Compulsion Games isn’t worried about losing creative freedom under Microsoft’s banner as part of Xbox Game Studios. The development team behind We Happy Few actually asserts that the Microsoft acquisition has afforded them the chance to more easily focus on the studio’s future.

“That’s actually removed a lot of the focus from finding where we’re going to find the next paycheck to actually concentrating on what is it that we need to make great games,” founder and creative director Guillaume Provost said in The Cost of Joy, a documentary recounting the history of Compulsion Games. “I can be more forward-looking to what we actually need in order to actually succeed. And [there’s] a huge difference from having a big backer like Microsoft that’s allowing us our creative space and our creative freedom, from being an independent developer that’s starving all the time and looking for money. Build the team not just for the next game, but for the next series of games.”

“Trying to maintain creativity inside an organization like Microsoft is not as hard as people think it is,” producer Sam Abbott said. “It’s really just about having a leadership group inside Microsoft that understands the value of creativity and creative games.” Community developer Naila Hadjas added, “We have been told to keep making really weird, just different things. So, on the creative standpoint, it’s just been all positive.”

Microsoft’s decision to acquire Compulsion Games as a first-party studio was one the We Happy Few developers did not anticipate. “I don’t think that ever crossed our mind,” Abbot said. “We’re spending a lot of time figuring out, do we think that we can raise the standards of quality of the games we’re building–can we become a real first-party studio?” Hadjas thinks they are up to the task, citing the team’s history with Gearbox as an example of Compulsion Games efficiently working with a larger studio. “Working with Gearbox prepared us to work with Microsoft in a lot of ways because we let them into our world and we learned to be very concise and precise with our feedback back and forth,” she said.

With the recent release of the We All Fall Down expansion, Compulsion Games has officially wrapped up We Happy Few. The game launched to mixed reviews–including ours here on GameSpot, where Alessandro Barbosa wrote, “[We Happy Few’s] entire gameplay loop is underpinned by boring quests and long stretches of inaction. And even when it forces you to interact with its world beyond just walking to waypoints, combat, stealth, and otherwise fascinating societies fail to impose the right balance of challenge and tension.”

Despite the rough start, Compulsion Games’ continued support for We Happy Few is commendable, and the bug fixes, updates, and DLC expansions have created a much better, more cohesive experience overall. With the game now complete, Compulsion Games is probably hard at work on an upcoming Xbox first-party title–which, based on the timing, is likely to release for Microsoft’s next-gen console, Xbox Series X, which is scheduled to launch during the holiday season in 2020.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/creative-freedom-with-microsoft-is-not-as-hard-as-/1100-6472387/

Kill la Kill the Game: IF has a new update on Nintendo Switch that brings a bevy of changes to the 3D brawler, including the introduction of fan-favorite Mako Mankanshoku. The patch also addresses various bugs, implements a bunch of balance adjustments and changes, and much more.

This new Kill la Kill patch first launched on PC and PlayStation 4 in November 2019. That update, version 1.05, features many of the same adjustments and tweaks as this newly-released Nintendo Switch update.

Kill la Kill: IF’s Switch update adds Mako to the game’s roster for free. The plucky high schooler uses her two-star Goku Uniform in battle, which allows her to power-up over the course of a match. She’s just as fearless in the game as she is in the anime. Check out Mako Mankanshoku’s character introduction trailer below.

We gave the game a 7/10 in our Kill la Kill the Game: IF review, saying, “Kill la Kill IF is clearly designed for fans of Kill la Kill who are looking for more ways to enjoy the characters, music, and battles of the anime series.”

Check below for a breakdown of Kill la Kill the Game: IF’s latest patch.

Full Kill la Kill the Game: IF Patch Notes

New Contents

• Added new playable character, Mako Mankanshoku.
• *Playable in all versus modes and Gallery mode.

Balance Changes

• Adjusted the actions of each character.
• Fixed a bug where displayed damage values weren’t added for some moves.

