This story is part of our new Future of Gaming series, a three-site look at gaming’s most pioneering technologies, players, and makers.
Time will tell if those “PS5 Pro” rumors have any truth behind them. But until then, discussion about a hypothetical PS5 upgrade is a good opportunity to flesh out what we’d even want from such a machine in the first place.
So we turned to you, dear readers, to discover what would compel you to spend another couple-hundred bucks on an upgrade to Sony’s current console.
As suspected, the desire for an upgrade to the PS5 isn’t universal. Many of you said there was no need for one, regardless of whatever bells and whistles it might offer. Meanwhile, others made it clear that if such a thing were to exist, then it ought to deliver very clear performance standards. Other desires drifted into the “probably never gonna happen” category, especially those concerning backwards compatibility for games that pre-date the PS4.
Let’s dig into what you had to say about a possible “PS5 Pro.”
This is for all the Hunters out there who appreciate the sneaker side of Destiny 2’s combat sandbox. From overshields, to invisibility, to Volatile Rounds, the Exotic armors found in this ranked list should give plenty of insight into many varied build choices for your Void Hunter.
With that said, here is Destiny 2: the top 10 Exotic armor for Void Hunters in Destiny 2.
10. Gwisin Vest
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
At the last spot on the list comes the Gwisin Vest. While this Exotic armor is indeed made for the Void Hunter, its ability that augments the Spectral Blades Super pales in comparison to others on this list. This armor’s perk ‘Roving Assassin’ refunds super energy based on the number of kills you get with the Spectral Blades Super once you use the Super’s heavy attack.
In terms of raw numbers, it doesn’t return a huge amount. If you’re in PvE it’s 11.1% after 1 kill and 17.1% after 5. While in PvP it’s 8.3% after 1 and 16.7% after 5 kills. If this chest armor did something more outside of prolong the Spectral Blade Super, it might have been higher up on this list.
9. Motherkeeper’s Wraps
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
This is one of the newer items that Hunters have access to, and it does work with all subclasses. That’s because these Exotic arms replace your grenade ability with ‘Cage of Loyal Moths’. The result is that when you use your grenade two moths explode out of where your new grenade lands. Depending on if you or an ally is close by, two Arc moths will spawn to explode on enemies, or two Void moths will quickly fly to you or any ally to give a 22.5hp Void shield each. Alternatively, an Arc and Void moth can spawn, doing a bit of both.
When you take into account the damage and Void shield amounts given in PvE and PvP, this Exotic simply doesn’t hold up to others on this list. Especially when it completely replaces your powerful Void grenade.
8. Assassin’s Cowl
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Assassin’s Cowl is one of those Exotics that work incredibly well in PvE but much less so in PvP. Its perk ‘Vanishing Execution’ restores health and grants invisibility based on the kind of enemy you kill with powered melee attack or finisher—with finisher kills generally giving longer invisibility and more HP back in general. Now, this is a lot of people’s favorite helmet for quite a few builds across the many other subclasses.
However, I don’t find it as valuable for Void unless you’re in dire need of a constant source of healing. You can already go invisible pretty easily, so Exotics that can buff invisibility, and not just how you turn invisible, is something I find more interesting.
7. Fr0st-EE5
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
These boots fair a bit better than previous armor on this list. In all of the Exotics that help you go invisible, or use abilities, this is certainly one of the better ones due to its perk. The perk, ‘Rapid Cooldown,’ doubles your grenade and melee ability regen rate in PvE, and increases the base regen rate by 100% in PvP. While your class ability base regen is increased by 200% in PvP.
All of that happens while sprinting, which should be pretty often! Then, when you dodge and go invisible, your movement speed will also be increased by roughly 6%. This makes ambushing other players while invisible even easier. However, other Exotics on this list simply augment other Void abilities better than just “reduced cooldown.”
6. The Bombardiers
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Now we’re starting to get into the Exotic armor options that mesh quite well with the Void Hunter loadout. I say this because these boots’ Exotic perk, ‘Parting Gift’, drops a bomb whenever you dodge. This bomb explodes after 1.5 seconds and deals a substantial amount of damage over a 7.5-meter radius.
What’s cool about this bomb is that it applies a different effect depending on your subclass. So, as a Void Hunter, the dropped bomb will have the effect of suppression, much like the suppression grenade at your disposal already. However, the key difference is that this bomb uses “Lite” suppression, so it won’t be taking other Guardian’s out of their Supers. If it did, or if the bomb did more damage, it would have been higher on the list.
5. Khepri’s Sting
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
This Exotic’s perk is pretty valuable to have, but with some caveats. The perk, ‘Touch of Venom,’ instantly casts Smoke Bomb on the enemy if your melee ability is fully charged. Additionally, your Smoke Bomb with do 50% more damage than usual, on top of granting you Truesight for 3 seconds. This allows you to see enemies through walls up to 64 meters away.
Even better is if you want to use your Smoke Bomb normally and leave it lying around for say, another player to stumble upon. Doing so gives you 500% additional base melee recharge rate while your Smoke Bomb lies in wait to be triggered. Because this armor is more useful in PvP over PvE, Khepri’s Sting sits at the number five spot.
4. Omnioculus
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
These Exotic heavy gauntlets are an excellent choice if your goal is to make yourself and your team invisible. That’s because its perk, ‘Beyond The Veil,’ gives you a second Smoke Bomb charge. Furthermore, when you use the smoke bomb to make yourself invisible, you can use it on your teammates too. Additionally, when you or your team is invisible by your Smoke Bomb, you’ll have 50% damage reduction in PvE, and 10% in PvP.
What really makes this Exotic pop is that for each teammate you make invisible you get a refund of 50% of the melee ability energy needed to cast it! With that said, the damage reduction buff does not apply when you’re in your Super. Because of how useful invisibility is, this Exotic can do quite well in pretty much any mode, ranking it higher on the list.
3. Wormhusk Crown
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Even after so many nerfs, the Wormhusk Crown is still easily a top 3 Exotic for the Hunter. Its perk, ‘Burning Souls,’ grants 67 HP split across health and shields whenever you use your dodge. This is especially strong if you are rocking a Void build that has a focus on low cooldowns for your dodge class ability. Even more so if your playstyle as a Void Hunter is to be aggressive and reactive with your dodging to invisible yourself out and into combat.
