm still as anxious as everyone else to see just how they handle everything.
The Borderlands movie releases today
Okay, well, the Borderlands movie releases today, August 9th. We felt the need to mention it since it's a big-name gaming franchise... but the reviews are... less than stellar. Not that we expected much after watching any of the trailers, but there's always hope! It doesn't seem that way, unfortunately.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom Hyrule tour
Nintendo dropped a new video for the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom game, giving us a tour of Hyrule and how to traverse the world:
Truly, this looks like a kid-ified version of Tears of the Kingdom and we are here for it. This trailer also has people debating where this game falls in the Hyrule timeline... but the Hyrule timeline is so wonky, I'm not even going to start trying to guess.
Xbox Game Pass August 2024 wave 1 lineup
Microsoft announced the games coming to Game Pass in August, which are Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Creatures of Ava, and Mafia: Definitive Edition.
Creatures of Ava is available starting August 7, Crash Bandicoot is August 8, and Mafia is August 13. They're much better offerings than what PlayStation has for PS Plus this month (but that's not that high of a bar).
What's new this August 2024 for PlayStation Plus members. dark. Next. What's new this August 2024 for PlayStation Plus members