Your gaming news roundup for July 2017

After multiple reconnaissance missions, back-alley bribes, and a string of other unmentionable activities, we’ve managed to acquire all gaming intelligence that took place within the month of July
2017. The list that follows contains all information our Lord Editor has deemed fit for public consumption.

If you feel there is something that needs to be addressed or lacking from this list, please let us know in the comments section below and we’ll be sure to deal with you- your problem.

GORN by Free Lives makes its way to early access

Cape Town development studio Free Lives (Broforce, Genital Jousting) has added to their catalogue of unique titles in the form of GORN, “the most brutal and savage VR face-smashing game ever produced by man”.

In GORN you will have an arsenal of deadly melee weapons at your disposal (swords, maces, axes, bulky human fists), using them to brutally liquefy (this game is bloody as hell) waves upon waves of “poorly animated” gladiators.

The game features heavily physics-based combat and, as the trailer above so eloquently conveys, will require you to take each swing as you would in reality. GORN hit Steam Early Access earlier this month and will currently set you back R219.

The DOTA 2 International breaks records

Only last year, Valve’s DOTA 2 ‘The International’ tournament raised a record breaking $20.77-million in prize money. This year they topped that record, passing the $20.8-million mark with thirty one days still to spare. At the time of writing this article, the prize pool is at a staggering $22,243,118.

The prize for the original competition, which only launched in 2011, was a cool $1-million… so basically petty peasant change. The prize money is garnered via DOTA 2’s in-game sales, with an additional twenty five percent of The Battle Pass proceeds also being added to the pool.

The International will take place from 7-12 August 2017.

Nintendo Switch Online app breaks cover

Earlier this month Nintendo released its free Android and iOS companion app for the Switch. As the console already boasts an online service, the mobile app focuses on aspects such as voice chat, game invites, and various other features that aim to add more substance to the Switch’s online experience.

Up until the release of Splatoon 2, the app was pretty much useless. Now you have access to SplatNet, Splatoon 2’s game-specific online platform that allows for voice chat, hosts your game stats, etc.

Since its release, the app has received quite a lot of criticism though. Many have expressed their concern for the app’s unreliable and irrational functionality, which requires you to write a billion- page thesis on the meaning of life, fight off an alien invasion and cook a three course meal before you can even use think of using voice chat.

Add to that the fact that, once you’ve completed the abovementioned objectives, any other apps that launch while the voice chat is active (this includes a phone call) will disconnect you from the
chat.

Inside dev announces Somerville

Dino Patti, former CEO and co-founder of Playdead Games, the development studio behind the highly acclaimed Limbo and Inside, announced his new game Somerville earlier this month. The trailer for the upcoming title is rather cryptic but the developers say the game “chronicles the lives of key individuals in the wake of a global catastrophe”.

This announcement came a year after Patti decided to leave Playdead to, among other things, form a new UK-based studio, Jumpship Games (Somerville developers), together with Chris Olsen, a “seasoned feature film animator turned developer”.

Judging by Patti’s previous titles and Olsen’s skillset (he has worked on films such as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Thor and Edge of Tomorrow), we can expect quite a unique and polished game.

Layers of Fear dev releasing new cyberpunk game soon

Blooper Team, the Polish devs behind the horror masterpiece, Layers of Fear, will be releasing their  latest title next month, The Observer.

It is set in 2084 in a world run by massive corporations. You play as Detective Dan Lasarski, an Observer, who is tasked with hacking into the minds of criminals to view their memories and witness their crimes, first-hand.

The game does not only heavily draw influence from the 1982 cyberpunk classic, Bladerunner, but has even cast Rutger Hauer, the film’s notorious villain, to voice our protagonist.

The studio’s previous game, Layers of Fear, still remains one of my all-time favourite games (you can read my review here). If that is anything to go by, The Observer is certainly something to keep an eye on.

The Observer is set to be released on 15 August, 2017.