Get Your Game On: Andromeda Romances and No More Alan Wake

Happy Wednesday! What games have you been enjoying lately? I’ve been neglecting Horizon Zero Dawn and Final Fantasy XV the past few weeks, but I got Nier: Automata and am excited to start it. Are there any upcoming releases you’re looking forward to? Let us know in the comments! Here’s news and interesting links that have been on our radar this week:

Everything you love is leaving you

Many of us have been (happily) losing sleep/productivity due to Mass Effect: Andromeda. It might come as a bummer, then, to hear that BioWare is not working on new Mass Effect content as urgently as we would like. BioWare transferred a number of its employees at BioWare Montreal, which was the developer of Mass Effect: Andromeda, to work on Star Wars Battlefront II. Those who remain will work on other BioWare games, but not the next Mass Effect game.

Speaking of ME: Andromeda, there was a bug that allowed the player to romance both Cora and Peebee, or both Vetra and Peebee. Unfortunately, BioWare is releasing a patch to fix it. What do you think of the romance options in ME: Andromeda?

The game that I’ve never played that’s most referenced by fans of a show I’ve never watched (Twin Peaks) has left us. Alan Wake is no longer available from Steam or the Xbox Games Store due to a music licensing issue.

Square Enix is parting ways with the developers of the Hitman franchise. No word yet on what that will mean for the future of the franchise.

New releases

• Injustice 2 is out this week on PS4 and Xbox One.
• If you play The Elder Scrolls Online, you know Bethesda has been dropping hints about its Morrowind add-on for a long time. Now we finally have dates, and they’re soon! TESO: Morrowind is out on May 22 for existing players and June 6 for new players.
• Uniqlo has a new line of fan-designed tshirts featuring Nintendo game franchises.

Tidbits

• A survey of esports viewers of five games (League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Overwatch, and Hearthstone) found that 42% don’t play the games they watch. Interestingly, Overwatch is the game with the most respondents who play it but don’t watch it.
• Did you know Doom was adapted into a tabletop game?
• A new Thief game is in the works.
• The next Dynasty Warriors game doesn’t have a release date yet, but it will be open world.
• A poignant read: Kate Gray shares her thoughts on romantic dialogue in Night in the Woods, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Ladykiller in a Bind.
• A thing we didn’t know is a thing: some people will play Overwatch with you, and even coach you in it, for pay.
• Girls Make Games is hosting a summer camp in July for middle school and high school age girls at Sony’s offices in San Mateo. The camp will focus on how to design, program, and publish games. Do you know of similar game development educational opportunities for youth? Let us know so we can feature them in future news.
• May 26th has been set aside by Twitch as #TwitchUnity, a site-wide holiday event celebrating inclusivity and diversity.

I love this interview of Ashly Burch by Janina Gavankar. Burch talks about the pressure of portraying Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn, how she relates with Chloe’s experiences in Life is Strange, and more.

Finally, an ICYMI thing for The Last of Us fans:

Draven Katayama

Writer at Sidequest and WWAC; past: Newsarama, Comicosity, executive editor of Kollaboration. I’ve watched over 200 hours of Life is Strange playthroughs. Talk to me about LiS, The Last of Us, and the games and fandoms you love! Twitter: @loudlysilent