Get Your Game On: Overwatch Summer Games, New Twitch Categories, Discord Store

Happy Wednesday! What are you playing lately? I finished Lifeline 2, a choice-driven text adventure for iOS and Android. You assist a magician searching for her missing brother and seeking to avenge her parents. I’ve also been playing GTA V story mode and enjoying new content that’s available after you buy certain properties. As Franklin, after you buy Downtown Cab Co., you pick up occasional fares who take you on brief, entertaining side trips. If you like underwater exploring, purchase the Sonar Collections Dock, and you’ll access a small submarine vessel that lets you explore hundreds of feet below the surface and see sharks and whales up close.

Here’s some news we’ve been thinking about this week!

Overwatch Summer Games

Overwatch‘s annual summer games event is back! Running from August 9 to August 30, the event includes a few new skins, a new Lúcioball arena, and summer gear from previous years.

D.Va has a new skin, Waveracer D.Va:

Ana also has a cool new Cabana Ana skin.

New Twitch Categories

Twitch announced new categories and tags coming in mid-September. IRL and Creative will no longer exist as categories.

Of particular interest to many Sidequest readers is that we finally have a Tabletop RPGs category! Previously Twitch only had a D&D category, which made it harder for streamers and viewers to share and find the content they wanted. ASMR and Food & Drink, two categories that often populated the IRL category, also will have their own categories.

Discord Store

Discord announced they will have their own game store. In addition to a selection of recommended games, Discord will also feature “First on Discord” indie games that will be temporarily exclusive to the Discord marketplace. This opens up more competition to Steam, which many developers and customers have been wary of in recent months for its sudden and inconsistent removal of some games.

Not-for-Profit Game Developers Face Challenges

Did you know platform holders like Microsoft, Sony, Valve, GOG, and Nintendo do not currently allow for non-profit games? Here’s how one developer, Glitch, has encountered obstacles due to non-profit tax status and related issues. 

New Details about Fallout 76

Bethesda announced more details about Fallout 76 at QuakeCon this past weekend. Of note, there will be a bounty system when you kill other human players, including a revenge system that offers double payout. Fallout 76 releases on November 14, but a multiplayer beta will release in October.

Also, Fallout 76 won’t be available on Steam at launch. 

VR Spinoffs for Prey and Wolfenstein

At QuakeCon, Arkane shared details about Prey: Typhon Hunter, a VR experience that will release later this summer to purchasers of the Mooncrash DLC for Prey. Prey: Typhon Hunter will be a puzzle-driven, escape-the-room experience.

MachineGames’ Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot is a VR spinoff shooter that will release in 2019.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Gameplay Revealed

Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming on October 26th from Rockstar Games. The studio released a gameplay reveal last week.

Sexism at Riot Games

Last week’s Get Your Game On noted Cecilia D’Anastasio’s must-read reporting on Riot Games’ sexism. Here’s one former employee speaking out about advocating for coworkers.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider Releases in September

Shadow of the Tomb Raider releases on September 14th. Sydnee Goodman at IGN played the latest demo and wrote about what we should expect.

More News Tidbits:

• Doom Eternal has a gameplay reveal! It doesn’t have a release date yet, but it will be for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate releases on December 7th, exclusive to the Switch. It will feature over 100 stages plus a new “stage morph” feature, allowing battles to span different stages. 
• The hosts of The Polygon Show will be live at Flame Con on Saturday, August 18, at 12:30 PM. 
• Here’s a list of new games that are out this week, as well as later in August.

Games Bleat

Welcome to Games Bleat! I’m Kael, your local priest to the gods of the gaming harvest, and I’m here to foretell the portents of games and sales to come.

First in new games this week is City of the Shroud, an action RPG about being in the wrong place at the right time. Players are trapped in a city filled with monsters, and must navigate their way through a tricky civil war. The developers promise that player’s choices through the first episode will affect the future of the series, but I don’t trade in promises. What’s there for sure is a fun looking game with an interesting hook, and you’ll have to try it out for more.

Next is Deiland. Aesthetically based off of The Little Prince, Deiland looks like a fun take on Harvest Moon style games. The player builds and farms their tiny planet, terraforming it to their taste, before setting off into the unknown of space to explore and make friends. My take is that it looks really cute and relaxing, and could be a good No Man’s Sky for those that find the latter too involved.

Death’s Gambit is a game I’ve been waiting YEARS for. I first saw it at Adult Swim’s PAX 2016 showcase, and it has only managed to get more entrancing ever since. The player takes the role of one of Death’s agents in the world, taking down immortals in a medieval fantasy setting. It’s gorgeous, has a heavy focus on customization, and pushes the player with challenging difficulty. I’m sure it’ll be infuriating, and sometimes that’s exactly what I need.

Finally there’s Pendula Swing, a fresh take on fantasy settings that I can’t wait to dig my thumbs into. It follows a former dwarven hero who’s forced out of retirement to investigate the disappearance of an important artifact. Also it takes place in the 1920s, and looks to tackle the prejudices of the era through the lens of fantasy. That doesn’t always work out too well (looking at you Fantastic Beasts), but I’m excited to see an honest attempt!

PC Undertale $4.99 To the Top [VR] $9.99 I Expect You to Die [VR] $14.99

PlayStation Dragon Age: Inquisition – Game of the Year Edition $9.99 Mass Effect Andromeda $7.43 Alice: Madness Returns $4.99 Forgotton Anne $15.99 (check out our review!) Assemblance Bundle $9.09

And that’s it for the bleat! I’m off to go pray for a next week’s harvest, come back then to catch some more GYGO goodness.