2. Graviton Forfeit
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Easily one of the best Void Hunter Exotics in the game, Graviton Forfeit is an incredible example of enhancing the Void Hunter’s moment to moment sneaky gameplay. It does this through its Exotic perk, ‘Vanishing Shadow,’ where invisibility lasts 2 seconds longer. Additionally, and more importantly, while you are invisible your Recover and Reload Speed are increased by 100.
Better yet is that your base melee regen rate is increased by 400% without enemies nearby and up to 800% when more than 2 enemies are near. This number is reduced to 100% and 300% respectively while in PvP, but even then, all of the bonuses of this Exotic around invisibility are always useful and valued.
1. Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Gyrfalcon’s Hauberk: this list’s best Exotic and the hardest to pronounce correctly. This bad boy has many powerful synergies that really enhance the more bombastic side of the Void subclass and reminds me more of how a Titan benefits from Void powers. It is because its perk, ‘See Me, Feel Me,’ grants your Void weapons Volatile Rounds for 10 seconds (or 3 seconds in PvP) after you drop out of invisibility.
Now, Volatile Rounds not only allow your weapon to pierce Barrier Champion Shields but cover your enemies in Void particles that cause them to explode after taking enough damage. But this Exotic doesn’t stop there, if you are invisible and use a Finisher on an enemy, you get a 35% Weapon Damage buff for 6 seconds. You, and anyone within 24 meters, is also granted a Reserve Overshield buff.
This Overshield buff can be used when you dodge to go invisible again and grants you a 40HP Void Overshield for 10 seconds. During that time, you also have 500% additional base class ability regeneration rate. As you can see, this is easily one of the craziest Exotic perks in the game and gives you and your team quite a lot of defensive utility while giving yourself more damage and AoE. The only place this Exotic falls short is in PvP where the Reserve Overshield can’t be procced, but its other effects in PvE simply overshadow everything else.
About the author
Ali Taha
Whether its new releases, or a new Destiny 2 season, Ali will flex his gaming and freelancer skills to cover them extensively. He started off writing features for Game Rant but found a better home here on Twinfinite. While Ali waits for the next Monster Hunter title, he enjoys publishing his progression fantasy novels as an indie author.
As Cyberpunk 2077 approaches its third anniversary, the beleaguered blockbuster is getting a send-0ff to immortalize its unlikely turnaround. CD Projekt Red announced an Ultimate Edition for the sci-fi RPG on November 21 that includes this year’s Phantom Liberty expansion and the massive 2.0 overhaul patch. There will even be a physical copy for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S owners.
Phantom Liberty Is Undoing One Key Thing That Cyberpunk Got Right
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition will come to “next-gen” consoles and PC on December 5, and give players the chance to experience the open world story and years of fixes and upgrades all in one place for $60.
“This new release is the perfect way to experience every story of the dark future; it also contains the free Update 2.0, which overhauled many of the game’s systems, introducing dynamic skill trees, high-octane vehicle combat, and enhanced enemy and police AI — as well as adding new weapons, vehicles, and clothes,” CDPR wrote in a press release.
Game of the Year editions became something of a joke in the industry many years ago, but if any release deserved to get repackaged that way, it’s Cyberpunk 2077. Once pulled from the PlayStation Store for being so busted on PS4, the game is now pretty close to what players had hoped for based on years of trailers and E3 hype. Phantom Liberty, starring Idris Elba as FIA sleeper agent Solomon Reed, is the type of high-quality expansion fans have come to expect from the studio behind The Witcher 3‘s Hearts of Stone and Blood and WineDLC. The underlying gameplay has also markedly improved.
But the real significance of the new Ultimate Edition is that Cyberpunk 2077‘s definitive 2.0 version will now be the one included on physical discs for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S players. The Xbox version will even include the entire Phantom Liberty expansion incorporated into the base game. (PS5 owners will have to download it during installation.) That means that even in the actual year 2077, when the video game servers will have likely long since shut down, anyone who still has an ancient console and the Ultimate Edition disc will still be able to experience Cyberpunk 2077 in its complete form.
Lots of games have managed to engineer live service-style redemption arcs these days, but very few get to see them memorialized in physical form. Now if only the Netflix spin-off Cyberpunk: Edgerunnerscould get a physical release as well.
After some beta testing, Bethesda has released Starfield’s latest patch for PC and Xbox. This new update adds DLSS support, the ability to eat food you find in the world instantly, some much-needed graphical options, and plenty of bug fixes, too.
The Top 10 Most-Played Games On Steam Deck: October 2023 Edition
Starfield’s 1.8.86 update is now live on Xbox Series X/S and PC. This update was first beta-tested via Steam earlier this month. It appears those tests went well, as Bethesda has now pushed the new update live for everyone. This means that after months of paid mods and community drama, Starfield finally has official DLSS support, letting folks with compatible Nvidia graphics cards use DLSS Super Resolution, Deep Learning Anti-aliasing (DLAA), Nvidia Reflex Low Latency, and DLSS Frame generation. But that’s not all that’s been added in this update.
The new 1.8.86 update also adds the ability to eat food and drink items that you find in the world without having to pick them up first and chow down on them via the inventory screen. It’s a small change, but it should help keep you immersed in the world and spend less time digging through menus. Plus, it will be fun to just run around places and eat every Chunk I see like an out-of-control cartoon character.
This patch also adds brightness and contrast sliders to the massive open-world space RPG. There are some HDR brightness settings, too for platforms that support that. And yes, it’s still wild that in 2023 a big-budget AAA video game from a veteran game studio shipped without brightness and contrast sliders. What a world!
Anyway, here are the full 1.8.86 patch notes for Starfield:
PERFORMANCE AND STABILITY
Addressed a number of memory-related issues and leaks.
Added some GPU performance optimizations, which will be more impactful on higher-end cards.
Improved renderer threading model, improving CPU usage most notably on higher-end systems.
Various stability and performance improvements.
GAMEPLAY
Added the ability to eat the food placed in the world.
Adjusted stealth to be a bit more forgiving.
Fixed an issue where Andreja’s head would stay permanently cloaked.
Fixed an issue that could prevent players from firing their weapons.
Fixed issues where some NPC could be seen not wearing clothes (Note: This issue may resolve itself over time).
Fixed an issue where already in-progress skill challenges could stop progressing after reaching “the Unity” and starting a new game.
