Welcome to, The RoundUp! This is our news post summarizing the past month in PC gaming, PC tech and new Thermaltake products. On today’s RoundUp for April: a ton of COVID-19 games updates, the ESRB clarifies the labeling for lootboxes on games, and we cover the leaked specs for Intel’s upcoming 10th Gen CPU’s. All that and more, in this month’s RoundUp for April.
GAMES RELEASED
April was a relatively quiet month in new releases for the PC. The remake of Residential Evil 3 for PC came out on the 3rd of April. The long awaited Wastelanders expansion for Fallout 76 released on April 14. The spin off Gears of War game, Gears Tactics, launched on the 28th of April. And lastly, the PC release for the remastered Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 campaign launched on April 30.
GENERAL GAMES NEWS
COVID-19 Games Updates
The cancellation of E3 2020 left many wondering if the expo had much of a future. But it seems it does! E3 2021 will run from June 15th to June 17th next year. They are still looking at some sort of online presence for 2020, however with many companies looking at holding their own online exhibitions, this may not come to fruition.[1]
The Steam Game Festival is now running from the 8th to the 14th of June, 2020. It will feature demos, live presentations and more. No other specific details have been revealed.[2]
Cyberpunk 2077 will not be delayed again. CEO Adam Kiciński stated that despite COVID-19, “Our plans haven’t changed—we’re steaming towards the September release of Cyberpunk”[3]
Gamescom is officially cancelled. However, unlike E3, they quickly stated that an online event will be happening. They will be refunding all purchased tickets automatically, and releasing more information in the coming weeks in terms of the online event.[4]
PAX West is still planning to go ahead in September. Running from September 4th to 7th it seems for now they are playing it by ear and waiting for confirmation from the WHO, as to whether they need to cancel.[5]
And lastly, the latest game to be affected by COVID-19 is the PC port of Death Stranding. The game is now due for a July 14 release. This is due to Kojima Productions having to work from home, and causing a delay in the development of the PC port.[6]
Upcoming Games News
Obsidian’s survival game Grounded is confirmed for release in July. The game shrinks you to a tiny size (think George Shrinks style), and you must survive in a surprisingly very large and deadly backyard.[7] Not a whole bunch more has been said about the game, but it looks incredibly creative.
The next episode in Supermassive’s Dark Pictures Anthology is coming this Summer (so Winter for us!). Its successful predecessor Man of Medan, left many wondering if there would be more to the series, and now Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope is officially on the way! [8]
It looks like there might be a new Crysis game after all! After an April Fools joke by Crytek, a week later they published a cryptic tweet reading, “Receiving Data”.[9] If there is a new installment in Crysis, let’s just hope our tech has finally reached a point where we will actually be able to run it!
While not an official confirmation, the recent Final Fantasy 7 remake hints at a potential PC version. It turns out that the trailer game play was captured on PC. This could mean that there is indeed a version of this game working on PC, however whether it will actually release is unknown.[10]
SEGA have dashed some hopes recently. A PC listing for Persona 5 appeared on Amazon France, leading many to hope that the exclusive PS4 game might be coming to PC. But, sadly, Sega confirmed it was an error.[11]
Finally, a new Assassin’s Creed game is on the way! Assassins Creed: Valhalla’s trailer debuted on April 30 at 8am PT. The game will be released in the holiday season of 2020. Check out the trailer here if you haven’t seen it yet!
General Games Related News
The Outer Wilds has won the BAFTA’s Best Game award. The Indie game, while not cleaning up at prior awards shows, earned 3 awards. On top of this, other Indie Game Disco Elysium, also got 3 awards. Surprisingly, both Control and Death Stranding, only received one award each.[12]
Apex: Legends has confirmed that they will never have a permanent solos mode. Community manager EA_David, claims solos negatively impacts the game, especially in relation to new player retention.[13]
COD: Warzone has taken an interesting attitude with how to handle cheaters. They will be placing suspected cheaters, in matches together![14]
In some sadder news, this April saw the loss of a number of prominent figures in the gaming industry.
