This week, all sorts of news comes from the ongoing and expected Blizzcon weekend, as well as a surprising Nintendo Direct providing new Switch announcements. Game Rant has compiled some of the biggest gaming news stories from this past week together into a concise post for fans and enthusiasts to stay up to date on the most important events in the industry per week. Highlighting the most relevant stories, this list is not inherently and totally objective, and will not contain every news story this week. Rather, this is intended for gaming fans who want a quick rundown on the largest/most impactful stories that occurred in the last week in games.
As for this week’s roundup of gaming news, a slew of announcements stem from both Blizzard and Nintendo this week. The ongoing digital Blizzcon event this week has already announced a ton of heavy hitters like Diablo 2: Resurrected. As for Nintendo, a surprise Nintendo Direct announcement after over a year brought new Smash, Mario, and Zelda announcements. Xbox announces a new feature set coming to Xbox Series X/S that will make backwards compatibility even better. More rumors about Silent Hill have resurfaced regarding several different titles. Among a few other tidbits, here’s all the biggest news from the gaming industry this week.
While the event is still ongoing, this weekend marks the return of Blizzard’s yearly celebration: BlizzCon 2021. While the pandemic has forced this year’s convention to go entirely digital, that hasn’t stopped the show from announcing a slew of new games and updates coming soon. Here are all the major announcements from the show thus far, but keep in mind BlizzCon could have even more updates with the various Q&A sessions and other programs scheduled throughout this weekend:
- Blizzard Arcade Collection: Compiling Lost Vikings, Rock & Roll Racing, and Blackthorne together, this collection gathers together all of the arcade classics from Blizzard’s past for a modern port. Each game also had modernized capabilities like save states, rewind mechanics, celebratory museum functionality, and more. The entire collection is available now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
- Diablo 4‘s new Rogue class: Blizzard did make it abundantly clear that Diablo 4 is still deep in active development, but BlizzCon did share one specific update. The Rogue class is coming to Diablo 4, alongside some new gameplay showcasing the new character’s swift dagger and arrow abilities.
- Diablo 2 Resurrected: For those who don’t want to wait, and also feeling nostalgic, Blizzard also formally announced the Diablo 2 HD remaster, known as Resurrected. Coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, the game features updated textures and a higher resolution. Additionally, there will be cross-progression between all Diablo 2 Resurrected versions.
- Burning Crusade coming to World of Warcraft: The next upcoming expansion for World of Warcraft Classic is “Burning Crusade,” while Shadowlands will receive a new “Chains of Domination” chapter.
These announcements were just made during BlizzCon’s opening night, but again, any additional details will likely come from the Q&A sessions later today.
On the other side of the industry, Nintendo provided a wonderful surprise for fans eager for more information. After over a year without a major event, the company showcased a ton of new announcements in a surprise Nintendo Direct this past week. From things as specific as the next Smash character, to surprising new game announcements from partners like Square Enix, here’s the highlights from the Nintendo Direct this week:
- Pyra and Mythra Join Smash: The Aegis duo from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will be joining the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster, taking up the 79 and 80 character slots, as well as the fourth slot in Fighters Pass 2.
- Splatoon 3 is in development for Switch: Following in the footsteps of previous entries with a new rustic aesthetic, Splatoon 3 is coming to Nintendo Switch in 2022. The game largely features the same multiplayer arena shooter gameplay, but with a new post-apocalyptic coat of paint.
- Mario Golf Super Rush is coming to Switch: Next in line for the Mario sports games on Switch, Mario Golf Super Rush is coming on June 25. The game features motion and standard controls, as well as a story campaign and new Speed Golf race mode.
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD is coming to Switch: After numerous rumors, Skyward Sword is coming to Nintendo Switch on July 16, alongside some Zelda-themed Joy-Con controllers. The game features the usual remaster flair, alongside standard button controls and motion controls.
- Fall Guys comes to Switch: After spending a majority of its time exclusive to PlayStation and PC, Fall Guys is headed for Nintendo Switch (and also Xbox consoles) at some point this summer.
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity receives expansion pass: After seeing great success on initial release, Age of Calamity will be receiving two waves of DLC content. Starting this June, the game will receive new characters, weapons, Royal Ancient Lab challenges, and more through November 2021.
- Monster Hunter Rise unveils new monsters: Highlighting a few story-centric characters, as well as unveiling several new monsters to hunt, Monster Hunter Rise comes to Switch on March 26.
- Project Triangle Strategy announced: From Square Enix, and very reminiscent of 2019’s Octopath Traveler, this new tactical RPG is coming to Switch in 2022. Drawing many comparisons to Final Fantasy Tactics, this Octopath-flavored strategy RPG already has a demo available now on Switch.
- No More Heroes 3 receives release date: Launching exclusively on Nintendo Switch, No More Heroes 3 is planned to release on August 27.
This will likely be the last major update for Nintendo Switch for a while, since it was nearly a year-long wait since the last major direct.
On the Microsoft side of things, Xbox has a pretty big announcement for backwards compatibility. Both the Xbox Series S and Series X consoles will be receiving new compatibility known as “FPS Boost,” which will improve the performance of several legacy Xbox games. FPS Boost can be turned on/off at the player’s will, and can help provide solid improvements to framerate in older games.
At the moment, the feature is beta-testing on a few Xbox One titles: Watch Dogs 2, Far Cry 4, Super Lucky’s Tale, UFC 4, and Sniper Elite 4. As the program moves forward, more games will become compatible with FPS Boost over time.
The rumor mill regarding Konami and Silent Hill continues to churn, as the most recent example hints at more than one title currently in development. This rumors stems from an interview with Bloober Team, the developer behind Xbox Series X horror game The Medium. According to comments made by a Bloober Team developer, the studio is working on an already-established horror game franchise.
Many have taken that as a hint that the development team’s next endeavor may be related to the Silent Hill franchise. However, paired with other Silent Hill rumors related to Kojima Productions, an internal Sony studio, as well as the development team behind Gravity Rush, there may be multiple incoming Silent Hill projects.
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