Fixed an issue that could temporarily prevent opening the inventory or saving after entering “the Unity”.
PC: Fixed an issue where mouse movement could be choppy.
Fixed a rare issue that could cause the home ship to be lost.
Fixed an issue where the ship services technician might be missing.
Fixed an issue where occasionally the camera could shake incorrectly during Traveling, Grav Jumping, Docking, or Landing transitions.
GRAPHICS
Addressed an issue with how ambient occlusion appeared in ultrawide resolutions.
Optimized initial shader compilation that occurs on start-up.
Added the ability to adjust Brightness and Contrast in the Display Settings menu.
Added the ability to adjust HDR Brightness provided that the system supports it. (Xbox & Windows 11 only).
Addressed a number of materials that could sometimes present an unintended pattern under certain conditions.
Fixed various visual issues related to the new FOV slider options.
Improved the appearance of the eyes on crowd characters.
Addressed a number of minor visual issues related to lighting, shadows, terrain, and vegetation.
PC: Addressed additional visual issues related to DLSS.
QUESTS
All That Money Can Buy: Fixed a rare issue where players couldn’t sit during the negotiation with Musgrove.
Blast Zone: Fixed an issue where the hard rocks that need to be cleared out by players will not appear on Ngodup Tate’s land.
Echoes of the Past: Fixed an issue where the Grylloba Queen could sometimes not be reachable during the objective “Secure the Shuttle Bay”.
Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue where players’ quest progression could potentially be blocked due to a missing docking prompt.
Grunt Work: Addressed an issue where progress could appear blocked if “Supra et Ultra” was completed while returning to the Lodge during “High Price to Pay”.
No Sudden Moves: Fixed an issue that could prevent the entrance door to the Scow ship from being opened again.
Operation Starseed: Fixed an issue where the key that is needed to exit the facility could sometimes not be present.
Sabotage: Fixed an issue where David Barron could potentially not be found by players.
Short-Sighted: Fixed an issue where players could rarely become control-locked while speaking with Vladimir.
The Heart of Mars: Fixed an issue where players might not be able to mine the “The Heart of Mars”.
It seems the Crucible Strike Team have been hard at work and continue to do so even amidst troubles at Bungie. Thankfully, Season 23’s massive list of crucible tweaks and changes are a step in the right direction for the PvP community.
Bungie’s Crucible Strike Team has continued to work diligently to satisfy the needs of their community. Part of all that they’ve been working on is coming in Destiny 2’s season 23, Season of the Wish. That said, Bungie is still iterating on the changes they made in Season 22 and so we should expect back-and-forth adjustments. It’s good to see that after Bungie’s layoffs that the Crucible Strike Team seems to still be in a healthy enough position to still deliver on their vision of a better, healthier Crucible.
Image Source: Bungie
The biggest changes coming in season 23 involve the addition of new playlists and alterations to current ones. Part of those new playlists includes a new 3v3 unranked — I like the idea of having a new smaller unranked mode with gameplay that’s like Competitive and Trials, but with matchmaking that suits the more casual crowd. I know myself and a good amount of Crucible enjoyers will appreciate the extra options here.
Beyond the unranked trials-like 3v3 option, the 6v6 mode’s matchmaking will be tuned to be less skill-based and more equal between, skill, latency, and connection. Matchmaking in Destiny 2 is pretty divisive with a lot of people liking purely connection based matchmaking so that unranked is less sweaty. While others like skill-based matchmaking so that they aren’t always stomped on by players who are that much better.
Here, Bungie seems to have found a middle ground where they blend the various kinds of matchmaking to keep skill balanced involved but not so much so that every match is a sweatfest. This I approve of since the best matchmaking is also the most nuanced, while at the same time ensuring the most amount of people get to enjoy every mode at every skill level.
Image Source: Bungie
For a long time now, many have been wanting a larger variety of Crucible nodes to be available more often. With Season 23 having seven PvP nodes to choose from with varying gameplay and matchmaking, each node destination represents a very unique style of Crucible gameplay. Did I forget to mention the 6v6 Unranked node will also feature Sparrow Control? What used to be a bug, is now a feature! Good on Bungie for listening and embracing what players enjoy. Here’s hoping we can get Sparrow Racing from Destiny 1 next!
It’s a shame that Rift is being benched, but I can understand why Bungie may be worried about splitting the PvP community too thin between too many different matchmaking nodes. That said, it will be refreshing to see Checkmate Control graduate from Crucible Labs to become the primary Control gametype for a few weeks after Season 23’s launch.
The playerbase seems to have really enjoyed the longer time-to-kill, wider skill gaps, and earnable Special ammo that you don’t lose on death. It is really cool to see Checkmate being applied to more Crucible modes and I applaud Bungie for creating a new style of Control that feels so fresh with meaningful gameplay.
Bungie also seems to be working on the matchmaking backend too, with changes to the way matchmaking determines your skill versus other players. The changes will allow for more variance between how matchmaking judges your current skill from match to match because not everyone is going to be using a meta build all the time or wants to play at their best constantly. After all, some of us have weird builds that don’t get us lots of kills but are still really fun to play.
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Now, Trials of Osiris is getting some expanded weekly rewards that should entice some more players to give it a shot. Trials is certainly for the sweatiest of players but that doesn’t mean people who struggle going Flawless shouldn’t be rewarded for getting as far as they can for each week. Where the real rewards now lie in Season 23 is Competitive with Bungie’s big brain move to let players focus and earn very competitive weapons like Rose and Mercurial Overreach.
The ability to reacquire some of the strongest weapons from Competitive Crucible’s past is a nice quality of life feature for the many players who likely missed out. Bungie seems to be going all out for Season 23 in many ways. Here’s hoping it will be enough to weather the extra few months Bungie needs to polish The Final Shape.
Part of the Crucible’s biggest issue over the years has been stagnation in one form or another. Whether it’s maps, modes, or the sandbox itself, players can feel when one has been present and unchanged for far too long. After reviewing a lot of the changes coming in Season 23, it looks like Bungie’s Crucible Strike team is successfully tackling every part of PvP that was beginning to stagnate.