The voice actor of Soldier in Team Fortress 2, Rick May, has sadly passed away. His death was reportedly due to COVID-19.[15]
Then the creator of one of the first computer games also passed away. John Horton Conway was a mathematician, and created the well known mathematics based game, Game of Life. He died at 82, due also to contracting COVID-19.[16]
Original voice actor of Leon Kennedy in the original Resident Evil 1, also passed away. Paul Haddad was only 56 years of age.[17]
CONTROVERSIAL NEWS
Activision was sued in 2017 for the use of Humvee’s in Call of Duty. The suit was finally dismissed this year, after finding that the cars use is artistically relevant to the realism of the game.[18]
During an Overwatch League match, 2 pro players were fined $1000 for the use of inappropriate language. Jung-won Mun, aka ‘Lastro’, and Dong-jun ‘Rascal’ Kim, were caught using some playful language during general match chat, which was actually being broadcast to the entire world.[19]
The popular new battle royale Call of Duty: Warzone, hit some turbulence this past month. The game introduced a Quads mode with their new third season, which caused quite an unexpected stir as this mode replaced Trios. Many were angry with this choice, still wanting the option for Trios.[20] But two days later, their wish was granted! Activision announced that Trios would be returning again, alongside of the new Quads.[21] And ON TOP of this, in the last update for April, the game brought in a new form of bounty and everyone got angry… again. Of course, the player base are now demanding for the original bounty system returned. [22]
Victory for loot box haters! The ESRB have finally adjusted their very vague labeling of physical games which offer loot boxes. Now the label will read: “In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)”. Prior to this, the label had been quite vague, covering things like season passes and soundtracks, which weren’t really the target message for the label.[23]
TECH NEWS
With many of us working from home lately, Zoom has seen a big increase of users. But experts are concerned. They state that, for example, the vulnerabilities in Zoom’s security could lead to malicious third parties gaining access to user’s webcams.[24]
It looks like the highly anticipated DDR5 memory kits might be on the horizon. SK Hynix have announced they will be mass producing DDR5 memory at some point in 2020. Sadly, us actually using it though, will depend on when Intel or AMD actually begin to support the RAM.[25]
This month saw the announcement of Intel’s 10th Gen gaming laptop CPU’s. [26] Atop of this, specs for their upcoming desktop CPU’s were leaked. The Comet Lake S specs are looking pretty promising, with up to 10 cores and 20 threads.[27]
Firefox has lost its spot as second most popular browser to Microsoft Edge. While still a long way off of Google Chromes dominant spot at number 1, Microsoft Edge has jumped up a lot from number 4 last year.[28]
AVerMedia have announced a new external capture card that can support 4K. The card does require a Thunderbolt 3 port, which not all PCs have sadly, and it does cost around $449. It does boast an ultra-low latency pass-through, and can also capture 1440p gaming at 144fps.[29]
Facebook has launched an app version of their streaming platform Facebook Gaming. While Facebook Gaming has existed in browser form for many years, the app now means people can watch on the go. You can also stream Facebook games directly from the app.[30]
In AMD news, it looks like they are still on track for the launch of their Zen 3 CPU and RDNA 2 GPUs, towards the end of 2020. CEO Dr. Lisa Su has issued that despite the global pandemic, they are still aiming for their planned release, and that they have adapted to the change in their global operations in line with the pandemic.[31]
THERMALTAKE NEWS
This past April saw the release of a few new items from us there at Thermaltake! First, came our gorgeous new compact S100 Micro case, in both black and white. We also released a brand new AIO, the stunning TH120 and TH240.
Here on the blog, there has been some awesome fun posts in the last month! We gave you guys some Working from Home Tips for those who have recently started working from home. On top of this, we also wrote some lists of games to play while stuck in isolation, as well as list some underrated games that deserve more love. Lastly, we made a post about starting your very own podcast, just like we did!
Over on the YouTube channel, our editor Justin made an awesome new editing rig, while Jono and Nick created another stunning Dream Build. Also, Jono taught everyone about the different types of Rigid tube fittings. And lastly, we answered some common PC Tech questions for beginners!
Also, remember to check out our podcast Thermal Talk! We will 100% be continuing to make this (albeit recording it from our respective homes) during the lock down. So, for some A grade lock down entertainment, check out the audio versions a week early on Spotify, SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts.
SOURCES [1] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/e3-2021-dates-announced-but-theres-still-no-word-about-the-2020-online-experience/ [2] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/the-steam-game-festival-is-coming-back-on-the-day-e3-wouldve-started/ [3] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/cyberpunk-2077-remains-on-track-for-september-cd-projekt-says/ [4] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/gamescom-is-definitely-going-digital-as-germanys-ban-on-large-gatherings-is-extended/ [5] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/pax-west-is-still-being-planned-for-september/ [6] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/death-stranding-has-been-delayed-on-pc-until-july/ [7] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/obsidians-shrunken-survival-game-grounded-is-coming-in-july/ [8] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/the-dark-pictures-anthology-little-hope-is-coming-this-summer/ [9] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/a-new-crysis-is-almost-certainly-happening/ [10] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/final-fantasy-7-remake-trailer-hints-at-pc-version/ [11] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/sega-says-persona-5-listing-for-pc-on-amazon-france-is-an-error/ [12] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/outer-wilds-wins-best-game-at-the-2020-bafta-game-awards/ [13] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/apex-legends-wont-get-permanent-solos-mode-because-it-negatively-impacted-the-game/ [14] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/call-of-duty-warzone-cheaters-will-be-forced-to-play-together/ [15] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/rick-may-voice-of-the-soldier-in-team-fortress-2-dies/ [16] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/john-conway-creator-of-important-mathematical-simulation-game-of-life-has-died/ [17] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/paul-haddad-voice-of-leon-kennedy-in-the-original-resident-evil-2-has-died/ [18] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/judge-rules-that-call-of-duty-can-have-humvees-in-it-because-games-are-art/ [19] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/overwatch-pros-fined-dollar1000-for-talking-about-big-dick-in-chat/ [20] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/call-of-duty-warzone-replaces-trios-mode-with-quads-and-not-everyone-is-happy-about-it/ [21] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/call-of-duty-warzone-replaces-trios-mode-with-quads-and-not-everyone-is-happy-about-it/ [22] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/call-of-duty-warzone-has-quietly-dropped-bounties-and-players-are-not-happy-about-it/ [23] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/esrb-adds-a-new-warning-label-for-loot-boxes/ [24] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/security-experts-call-zoom-a-privacy-disaster/ [25] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/ddr5-memory-enters-mass-production-this-year-paving-the-way-to-8400mbps-kits/ [26] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/intel-officially-releases-its-10th-gen-h-series-mobile-cpus/ [27] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/here-are-the-confirmed-specs-for-intels-next-gen-gaming-cpus/ [28] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/the-edge-browser-is-now-more-popular-than-firefox/ [29] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/the-first-external-capture-card-to-support-4k-hdr-at-60fps-and-1080p-at-240fps-is-here/ [30] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/facebook-has-launched-a-twitch-style-gaming-app/ [31] https://www.pcgamer.com/au/amd-zen-3-cpu-rdna-2-gpu-on-track-late-2020/
