GMTK Digest (September 2024)

Astro Bot! Overanimation! Wargaming!

Hello Patrons! This month has flown by - feels like I only just did one of these things. But no mind - I'm back! The gaming news and releases are kicking into high tempo. And there's loads of fantastic stuff to read and watch. So get cozy and let's cover the headlines, the new releases, and the reading list.

Headlines

Nintendo and Pokémon are suing Palworld maker Pocketpair

Nintendo finally decided to sue the "Pokemon with guns" game - though, not for copyright. Instead it's for infringing upon the firm's patents. We'll see how this one goes.

Everything revealed in State of Play September 2024

Sony held one of its State of Play announcement thingies this month. Highlights include Astro Bot DLC, a Horizon remaster, the PS5 Pro, and - the big one - a follow-up to Ghost of Tsushima, coming next year. No mention of this next game, mind you...

An important update on Concord

Mere days after launch, Sony's beleaguered hero shooter Concord was removed from sale and everyone got their money back. With an estimated budget of $200 million, this might be one of the biggest disasters in gaming history.

Games featuring paid loot boxes will soon receive a mandatory 'M' rating in Australia

Simulated gambling mechanics like lootboxes have come under fire in various countries and regions. This is probably the biggest yet: games with blind bag unlocks will be kept from kids down under.

A message to our community: Unity is canceling the Runtime Fee

All that noise, nonsense, and destruction of goodwill was for nothing: Unity is cancelling its controversial "runtime fee" system (where devs would have to pay every time their game was installed). Instead, Unity will make more money by charging more per seat on its Pro and Enterprise plans.

New releases

UFO 50

There's a bit in Derek Yu's Spelunky book where he talks about discovering games by randomly trying different floppy disks on his parent's PC. His latest game, UFO 50, emulates that experience by giving you 50 8bit games, across loads of genres, to pick and poke at. I've tried a few so far and they are a delight.