I know a lot of what I’ve talked about here will bring me back into the competitive fold. So, I imagine this update will do the same for many more players and that’s always a good thing. Beyond Season of the Wish’s sweeping Crucible changes, the true worth of Bungie’s Crucible Strike team will be in how they are able to continue their delivery of fresh modes and maps to the PvP ecosystem. If they can pull that off up to and through The Final Shape, then Destiny 2’s Crucible may live up to and exceed when it peaked in Destiny 1.
About the author
Ali Taha
Whether its new releases, or a new Destiny 2 season, Ali will flex his gaming and freelancer skills to cover them extensively. He started off writing features for Game Rant but found a better home here on Twinfinite. While Ali waits for the next Monster Hunter title, he enjoys publishing his progression fantasy novels as an indie author.
Destiny 2 recently had an update that implemented quitter protection for Trials matches that start with missing players. While we will cover that more in a bit, Bungie still needs to address its PvP quitter issue.
So, in the game’s recent 7.2.5.3 update, quitter protection was implemented for Trials at the start of the match. What this means exactly is that if you have a missing member or two at the start of the match, you will be allowed to quit and matchmake again without incurring the normal penalty for quitting a Trials match. This is fantastic news for all those players who suffered and still do suffer from a connection error named after a particular animal.
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
However, this update is only for Trials of Osiris and does not stop quitters from leaving matches early. Just in my experience alone with lots of Control and Competitive playtime, this is still a rampant issue. One that would be fixed, if players were properly incentivized to stay in the match until the end or punished more severely for leaving a match early.
Nothing is more demoralizing to be PvP-ing in the Crucible and are winning, until about halfway through. When suddenly, you or your team starts doing poorly, losing some one-on-one engagements and slowly watching the enemy team’s score pull away from ours. So, of course, your teammates start to leave, and now you’re losing almost every gunfight. The act of leaving a match before it’s over ruins it for everyone else. So, let’s fix that and show Bungie some things they could try to accomplish that.
Now, it’s important that Bungie do their best to try and differentiate innocent connection loss and rage quitting. I’m not entirely sure how they would go upon doing that, but it would certainly help if Bungie were to implement harsher penalties for quitting matches early. I used to play a lot of League of Legends, and I found their leaver penalties quite effective.
So with that in mind, harsher penalties like quickly escalating tiers of punishment. For example, first offense would be a single five-minute Crucible queue delay. The next offense in the same 24 hours could be a 10-minute queue delay for the next five Crucible queues. As the player continues to rage quit, the longer the queue delay, the more matches it lasts for, and the longer the effective window for gaining such punishments would last.
While increasing the punishments for making unsportsmanlike choices in the Crucible is sound, it could be as equally effective to also implement a system that rewards players based on X number of games they finish in a row. With the right incentives, this could help put and keep Destiny 2’s PvP playerbase in the right state of mind while playing. You catch more flies with honey after all.
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
One of the best ways to do just that would be to make sure said incentives are above all worthwhile to a majority of players. As a Crucible player myself, I rarely rage quit outside of the most brutal stomps after most of my time has quit. However, I would certainly be persuaded to stay if say after playing five matches in a row, there was a rare but slowly escalating chance to earn Adept Legendary weapons or Artifice Legendary Armor. In fact, I can’t think of anyone who would turn down such rewards just to rage quit from a tough match and feel their actions justified for that one moment.
Visual cosmetics like rare shaders or interesting ornaments that have appealing colors or other visual traits may be the way to go as well. Although, I don’t believe those rewards would be as inciting enough to keep people from becoming upset and choosing the easy way out. Either way, with the right rewards for staying and playing and the appropriate punishments, it’s harder to imagine people ever leaving mid match again.
About the author
Ali Taha
Whether its new releases, or a new Destiny 2 season, Ali will flex his gaming and freelancer skills to cover them extensively. He started off writing features for Game Rant but found a better home here on Twinfinite. While Ali waits for the next Monster Hunter title, he enjoys publishing his progression fantasy novels as an indie author.
Bungie’s recent surprise layoffs really shook the company to its core. As a result, The Final Shape expansion and likely future episodes have been delayed by four months. The latest roadmap Bungie released is no longer relevant, so we’ll need to explore what they could do when they are ready.
In one of the most turbulent times for Destiny 2, next year’s new content needs to bring some confidence and joy back to the playerbase. Let’s explore 10 things Destiny 2’s next roadmap needs above all else.
Less Structure and More Surprises
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Previous Destiny 2 roadmaps would have every little thing detailed about each season and each patch within each season. Even so, that still created expectations, as players could read the roadmap and be disappointed because there’s nothing else they could reasonably hope for.
In 2024, Destiny 2’s next roadmap shouldn’t explicitly detail every bit of new content. Bungie should keep it vague and broad on purpose and surprise the players with new content, systems, and modes that they’ve normally wouldn’t expect!
This may be especially helpful for the devs comprising post-layoff Bungie, as they likely don’t want to immediately dive headfirst into heavy and strictly outlined content production.
FREE Dungeons
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Not one, but two Dungeons in close succession or at once would be something the community could really rally behind. Especially if each would be free for all players to enjoy. I don’t know about you, but I would take two to three new Destiny 2 Dungeons each Season or Episode over a milk-toast series of unchallenging, repetitive, checklist story quests.
To me, the stories contained within each Season could and should be made into sprawling Dungeons. I like this because players re-run Dungeons all the time, but you don’t see players showing that same enthusiasm for seasonal questlines or non-exotic missions. Look me straight in the eye and tell me 9 to 12 new Dungeons a year doesn’t sound amazing.
Granted, this suggestion is a long-shot for current Bungie, but that’s okay. I’d even take four new Dungeons a year at this point, and most other players likely feel the same.
New Fragments or Aspects for Every Subclass
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Part of what makes Destiny 2 so replayable are the amount of builds a player can discover between subclasses, gear, and Exotics. By this logic, a solid stream of new build opportunities via new Fragments or a new Aspect for every class and subclass could help with player retention.
I’m not saying Bungie needs to deliver new Fragments AND Aspects for every subclass every Season, because that would be a tall order on top of everything else. So, instead of a new Season giving a ton of love to this or that subclass, why not give a little love to all of them? People like inclusiveness, and the Stasis Titan that only plays one or two Seasons a year may want to play more often if he has more to work with.
Given what’s happened to Bungie this year, It would be okay for them to slowly work up to this suggestion.