Character Balance Changes

• Universal Balance changes
  • Fixed a bug where SP gauge spenders could sometimes be used even when the SP gauge was not quite full enough.
  • Fixed a bug where in training mode, enemies hit by certain attacks would go through damage animations after their position was reset.
  • Fixed camera issues in training mode and tutorial mode
• Ryuko Matoi (Single-blade)
  • Long-range dash
  • Long-range ground attack
  • Ground break
  • Air break
    • Fixed a bug where if the target’s limit value was 0, further attacks would not change the limit value.
  • Time up defeat
    • Character size adjusted.
• Satsuki Kiryuin (Single-blade)
  • Long-range ground attack
  • Long-range air
  • Ground break
  • Ground break attack
    • Fixed a bug where if the target’s limit value was 0, further attacks would not change the limit value.
  • Long-range ground attack
    • Added 25 to the limit value when the limit value was 200 or less with Ketsui Lv1 or higher. In addition,
      attacks other than mash cancels can now be chained under the circumstances above.
  • Close-range ground 1 vert
    • Adjusted the timing for long-range cancels.
  • Close-range air attack
    • Adjusted Ketsui Lv 1 and higher movement and close-range attack collision detection.
  • Close-range special
    • Fixed a bug where characters would move toward the center of the stage before the last attack after hit animations.
  • Time up defeat
    • Character size adjusted.
• Ira Gamagoor
  • Close-range special (Whip throw finish)
    • Fixed a bug where if the target’s limit value was 0, an attack would not change the limit value.
  • Time up defeat
    • Character size adjusted.
• Uzu Sanageyama
  • Action camera
    • Adjusted camera behavior when Sanageyama is close to the screen.
  • Break attack
    • Fixed a bug where pursuit dash inputs were not registered during guard breaks and counter hits.
  • Close-range air 1
    • The cancel route into a break was changed into a dash break.
    • Fixed the cancel route during counter hits so that it is the same as during normal hits.
• Nonon Jakuzure
  • Concussion shot
    • Changed the timing so that when equipped, the shot fires at the start the action when performing a pursuit dash.
    • Added horizontal tracking when the equipped shot is fired.
  • Ground break
  • Long-range special
  • Long-range super
  • Special break
    • Fixed a bug where if the target’s limit value was 0, further attacks would not change the limit value.
  • Time up defeat
    • Character size adjusted.
• Houka Inumuta
  • Close-range ground cloak 2
  • Close-range ground cloak 3
  • Close-range air cloak
    • Fixed a bug where if the target’s limit value was 0, further attacks would not change the limit value.
  • Long-range ground cloak 1
  • Long-range ground cloak 2
  • Long-range air cloak
    • Fixed a bug where bunshin attacks would not activate when the target blocks the cube.
    • Fixed an animation but with bunshin attacks.
  • Air cloak break
    • Adjusted behavior for close-range air attacks after pursuit hits.
  • Special break
  • Super break
    • Damage is now displayed along with hit count during demo animations.
• Ragyo Kiryuin
  • Special break
  • Super break
    • Fixed a bug where if the target’s limit value was 0, further attacks would not change the limit value.
  • Time up defeat
    • Character size adjusted.
• Nui Harime
  • Close-range air 2
  • Dash break
    • Fixed a bug where if the target’s limit value was 0, further attacks would not change the limit value.
• Ryuko Matoi (Dual-wield)
  • Close-range ground form 2
  • Long-range ground form 1
  • Long-range ground form 1
  • Long-range air form
  • Long-range special 2
  • Long-range special 3
    • Fixed a bug where if the target’s limit value was 0, further attacks would not change the limit value.
• Satsuki Kiryuin (Dual-wield)
  • Air break
  • Long-range special
    • Fixed a bug where if the target’s limit value was 0, further attacks would not change the limit value.
  • Air step cancel
    • Fixed a bug where an update to increase attack power by 50% was not implemented correctly.
  • Time up defeat
    • Character size adjusted.
• Nudist Beach D.T.R
  • Close-range ground 2 horiz
  • Close-range air 2
    • Fixed a bug where if the target’s limit value was 0, further attacks would not change the limit value.
  • All long-range attacks
    • Additional damage from accumulated sticky shots now increases the combo count.
    • The amount of accumulated sticky shots to deal additional damage adds up each time.
      However, at Ketsui Lv1 or higher, this count is reset.
    • The amount of sticky shot hits are counted separately for Ketsui Lv0 and Ketsui Lv1 and higher.
  • Close-range super
    • Accumulated sticky shot hits are now reset after the animation is complete.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/kill-la-kill-the-game-if-nintendo-switch-update-ad/1100-6472378/

