News Picks/Weekly Round-up from Auryn Cox @Ciaran’s Customs

Cyberpunk2077 Backlash

CD Projekt Red, the studio behind Cyberpunk2077, announced earlier this week that it would be offering refunds after many players complained about the game’s poor performance on consoles.

The highly anticipated game which launched last week was met by numerous complaints by users, mainly console players, reporting bugs and poor visual performance.

In a statement the studio gave via Twitter they told customers “First of all, we would like to start by apologizing to you for not showing the game on base last-gen consoles before it premiered and, in consequence, not allowing you to make a more informed decision about your purchase. We should have paid more attention to making it play better on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.”

CD Projekt Red also stated that they will improve the game and fix the bugs and crashes, with the first update coming in a few days and subsequent patches coming in January and February.

The studio pointed customers to Sony and Microsoft for refunds on digital copies of the game. However, many customers have since reported that Sony and Microsoft have been denying their refund requests. Gamers trying to get their physical copies refunded have encountered similar problems.

In the statement it mentioned an email address customers could use if they were turned down for a refund by a retailer, helpmerefundrdcdprojektred.com. "We will do our best to help you," the company said. But it is unclear exactly what help CD Projekt Red can offer, with refunds ultimately at the behest of customer service staff from shops.

Despite the backlash from fans, the studio made a profit on day one even after eight years of development and marketing thanks to pre orders.

Update: Sony has since unlisted cyberpunk2077 from its digital stores and is offering refunds to players.

Original Devs may be returning for the next Mass Effect game

Some of the original developers who worked on the acclaimed Mass Effect trilogy have returned to BioWare to work on the latest entry to the series.

Following a teaser trailer for the game, showcased during the 2020 Game awards, BioWare’s creative director Michael Gamble took to twitter to tell fans about some of the people working on the game.

In the series of tweets gamble confirmed that Dusty Everman, Parrish Ley, Brendon Holmes, and Derek Watts have all returned to BioWare.

These names will be familiar to fans of the Mass Effect series. For instance, Derek Watts was the original art director of the series, while Dusty Everman was an original designer, and Parrish Ley was the cinematic director on the original trilogy, while Brendon holmes has worked on all three of the original trilogy titles.

BioWare said when the new Mass Effect was announced in November that a "veteran team" was working on it, and that certainly seems to be the case.

Among Us is out on Nintendo Switch

Among Us, the breakout indie hit from developers Innersloth is out now on Nintendo Switch.

The news was announced during a special indie game-focused Nintendo Direct. The game will feature crossplay allowing Nintendo switch users to play alongside PC and mobile players.

Players on the Switch were also able to get early access to the games new unreleased map thanks to a glitch.

The Airship map, which was first teased back in November was properly revealed during the 2020 game awards. It’s now known that the upcoming map will be added to the game properly in early 2021.

According to a video by ProsafiaGaming, to access the new map on Switch, you’ll have to do the following: 1. Create a local game. 2. Go to the laptop in the lobby, scroll over to “game,” and select “Airship” as the map. 3. Leave the lobby. 4. Create an online game with the same settings. 5. Hit play once your lobby has four or more players.

GOG will not be re-releasing Devotion

Red Candle games announced that their psychological horror game Devotion would be returning to sale via GOG galaxy. Hours later GOG released their own statement reversing their decision to release it.

Devotion is considered one of the finest horror games of the past decade but is currently unavailable for purchase as it was pulled from digital video game distributors after fans discovered an in-game joke which likened Chinese president Xi Jinping and cartoon character Winnie The Pooh.

In a tweet apologising to fans who wanted to see Devotion return to sale, the developers said, "we are willing to understand and respect GOG's decision", adding: "This is a difficult predicament to overcome, but we won't stop striving."

Spelunky and Spelunky 2 is coming to Nintendo Switch

The popular indie platform series Spelunky is coming to the Nintendo Switch.

It was announced during the Indie world showcase that both games, Spelunky and Spelunky 2 will become available on the Switch eShop next summer.

The game sees players traverse procedurally generated underground caves as they collect treasure and dodge enemies. Both games share plenty of praise from critics and many fans had been calling for the games to be ported to switch, as many believe the gameplay loop present in both tiles would be well-suited for portable play.

Global chip shortage threatens Laptop and smartphone production

Reuters reports that various different manufacturers in China have warned of a global shortage of chips, which is causing manufacturing delays.

Industry executives and analysts believe that the problem has several causes. They believe that Bulk buying in the U.S, sanctions on China especially towards tech giant Huawei Technologies, a fire at a chip plant in Japan, coronavirus lockdowns in Southeast Asia, and a strike in France all contributed to the shortage.

They also blame underinvestment in 8-inch chip manufacturing plants owned mostly by Asian firms, which means they have struggled to ramp up production as demand for 5G phones, laptops and cars picked up faster than expected.

It looks like tech consumers will have to deal with even more stock shortages in the near future.

About the Author

Auryn is a student journalist and an avid gamer. He enjoys strategy games as well as all the new releases from 10 years ago. He also has a few hours on Overwatch.

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