New Class Abilities and Jumps
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
While it’s fun to tinker with the intricate details of a build with subclass Fragments and armor mods, adding more to each base class could be exciting too. Think about it: Aside from the addition of blink and some subclass reworks, new class abilities and jumps haven’t really been a thing. Seeing new base abilities and movement options on a roadmap might help the community feel like Destiny 2 can keep going after such a tough year for the developers.
With these new class options being free for all players, it could be easy to build some hype and good will amongst new and returning players on the fence. This would be especially true if the new jumps and class abilities synergized with player builds in ways the other options haven’t. For example: A new Titan jump that is essentially a medium-sized explosion that propels the Titan in a semi-random direction while anyone caught in the blast suffers from a few ticks of Scorch would be a huge draw.
A Complete Gambit Rework
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
I could definitely foresee the Destiny community warming at the sight of a complete Gambit rework with renewed support.
All it would take is some fresh eyes and talent and a bit of risk, with the result being something players would be likely quite eager for. Like, what if they turned Gambit into a mode that was slower and larger, with a more direct focus on the PvP within the PvEvP designs? It wouldn’t have to be an extraction shooter, but rather something that could be reminiscent of it. That would certainly be interesting and enticing to see on a future roadmap.
That said, this is a tall order, and would likely take a lot of time to accomplish. Even a single new Gambit map with a few new guns with original Origin Traits would be excellent.
More Strikes and More Crucible Maps
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Bungie desperately needs to move away from the current trend of releasing one to two new Strikes and Crucible maps per year.
For being labeled as Core Modes, these are woefully underdeveloped and are severely lacking in constant iteration, especially given that they serve as Destiny 2’s backbone. considering Bungie’s turbulent development process lately, this could be forgivable if they can eventually work up to delivering a renewed focus on Core modes in 2025.
Additionally, the new Strikes and new maps need to visually be a slow but constant drip on future roadmaps to make people feel like it’s all being consistently supported. It can feel pretty bad to spend so much money on expansions and seasons only for there to be one or two new Strikes and Crucible maps throughout the year.
Finally, updating older Strikes or un-vaulting the oldest Strikes with new encounters, bosses, and voice work that reflects the changes in Destiny 2’s overarching story could go a long way to satisfying player content fatigue.
Refresh and Streamline Monetization for New Players
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
This right here is the instant-mashed-potatoes-way to garner some good faith. Because right now, the number one issue the Destiny 2 community has is the way the game’s monetized—especially on Steam. It’s just too much.
This is especially true for someone trying to break into the game. As a new player, you’ll go onto Steam and see hundreds of dollar’s worth of DLC expansions you’ll think you’ll need to buy to have the complete experience.
When they are ready, what Bungie could do is make some of the older expansions free for newer players. Furthermore, a refresh of Destiny 2’s various bundles to be easier to understand and navigate could help players better understand when to buy a given expansion, increasing the game’s revenue in these troubling times as a result.
More Meaningful Mid-Season Events with Greater Variety
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
The mid-season holiday events go a long way toward making Guardians feel connected to the game’s world and community. However, the events themselves tend to fall a little flat with an over emphasis on Event passes that usually fail to raise Guardian’s holiday spirits.
More events like last year’s Dawning event, which saw throwable snowballs in almost every mode, is a more viable direction Bungie can take with upcoming events. Maybe next year’s Festival of the Lost could give everyone temporary bat companion throwables that do damage and disorient.
An additional good move Bungie could make with these events is to use them to raise money for righteous causes or charities; much like how Warframe has special customization items that raise awareness for cancer-fighting initiatives.
More New Features and Systems
Image Source: Bungie
One thing I would argue is that for Destiny 2 to grow, or at least feel like its growing, it needs new, interactable features and systems.
This isn’t even something that would be new to the game. Not that long ago, we got Fishing with Season of the Deep, and it provided a new feature with new systems and ways for players to interact with the worlds of Destiny 2. It helped build and maintain player immersion, all while breaking away from the usual content players had come to expect.
Additionally, offering new mechanics that help Destiny 2 feel fresh would be a surefire way to help retain players; which, considering recent developments, is something I’m sure Bungie would very much like to do.
A Way for Players to be Creative in Destiny 2
Image Source: Bungie via Twinfinite
Some of the best games out there aren’t just made with lots of great developer-made content. They include ways for players to add to the game world they like spending time in.
This can usually be seen in the form of map makers, and to a lesser degree, player-made character customization, and is especially true when that player-created content has systems in place that allow other players to enjoy it as well.
I’d bet my gaming laptop that there would have been much less backlash around the lack of new Gambit or Crucible maps if players had the tools to make and integrate their own. I know a Forge-like mode for Destiny 2 isn’t something Bungie can easily or quickly make. However, an out-of-game gun or armor maker where Bungie would choose the best 10 or 20 player creations to be added to loot pools in every season would drive player engagement (and be really freaking cool besides).
Something like that would make less work for them too, which would help reduce overhead development costs and the overall development burden on the team behind the game — a win/win if ever there was one.
About the author
Ali Taha
Whether its new releases, or a new Destiny 2 season, Ali will flex his gaming and freelancer skills to cover them extensively. He started off writing features for Game Rant but found a better home here on Twinfinite. While Ali waits for the next Monster Hunter title, he enjoys publishing his progression fantasy novels as an indie author.
Try as we might, the yearly release hold can be inescapable for many of us. Especially when it comes to sports titles. For example, while the long-running EA Sports FIFA series may be under a new name – now aptly titled EA FC – a lot of its sameness lingers. There were some tweaks, sure, but nothing to truly enhance the overall experience. Which brings us to Football Manager.
20 years on, the partnership between Sports Interactive and SEGA is as strong as ever. And yet, although the past couple of entries were more often than not enjoyable – one need only glance at my play time to confirm – stagnation began setting in. The experience itself was still the best in the business and yet, there appeared to be little room left to grow. Nothing revolutionary, some minor tweaks, and perhaps a little lack of imagination.
So how have the folks behind the ever-popular managerial simulator responded this year? With more new features that you can shake a stick at. Noticeable upgrades to both the on-field physics and matchday lighting, which truth be told, feels like a night-and-day difference even from FM23. And, most importantly for some, even more choice when it comes to where you want to take your career.
Who Needs Reality Anyway?