Google Stadia, the nascent streaming service, is bulking up its game development pipeline. The company has announced it’s acquired Typhoon Studios, the independent game studio founded by Assassin’s Creed III and Far Cry 4 director Alex Hutchinson.

Google’s gaming executive Jade Raymond–who herself was instrumental in the creation of the Assassin’s Creed franchise–announced the acquisition on Google’s blog. “Typhoon Studios has built an incredible team of industry veterans who are committed to the player experience,” she said.

Typhoon will become part of the Stadia Games and Entertainment studio located in Montreal. Sebastien Puel, who also formerly worked at Ubisoft on the Assassin’s Creed series, heads up the Stadia team in Montreal. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Typhoon is currently working on Journey to the Savage Planet for release on January 28, 2020, and Raymond said the team will continue development as they become part of the Stadia team. The game was already announced for PS4, Xbox One, and PC with 505 Games as the publisher.

Journey to the Savage Planet will go ahead as a multiplatform release, but Hutchinson said on Twitter that Typhoon will make Stadia-exclusive games in the future.

Typhoon’s other founder, Reid Schneider, also worked at Ubisoft from 1998-2002 before moving to Electronic Arts and later Warner Bros.

Google Stadia launched in November with one exclusive game, Gylt. In addition to additional exclusives from Typhoon, Google is making more exclusives from its own internal game development teams.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/assassins-creed-far-cry-directors-new-studio-sold-/1100-6472375/

Borderlands 3 has launched its new holiday DLC and is rolling out a hotfix patch to go alongside it. As usual the patch will populate automatically if you’re in the main menu, though you may need to quit out and wait until the sign appears to make it happen if you’re in-game at the time. You can check the full patch notes below.

The hotfix addresses several concerns and bug reports, and decreases the shields and armor on Maliwan Deathspheres in the Takedown at the Maliwan Blacksite event. Gearbox says that the most recent patch improved the navigation of the Deathspheres, but that made them harder to hit, so the lowered shields and armor compensate for the change. The studio has also made some back-end changes to improve matchmaking in Takedown.

“The Takedown matchmaking service now won’t transition players into the Takedown until a full party of four players have been found,” it said. “We believe players would prefer matchmaking take a little longer in order to enter the Takedown with a full party. We’ll be monitoring this change and will adjust as necessary.”

Many of these changes are to the Takedown, and soon you’ll be able to jump in regardless of party size. From December 31 through January 16, you can play with any number of players, and matchmaking will be updated to get into parties quickly instead of necessaaraily waiting for a full party. The game is also on sale on most platforms.

Borderlands 3 December 19 Hotfix

• Addressed a reported concern that Terror was sometimes not dropping his loot when re-running Agonizer 9000
• Addressed a reported concern where loot could sometimes fall through the floor surrounding the Agonizer 9000
• Addressed a perceived progression blocker where enemies would sometimes not spawn immediately for the objective “Kill Traitors” in the mission “Porta Prison”
• Addressed a reported concern that Zane’s “Trick of the Light” skill was sometimes reporting lower bonus damage values in its description than what it was awarding
• Addressed a reported concern that Moze’s “Desperate Measures” skill sometimes wasn’t awarding the damage bonus to Iron Bear’s Right Gun

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/borderlands-3-update-coming-alongside-moxxi-heist-/1100-6472371/