Get Your Game On: Geguri’s Overwatch League Debut Delayed, Tomb Raider Barbie

Happy Wednesday! What games have you been obsessed with lately? I started playing Sniper Elite 4 (with the gore animations turned off), which has a sneaking/stealth emphasis similar to the parts of Hitman when you’re not in disguise. It’s very challenging, but if you love sneaking in games like The Last of Us, you’ll love Sniper Elite 4. I also started Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5, and I am still playing Night in the Woods for the first time.

Let us know what you’re playing in the comments or on Twitter! Here’s some of the news and links we’ve been thinking about this week.

Geguri and Other Players’ Overwatch League Debut Delayed By Visa Issues

Overwatch League begins a new stage of competition this week. Unfortunately, Geguri and three other Korean players who’ve signed with the Shanghai Dragons will not be able to play yet due to visa application times. The United States’ notoriously vexatious visa application process is also hurting the Florida Mayhem, who’ve signed two Korean players.

Tomb Raider Barbie Releases in March

There’s a Tomb Raider Barbie available for pre-order now.

Firewatch IRL

Firewatch released two years ago this month. Here’s a personal story from one Firewatch player who is 14 years old and became a real-life forest fire lookout.

All Our Asias, a free game about Asian American identity and a dying parent

All Our Asias is a new game that’s available for free on Steam. It explores Asian American identity, responding to a dying parent, and memories.

New Rainbow Six Siege content in March

Rainbow Six Siege will update on March 6th with new content to mark its third year of play.

Updated free games for Xbox Live Gold subscribers

If you’re an Xbox Live Gold subscriber, here’s an updated list of games you can play for free.

More links

• The Hearthstone World Championship finals were held in Amsterdam last month. Here’s a look at five impressive plays by some of the world’s top players.
• If you’ve played Life is Strange: Before the Storm, you’ll love this in-depth discussion by Fake Geek Girls, a podcast by Merri and Sidequest’s own editor-in-chief Missy. The podcast episode looks at Chloe, Rachel, and Max’s queer relationships; class issues surrounding Joyce, Drew, and Mikey; Nathan, David, and Eliot’s toxic masculinity; and more.
• The Xbox One S is currently on sale at various outlets for $230 until March 3rd.
• YouTube channel TGN imagined Overwatch as a Street Fighter-style fighting game.

• Civilization VI has a new expansion: Rise and Fall.
• A modder has modded Prison Architect to show the realities of Soviet Union gulags.
• Speedruns of the original Super Mario Bros. game are setting new record times mere milliseconds faster than previous records.
• The developers of Fortnite sued two players for cheating. One of the players is 14 years old.
• KupoCon is a con specifically for Final Fantasy fans. Check out all of this cosplay!

Sad Links

• A game dev wrote about the online harassment, including death threats, that game devs receive.
• An announced remake of System Shock received $1.3 million via Kickstarter two years ago, but is now on “hiatus.”

Upcoming Releases

• Metal Gear Survive releases on February 20th for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
• Here’s a list of games releasing in February and March.
• A new game based on the Alien cinematic universe is in development. No release date information yet.
• Mavericks is a new game set to release in full in 2019, with a battle royale mode (titled Proving Grounds) available in 2018. The developers are advertising the game as supporting a 400-player battle royale multiplayer environment.

Games Bleat

Welcome to Games Bleat! This is the part of the week where you can set aside the existential reality of your mortality and look forward to all the new games you’re gonna be playing this week! I’m Joesph, your gaming aruspex, and I’ve been shoveling duck entrails all night to find you the hottest deals for this week.

PC

• The Little Acre $3.89
• Sundered $13.39
• Dropsy $2.49
• Serial Cleaner $5.99
• Antihero $9.89
• Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes $3.39
• Crossing Souls $11.99
• Stardew Valley $9.99
• Papers, Please $4.99
• Obduction $14.99
• Gorogoa $13.49
• Starbound $9.99
• Rogue Legacy $2.99

PlayStation

• Nier: Automata $24.99
• Crossing Souls $11.99

Xbox

• Destiny 2 $19.99
• Prey $19.99

Nintendo

• Flame in the Flood $7.49
• Jotun: Valhalla Edition $4.99
• Puzzle Box Maker $11.99
• Wheels of Aurelia $5.99
• Serial Cleaner $7.49

I had to follow the upper digestive tract of a horse for the greater part of an hour to find the bezoar that predicted these new releases. Hitting Steam, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch is Aegis Defenders, a GORGEOUS combination action platformer and tower defense.

New to itch.io is a narrative mystery game set in 1924 San Francisco called A Case of Distrust.

Along the same vein is Miss Fisher and the Deathly Maze, a game based on the hit Australian murder mystery series.

For those looking to get into the more systemic aspects of human interaction, there’s Eco, a Minecraft-esque game about ecological preservation and economic relationships. Sidequest is starting a series of game diaries describing our experiences in Eco for those interested!

Finally, hitting Kickstarter is In Other Waters, a gorgeous-looking game about a xenobiologist exploring an alien ocean. It hasn’t yet released a stable build, but there’s a demo for those who want to try it before you consider backing.

And that’s it for this weeks bleat! I hope you found something here to relieve the eternal sense of entrapment that comes with late capitalism. I’ll catch you next week!