Image Source: SEGA via Twinfinite
Look, I would be more than content to start every FM save from now until forever the same way. Would my play time be a little more sporadic? Likely. Even still, I know myself. Thankfully, FM24 has given its players all the more reason to throw their free time away.
Whether it’s the tried and true ‘Original,’ ramped-up reality of ‘Real World,’ or the alternate reality that could very well become ‘Your World,’ FM24 presents three career paths to consider as you begin managing. We’re not going to shame you for sticking with the ‘Original,’ at least not initially, but there’s something invigorating about taking the ridiculous riches of Todd Boehly’s Chelsea and getting every player imaginable off the books – at your own risk, of course.
You could simply stick to the ‘Original,’ but that would mean having to hold onto a lot of players you don’t necessarily want. And certainly, a whole host of those you didn’t recruit yourself. But if you’re looking for a stronger dose of mapped out realism, ‘Real World’ has you covered. Think about taking Tottenham Hotspur and realizing that on the day before the Premier League season begins, Harry Kane is leaving. Sure, you know it’s coming, but the question is: How are you going to adjust?
What if you’d rather start a save in which everyone is where they were? Well, that’s also an option! In this scenario, Christian Pulisic is still at Chelsea. Harry Kane hasn’t left. You can sell every Schalke 04 with a hint of value, enraging everyone. These are definitely not specific examples.
Whatever the case, the initial transfer window is there for you to shape. Almost entirely.
Rolling Saves Will Always Be a Game-Changer
Image Source: SEGA via Twinfinite
In Football Manager 23, I brought Ange-ball to Manchester United. Maybe it was out of pity. Perhaps it was because whatever it is that Erik ten Hag has them doing now, coupled with their even worse transfer business, made me think ‘Wait, I bet I could do better.’ And alas, I did! Because you see, Football Manager isn’t real life. Though, there is a case to be made that it is sometimes more enjoyable than real life.
All that is just a long way of saying that in Football Manager 24, I could bring those Ange-ball tactics and that very same Manchester United save to this year’s edition if I chose to do so. In the end, that wasn’t the direction taken. However, the fact that it is now a possibility feels like an important shift.
Suddenly, I long for my Schalke FM22 days when, within four seasons, I was able to sign the likes of Robert Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer on free contracts. Sure, they were at the end of their careers, but this is Schalke we’re talking about.
Anyway, it’s good to know you don’t have to start from scratch if you don’t want to.
Various Ways to Rebuild Your Squad
Image Source: SEGA via Twinfinite
You don’t have to lie to us: We’ve all used the In-Game Editor at some point in our Football Manager careers. Am I projecting? Oh, most definitely. But am I right? Again, yes. Still, even at my lowest point, I only ever really used said editor to rid my club of players that just would not move. Sometimes there was interest, but no bids. Other times they’d be begging to leave, only to turn down seven different loan offers within a two-week period. So I moved them to a club with genuine interest, usually at half their in-game value, and that was that.
I know, I know; it’s sickening. The good news is that in Football Manager 24, there are multiple routes to take in order to remove some of the deadwood, as it were. Stirring up market interest with their agent (think Tobias Fünke talking himself up around the water cooler) is one way. Another way is by hiring an Intermediary Agent, and let me tell you, that option is a breath of fresh air.
There are pros and cons, of course. That player may not want to leave and this may cause unrest, but why should you care? They’re not in your plans, so it’s time to move them on. Simple as that, and I can say that with confidence because I know for a fact that I’ll never have to do something like this in real life. Though, it may also come at the expense of general squad morale, and that’s a little trickier to navigate.
If nothing else, making it a little easier on us to move some of our squad is a welcomed change, even if it’s not as easy and underhanded as using the editor to do so.
A Fresher, More Authentic Feel
Video Source: Football Manager YouTube Channel
I imagine most of us don’t typically pour hours upon hours into this series for the graphics. Even still, FM24 upped their game in terms of presentation this time around. Be it through in-game tactical progression or overall presentation, there are noticeable differences.
The Continental Competitions (UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and European Conference League) remain, as do their licenses. Those anthems are still bangers. Animations are genuinely crisper, from penalty shots to goalkeeper saves.
There have been minor bugs here and there – a la players suddenly giving up on the ball; ignoring tactical instructions; blurry images depending on the weather. Yet all in all, it’s another step up from last year’s edition. Sometimes, that’s all we’re really asking for.
At Its Core, FM24 Gives You Reasons to Keep Playing
For a while, admittedly, Football Manager could afford to coast. There are plenty of simulators out there, but when it comes to sports simulators, it’s difficult to find one more engrossing than this. Part of that is due to the sheer volume of clubs available. While it’s fun to save a struggling Premier League side from itself, it’s arguably even more fun to rise through the ranks (if you’re able) with a club from the sixth tier in English football (or the third tier in Germany, Spain, Italy, France, and so on).
No matter what, most of us were probably always going to pour hours into this game. But this time, Sports Interactive and SEGA have taken a large leap forward, improving on the tamer-yet-newer features of the past couple of entries while going all-in on a variety of fresh ways to greatly enhance the player experience. At a time when other franchises had a chance to retool and swing for the fences but didn’t, Football Manager went for it.
Not everything is going to come off, sure. Bugs will appear. Player moods will swing a little more wildly than they have in the past. At times, it will seem like no matter what you do against a certain club or player, it won’t work. That’s football, baby. You can always go somewhere else. You can always try something else. Maybe the Eredivisie if you find the larger leagues a little too stressful. Go to Iceland, Japan, or heck, bang your head against the wall while adjusting to the MLS registration rules.
There is no single way to play Football Manager 24, but then again, that’s been the charm of the entire franchise. There are several reasons to keep coming back for more, though, and it’s apparent the developers took that to heart this time around.
Football Manager 2024
Reviewer: Shaun Ranft
Award: Editor’s Choice
Pros
The definitive Football Manager experience.
Multiple ways to enjoy a Career.
Available on all platforms.
Enhanced presentation.
Saves carry over.
Cons
Player mood swings seem a little more frequent, volatile. Press Conferences remain stale, repetitive, and tedious.
Release Date
Nov. 6, 2023
Developer
Sports Interactive
Consoles
PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4
Copy provided by Publisher
About the author
Shaun Ranft
Shaun Ranft is a Freelance Writer for Twinfinite, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who has been with the site and writing about games in general since 2022. While he typically covers any major sports title, he also cannot get enough of Telltale’s The Walking Dead, Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds, Arkham, and the Horizon series.
