In this week's roundup were talking Limit Break mentorship, the recent games award evenings and Rocket League. Reading this is the perfect start to your bank holiday weekend!
Microsoft annual games showcase announced
Summer is coming, and we gamers know this to be true not because of the increase in warm weather, but because Microsoft have officially announced their annual games showcase. It's going to be live on the internet on June 12th, which is basically when E3 would have been, if it hadn't been cancelled.
Starfield is rumoured to be the star of the show - an Xbox/PC exclusive, and the first new title to arrive as a result of the high-profile Bethesda acquisition.
Usually, my little slice of the column here on the blog is dedicated to news which is hot off the press - but this week, I wanted to share a news story which is actually a few weeks old. I missed it, and you might have too, but I loved it so much that I had to share it. It's from VICE, and it's about how you can beat up children to speedrun in LEGO Star Wars.
It's a rough deal for the Jedi younglings. But it's great content for the internet. Have a great long weekend!
Adam
Limit Break Mentorship
This week is the final week for sign ups to the excellent Limit Break mentorship program. I am, for the third year running, signed up as a mentor with a view to helping someone start or progress their career in the games industry. My two previous mentees were incredible and have achieved an amazing amount so I am looking forward to finding out who I match with this year and how I might be able to help them.
An opening ceremony will be happening next week where I am looking forwards to connecting with other mentors and mentees for this wholesome initiative.
Dan
Gayming Awards 2022
The Gayming Awards returned for their second year this week with dozens of games up for nominations across multiple categories. The Awards, hosted by the Gayming Mag, are cited as "the first and only global award ceremony celebrating LGBTQ+ video gaming and queer geek culture" on their website.
The 2022 awards increased categories to celebrate a wider range of geek culture, including Comic Books and Tabletop gaming.
The full list of winners include:
Game of the Year – Sponsored by PlayStation
Life is Strange: True Colors – Deck Nine / Square Enix
Gayming Magazine Readers’ Award – Sponsored by EA
Resident Evil Village – Capcom
Gayming Icon Award – Sponsored by Facebook Gaming
Tanya DePass
Industry Diversity Award – Sponsored by Hangar 13 and 2K
Ukie’s #RaiseTheGame pledge
Authentic Representation Award – Sponsored by Marvelous Europe
Life is Strange: True Colors – Deck Nine / Square Enix
Best LGBTQ Character Award – Sponsored by Rocksteady
Alex Chen, Life is Strange: True Colors – Deck Nine / Square Enix
Best LGBTQ Indie Game Award – Sponsored by Xbox
Unpacking – Witch Beam and Humble Games
LGBTQ Streamer of the Year – Sponsored by Twitch
Aimsey
LGBTQ Streamer Rising Star Class of ’22 – Sponsored by Twitch
It’s Me Holly
cruuuunchy
CoderGirlChan
AwkwardishPanda
LuciaEverblack
Luke_Boogie
Best LGBTQ Contribution to Esports – Sponsored by Esports Technologies Inc
Emi “CaptainFluke” Donaldson
LGBTQ Tabletop Game Award – Sponsored by It Gets Better UK
Adventuring With Pride: Queer We Go Again – Jack Dixon
Best LGBTQ Comic Book Moment – Sponsored by Square Enix
The Pride Omnibus – ComiXology/Dark Horse Comics
Life is Strange: True Colors won big on the night, with 3 awards to recognize it's impact on authentic LGBTQ+ representation. I haven't played the game yet - but with awards piling on for this gem of a game, I really have no more excuses!
Taya
A standout title for realistic characters, the Authentic Representation award goes to @LifeIsStrange: True Colors! 🏆
— Gayming Magazine (@gaymingmag) April 25, 2022
Sponsored by @marvelous_games 💖
📺 https://t.co/tVr53aJ6Bv ✨ #GaymingAwards pic.twitter.com/wlhM5p4EL3
Rocket League Battle Royale
Battle Royale games have become quite the rage over the last few years, so it's now time for Rocket League to enter the frame. The spring update introduces a new game mode named Knockout Bash, which pits 8 players in a destruction derby-esque battle until 1 car is left remaining. In this new game mode players use their driving/soccar skills and combine them with three new skills: Attack, Block and Grab. The new game mode also brings a twist on existing game mechanics. For example, you can triple jump instead of the normal double jump.
There are 3 new arenas and a whole host of rewards for players to earn. Rocket League was released almost 7 years ago so it's great to see the developers think of new creative ways of keeping people playing the game all these years.
Knockout is solo queue only and each player gets three lives. There are three Knockout arenas and each includes a shrinking safe zone, similar to other battle royale games.
Pete & Ben G
MCV/Develop Awards
Last night I had the pleasure of accompanying our good friends Hello Games to the MCV/Develop Awards held at The Brewery in London. It was a fantastic event bringing together indie and AAA developers and publishers a like to pay recognition to all the fantastic work that has been happening in the industry over the past 12 months.
From a personal perspective it was great to catch up with a lot of people in real life that I've had digital conversations with, but not actually seen for quite a while. Just being nominated is a great sign of respect, and there were worthy winners for the awards scattered throughout the whole room. Not that I'm biased, but I did take great enjoyment from being able to be there for Hello Games winning Indie Studio of the year.
Well done to everyone involved, be it organising the event, being nominated, or actually winning an award. You can check out all of the award nominees here, and you can check out all the winner announcements over on MCV/Develop's Twitter.
Ben J
More Etch Play
You can find Etch Play on all the usual social networks you might imagine. In particular, we hang out on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
We also have a live show every Thursday, where we recap the latest games industry news in video podcast form. It's a lot of fun. If you'd like to check it out, why not follow us on Twitch?
