Mortal Kombat reborn, Sponge washing, and more in last week's revealed newsletter.
Mortal Kombat Revival
This week Neverealms dropped a new reboot that tells a new story that doesn't follow up from Mortal Kombat 11. According to series co-creator, Ed Boon, the Mortal Kombat 1 takes place at the start of a new universe. As Ed Boon puts it, "This is really an 'at the beginning of a universe,' in a sense, and it is not a continuation of the Mortal Kombat 11 story. And the characters have completely different roles in this new timeline. And we really wanted to kind of punctuate that and really, really emphasize that with our title."
The trailer only depicted a CG look at the upcoming game, so fans will have to wait just a bit longer to see the game in action. However they won't have to wait long the game drops on September 19th for Xbox Series X| S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Those who wish to play early will be able to take part in a closed beta only on current-gen consoles (sorry, Nintendo Switch and PC players) in August with no confirmed date.
Power Wash Simulator Adds SpongeBob SquarePants
Are ya ready, kids? If nautical nonsense with cleaning bliss is something you wish, then drop Power Wash Simulator back on your Deck and clean off a fish in this new SpongeBob SquarePants Bikini Bottom DLC. Developer FuturLab teased the collaboration on their YouTube channel with a vague Summer 2023 release time frame. This is after their collaboration with both Final Fantasy VII (probably thanks to their publisher, Square-Enix), and Lara Croft's Manor from Tomb Raider 2 and 3 (a franchise previously owned by Square-Enix before selling to Embracer Group last May).
Overwatch 2 Cancels Promised PVE Campaign
The main attraction of Overwatch 2 was the promise of a PVE mode that would provide a campaign that would tell a story, unlike Overwatch 1's disjointed PVE stories that were used as holiday specials for the most part. While PVE modes are still technically coming, the campaigns will be more in line with short stories that were time-limited until the events ended such as the Uprising and Retribution events.
This is disappointing as fans paid a premium for early access through the deluxe edition. A campaign that effectively was advertised but now won't be delivered as originally conceived. This news only further solidifies the fears of fans that Overwatch 2 is a glorified patch for Overwatch 1, regardless of the improved engine built specifically to handle cutscenes the campaign was meant to offer. Other controversial feature changes included switching from 6v6 to 5v5 players, and an initially pricey cost for skins that had to be reworked.
You can read more on the interview conducted by GameSpot with Overwatch 2's Aaron Keller and Jared Neuss over at GameSpot.
Valve has Lawsuits Incoming
Immersion, a company that patented vibration technology in the 90s has filed lawsuits with Meta (Facebook), Apple, Nintendo, and Sony– to the point where PlayStation 3 controllers didn't include rumble features until two years after the PS3 launched, has found a new victim to bully. Valve is the newest target specifically for the Steam Deck and Valve Index VR platform, but not the Steam Controller.
A 2021 court decision alleged that Steam is a monopoly of a computer gaming store and alleged that Valve uses its monopoly standing to pressure publishers and customers into using Steam. The Steam Subscriber Agreement prohibits Class Action lawsuits, but the court agreed consumers have the right to sue through arbitration. Two websites, steamclaims.com run by Zaiger, LLC, and steamrefund.com website run by Mason, LLP are seeking to recruit and represent customers of Steam who seek compensation through a mass arbitration tactic. In relation to this lawsuit, the game publisher Wolfire Games is seeking to sue Valve for its monopolistic pressure into publishing games on Steam as well.
Read more on the lawsuits here.
Giveaways
