It’s Friday and that means one thing - it’s time for another installment of Industry Intel, EarlyGame’s short-and-sweet recap of the business side of video games. This week we’ve got three things to talk about: cash, dough, and moh-neey!
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Breaks Records
The Vikings went plundering came back with longships full of riches! Assassin’s Creed Valhalla reportedly doubled the already massively success of its 2018 predecessor Odyssey.
The engagement of YouTube and Twitch viewers is also at an all-time high for the French company. With the new console generation right around the corner, the Viking game is yet to make a big portion of its sales, so with a strong start like this, things are indeed looking good.
Fortnite Is Considering A Subscription Service?
Looks like Epic Games is considering offering a monthly service for Fortnite players, judging by the surveys they sent out recently. They were probing interest for subscription options ranging from $5 to $16 per month, offering 1000 V-Bucks, a subscriber-exclusive skin set, and the current season’s battle pass.
Initial reactions by the community seem to be receptive to the idea. Epic is not exactly low on cash, but the ongoing Apple lawsuit is sure to drain a sensible chunk of their seemingly endless supply.
Apex Legends Addresses Grind Complaints
Speaking of Battle Royales, Apex Legends has been facing some backlash due to its Season 7 feeling too repetitive and grindy. Developer Respawn Entertainment has promised to reduce the XP requirements for leveling up, allowing people to, y’know, actually unlock stuff.
The company has received the same complaints before, but this time the grind feels too heavy, and some accusations were thrown that that’s a deliberate action to encourage in-game purchases after the release of the long-awaited Steam version.
Oh, Sony...
Some curious PS5 behind-the-scenes news was recently shared with the public. Apparently, the shiny new console was supposed to be even bigger before it settled on its final design. In addition, Sony was playing with the idea of setting the prices even higher than the final $70, which is very telling.
In more recent news, the console won’t support expandable SSD on launch. According to the company, such a feature is “reserved for a future update”, so if you’re one of the gamers who can even get one on the launch, prepare to be limited to about 664GB of reported space that comes inside the box.
For more industry news and video game information, keep reading EarlyGame!
