TGO Daily | January 27, 2021 | Project 007 Update
January 27, 2021
In The News
More From IO Interactive
Source: videogameschronicle.com
Hitman developer IO Interactive are currently working on the next James Bond game, and some more details about its development have surfaced through Danish publication DR.
They reiterated that this will be a completely new Bond story that won’t be based on any of the films or actors. They’ve also hinted that they could potentially see a trilogy come out of the project, if all goes well.
Apparently, IO had been working on pitching a new 007 game for two years. They had to make the case to Barbara Broccoli, who is the owner of EON Productions (the IP owner). According to IO studio head Hakan Abrak:
Broccoli had sworn that 007 would not appear in another video game because she did not feel that previous games were “worthy enough” and that it was “violence for the sake of violence”.
“At the beginning of the meeting she had a very expressionless face, but the further into the meeting we came, she bled up and started smiling,” he said. “One could see that the younger members of the family lit up when they saw that she was reacting.
“Our story, our background with the Hitman universe and our vision of what Bond is in a game format, went straight to the heart of Barbara Broccoli herself.”
In order to bring the game to life, the studio plans on doubling their employees from 200 to 400. That’s some dramatic expansion for a game that’s presumably coming out in a few years — hopefully they can make it happen effectively.
Microsoft Financials
Microsoft reported on their Q2 financials, and they made…a lot of money.
The gaming division increased by 51% year-over-year, which is around $5 billion in revenue. This was thanks to the console releases (hardware was up 86%) and the continued success of things like the Game Pass.
In the conference call, they confirmed that they now have 18 million Game Pass subscribers. This is up from 15 million last quarter, and 10 million the quarter previous. Considering some of the major AAA games in the pipeline that will hit it on day one (Halo Infinite, Bethesda games, etc.), you can expect that to grow even more.
Xbox overall has around 100 million monthly active users, including mobile and PC players. Unfortunately we’ll never know how many Series Xs they sold, but it’s cool to know that their strategy is working out overall.
Animal Crossing Update
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is getting a whole bunch of new content over the next few weeks.
Starting on January 28th, preparations will begin for the Festivale, a carnival themed event. You’ll be able to buy a bunch of new items, costumes, and reactions. On February 15th, the day before Mardi Gras, the Festivale begins. It will feature the return of an animal called Pavé — a vibrant peacock who has made appearances in previous games.
March will mark a Super Mario themed update, which was first teased back in September. Apparently Mario items have been featured in all the previous games as well. Tradition has been for it to appear on March 10th (MAR10).
At various points between January and March, we’ll also see content updates for Valentine’s Day and the Lunar New Year. They’re also introducing a set of amiibo cards which introduce some Hello Kitty content (fairly rare items).
Daedalic’s Gollum Delayed
Daedalic Entertainment has delayed their upcoming title The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. Originally planned for 2021, the game is now set for some time next year. They’ve also announced that the game will be published by Nacon Entertainment — who is currently in a legal battle with Frogwares over their IP The Sinking City.
Expect to see a lot more delays this year!
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