There are a lot of pieces that make up the whole of Destiny 2, and over time a lot of said pieces have been overhauled to the joy of the community. However, I would argue one such element of Destiny 2 that has had everything around it improved but not improved itself is Legendary armor, and honestly, it’s high time Bungie overhauled Legendary armor drops.
One of the best changes Bungie recently made about armor was the removal the various subclass elements being tied to it. Likewise, the mod system overhaul was a breath of fresh air for how Legendary armor’s mod sockets are utilized. But beyond those changes, the act of using Legendary armor as a reward is still as stale as it has ever been. The difference in excitement I feel between a purple gun and purple armor dropping is night and day.
I asked myself why that is the case, and discovered that it’s because of rolls and the complete lack of impactful high value rolls.
Image Credit: Bungie via Twinfinite
Allow me to elaborate: when purple armor drops, it always has the same four mod slots, and the only thing a Guardian could get excited about is the armor’s gear stat rolls. The problem is that good rolls are incredibly unlikely unless you’re doing endgame difficult PvP or PvE content. This makes the majority of Legendary armor rolls nearly useless because you’re always going to know when to expect good and bad rolls.
It’s that knowing and expectation that kills the excitement of almost every armor drop. What’s worse is that during the endgame content, the armor may have a high roll, but the gear stat distribution may be in the opposite stats you’re looking for. This ends up feeling awful, especially considering the effort that goes into completing Destiny 2’s difficult endgame content.
Bungie should look into improving Legendary armor to be more compelling at all times and across all difficulties. This could also end up benefiting the new players experience as well, but that may be a topic for another time.
As a huge fan of action RPGs and anything that loots after I shoots, when purple armor drops there should be more rolls to consider. I know the argument for more RNG isn’t always a popular one, but if every single drop has the potential to drop as a god roll — with slightly higher chances in difficult content — then that should make each drop all the more compelling.
I think it would be a net positive for the Destiny 2 experience for players to not only fawn over every new gun, but every armor drop too; just like they would in every other ARPG in existence.
Image Credit: Bungie via Twinfinite
It wouldn’t be that hard to implement either, or at least to design a framework to build such a system around. One solution would be to give pieces of armor their own traits and origin traits like what guns currently have. These new armor traits would be what gives the armor its gear stat bonuses. Now, imagine three columns of traits that represent metal, fabric, and stitching. Each column’s trait could give two gear stat bonuses. A trait called Tight Weave could give, say, 12 Mobility and 8 Strength, while another in that same column could give 7 Mobility and 14 Resilience instead.
With such a system in place, players would look at each piece of armor dropped and compare the various armor traits to see if a high roll in two or three gear stats would be possible. I know I would certainly experiment with every drop if that were the case.
Additionally, a slight tweak to mod sockets could further improve excitement around Legendary armor drops. The change could be as simple as each drop rolling between three and six mod sockets, with four being the average roll. This would make it so current builds and loadouts wouldn’t be changed all that much, while allowing for future drops to give players more mod customization if they get lucky.
It’s easy to get carried away with RNG on top of RNG, but I’m confident that changes like these would be a net positive. They’d make half of the loot pool all the more interesting and worth playing and grinding for, while also giving players a reason to care about Legendary Armor drops for the first time in forever.
About the author
Ali Taha
Whether its new releases, or a new Destiny 2 season, Ali will flex his gaming and freelancer skills to cover them extensively. He started off writing features for Game Rant but found a better home here on Twinfinite. While Ali waits for the next Monster Hunter title, he enjoys publishing his progression fantasy novels as an indie author.
Around 100 employees at Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios Group are unionizing. This means around a fifth of the 500-person Swedish team is now bargaining with the company’s management for a fair contract.
The Week In Games: What’s Releasing Beyond Pikmin 4
IGN confirmed with a union representative that more than 100 workers have joined Unionen, a Swedish trade union. According to their statement, Avalanche Studios Group workers have been working toward joining a union since earlier this year, when members formed a local union board to bargain with the studio’s management over specific benefits, but the rep didn’t share specific issues. According to IGN’s sources, moving to a four-day work week is at least one issue the team has raised in its negotiations.
While one in five workers joining the union might seem small, Swedish union membership is different than what we typically know of unions in the USA, as workers can join a trade union without a union election. This means that around “70 percent of the country” is part of a union, according to data shared with IGN by Unionen.
Avalanche Studios Group provided the following comment to IGN regarding the situation:
As an employer, we’re committed to creating the best possible conditions for all Avalanchers to thrive. We support and welcome any initiative that goes in this direction. This also means that we listen, invite dialogue, and encourage people to bring forward their perspectives and needs. After all, it’s thanks to each and every Avalancher that we’re able to make the great games we’re known for.
After months of silence, vampire shooter Redfall is receiving its biggest update yet following a disastrous launch back in May. The second big patch will add the Game Pass multiplayer game’s long-awaited 60 frames-per-second mode on Xbox Series X/S, as well as a host of gameplay improvements and bug fixes.
Why The Hot New Redfall Gameplay Trailer Left Us Feeling Cold
“Today’s update brings Performance Mode to Xbox Series X/S, stealth takedowns, a bevy of new controller settings, and a lot more changes to Redfall,” the development team wrote on Bethesda’s website. While the 60fps mode is the biggest addition, a raft of accessibility features and improvements to stealth gameplay and aiming sensitivity are also welcome changes. Whether it’s enough to begin addressing some of the deeper disappointment around Redfall’s lackluster enemy encounters and unfulfilling progression system remains to be seen.
Redfall was panned by many critics and players when it launched earlier this year. Expected to be the first-party blockbuster that would end Microsoft’s drought of console exclusives, it instead failed to live up to the months of marketing hype that preceded it. In addition to bugs, performance issues, and complaints about the core gameplay loop, it also launched on the “next-gen” Xbox Series X/S with a “next-gen” price tag of $70 but without the 60fps performance option that players on PC would have access to.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer apologized for the situation at the time, but a report by Bloomberg later revealed other issues underlying the game’s rough development. Made by Arkane, best known for immersive sims like Prey and Dishonored, Redfall was instead an online multiplayer game that at one point was planned to include microtransactions as part of a push by parent company ZeniMax into live-service monetization. While those features were stripped out, a lack of development resources and constant turnover reportedly made it hard for the studio to deliver on Redfall’s confusing blend of genres and gameplay mechanics.
