TGO Daily | December 14, 2020 | Cyberpunk, NPD, and Nintendo!
Hey, welcome back!
There wasn’t much run-off news from The Game Awards, so I won’t be covering any of that content today. If you’re interested in what happened at the show, feel free to check out this Kotaku article I linked on Friday, or take a listen to our 60 minute recap of the show on TGO Radio.
Today covers some news that got lost in the shuffle last week.
Until tomorrow,
Adrian
In The News
Cyberpunk update
There are a bunch of updates to go over regarding CD Projekt and Cyberpunk 2077.
First of all, its important to note that in terms of sales, this may be one of the best video game launches in history. We don’t know the full scope yet, but CD Projekt have shared that the game had eight million pre-orders. 59% of those were on PC (4.7 million copies), which means that it has now become the fastest selling PC game in history — snatched from Blizzard setting the record just last week. Those sales allowed the company to recoup the costs of development before the game even came out.
Despite its immense popularity, it has also been marred with a number of controversies. Parts of the game contained visuals which induced epileptic seizures without warning (which have since been patched). More prominently, the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of the game were horribly unoptimized, to the point of some calling it unplayable. The bugs and glitches across all platforms led to the company’s stock price dropping dramatically, and the game’s Metacritic score to underdeliver.
According to Bloomberg, CD Projekt leadership took responsibility for the release, and changed their developer bonus structure because of it. Previously, employees would get salary bonuses based on the game’s critical reception — they’ve since been promised their bonuses regardless.
NPD November 2020
As we do every month, let’s take a look at the monthly NPD report, which tracks video game sales data in the United States.
The PlayStation 5 is now the best console launch in United States history, breaking the previous record set by the PlayStation 4 in 2013. In November it was the best-selling console in terms of dollar sales, though the Nintendo Switch still sold more units, which it has done for a record 24 consecutive months.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was November’s best selling game in the US, instantly becoming the best selling game of 2020 so far — the franchise’s 13th consecutive year being the best-selling game in its release month. The runner-up was Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, which is now the 7th best selling game of 2020.
Nintendo In Hot Waters
I haven’t reported on this story yet, but it has built up enough to at least touch on it today. Nintendo has gone through a number of controversies over the last few weeks because of how they have defended their IP.
It started with their cancellation of a major annual Smash Bros tournament called The Big House. Because they were doing the tournament remotely, they needed to use a 3rd-party mod that altered the game’s code — causing Nintendo to send a cease and desist. This spawned community outrage, with hashtags like #FreeMelee and #SaveSmash were formed. Later, they pulled the plug on their own Splatoon 2 tournament because teams started to use Smash Bros related team names as an act of solidarity with the community. It all came to a head when they stopped the production of custom Joy-Con shells inspired by a deceased YouTuber, Etika, with all of the profits going to charity.
All of those situations have more nuance than I have the time to explain, but it’s representative of the community’s feelings towards Nintendo right now. While they are within their legal right to do anything they want, and in some cases probably should do, they rarely make up for it in other ways. Many of Nintendo’s communities exist and thrive in spite of Nintendo, not because of it.
Also In The News
Say Hello!
That’s all for today :) If you want to get in touch, you can always reply to this email. You can also DM me on Twitter, or come join the community on Discord (it’s awesome)!
This newsletter is a companion/alternative to a mini-podcast I produce. The show is archived on YouTube, with most people listening on Amazon Alexa devices — but it’s also available on all podcast hosts.
And hey, if you like what I do, maybe consider sharing this newsletter with a friend?