5th September video game news round-up
All the news and events in the world of games today.
It's not over yet. Hollow Knight Silksong launched around the world yesterday afternoon and brought gaming storefronts to a standstill. It's out. We're playing it. And now we've had an evening with it, what do we think? And what do you think? Let's see what the game's impact has been.
And note! There's another big game being released today in Cronos: The New Dawn, the new Bloober Team horror. Our Kelsey recommends it.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
This made me laugh this morning. Fellow bug-related video game maker Young Horses, developer of Bugsnax, posted a jokey message to X about how its team were taking the day off to play Silksong. That was yesterday afternoon, though, and I can't imagine they'd return to work on a Friday. If, that is, they're telling the truth. Perhaps it's a ruse! Even so: respect.
Is anyone else taking the day off?
Silksong already surpasses half a million players on Steam
After a mere few hours on sale, Hollow Knight: Silksong has already surpassed half a million concurrent players on Steam. It's the eighteenth most-played game ever, and that's only set to rise over the weekend.
Considering that's just on Steam and the game is also out across Switch consoles, PlayStation and Xbox - not to mention Game Pass - there are a whole load of Silksong players out there.
Are you one of them? What are your thoughts so far?
Even pirates are urging others not to pirate Silksong
Many members on the Piracy subreddit are urging others not to pirate Hollow Knight: Silksong, even though it has already been cracked.
"It's a three to four person team that has done right by their fans at every turn," one user wrote. "This is a time where if we can afford to support them, we should."
Civilization 7 developer announces layoffs
Fireaxis is the latest developer to be affected by layoffs.
According to publisher 2k, these were to optimise "its development process for adaptability, collaboration, and creativity".
Guess whose voice is in Silksong? Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone
It's like films with famous actor-cameos in: Team Cherry has roped the creator of Stardew Valley, Eric Barone, into voicing a character or two in its new game. Brilliantly, the question of who Barone voices remains deliberately unanswered, preserving the mystery for sleuthing in-game.
Mike1980 says: I'm glad I'm not the only one who writes their "What We've Been Playing" post a day or two before (on the few times I feel like I've played enough to do so)
WWBP is no fleeting matter!
2much says: I bounced off Hollow Knight for some reason so felt a bit uneasy going into Silksong. I spent a few hours with it last night plus maybe 45 minutes this morning and I love it so far. Not quite knowing what to do or where to go, dying and losing all my beads, it all gives me a sense of how Dark Souls made me feel the first time round, although I'm not struggling _quite_ as much as I was back then. Lovely game, I'm excited to play more
Dwayneh says: I only got to play about 30 minutes of Silksong but I very much love what I've played so far. The change in 'down' attack is taking a little adjustment (certainly because, at the start, Hornet doesn't attack 'continuously' until she hits the ground - it only has limited range from what I saw).Mainly though, I'm hoping 'Bapanada' makes it into the game somehow. The boy and I still use that as a greeting for one another on a frequent occasions.
themightyant says: Just a couple of hours in and Silksong feels wonderful. More Hollow Knight for sure, but also a bit different. All the same qualities I loved about the first games seem present. I think we're in for a treat. Can't play much this weekend unfortunately. But I also want to savour it.
Some nice reactions this morning!
Dwayneh says: Bertie - you seemed to be one of the first humans to get Silksong yesterday, so you've had it since approx 15:01 on the 4th. I assume there will therefore be a comprehensive EG review by lunchtime?
Fast, wasn't I? That's the sort of reactions I pack. Pow! Blink and you miss me.
Um, having said that, I haven't actually played that much of the game - an hour or two at most. Life got the better of me yesterday. And then I ate a really big jacket potato and couldn't move. It's a true story.
erp says: The headline said EG's impressions, but I can't find them?I'm still finding this new website really confusing to read. :(
They are coming! They do not exist at the moment, so don't worry, you haven't missed anything. We deployed Donlan on Silksong the moment the game arrived, so it's his opinions - and I think review, later - that you'll read.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater surpasses a million sales
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater has surpassed a million sales. That's based on Konami's data from 28th August, the game's launch day, though it was available a couple of days earlier for digital deluxe purchasers.
Let's hope some performance improvements are on the way.
MarcusJ says: @mattevansc3 Midnight Suns was really good too once you got into it. Albeit probably one of the oddest games in the last twenty-five years or so.
I slipped off of this one for no particular reason - I liked what I played! I heard great things about it, too.
Here's a fresh look at Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake, giving an overview of both forthcoming games. They follow the story of Dragon Quest 3, which released last year in HD-2D form.
This pairing will release on 30th October across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC (Steam, Microsoft) and Switch consoles.
Hollow Knight: Silksong Speedrunners have already discovered some neat tricks
Hollow Knight: Silksong Speedrunners are already at it, picking apart the game for tricks and techniques they can use to shave precious time off a hasty run. Within a day, they've discovered a way of moving faster and several skips using aerial attacks.
Hollow Knight: Silksong has an in-game achievement for beating the game in under 5 hours, so expect to see a lot of these tricks and more popping up over the coming weeks.