Recently, Bethesda marketing head Pete Hines said in an interview that despite the harsh reception, Redfall wouldn’t be abandoned. Instead, he expected new players joining Game Pass a decade from now to give the game a shot and enjoy it thanks to ongoing post-launch support. With Cyberpunk 2077‘s recent 2.0 victory lap after a botched release, many are wondering if Redfall can pull of something similar, or if Microsoft will pour the money into it required to make that happen.
If it does, it will still have a big uphill battle to fight. The game only has a few dozen players on Steam at any given moment. Still, Redfall’s second update is a start.
You probably saw a ton of headlines about Xbox leaks this week: new hardware, upcoming games, Game Pass costs, acquisition strategies. A trove of unredacted documents accidentally uploaded to a federal court’s case server gave the world an unprecedented look into the secret machinations of the gaming wing of a $2 trillion tech giant. But if you check out just one leak from this historic week for Xbox it should be Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer’s analysis of what’s currently plaguing triple-A video game publishers.
Thank You, PS Plus, For Making My Backlog Even Bigger
His analysis was in an email exchange from March 2020, in the midst of the Xbox team planning ahead of a feedback meeting with Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two. “In terms of subscriptions and the impact on larger publishers I realized that I haven’t really done a good job sharing our view on the disruption AAA publishers potentially see and how their role in the industry will likely change with the growth in subscription platforms like Xbox Game Pass,” Spencer wrote (the memo was directed to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, CFO Amy Hood, then-executive business VP Peggy Johnson, and head of marketing Chris Capossela).
The head of Xbox, who first joined Microsoft as an intern back in 1988 and has been working on the gaming side of its business for over 20 years now, proceeded to diagnose the current state of big publishers as they face wave after wave of market disruption. It was a cogent, incisive commentary on the fears driving an ever-shrinking class of mega gaming companies that are clinging harder and harder to the few big-budget franchises they have that still pay out.
Spencer lays out how publishers once existed to leverage scale in negotiations with retailers for shelf space. Then everything changed. “The creation of digital storefronts like Steam, Xbox Store and PlayStation Store eventually democratized access for creators breaking physical retail’s lock on game distribution,” he writes. “Publishers were slow to react to this disruption. The AAA publishers did not find a way to leverage the moat that physical retail created in the digital realm in a way that had them continue their dominance of the game marketplace.”
Companies like Activision, Electronic Arts, and Ubisoft eventually made their own middle-man clients to try and get around platform fees, and a few later followed up with their own subscription services. None of them were built early enough or offered a compelling enough alternative to get big. Players complained about bad UI and bad deals. Franchises like Call of Duty and Madden that had once abandoned Steam returned. Game Pass got big while EA Play and Ubisoft+ stayed small. The only competitive advantage publishers have left is being able to pour more money than anyone else into annualized blockbusters.
Spencer writes,
Over the past 5-7 years, the AAA publishers have tried to use production scale as their new moat. Very few companies can afford to spend the $200M an Activision or Take 2 spend to put a title like Call of Duty or Red Dead Redemption on the shelf. These AAA publishers have, mostly, used this production scale to keep their top franchises in the top selling games each year. The issue these publishers have run into is these same production scale/cost approach hurts their ability to create new IP. The hurdle rate on new IP at these high production levels have led to risk aversion by big publishers on new IP. You’ve seen a rise of AAA publishers using rented IP to try to offset the risk (Star Wars with EA, Spiderman with Sony, Avatar with Ubisoft etc). This same dynamic has obviously played out in Hollywood as well with Netflix creating more new IP than any of the movie studios.
Specifically, the AAA game publishers, starting from a position of strength driven from physical retail have failed to create any real platform effect for themselves. They effectively continue to build their scale through aggregated per game P&Ls hoping to maximize each new release of their existing IP.
In the new world where a AAA publisher don’t have real distribution leverage with consumers, they don’t have production efficiencies and their new IP hit rate is not disproportionately higher than the industry average we see that the top franchises today were mostly not created by AAA game publishers. Games like Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, Candy Crush, Clash Royale, DOTA2 etc. were all created by independent studios with full access to distribution. Overall this, imo, is a good thing for the industry but does put AAA publishers, in a precarious spot moving forward. AAA publishers are milking their top franchises but struggling to refill their portfolio of hit franchises, most AAA publishers are riding the success of franchises created 10+ years ago.
Microsoft’s answer to this is Game Pass, not out of the goodness of its heart but because it sees a new platform it can scale to feed the financial growth demanded by investors. “Our goal is to find a way to both grow our subscription (which is our new platform) and help the AAA publishers build towards a successful future,” Spencer writes. “For publishers with 2-3 scale franchises that’s a difficult transition. Again, taking a clue from Hollywood, it’s not clear how a standalone subscale media publisher grows is this world without adapting to new paradigms or getting consolidated but we believe we can help a Take2 by increasing monetizable [total addressable market] across more endpoints inside of a global platform like Xbox Game Pass (inclusive of xCloud).”
The suggestion here is that the type of game that can thrive on a subscription service is either a small one that benefits from better curation and visibility or a live-service one that can make up revenue on the backend by charging all the new players microtransactions (the new store shelves are inside the games themselves). That’s also a pretty grim assessment, and probably part of the reason Sony has repeatedly said that bringing its big first-party exclusive games like Spider-Man 2 and The Last of Us to its competing PS Plus service day-and-date would cripple the economics of blockbuster production.
Spencer’s email was written over three years ago at this point, and was aimed largely at trying to summarize the current state of the industry for his bosses. We can see how things have played out since, though. Take-Two, Ubisoft, and Electronic Arts have decided to collaborate with Game Pass, and EA Play is now part of the service. Microsoft, meanwhile, gobbled up ZeniMax (including Bethesda Game Studios), and is now on the cusp of doing the same with subscription holdouts Activision Blizzard. All while smaller competitors like Embracer go into a tailspin.
It’s not clear who the big publisher model was serving after physical games died, outside of the richly compensated CEOs and occasional shareholder buybacks. But it’s also not yet clear that whatever replaces them will serve anyone—developers, players, fans—any better.
You can see the email exchange in its entirety below:
