What would Shadow of the Colossus have been like as an online game? Will Civilization 7 finally be good before its one-year anniversary? And what lesson will publishers relying on game key cards for Switch 2 take from Pokémon Legends: Z-A‘s juggernaut physical sales? It’s the latest edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s daily roundup of gaming news and culture. Are you brave enough to spend a night in the Xbox haunted house? The prices keep going up and the games keep leaving.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A had the biggest physical launch since Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
That’s with around 6 million copies sold globally, according to Circana. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom sold 10 million copies at launch despite being Nintendo’s first $70 game, with millions of those being physical copies as well despite the overall shift to digital games in recent years. At the time, the 2023 Switch hit pushed “new physical video game software spending” to its highest May total since May 2014.
This tells us what we’ve already known: some franchises can still buck the trend when it comes to the disappearance of physical games, especially on Nintendo’s platforms. But the question remains: are controversial Switch 2 game key cards a way to satisfy that same demand, or a clumsy band-aid the company’s better ripping off sooner rather than later?
Call of Duty is still trying to rain on Battlefield 6‘s parade
Black Ops 6 multiplayer and Zombies is once again going free from October 28 through November 3. Is that just a fun Halloween treat from Activision, or another attempt to trick players out of engaging with Battlefield‘s latest content drop? The EA competitor’s new, free-to-play battle royale mode is coming later today. Data firm Alinea Analytics projects that Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 has sold under 200,000 pre-order copies so far on Steam, compared to Battlefield 6‘s million pre-orders during the same pre-launch period.
Civilization 7 is still trying to turn the corner
The embattled 4X strategy sequel will get a boost from the addition of a feature players have wanted since launch. Firaxis’ latest status update on the status of its updates says it’s currently testing lots of big changes, including an option to play as the same civilization throughout an entire match. One of the game’s big departures was forcing players to swap during age transitions. It’s by far one of the most unpopular new mechanics. Meanwhile, Tide of Power update 1.3.0 arrives next week with pirates and an overhaul of the game’s sea power dynamics.
Shadow of the Colossus started as an online co-op game because the dev loved Battlefield 1942
Creator Fumito Ueda reflected on the iconic 2005 PS2 game’s legacy in a recent interview with Denfaminico Gamer. “Speaking personally, I used to play Battlefield 1942 a lot at the time,” he said. “I was really impressed by the fact that all the characters on the screen were players, and I felt like, ‘This is the future of gaming.’ I was really drawn to the energy and live feeling of online games, but at the same time, the feeling of excitement and disappointment over winning and losing gradually faded away.”
He continued, “I used to enjoy the excitement of competing against other people, but as I got older, I began to seek a different kind of immersion. This made me reconsider the appeal of single-player games . Video games started out as entertainment where you played against a computer, but the idea of ‘encountering a being that feels alive, even when you’re alone’ became central to my interest.”
Hey Sony, it’s 20 years later, sure, but it’s never too late to throw a couple hundred million at Uedo to make a multiplayer sequel to Shadow of the Colossus.