MarcusJ says: @Rogueywon, I’d be very interested in a Madden point-and-click game!
I would play this too!
Over 50% of video game layoffs have been in California
The Game Business spoke with Game Changers award recipient Amir Satvat about layoffs across the games industry. Satvat stated over 50 percent of video game layoffs have been in California, with North America overall the hardest hit region.
"California AAA is like the epicentre of the difficulty," he said.
So far this year, an estimated 4400 people have been laid off globally in the games industry.
What's this? A good reason for devs to use Switch 2 key cards?
Many of us have a few things to say about the Nintendo Switch 2's controversial game key cards, which don't actually contain game data, but according to Star Wars Outlaws developer Rob Bantin these cards are better for performance in this case.
Bantin further explained Ubisoft's Snowdrop engine "relies heavily on disk streaming for its open world environments", adding they "don't recall the cost of the cards ever entering the discussion - probably because it was moot".
Netflix's Tomb Raider animated series ends with season two
One from last night that I forgot to tuck into the blog this morning (TGIF, am I right?). Anyway, last night Netflix announced that the second season of its animated Tomb Raider series will be its last.
The second season will see Lara joining up with Sam (a character first introduced in 2013's Tomb Raider reboot) to follow a trail of stolen African Orisha masks. Season two is set to arrive on Netflix on 11th December.
Silksong and the the art of paying attention
I am sure we won't keep going on about it (I lie, we probably will), but a little sequel by the name of Hollow Knight: Silksong came out yesterday. Did you hear?
Christian Donlan is one of the many currently playing through the bug-riddled world, and he has already been swept up by the beauty - and attention required - of it all.
"True story: I'm not sleeping brilliantly at the moment. For whatever reason I'm awake and trying to get comfortable at three in the morning, desperate to find a way to keep my eyes shut. But after just one evening playing Silksong, I stepped away from the Switch 2 and realised I was absolutely exhausted," he writes. "All that paying attention! I had put everything into what I'd been doing because the game had asked it of me, because the game had already put everything it had into the experience too. Last night I slept beautifully. And dreamt of caverns, and bugs, and secrets that were hidden beneath my feet."
The Last of Us' Bella Ramsey has a new waxwork figure at Madame Tussauds
You can now find a waxwork figure of Bella Ramsey at Madame Tussauds. Ramsey, who plays Ellie in HBO's The Last of Us TV series, said (via BBC):
"It's so cool to have 21-year-old Bella frozen in time. It's been such a formative year for me, as 21 is for most people, and so to have it represented in the form of a Madame Tussauds figure is a unique honour.
"I want to say thank you to the studio artists for their care, craftsmanship and passion. It's been incredible to be the subject of their work and witness their tenacious attention to the tiniest of detail throughout this process.
"I'm excited for everyone to see the fruits of their labour, and meet me at my stillest."
MindsEye gets fourth update, major improvements still to come
Build A Rocket Boy has released a fourth update for MindsEye, bringing a tweaked user interface and improved performance. A forthcoming fifth update, meanwhile, promises "a major performance, combat and Enemy AI system improvement".
It follows a highly criticised launch of MindsEye, as well as layoffs at the studio.
Check out the full patch notes in our story below.
Playing Silksong? Check out the Eurogamer team's top tips
If you are making your way through Silksong, be sure to check out the Eurogamer team's top tips! We cover the importance of looking down, the reason maps are so darn good and why you should always whack a wall.
Whip your hair back and forth, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has a new update
The Indiana Jones and the Great Circle team has released an update for the base game across platforms which along with enabling compatibility for the Order of Giants DLC, also adds a new action experience difficulty and support for RTX Hair on 50-series Nvidia RTX GPUs. This enables ray-tracing on a characters' barnet and makes it look more realistic.
Scarlet Valkyrie says: I have killed four bosses so far (not dropping any spoilers) and I am having an absolute blast! Figuring out where to go next because there is much yo explore
Show off! But also congratulations.
What the Eurogamer team thinks of the first hours of Silksong
The Eurogamer team has pretty much all been playing Silksong, so the question is, what do we think?
Our familiarity with Hollow Knight ranges. Some people are superfans, whereas others, like me, are experiencing the series for the first time. Does it matter? Will one person see what another person does not? Dom has canvassed the team in the hope of finding it.
This is what we think.
Dwayneh says: Just put this on the Discord - but it's always nice to stir the GoTY pot.At the moment it's wonderful. Same same but different.
It's like putting on a favourite, snuggly jumper that's had a few new flourishes and fancy trim bound to it to make it even more special.
I'm only 90 minutes in but, if it keeps this up.... Clar Obscur has proper competition me thinks
.
Oh that's fighting talk, that is.
I thought Hornet's movement looked familiar! Great games just keep inspiring great games...
And that's a wrap!
Dom here, signing off for the weekend. More features to come on Saturday and Sunday this week (you lucky lot!), but for now I am going to sign off, pop a cap on a beer, and play some more Silksong - I'll more than likely have plenty more thoughts on that one over the coming weeks.
